Herald recommends: Miami-Dade Commission District 6 race a battle between support from Trump and Sosa | Editorial

There are four candidates in the District 6 Miami-Dade County Commission race, but the real contest is between the power of Donald Trump’s endorsement and longtime Commissioner Rebeca Sosa’s clout.

Kevin Marino Cabrera, a former Trump 2020 Florida campaign director, has the ex-president’s recommendation. Coral Gables Commissioner Jorge Fors has the support of Sosa, who has held the seat for more than two decades, but is stepping down because of term limits.

The other candidates: software company owner and Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee member Dariel Fernandez and Miami Springs City Council member Victor Vazquez, a longtime educator and veteran, and the only Democrat in the non-partisan race.

The district includes West Miami and suburban areas down to South Miami, as well as both Miami International Airport and the Melreese golf course, part of a parcel where a new soccer stadium is set to be built.

The big-name endorsements no doubt will drive this race. When Cabrera got the nod from the ex-president in May, Trump said Cabrera wants lower taxes, fewer regulations on small businesses and “Safe and Secure Elections.” And then Trump went on to repeat his baseless claim that “the 2020 Election was rigged and stolen.”

Does Cabrera believe the Big Lie? In an interview with the Miami Herald, Cabrera wouldn’t say whether President Joe Biden won the election fairly. “I’m not an expert,” he said. “I know a lot of people have a lot of concerns.”

Fors, meanwhile, is backed by Sosa, and that carries a lot of weight in a district she has represented since 2001. She said she wanted someone on the commission who understands government. “He has experience,” she said of Fors. “The community knows him.”

Fors, an attorney who works at a family law firm with his father, was elected to the Coral Gables Commission in 2019 after a run-off that came down to 173 votes.

Cabrera worked for former U.S Rep. Carlos Curbelo and for Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. He was eager to share his ideas on issues such as affordable housing, transportation and the election of a new sheriff in 2024. He was a lot less forthcoming, though, when asked about his presence at a 2018 Miami GOP protest attended by Proud Boys. The Proud Boys are considered an extremist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The protest was ugly. The crowd hurled epithets at then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and pounded on the door of then-Congresswoman Donna Shalala’s office. There’s an unsettling photo of Cabrera banging on a door.

Republicans nationwide denounced protest. Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted: “You are not helping the cause of anti-communism if you behave like the repudiation mobs Castro has long used in Cuba.”

When the Editorial Board asked Cabrera about it, he at first deflected on the straightforward question of whether he was there, eventually acknowledging it by saying: “Sure.” Asked if he disavowed the group entirely, he said he did, along with any group that espouses hate or discriminates.

And then there’s Fernandez, the Miami-Dade GOP committeeman. The New York Times has reported that the Miami-Dade GOP committee has at least half a dozen current or former Proud Boys in its ranks. Several have been charged with participating in the U.S. Capitol attack. Fernandez said he had no knowledge of any Proud Boys involvement in the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee and that he believes in “law and order,” not violence.

Fors isn’t squeaky clean either, but his issues are a lot more run-of-the-mill. For about five years, he claimed a homestead exemption on a condo that he bought when he was 22 but no longer lived in. He said it was an error made in youthful ignorance. He did not claim an exemption elsewhere. He said he paid back taxes, interest and penalties for a total of between $12,000 and $13,000.

When it came to questions of policy, such as increasing density along transit lines to help address the county’s housing crisis, Fors and Vazquez, who are already elected leaders in their communities, had the most detailed answers.

Vasquez cautioned against density that would damage local communities, though he is in favor of more multifamily housing near mass transit. Fors, who is on the board of directors of the Miami-Dade County League of Cities, discussed finding solutions tailored to fit each community. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all,” he said.

On expanding the Urban Development Boundary, Fors said any proposal to build beyond that line between the suburbs and Miami-Dade’s agricultural areas should be fully examined and that expanding the UDB might become necessary in 10 or 15 years but, “It’s not something that should be done lightly.”

Vasquez said he was “skeptical” about pushing beyond the UDB and said he worried about how development on that land might harm long-term sustainability goals, while Cabrera said the approach must be “thoughtful” but that county staff had not yet made the case for building beyond the UDB.

On the issue of electing a sheriff in Miami-Dade starting in 2024 — which has raised questions of shifting police resources to the new office — Vasquez said the county should retain much of the control. Likewise, Fors said he favored a “narrow interpretation” of the responsibilities of the new sheriff. Cabrera, on the other hand, said all law enforcement functions should be turned over to the new sheriff.

Cabrera, who has been working for the global public relations firm Mercury, is backed by Hialeah Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo and U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar. He’s married to Republican state Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera, whom the Editorial Board recommended in 2020, and has been on the Miami-Dade Community Council.

Vasquez, a lifelong educator, is interested in making his community a better place. We hope he continues to pursue public service. Fernandez had not fully developed many of his answers to our questions.

Fors has the experience and knowledge to be a valuable addition to the County Commission. His homestead exemption violation was wrong, he paid the penalty, and taxpayers were made whole. In the end, he is the best qualified.

The Miami Herald recommends JORGE FORS for Miami-Dade Commission, District 6.

This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 7:47 AM.