In Miami District 2 runoff, Herald keeps recommendation of community advocate | Opinion
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Editorial Board City of Miami 2023 Election Recommendations
In advance of the upcoming City of Miami elections on November 7, 2023, the Editorial Board interviewed political candidates to better understand their views on various issues and how their policies will affect their constituents. The goal is to give voters a better idea of who’s the best candidate for each race. Read our recommendations for Miami below:
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Two of the three Miami Commission races ended in runoffs. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 21. Here is the Editorial Board’s recommendation for District 2:
The runoff for Miami City Commission District 2 pits a short-term incumbent who has grown into her role and a challenger with an impressive resume.
Commissioner Sabina Covo, a public relations professional and former journalist, came first on Nov. 7 but didn’t get the 50% plus one vote to win outright in an eight-person race. She will run against certified financial planner Damian Pardo on Nov. 21. District 2 stretches from Coconut Grove to Brickell, Downtown, Edgewater and Morningside.
Both are strong candidates, but the Herald Editorial Board recommended Pardo in the general election, and we recommend him again.
Pardo, 60, has a long history of community involvement. He is co-founder of one of the prominent LGBTQ+ rights organization Safeguarding American Values for Everyone, known as SAVE. The group historically lobbied the Miami-Dade County Commission in the late 1990s to pass a human-rights ordinance protecting gay rights.
He would be a strong voice on a commissioner rattled by recent scandals, among them the arrest of now-suspended Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who’s also on the ballot in another district on Nov. 21. Pardo lives in Morningside and said he’s running because “special interests are being served and residents are being set aside time and time again.” His history of community engagement shows he’s “demonstrated the ability to speak up” during crises, he told the Board.
Pardo understands the need for a commissioner to pay attention to local needs. He would reconsider the decision to shut down Miami’s Neighborhood Enhancement Teams, which were absorbed by individual commission district offices, therefore bloating their office budgets, he said. He also wants to put pressure on City Hall to speed up the implementation of projects funded by the $400 million Miami Forever Bonds, which voters approved in 2018 to address climate resiliency, infrastructure needs, public safety and affordable housing.
Covo, 44, was elected in a February special election. At the time, her policy know-how was thin compared to other candidates. When the Board met with her again in October, she appeared more fluent on the issues. Among her achievements in her short term are an “ecological squad” she created in her office to clean drains in this flood-prone district and legislation she sponsored ordering the city to create flood and heat mitigation plans. If reelected, she wants to introduce campaign finance reform.
Covo, of Coconut Grove, has come under criticism for receiving thousands from developers and entities with business before the city. Under pressure from other candidates, she returned $15,000 her political committee received from a company that lobbied the city to allow 45 giant LED billboards in downtown. After opposition from residents, Covo and the commission rejected the plan.
We worry about the influence of special interests in Miami, but we also make it clear there’s no evidence Covo has done anything wrong. In an op-ed she wrote after the Board recommended Pardo last month, she pointed out that he also returned “contributions from lobbyists and City Hall insiders.”
In October, the Herald reported that Pardo received at least $1,500 from two land-use attorneys who lobby in City Hall. Pardo returned $500 to one of them and said he didn’t know he was a lobbyist because his occupation was listed as “attorney” on campaign finance forms. The other donor is an “old friend,” Pardo told the Herald.
These facts don’t change our recommendation. The Herald recommends DAMIAN PARDO for Miami City Commission District 2.
This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 6:01 AM.