The 2025 elections offer a chance to change Miami politics | Opinion

Rescuing Miami

Miami’s magic is dimming — not from natural disaster, but from something deeper: a culture of corruption and political favoritism that’s taken hold at city hall.

A city once defined by its promise now teeters on dysfunction. Trials involving elected officials, whispers of backroom deals, skyrocketing rents and crumbling infrastructure are pushing working families to the brink. We pay higher taxes, yet receive fewer basic services. Public employees are demoralized or pushed out for refusing to play politics. Contracts too often go to the well-connected, not the most qualified.

Miamians are paying the price — with their wallets, their safety and their trust.

This doesn’t have to be our future. As Miami’s former city manager, I led a government that worked for residents, not insiders. We hired based on merit, not connections. We empowered public employees, prioritized infrastructure, ran transparent operations, and cut taxes — and we got results.

What Miami needs now isn’t another smooth talker or recycled politician. It needs leadership rooted in integrity, fairness and accountability. It needs someone who doesn’t flinch under pressure or owe anything to political machines.

We must dismantle the culture of corruption and restore trust in city government. That means tackling affordability, rolling back taxes and making public safety a priority. It means rooting out cronyism and putting residents — not donors — at the center of every decision.

The next election is a turning point. We either reclaim our city or watch it sink deeper into dysfunction. We either restore what makes Miami magic, or lose it to those who already abused it. Let’s restore the Magic City.

Emilio T. González,

candidate for mayor,

Miami

Razing history

Hard to take seriously the minority of people who have been misled into believing that tearing down a legendary regional theater and turning it into a measly 200-seat studio theater is the “new dawn of Coconut Grove.” A regional theater requires a seating capacity larger than 200-300 seats; difficult to achieve when 70% of the property is being turned into retail and restaurants.

Demolition of the Playhouse auditorium — where historically significant events happened and historic personages once stood — is (in the absence of a Florida Statute Chapter 267 review) in violation of the lease and state law. If the perpetrators and their supporters advocate breaking the law, then Machiavellian approaches, in which the ends justify the means at any cost, even violating the law and thinking they are above it, rule the future..

This creates a dangerous precedent. If they can get away with demolishing what even the court deemed historically designated, then nothing is sacred. We already are aware of attempts by the state to eliminate razing restrictions on the historic Art Deco District edifices on Ocean Drive.

Allowing demolition of the most historic theater performance space is not a “new dawn;” it is a continuation of the failed practice of destroying historic Coconut Grove in hopes that gentrification and a growing over-abundance of retail will bring different results.

Max Pearl,

Miami

Sit still

Our three Republican Congressional representatives literally need do nothing to preserve the legal status of thousands of their constituents. With the razor thin Republican majority in the U.S. House, our representatives merely need to announce they will be staying home until dismantling Temporary Protective Status is off the table.

As the work of the House and the tax break for billionaires screeches to a halt, it would be remarkable to watch how quickly minds are changed.

Our representatives should do the right thing: do nothing until justice is delivered to thousands of our friends and neighbors.

Martin Motes,

Redland

Honored glory?

The Miami Herald’s May 11 special section, “Remembering our Triumph,” was an accurate account capturing the events and feelings of soldiers who stood against tyranny. The photos of men going into battle were not pictures of victorious exaltation, but images telling the story of humbled citizens, facing their responsibility as participants in a democracy. Frightened, knowing the battle before them might cost them their lives, they marched forward anyway, believing their sacrifice affirmed their country’s principles.

Coming home, those who performed their duty were mostly silent, knowing they were the lucky ones. When victory did come, the cheering was a release of emotions, realizing the burden of facing death was removed by those who were forever silenced.

History reflects the principles humanity is willing to die to preserve or advance.

If values change and if sacrificing for others is mocked as trifling, those who died believing their sacrifice mattered may have forfeited their lives, according to their progeny, for little.

Phil Beasley,

Plantation

Tally priorities

Our Florida Legislature has mustered enough courage to tell firefighters and teachers: thank you for your important service. However, they continue to be shortsighted as to attracting and keeping them and other Florida public servants.

In Tallahassee, only lip service about a cost of living adjustment is given. Meanwhile, the reality is that inflation eats up buying power annually. Thank yous are just not enough.

Our legislators can’t decide on taxes, insurance and the budget, but they passed a bill allowing chaplains for schools, again putting the cart before the horse.

The line from the old Wendy’s commercial is still true today, “Where’s the beef?”

George Ellis,

Miami

Fault lies elsewhere

With all due respect to the author of the May 11 letter, “Biden’s fault,” regarding the “chaos” in our country, I would remind him that the “massive problems caused by illegal immigrants” does not come close to the crimes committed in Donald Trump’s name on Jan. 6, 2021 and Trump’s total disregard for due process and flaunting of constitutional protections afforded to everyone in America.

As a liberal Democrat, my heart does in fact bleed for those who have been marginalized, stripped of their legal TPS status and deported illegally.

Peter M. Brooke,

Doral

Florida women

Since 1982, the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame has commemorated women’s history by honoring and remembering those women whose lives and contributions have improved the quality of life for Florida and the nation. They are pioneers who have broken down barriers, created new opportunities and championed issues to create better paths for women and girls.

Annually, the Florida Commission on the Status of Women facilitates the nomination and selection process and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The Commission receives and reviews all nominations and recommends 10 outstanding women to the governor, from whom up to three will be chosen for induction. Inductees will be recognized and honored at a special ceremony in the Fall and memorialized in the State Capitol.

Who do you know that deserves this recognition?

Nominations are now open on the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame website: https://flwomenshalloffame.org/nominate/.

Mackenzie Rawlin,

Tallahassee

Staring at us

In total disbelief and basically void of words, we try to comprehend, to digest, what’s happening to our democracy! Yet all we seem to hear is: “I never said that!” “I don’t know.” “It’s all his fault.”

Meanwhile, by glancing in the mirror, there just might be some solutions.

Diane Goodman Dolcourt,

Pinecrest

You shouldn’t have!

If the nation of Qatar were “nice” enough to offer me a Rolls Royce (a poor man’s 747 jet) with no strings attached, today, I would certainly accept it.

Naturally, when a Qatari comes to me, tomorrow, with a “small” request that challenges United States policy and best interests, I might just remember their generous gift and consider their wish.

Of course, it also helps that my Justice Department said virtually anything I chose to do was legal and aboveboard.

Bruce Shpiner,

Miami