Councilman Ray Garcia has filed to run for reelection on Nov. 3.
He is seeking a second term on the council after he first won office in 2022.
Garcia, 53, works for Chen Medical Centers in the membership growth department.
He volunteered with the town’s Blasting Advisory Board before he sought public office.
“I think we have a lot of unfinished business with the town,” Garcia said about his reasons for pursuing another four years on the dais.
He said he wants to continue to make sure the town is safe. Among his goals are adding two new deputies to the sheriff’s district in town, and completing the license plate reader network that scans tags and alerts law enforcement to suspicious people or vehicles.
“I’m very proud of the work I have done to support our local police department,” Garcia said.
He also wants to continue to have transparency in local government, make sure it’s still accessible to residents and is a partner to them when they need to use municipal services.
Garcia said he is pleased with the work he has done in the last four years, specifically with how he has handled the police department budget and local taxes.
“One of the things I’m proud of is expanding the overtime for our police officers and expanding the details [special patrols for burglary prevention and traffic control] that they do to prevent crime,” Garcia said. “Especially traffic details to prevent speeding, but also crime details around Christmas.”
He said he worked with former police leadership and The Graham Companies to ensure the Main Street shopping area, where he lives, remains a safe place.
Garcia also said expanding the Miami Lakes K-8 Center’s school zone south on Northwest 67th Avenue to Crooked Palm Terrace, when he worked with the school board and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sen. René García’s office, as well as with Councilman Angelo Cuadra Garcia to get the Florida Department of Transportation to clean up under the Palmetto Expressway at Northwest 67 Avenue, were accomplishments he did on behalf of residents.
“My number one [goal is] working hard to save taxpayer money, to keep taxes as low as possible,” Garcia said. “I voted to go back to the flat rate.”
He said he is thankful to voters for trusting him and putting him in office.
“I promise I am going to put them first in every decision I make,” Garcia said. “My main concern [is] … their families’ quality of life.”