The election season for Miami Lakes officially swung into full gear last week when the qualifying period got underway, as 15 candidates, 10 of whom are political neophytes, are seeking four Town Council seats up for grabs in November.
Councilmember Manny Cid and Miami Lakes’ first mayor Wayne Slaton, are vying for the mayoral position, while two incumbents, Councilmembers Tony Lama and Nelson Rodriguez, are trying to hold on to their seats for four more years.
Councilmember Ceasar Mestre was forced to drop out of the mayoral race after he missed a requirement to resign from his seat 10 days before the start of the qualifying period.
After Seat Five was left open following Cid’s decision to run for mayor, the race could have been between nine candidates but three dropped their bids, leaving six political officer seekers on the campaign trial.
Political novices Roberto Alonso Jr., former chair of the town’s Public Safety Committee and whose father was the town’s first vice mayor; Esther Colon, former town manager for Lauderdale by the Sea; Luis Collazo, chair of the Elderly Affairs Committee; criminal defense attorney Nayib Hassan; business woman Caridad Vasallo; and Wendy Milanes are running for the vacant seat.
Cynthia Beyer, Rosalina Nunez and Alejandro Sanchez, chairman of the Miami Lakes Veteran’s Affairs Committee, dropped out of the race.
For Seat One, incumbent Nelson Rodriguez, a Coral Gables firefighter, is facing off against Xiomara Pazos, CEO and president of a non-emergency medical transportation company, and newcomer Alex Dehghani.
Pazos unsuccessfully ran against Mestre in 2014.
Councilmember Tony Lama is fending off challenges by newcomers Robin Brown-Beamon, who retired after a 30 year career at Miami-Dade County, attorney Elizabeth Delgado and Jose Nodal Jr., a building inspector.
At press time, Cid, Slaton, Pazos, Rodriguez, Lama, Collazo, Colon and Hassan have qualified to run in the November 8 election.
The qualifying period ended August 3.
If neither candidate collects 51 percent of the votes, the winner will be determined in a run-off election two weeks later.
So far, Cid leads all candidates in fundraising with $43,000, according to the town’s election website.
Mestre, who had raised $40,000, including loaning himself $3,000 before leaving the mayoral race, indicated missing the requirement actually was a sigh of relief since the campaigning took a toll on spending quality time with his family.
“It made me reflect on telling my six year-old daughter, daily, I can’t go in the pool, I need to campaign,” Mestre said in a statement he posted on Facebook. “The other missed family trips, birthday parties, school activities and movies. My intentions are to continue to represent the residents of Miami Lakes until my term expires in 2018 and continue to do what I think is best.”
Cid counts Abel Fernandez, battalion chief of Miami-Dade fire rescue for the two Miami Lakes’ stations; Joseph Sosa, a representative of the office of State Representative Manny Diaz Jr.; and Miami Lakes Charter Revision Committee member Mirtha Mendez among his supporters.
Lama, who has raised $20,477, said during his first four years in political office, Miami Lakes has increased transparency and accountability through the implementation of the town’s mobile application.
In addition, Lama and Rodriguez, who raised $5,625 for his campaign, have been hosting traffic summits and meetings with officials from FDOT and Miami-Dade to zero in on several solutions to resolve the long-running traffic nightmare during peak hours.
“I have led to make our traffic problems the single most important challenge we must overcome by redirecting town resources in support of these efforts,” Lama said in a statement about his reelection bid. “No single issue impacts our way of life or our businesses.”
Among Lama’s supporters is Coral Gables-based Conservative Principles of Florida, a political committee, which also contributed $1,000 to Rodriguez’s campaign, which is the maximum amount allowed under Florida law.
Colon, a former assistant director of management finance and budget for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, said she can improve Miami Lakes’ bureaucracy with 32 years of government experience under her belt.
“Some of my functions included accounting, finance, budget, procurement, grants and human resource,” she said. “My depth of experience, enthusiasm and resourcefulness will deliver innovative solutions to Miami Lakes to help it thrive over the next four years and beyond.”
Colon trails Hassan in fundraising with $6,095 to his $13,680.
Pazos is trying to bounce back following her failed bid two years ago.
“My purpose is to vote no against any unnecessary tax increase, waste of resident money and speak for those who have not been heard,” she said. “I am not a politician, I am a business woman.”
Sanchez bowed out of the race following his decision to return to school to complete his degree but hasn’t ruled out running in 2018.
“I will be focusing on this endeavor in order to come back in the 2018 election better prepared to serve our town and its amazing residents,” he said.