Three Miami Lakes council members who are facing reelection next year are seeking to keep their political jobs for four more years.
Councilmembers Manny Cid, Tony Lama and Nelson Rodriguez filed paper work last month to run in the town’s November 8, 2016 general election, when their at-large seats are up for grabs.
The mayoral seat is also at stake but Michael Pizzi has yet to open up a campaign account.
The incumbents, so far, haven’t drawn any challengers.
Cid, who was first elected in 2012, has launched a host of initiatives, including live webcasting of town council meetings, E-Library Pilot Program, helping Miami Lakes become the first city in Florida to accept and play pre-recorded video public comments during municipal meetings, performance based budgeting and creating the Miami Lakes Sports Hall of Fame with private money.
Cid, a 22-year resident of Miami Lakes, also created a program for the Town to hire school crossing guards and implementing a Sunday on-demand bus service for church services, and he worked with Miami-Dade County Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr. to secure funding to keep the Miami Lakes senior classes running after the state nixed funding for the program.
Cid, who was elected to serve as Vice Mayor for the last fiscal year, said his track record speaks for itself and is trying to finish the work he has started.
“My voting record during the past three years fulfills several promises that I made to the residents of Miami Lakes,” Cid said. “Serving as a councilmember in our beautiful town for the last three years has been a great experience. I have truly enjoyed serving the residents of Miami Lakes and hope they give me the opportunity to continue to serve them.”
Before he was elected to the Town Council, Cid served as the senior legislature aide to two state representatives.
Cid is vice president of Always At Your Side Adult Day Care Inc., in Miami Lakes.
Lama, director of Cloud Solutions, was a political neophyte in 2012 when residents elected him to represent District 4.
A seasoned veteran of the contact center software industry, Lama launched the town's new mobile application, Lakes Life, for residents to track various town services, find local businesses, and report potholes and sidewalks that might need repairing.
The app also allows users to access the Miami Lakes Marketplace, the town’s online business directory, search for a new doctor, places to eat or shop by using keywords such as pizza and dentist.
Through the app, residents can also track down and ride Miami Lakes Moover buses in real-time and view bus routes and schedules for the transit service.
“Over 1,200 residents of Miami Lakes downloaded and continue to use this app to stay in the know and report issues ranging from maintenance to code compliance matters,” Lama said.
Lama and Rodriguez recently initiated the first Miami Lakes Traffic Summit, where the state and county brain trust gathered to offer solutions to the traffic problems throughout the town.
In October, the Town Council adopted a transportation improvement plan to incorporate the proposed traffic solutions into the town’s new Strategic Plan.
“We sponsored the first Traffic Summit and the results of that effort have led to several key initiatives that we are now embarking on to solve the traffic challenges we face in our community,” Lama said.
During his first four-year term, Lama also sponsored a charter amendment to bring fairness to the selection of volunteer committees, the Green Energy/PACE Initiative, and the Lake Water Quality Awareness program.
Lama said his work is not complete and is seeking another four-year term to accomplish his goals he set three years ago.
“My work is not yet complete,” he said, “With the support of the residents and council, I hope to implement key traffic reduction initiatives to dramatically improve the traffic condition in Miami Lakes, one of which is making Miami Lakes a golf cart friendly community.”
Beautification is also on Lama’s list of priorities. “It will be an exciting next five years for Miami Lakes,” he added.
Rodriguez, a Coral Gables firefighter, was also a political novice when residents elected him to Seat One in 2012.
He co-sponsored legislation making it a prerequisite for kids participating in sports and other activities at the town’s parks and community centers to have an EKG to help detect any problems with the heart, in the wake of Brenna Vergara’s sudden death.
The 11-year old died suddenly after she collapsed during dance rehearsal from Wolff-Parkinson White (WPW) syndrome, a heart condition caused by rapid or irregular heartbeat during physical activity.
Rodriguez said over the past three years, the town has cut expenses, kept the property rate for taxes low, improved communications with residents and upgraded the parks and recreation centers.
If elected, Rodriguez wants to resume carrying out his campaign promises, which include the conversion of the Miami Lakes Drive/Interstate 75 overpass into a pedestrian and bike friendly park.
“It will bring together our greenways and bike lanes, while allowing our residents to gain access to a 30-acre park being built west of I-75,” he said. “I look forward to the next the next few years as we continue to work on some very important initiatives. There’s more work to be done such as the development of three new parks: The Par 3 the Dog Park and the Miami Lakes Drive Bridge Park. Although the past three years have been challenging, we continue moving the town forward.”
Rodriguez has been a Miami Lakes resident since 1992, and he serves as an adjunct instructor for the Institute of Criminal Justice at Miami-Dade College.
He is also the chair of the town’s Education Advisory Board and president of the Miami Lakes K-8 Center PTSA and coordinator of the Miami-Dade PTA Council.