After 40 years of public service, Miami Lakes Town Manager Edward Pidermann says he’s not done yet.
“I want to continue managing this town,” Pidermann said a few days after rigorous a budget hearing that went until midnight. “I would like to get us in a position where we have a better funding model for the long haul.”
Pidermann’s ties to Miami Lakes date from 1992. While married to Martha Marie Nobo and raising three children, Pidermann coached baseball, softball and basketball at Optimist Park and volunteered on the town’s Charter Committee and the Youth Activities Task Force. These days the couple is enjoying twin 3-year-old grandsons.
Pidermann earned three associate degrees -- in the arts, fire science and emergency medical services -- from Miami Dade College; the school inducted him into its Hall of Fame.
His Bachelor of Arts in accounting came from St. Thomas University and Florida International University awarded him a Master of Public Administration degree.
In his professional life, he advanced from firefighter to deputy fire chief in the City of Miami and was an assistant chief at Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue before retiring from the fire service.
The council appointed Pidermann, 63, town manager in Feb. 2019. He oversees an approximately $90 million operating and capital budget and supervises 90 employees and contract staff. He earns $233,795.
When his contract ends in Feb. 2027, he said he will seek to renew it. Asked if he wants to run for public office, Pidermann said, “Not at this time.”
In recent years the council has made one-time transfers between funds to pay for some of the town’s spending plan.
“I don’t want this to be a year-to-year political fight in funding this town,” Pidermann said. “We all consider that we live in a top-of-the-line town, but we can’t do that without putting the funding behind it.
“We all enjoy our parks and sidewalks not being broken and paved streets and appealing rights of way,” he said. “I want to work with the elected officials to fund that.”
He is working with Mayor Josh Dieguez to develop a budget stabilization fund.
“The idea is to see what is going to be the funding model, how to put the money in so that in lean years, you have money to draw from,” Pidermann said.
Dieguez and Pidermann joined town government at the same time.
“Ed won me over with his operational knowhow, his history with the town on the [Charter Committee] and he made a promise to hyper-communicate,” Dieguez said. “The truth is sometimes things depend on his staffers’ availability. With Ed, he’s an honest broker. What you see is what you get.
“He and I have built a great working relationship,” Dieguez said. “When we do our ride alongs and what we see on our rides or I send him a constituent issue, he acts on it, he delivers and keeps me updated. And I love that.”
Still watching town hall is former Vice Mayor and Councilman Luis Collazo, who served until 2024.
“What I’ve grown to love about Ed is he is probably the most fair,” Collazo said. “He’s a just human, a do the right thing kind of guy. I don’t really see him as somebody who has had an evil intention.”
Collazo said it can be hard to appease a council and bring lots of people together.
“I think he does a relatively good job at that,” Collazo said. “He is very loyal to his staff and beloved by his people. I’ve always seen him as a good leader. He’s never put himself before the office, and I also think that is another endearing trait about him.”
Since September, Pidermann has called himself a prostate cancer survivor.
“Thankfully my follow-up PSA [a blood test] was virtually zero and my doctor deems me to be cancer free,” Pidermann said.
His case was detected during a routine PSA blood test.
“I had no symptoms, and that’s the problem with that disease,” he said. “The message from me is to get the blood test.
All men, and if you have prostate cancer in your family, get it and get it done during every annual physical.”
Pidermann discussed items on his to do list.
Traffic
“There is already funding for new entry and exit ramps on the Gratigny [Parkway] at 67th Avenue, and it will start construction in 2029,” said Pidermann, who joined the board of the Greater Miami Expressway Authority in 2024. “It has funding for design in ’26 and ’27.”
“We’re also exploring options with [the Florida Department of Transportation] to see how we could have new ways of getting onto the Palmetto [Expressway] without having to get on at 154th Street,” Pidermann said.
And he said the town is working with Miami-Dade County and FDOT about adding a second left turn lane toward Interstate 75 from Northwest 87th Avenue at Miami Gardens Drive.
“That’s outside the town limits, but we live in a big metropolitan area that affects us,” Pidermann. “It would serve the northwest quadrant of our town and the people who live on both sides of I-75.”
Development
Being built are GT Homes USA’s luxury development Palma Del Lago with 37 homes along Northwest 87th Avenue. Also the $110 million mixed-use project called The Residences & Shops on NINE, with a banquet hall and 278 apartments at the Miami Lakes Golf Club.
“For anybody to think that a property owner that has an empty piece of property isn’t going to someday develop it into something is impossible,” Pidermann said. “They own it to build on it. The important thing for the town is to manage it, so we get the best kind of development possible for the town.
“Thankfully the companies who are developing in Miami Lakes are extremely responsible,” he said. “If they weren’t, they’d build twice as many buildings as they could. They are concerned about the impact and limit how many units are built on those empty lots.”
Optimist Park
Pidermann said he is seeking approval from the school board for upgrades in the part of park the board owns.
“Right now, we have just over $1.2 million in the capital fund,” Pidermann said. “We are going to move forward with a couple safety-related projects: replacement of wooden pole field lighting on one field, and the restroom in the center of the park.
“It has a big impact on the field, especially with the little kids,” he said. “We’ll have to work with the council to develop a different funding plan and see what they want to develop.”
A History in Miami Lakes
“I was here from the beginning,” he said, citing his participation in the initial town charter committee before incorporation. “I enjoy what I do,” he said. “It’s frustrating sometimes, but I enjoy it.”
He also likes being able to work to improve Miami Lakes.
“Obviously I have served a lot of different communities: The City of Miami for many years, and in the City of Miami I served Little Havana, Flagami, Overtown, Liberty City … and then I
worked in Broward County and served the residents there. I really wanted to serve my neighbors, and that is one of the reasons I applied to become the town manager,” he said.
How does he find personal satisfaction in the job?
“Accomplishing things and doing things for the right reasons,” he said. “My greatest accomplishment in town is developing and working with a staff that is second to none, that have incredible love for this town, and they sacrifice day in and day out for this town. Most work weekends and evenings without [being paid overtime]. If something has to get done, they make it happen.”
He said working for the public for four decades, especially for his hometown, has been worth it.
“I think when you look around, I think the lion’s share of our town residents are very happy with the accomplishments and services they get from the town, and most of that has been done with limits on funding,” he said.