Today’s the day, when a Special Election is being held to fill a Miami Lakes town council seat that became vacant in November.
Five residents stepped up to try and replace former Vice Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who cited personal and career demands as reasons for resigning from the dais, during the middle of a council meeting and the middle of his term.
The council did not replace him with Mayor Manny Cid’s nominee, which prompted the special election.
On Tuesday morning, candidates were out at two of the seven precincts in Miami Lakes.
To read about the candidates' platforms go here: https://bit.ly/3TiDh4i.
To see how they performed at a debate, click here: https://bit.ly/4chP7CY.
With so many candidates and an often low voter turnout, a runoff election is expected and if needed, will happen April 30.
Hector Abad and Bryan Morera were both “tired” from campaigning but greeted voters at Barbara Goleman Senior High School, where just about two dozen people had cast their ballots by 10 a.m.
Esther Colon, Nelson Rodriguez and John Rogger were campaigning at the edge of the parking lot at the Mary Collins Community Center, which was seeing more activity at the polls.
Unofficial results should be known by 7:15 p.m. The tally will be certified on April 12. Whoever wins will serve until November, 2026.
By 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, unofficial results showed 1,444 voters had shown up in person or mailed in their ballots, a turnout of 7.2% of 19,995 active eligible voters, according to the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office.
There were 250 people who voted in person.
A voter named Barbara who didn’t want to share her last name said she voted for Nelson Rodriguez.
“My kids played with his kids, I’ve seen him and spoken with him,” Barbara said. “I think he’s a good person.”
Sally Whitton said she cast her ballot for Esther Colon.
“It was very important I think to always vote for our council and try to keep it as balanced as possible,” Whitton said. “I like some women, I like some men, and mix it up. I think we should all have a say.”
As for Colon as a candidate, Whitton said, “I think she’s run once before and this time we’d like to see her get in. I think she has a lot to offer. She’s really got a good heart for Miami Lakes.”
Whitton said the current council is “doing a pretty good job. I like it. I do understand one woman [Councilwoman Marilyn Ruano] is going off [term limited as a council member] and I hope one woman will be coming in.”
She said she doesn’t see a lot of divisiveness or conflict on the council, which has voted 3 to 3 on recent issues.
“I don’t see conflict,” she said. “It might be there, but it doesn’t come out far enough for many of us to know about. But I think that’s part of the process. We want different opinions, and we want everybody to bring their opinion and they can kind of work it out and see what’s best.”
Bill Perez declined to say who he chose.
“Most of the folks have already voted by mail,” Perez said. “They already have 1100 registered votes and I voted by mail as well. That’s the easiest way.”
He said even if voter turnout is low, “This is a lot better process than having a committee of seven or a committee of four decide who the next council person should be. Eleven hundred people is still better than four. I think that’s the way democracy should work.”
Perez said he knew all of the candidates except for Rodriguez.
“The others are fantastic people,” Perez said. “To me if any of them get to the runoffs it’s going to be really challenging because they are all good people.”
Perez, a former candidate for town council, talked about how council members Ray Garcia and Tony Fernandez side with Mayor Manny Cid on some issues and Ruano, Josh Dieguez and Luis Collazo are aligned on the other side of debates, a division that was reflected on who backed candidates in the Special Election for vacant Seat 6.
“It really is that way, isn’t it?” Perez said. “You look at the endorsements. Team Josh endorses Bryan, Team Manny endorses Hector. It seems to be that kind of way. That’s just politics. You can’t get away from the Machiavellian politics.”
The other polling places in town are the Miami Lakes Library at 6699 Windmill Gate Rd.; Miami Lakes Middle School, 6425 Miami Lakeway North; Miami Lakes United Methodist Church, 14800 Ludlam Rd.; Miami Lakes K-8 Center, 14250 NW 67 Ave. and Bob Graham Education Center, 15901 NW 79 Ave.
Polls close at 7 p.m.