Eight candidates, a few of whom are well-known to voters, are competing for 2 seats on the Miami Seaside Fee

Two seats on the Miami Beach Commission are due Tuesday, when voters go to the polls to decide who to replace the outgoing commissioners Micky Steinberg and Michael Gongora.

A third competition in which the acting commissioner would have been canceled Mark Samuelian against challengers Fabian Basabe was canceled after Basabe was out disqualifiedwhich makes Sameulian win by default.

In both of the remaining races there are four contestants and a few names that locals should be familiar with. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in a race, the two candidates with the most votes will run in the runoff on November 16.

Miami Beach Commission Group 1

With Steinberg leaving to pursue the Miami-Dade County Commission seat, which is limited by tenure Sally Heyman next year former Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, local business owner Rachel Pacheco, Restaurateur Adrian Gonzalez and commercial distributors Blake Young vie for their successor.

All of them have previously run for the commission, only one successful, and all of them have suggested increasing the police presence in the South Beach Entertainment District rather than withdrawing the final call for alcohol from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., a Cure Mayor Dan Gelber and former mayor Philip Levine have campaigned for it vocal resistance.

Rosen Gonzalez, 48, is a real estate agent and professor in the Department of English and Communications at Miami Dade College. She was elected to the Miami Beach Commission in 2015, however vacated their place three years later for a failed congress application.

While she’s certainly a household name among Miami Beach voters, she brings her fair share of luggage. In her public service career, she has drawn repeated controversy, including engagement in Feuds with other commissionerswho obstructed an investigation by the Miami Beach Police Department into a key donor for their Congressional campaign, and a Slip last month in which she claimed to be “the most distinguished Hispanic Democrat in the city of Miami” when she was not actually Hispanic. (Your ex-husband is.)

She is a leader in fundraising, with approximately $ 82,000 raised since she entered the race in July.

Pacheco, 47, is a former member of the Connecticut Army National Guard, which now runs a translation company. Her first term in public office was in 2019, when she was defeated by the Group 5 commissioner Ricky Ariola.

Pacheco has received support from the Reproductive Rights Group Ruth’s List Florida, Save LGBT Action PAC, the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, and the Florida Chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

Former US Democratic Representative Donna Shalala and Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson – who both got more votes than Rosen Gonzalez in the 2018 congressional race – supported them as did state senators. Annette Taddeo.

But their questionable budgets can give voters a break. she has Filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy twice, most recently in 2017.

Pacheco has raised more than $ 54,000 since its campaign began in May.

Gonzalez, 47, also had money problems. His family’s restaurant, David’s Cafe, closed its Alton Road location last year after its landlord requested eviction from the business for non-payment of rent.

Now runs a pop-up shop called the Shelbourne South Beach Hotel Cafecito from David’s Café, Gonzalez is also facing a foreclosure lawsuit against his home and another lawsuit from creditors for debts of more than $ 36,000.

Still, he was active locally, serving with the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, the Marine and Waterfront Protection Authority, and as president of its homeowners association.

He has raised more than $ 64,000 since his campaign launched in July.

Young, 50, is the only candidate in the running for a donation-free campaign. His ledger with the city shows more than $ 15,000 in expenses – a meager expense compared to his opponents.

But that weakness is also a strength, Young said, noting that he wasn’t indebted to any special interests or political parties.

Young is president of his local homeowners association. He also volunteers with his Golden Retriever therapy dog ​​at Easter Seals Adult Day Care in Miami and calls it one of his most rewarding endeavors.

Miami Beach Commission Group 3

Real estate investor Stephen Cohen, President of the Association of Owners of the Venetian Islands Melissa Beattie, Member of the Miami Beach Planning Committee Alex Fernandez and real estate agents Michael Barrineau compete to succeed Góngora, who is leaving office because of the term limit.

Of the four, only Cohen did not take money from hotels or nightclubs to fund his campaign. That’s because most of the $ 311,000 the Democrat put into the race came from his own pocket.

A past candidate for the commission, Cohen, 43, has pointed to his civic participation as a reason voters should vote for him by spearheading volunteer work providing meals for seniors in need, mass cleanups in city parks during the COVID-19 pandemic and active membership and sponsorship of local temples.

He has said that protecting Miami Beach’s waterways, improving safety, fighting for taxpayers and middle class families, ensuring government transparency and balancing the city budget are among his top priorities.

He’s against rolling back the last call at 2 a.m.

Beattie, 46, supports change. Running for the first time as an independent candidate, she applied on a platform that focuses on protecting the environment, improving infrastructure and resilience, and prioritizing the quality of life and safety of residents.

She has proven herself to be a worthy fundraiser, raising approximately $ 239,000. More than half of them were given out themselves. The rest came through various donations, including many individual donations and larger donations from hotels and real estate people.

As a late entry into the race, the Republican-turned-independent Fernandez has raised nearly $ 131,000 since it was submitted in September.

The 35-year-old has the most extensive government experience of his peers. He currently works as the chief communications advisor and legislative assistant to the Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebecca Sosa, and held previous roles in the offices of the former Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower and former Miami Beach Commissioner Deede operas.

Fernandez ran against Góngora in 2009. Although he lost, the two men appeared to have developed a mutual respect, with Góngora advocating Fernandez as his successor.

Fernandez’s government knowledge has been a boon to fundraising. He has solicited donations from several high profile developers in South Florida and is the only candidate in the running for funding from an outside group called a campaign communications organization Safe Miami Beach.

Barrineau, 63, has been in the running the longest – he filed in January – but he has raised the least at just $ 42,000, including a $ 10,000 auto loan. After a failed application two years ago, in which he finished last in a three-way race, he takes another swing at the commission.

Regarding the 2am question, Fernandez said he would support whatever voters decide in a non-binding referendum, including on the ballot.

Like Fernandez, Barrineau served on the town planning committee. He is also the former president of the Fifth Neighborhood Association and the Miami Beach United Community Group.

The Barrineau platform has six pillars: protecting the environment and the water quality of Biscayne Bay, establishing “pedestrian zones” to restore and improve the pedestrian character of the city, combating overdevelopment by builders, investing in “green” mobility, the rise to mitigate sea level and focus on crime prevention.

He supports the last call at 2 a.m.

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