And the chair goes to…Rebeca Sosa. Told ya

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Well, I was mostly right, anyway.

It was a woman, and it was Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa who was elected by her peers as the new board chairman of former Chairman Joe Martinez, who lost a challenge to the mayor in the August primary.

But she was tossed up against Commissioner Barbara Jordan, and not Audry Edmonson as I had expected. Maybe they already thought about the political baggage from Edmonson’s recent race.

I was right about one other thing, though: Sosa, who was nominated by new County Commissioner Juan C. Zapata — in what was probably a previously approved decision by his new colleagues — got the seven votes she needed. However, considering who I thought would definitely vote for her, she lost one of her allies — at least if she voted for herself. Because that leaves six other commissioners, and I had thought she had at least seven in the bag: Esteban “El Bobo” Bovo, Javier Souto, Lynda Bell, Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Xavier Suarez, freshman Juan Zapata, Bruno Barreiro. Well, we know Zapata voted for her. As did, I am sure, Commissioner Mayor Sir X Suarez and Bell, her buddy. After all, it is very telling that Bell was nominated as vice chair by Sosa, the chair elect (more on that later).

Both Jordan and Sosa gave great speeches beforehand about how they would work with whoever was chosen and blah blah blah. But Sosa’s was better and she seemed to very directly indicate to the people voting for her that their needs would be considered by her.

“It’s time that we join forces in changing a lot of the perception that has been wrongly visualized in this community,” Sosa said. “We need to think not only about what we do here today but about what we do here tomorrow.”

She said it was fine for them to work together and disagree work “with respect, with ethical and professional behavior like we have always followed” (where has she been?)

Then she got to what her colleagues surely wanted to hear: “The needs of one district cannot supersede those of another, because we represent everyone. It’s time to move ahead all the projects of the different districts (read: ka-ching). It’s time to bring everyone as a community together.”

She also committed to conduct meetings “with dignity and respect for each other and for each one of you [and] to create an atmosphere where you can express yourself]]]]at all times.”