Florida City elections: No change for the last 30 to 50 years

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Providing for what could arguably be the best argument for term limits ever, three incumbents with nearly three decades in office — and half a century, in one case — won re-election Tuesday in Florida City.

Mayor Otis Wallace, first elected 30 years ago, won with more than 71% of the vote. And Commissioners Roy “RS” Shiver and Eugene Berry each won with 44% and 39%, respectively, meaning that Shiver will serve as vice mayor.

Berry was first elected in 1986 and Shiver — father of former county manager and Homestead Mayor Steve Shiver — has been in office for almost 50 years. That’s a half a century, folks. First elected in 1964, Shiver said during the campaign that the city needed a commissioner with experience.

Experience is one thing. Addiction is another.

Maybe the lack of change in city leadership is because Florida City has less than 10,000 people, fewer than 4,882 registered voters, so perhaps there are no other better candidates. The only person who challenged Shiver and Berry this year was James Brady, a Republican Party committeeman who was accused of absentee ballot fraud last year in the Homestead elections on behalf of mayoral candidate Mark Bell, husband of Miami-Dade Commission Vice Chair Lynda Bell. Brady got 17% of the vote. It is his third loss, after losing in races in 2010 and 2012.

And maybe the lack of change is because of the lack of interest. A whole 720 people cast ballots this year in Florida City. That’s right, the population of a small apartment building. Or less than half the voters at Robert King High Tower in Miami.

Or maybe it is because of certain interest. Weeks before the election, Wallace discussed a grant he was applying for to help seniors and low-income families recuperate monies spent for home repairs. A vote for Otis and you can get a new roof, was the message.

Let’s hope the mayor, who hinted Tuesday night that this may be his last term, takes some of the fresh ideas presented during the campaign by his challenger, Killian High social studies teacher Israel J. Andrews, who was a city commissioner in the 80s and 90s. The 54-year-old talked about attracting higher wage industries, providing bill-paying services on the city’s website and having youth programs all year round.

The time has come for those ideas — and for fresh faces to put them in action.

Hopefully, the experienced incumbents with between 28 and 50 years under their belts can identify and mentor some potential successors to the throne.

  Otis Wallace, term limits