Commission term limits don't really mean new faces

Municipal and state candidates wait in the wings

If anyone ever made an argument for term limits, it was Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo just last week when he was sworn in as the new chairman of the board and talked about actually making decisions in the next two years because, after all, this is his last term and he’s got a looming deadline.

“We embark on a new era, an era that is tied directly to term limits, and that is going to affect how we conduct the business of the people of Miami-Dade,” Bovo said “It becomes very clear to me that we have to work in an expedited fashion.”

It becomes very clear to me that Bovo and the others in their last term, have been forced to act, rather than talk about acting, by the fact that the clock is ticking. What? Have they beeen dawdling up to now? Just passing the time? Do they need to have a fire under their, uh, feet to make things happen?

Apparently so.

Bovo ain’t alone in preparing his exit. Term limits approved by voters in 2012 mean that six commissioners will be out of office and replaced in 2020 (Jordan, Edmonson, Barreiro, Suarez, Moss and Bovo). Another six will be replaced in 2022 (Monestime, Heyman, Levine Cava, Sosa, Souto and Diaz), leaving only newly elected Commissioner Joe Martinez (that sounds weird) on the dais with 12 fresh faces. Although “fresh” might be an overstatement.

This is the 305, after all, where recycling politicians is not just a sport, it’s a cottage industry. The most likely replacements will be electeds who move up the political ladder from municipal office or down from the state legislature to Miami-Dade.

It’s no secret, for example, that State Sen. Anitere Flores has long been eyeing Commissioner Javier Souto‘s county seat and that former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner is waiting for Commissioner Xavier Suarez to be termed out so she can run for an open seat.

Flores pretty much has it in the bag. But Lerner might find, however, that it’s not going to be just handed over to her. Coral Gables Commissioner Vince Lago surely has higher aspirations and Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, who is termed out this year, may find retirement boring. Anything is better than Mayor Carlos Gimenez wanting his old seat back or, knock on wood, his lobbyist son, who just started his own consulting firm wheeling and dealing for Latin American interests who want the ear of our President Donald Trump.

Some districts have more potential hopefuls waiting in the wings than others. Take Commissioner Bruno Barreiro‘s seat. His replacement could come from either Miami Beach or the city of Miami. Maybe Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo hasn’t filed paperwork because he’s thinking of jumping the bridge to the 111 building. Ladra wouldn’t be surprised at all if former Commissioner Marc Sarnoff ran. He’s been conspicuously quiet. And what if former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla thinks the city of Miami is too small for him?

But this is also an opportunity for former Miami Beach Commissioners Deede Weithorn and Michael Gongora (pictured here), both of whom lost state bids last year. It very well could turn into a Miami vs. Miami Beach thing.

District 13 might also get a clusterbunch of candidates when Bovo runs for mayor in 2020. Ladra suspects that newly-elected Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid has aspirations beyond the town. He just seems so ambitious. And he’s worked closely with Bovo on several district initiatives. Chances are, just from the sheer number of them, that he will have a challenge out of Hialeah. Maybe Carlos Hernandez. Maybe Vivian Casals-Munoz. Maybe even State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, who has been quietly lobbying for the megamall development in Northwest Miami-Dade, which is coming before the commission this week (more on that later).

Homestead Mayor Jeff Porter ought to run for Daniella Levine Cava‘s seat in District 8. It’s really a good way to continue to advocate for your hometown, which is largely ignored. Ladra thinks he’d get the support of the Democrats and labor groups that supported Daniella. We would have said former Sen. Dwight Bullard would run for Levine’s or Moss’s seat — whichever one he lived in — except he apparently moved to Gadsen County to run for chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. He may move back. It’s not unthinkable. And don’t count former Commissioner Lynda Bell out. Sure, she lost to Levine Cava in 2012, but she could come back. Stranger things have happened. Recently. The very Repubican pro-life advocate may feel empowered.

Former Doral Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz might jump at the chance to run for Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz‘s seat. She might finally be able to win one, with the Democratic Party’s help again, especially if her only opponent is Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez. But there’s always the hope of a rematch. After all, former Doral Mayor Luigi Boria , who loaned himself quite a bit for a failed mayoral re-election, has the money to run another race if his ego gets the best of him. And, now, he also has the time. But Ruiz likely has the support of Doral Mayor J.C. Bermudez, who just beat Boria decidedly in November. That is, if he doesn’t run himself. It isn’t entirely out of the question either; Bermudez at one point mulled a run for county mayor.

Certainly, Ladra has forgotten some notable recyclables who are just chomping at the bit. Please feel free to add your own predictions in the comments below.

Of course, all these “new” people — recycled electeds and any fresh faces that may sprout — start with the clock running already. Nobody is going to get 27 years, like Souto and Commissioner Dennis Moss will have served by the time they are forced to leave the dais almost, practically at gunpoint. The new batch of commissioners will have only eight short (?) years to get things done and that’s it. Then there’s a whole new crop of people coming in every four years. The turnaround should be a fantastic motivator.

Maybe we should shorten term limits to four years. Imagine how much more would get done.

Anitere Flores, Cindy Lerner, Luigis Boria, Miami-Dade Commission, Sandra Ruiz, term limits

Commission term limits don’t really mean new faces added by Ladra on January 22, 2017
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