Teacher challenges Hialeah's political regime vs only incumbent

Monica Pérez has big, er, plans.

The elementary school teacher is running for Hialeah Council against incumbent Lourdes Lozano, one of the Seguro Que Yes council members who give Mayor Carlos Hernández an iron rule on the city.

Pérez could have chosen one of three open seats and not run against an incumbent. But she says that Lozano is just a Hernández puppet and that residents deserve someone who is beholden only to them.

Smart. Brave. Different. Ladra likes her already.

“She has typically supported everything the mayor wants,” the 37-year-old Florida International University grad said of Lozano. “I will be an independent voice for the residents of Hialeah and find ways to solve their concerns.”

Be still my beating heart.

The mother of a 7-year-old autistic child has said that, if elected, she will prioritize the recreational programs of the municipal parks, particularly after-school programs and amenities for special needs children.

“We have summer programs that have been cut. We have a football league program that was cancelled. We have a state of the art pool with a lazy river and it’s closed half the time,” Pérez said.

She’s also concerned about the attempted zoning change for a property on Red Road to build hundreds of new apartments and says that residents are tired of all the upzoning and overdevelopment.

“At some point, you need to step back and see how it’s affecting our community,” Pérez said.

Born and raised in Hialeah, Pérez has been teaching for the past 15 years at Ernest R. Graham and West Hialeah Gardens elementaries. Recreational programs are close to her heart because she grew up in Hialeah’s parks, eventually becoming an after school coordinator at North Hialeah and Meadowlane elementaries and a cheerleading coach at the YMCA.

Lozano, 75, was first elected in 2011, beating former Councilman Alex Morales, a close ally of former Mayor Raúl Martínez who also ran for mayor that year and lost to Hernández. Born in Cuba, she got a bachelor’s degree in psychology from St. Thomas University, is a realtor and also works or worked as community liaison at the Department of Children and Families.

“This is the last term I have left,” Lozano told El Nuevo Herald. “And I’m seeking re-election for the love of my community.”

But Pérez knows she is running against more than just an incumbent, even. She is running against Hernández and the political machine that keeps him in office and in power.

“Everyone says ‘Are you ready for this? Are you ready for what they’re going to do to you?’ As if I’m going to get into a fight,” Pérez said. “I won’t be intimidated. This is still the United States of America and I can run.”

She is also the first candidate to openly oppose the elimination of term limits, which we all know Hernández is seeking through the installation of a new charter review committee. He is termed out in two years and ain’t ready to go.

“The residents of the city do not agree with the mayor’s proposal to eliminate the limits of the mandates,” Pérez said. “Term limits are necessary because they don’t let politicians get too comfortable in their positions and forces them to listen to the needs of residents.”

Her website says that she is also concerned about safety and wants to increase the number of police officers on the force.

“I simply want Hialeah to be a great place to work, own a business, and feel safe to live while raising a family. Serving as a city council is a way to thank the community in which I grew-up,” she says.

“We need a fresh new political government in Hialeah who has an independent voice and addresses the needs of the citizen while raising the level of service to our city without raising taxes.”

Told ya. Big ones.

Carlos Hernandez, Hialeah politics, Lourdes Lozano, Monica Perez

Teacher challenges Hialeah’s political regime vs only incumbent added by Ladra on June 26, 2019
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