President Elect Joe Biden‘s transition might not be going along as quickly as some might like, and Miami-Dade Mayor Elect Daniella Levine Cava doesn’t get sworn in until next week, but she’s already taking charge at County Hall, making key hires and meeting with department heads.
She might want to try to pace herself. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
The very next day after she was elected the first female mayor of Miami-Dade in a decided victory over the more experienced Commissioner Esteban “Stevie” Bovo, a state rep before running for the county seat in the 2011 recall recoil race, Levine Cava showed she was not taking time off in two back-to-back food distribution events in Miami Beach and Wynwood, helping residents affected by the COVID-induced economic crisis.
This was refreshingly not a campaign event since she already won.
The day after that, she was at the renaming of a section of Northeast 16th Avenue, from Ives Dairy Road to 209th Street, as Trayvon Martin Avenue, in honor of the youth whose death by a neighborhood watch volunteer in 2012 launched the original Black Lives Matter movement. After that, she met with Miami-Dade County Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez on plans to maintain our community safe in the light of national uncertainty.
“A productive meeting,” Ramirez called it. Ladra would think it was awkward given how the Dade Police Benevolent Association campaigned hard for Bovo and spread the lies that Levine Cava would defund the police.
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On Monday, she was at a Tropical Storm ETA briefing and on Wednesday she attended several Veterans Day events, things she might have done as a commissioner anyway. In fact, she has her last meeting as a commissioner Friday for a special commission meeting — delayed due to the storm.
But on Monday she also had her first COVID19 response call with Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Pinecrest Mayor Joseph Corradino. “Our best shot to beat the pandemic is to stand together as one united community. I look forward to working alongside all our local leaders as mayor,” she tweeted.
And on Thursday, la alcaldesa announced her first key team member: Chief of Staff Johanna Cervone, an original District 8 staffer who later became South Florida press secretary for Hillary Clinton and was subsequently hired as deputy communications director and Hispanic press secretary for the Florida Democratic Party in 2017.
Ladra guesses that Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s do-as-I-say advice (read: admonishment) at the goodbye ceremony (and isn’t it great that Commissioner Xavier Suarez didn’t go?) to stay away from partisan politics went in one ear and out the other. Is this a continuation of the unprecedented partisanship of the campaign?
Maybe Cervone wasn’t the obvious choice. A few people expected Christian Ulvert, Levine Cava’s longtime campaign consultant, to get that job (and pension). But, forget it, he’s making too much money as a king and queen maker.
And Cervone — an Argentine-born, Miami-bred, FSU grad who also served as director of advocacy at a nonprofit promoting women’s equality in Latin America and as executive director of communications in the office of the president of the University of Miami — is well versed in DLC’s vision.
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“As we get to work right away tackling the big challenges facing Miami-Dade County, I’m thrilled to have Johanna join my team to help drive forward our priorities from day one,” Levine Cava said. “She is a strategic leader who has dedicated her career to causes that uplift working families in Florida and across Latin America, and she will help ensure that we build an accountable, transparent, and effective local government working on behalf of the people of Miami-Dade.”
“I’m so proud to join Mayor-Elect Levine Cava’s team at this history-making moment for our county,” Cervone said in a statement. “Having served as part of her District 8 commission team, I know first-hand how hard the new mayor will work every single day on behalf of the people of Miami-Dade.
“I’m excited to get to work helping deliver on her bold vision to move Miami-Dade forward through crisis and to build a more resilient, inclusive economy and community.”
There are no other announced hires — though everyone thinks Jimmy Morales left the city of Miami Beach to take Vice Mayor Jack Osterholt‘s place — because Levine Cava has apparently been busy the last couple of days with back-to-back meetings with county supervisors and directors.
Thank God for Zoom.
On Wednesday, la alcaldesa was scheduled to meet with Vice Mayor and Budget Director Jennifer Moon — whose job is likely the safest — and then Gerald Sanchez from the county attorney’s office. Thursday was a killer with only two half-hour bathroom breaks scheduled in between virtual meetings with Water and Sewer Director Kevin Lynskey, Internal Services Director Tara Smith, Environmental Resources Management (DERM) Director Lee Hefty, Transportation and Public Works Director Alice Bravo, deputy mayors Osterholt and Ed Marquez and their teams, Wendy Kallergis of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association and Jackson Health System CEO Carlos Migoya. She meets with Vice Mayor Michael Springer and his team Friday afternoon.
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It’s tiring just to read it. And Ladra can’t help but wonder why she needs all these meet and greets when she knows these people already. She should know what’s going on in these departments. She’s been a commissioner for six years. They can’t be just bringing her up to speed.
So are these “you can stay, and you can go” meetings?
La nueva alcaldesa also aimed to carve out time to speak at a small business webinar for the Economic Development Council of South Miami-Dade and two Zoom conferences — one with the Miami-Dade County League of Cities Mayors’ Coalition and another with someone at Becker Poliakoff regarding Eulen America, an aviation firm.
Well, there had to be at least one lobbyist. Wonder what they want.
The official swearing-in, installation ceremony is a limited capacity event Tuesday with social distancing and masks required at the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center. Levine Cava, who paints herself as a mayor of the people, will also have a public victory party at Bayfront Park Amphitheater after 5 p.m. Tuesday. Masks are required and COVID protocols will be followed there, too. RSVP at this link.
La alcaldesa’s first meeting as la alcaldesa is next Thursday. Stay tuned.
La Alcaldesa Daniella Levine Cava wastes no time to hire, meet with staff added by Ladra on
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