Voters in South Miami elected Brian Corey to serve out former Commissioner Bob Welsh‘s term after Welsh died in January. Corey beat out two other candidates: Mary Ann Ruiz and Zach Mann.
Guess those negative mailers worked.
Corey got 43% of the vote while Ruiz came in second with 33%. Mann came in third with 23% and someone named Henry Tien who didn’t campaign at all actually got four votes. Maybe it was his family.
Mann got five more Election Day votes but Ruiz beat him in vote-by-mail ballots.
“Bicycle Bob” died in January after years of battling skin cancer. A popular figure in South Miami politics, he was an ally of both former Mayor Phillip Stoddard and current Mayor Sally Philips, Stoddard’s handpicked heir.
Read related: In South Miami, Phillip Stoddard stays in power through puppet, Sally Philips
The election was marked by negative campaigning through the political action committee presumably run by Mark Herron in Tallahassee, even though Stoddard told Ladra himself that it was run by Corey’s campaign manager, Randy Hilliard.
First they hit Ruiz with a mailer that said she was taking contributions from developers. The second mailer was against Mann, who ran unsuccessfully 10 years ago and hasn’t been active in the city since.
The difference came down to 173 votes between Corey and Ruiz, who are both planning board members. The total number of ballots cast were 1,667, almost 20% of the 8,371 voters registered.
Interestingly, 57% voted against Corey but it can’t be known if either Ruiz or Mann would have gotten a majority of votes if the other hadn’t run.
Phone calls and texts to Corey, a marketing an advertising professional, and Ruiz were not immediately answered.
Read related: Dark money PAC attack in South Miami special election hits Hispanic hopeful
The one issue he pressed on his website is a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 1 to the Shops at Sunset Place. Funds have been allocated for a study, he said.
“The finalization of this project would not only put us one step closer to solving the conundrum of Downtown South Miami’s perpetual underperformance, but would signify to the South Florida community that Downtown South Miami is a place we want you to visit safely and to enjoy,” Corey writes in his website.
Zach Mann supporters were pretty devastated Tuesday night. One longtime activist said they had post traumatic stress disorder. They are concerned that the pro-development side of the commission now has the super majority — and that Stoddard is still running things behind the scenes.
“Brian Corey is supported by [Commissioner] Josh Liebman, who wants to super high-rise the city, and by Phil Stoddard who is for monstrous high density,” the activist, who preferred her name not be published, said.
“He’s going to approve everything that comes before him.”
Corey will serve for the next 18 months until November 2022 because voters last year approved a referendum moving the elections from February to November in an effort to improve turnout.
Negative mailers work as South Miami elects Brian Corey over two others added by Ladra on
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Corey stated that his place of business is in South Miami. His place of business is at 1430 S.Dixie Hwy.
Corey has made statements to the effect that he wants to highrise at least the downtown.
Corey has stated that the businesses within South Miami subsidize the homeowners by paying far more taxes than the homeowners. I have heard former Mayor Stoddard state this during his time as Mayor on more than one occasion.
This is propaganda for the purpose of convincing residents that we must go high rise or our taxes will go up. .
Jose Viernes, are you okay with candidates and elected officials lying intentionally to deceive the public?
For me, this is an issue.
I also share Eda Harris’s disgust with the former Mayor for claiming that “Bob told him 6 yrs ago…..to find a replacement for him…etc….
When did issues in a campaign become negative?
As chair of the Planning Board, Mary Ann took lots of money from developers.
Sounds like an issue to me.
Zach HAS done nothing in South Miami in fourteen years.
Sounds like an issue to me.
It’s only negative when the information is a lie.
Both mailings were true.
Apparently, the voters agreed.
something that starts with dirt ends with dirt. it all started with phil’s letter to all residents (he claimed he paid for mailing it out of his own pocket. (should we believe it?) apart from it, phil claimed in this letter that bob asked him 6 years ago to find a substitute for his seat if he leaves this world.
i was friends with bob for about 27 years. we discussed many things, we argued, we agreed, we fought many battles together, we respected each other and we had deep affection for one another. i would have never dared to presume or even more announce to the world WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN BOB’S HEAD. did phil even ask about it the person who was the closest to bob – his wife. nope. did he consult with any of us, who were friends with him for many years? nope. and yet, his wife marilyn said that bob told her once that if zach would have run, he, bob, would have supported him. zach was also friends with bob. they were also ideologically and in general very close in the perception of the world in general. and marilyn, bob’s wife, voted for zach and had a sign in her yard for zach. phil had the nerve to tell us all, that he and he alone knew bob better that his own wife. really phil? have you no shame?
Brian and Lina were both supported by Somerset Academy Charter Schools; Lina is employed by the school. Anyone who watched city commission meetings over the years, knew it was Commissioner Welsh’s contention that the school practiced racist recruitment policies because of the low numbers of African American students enrolled in their classes. Mayor Stoddard did nothing to support Welsh’s concerns.
Lina, you and Brian want to highrise the City. That’s your number one objective. In my opinion you are both wired in to deep pocketed special interests. I know who the principals are for the PAC that supported Brian. Shame on both of you.
Your flowery words are garbage.
It wasn’t the negative flyers that got Brian elected. He is genuine and truly committed to our City’s residents. Those qualities were evident and came across as he canvassed tirelessly during the days leading up to the election. Brian knocked on doors and listened to the residents. Negative flyers about candidates aren’t new to politics and specially in South Miami. In the end I think we all should be honored to have a great new commissioner that will represent us well