Perla Tabares Hantman bows out and Miami-Dade School Board race ignites

Manny Cid, Maribel Balbin among potential candidates

Miami-Dade School Board Member Perla Tabares Hantman, who has served in that capacity for almost three decades, will not seek re-election. She made the announcement days after a Miami Lakes man tied to Gov. Ron DeSantis and charter schools filed to run against her.

We knew she wasn’t going to last long without the arm of Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to hang on.

Las malas lenguas say that friends and supporters told Tabares — who had filed re-election paperwork on April 4 — that it was better to bow out gracefully than fight a campaign that could get nasty. They also say she has a preferred candidate — a Republican woman who is an educator.

That might be Claudia Luces, a Miami Lakes activist and teacher at Miami Lakes Educational Center, a magnet school, who was appointed to the town’s education advisory board — which she chaired many years ago — just last month by Councilwoman Marilyn Ruano.

And then there was this cryptic selfie posted on her social media March 31. Yep, that’s the Miami-Dade Elections Department behind Luces, who sources say is BFFs with the board member.

Roberto Alonso, a real estate developer and lobbyist who helped develop software for charter schools, is the only one who has filed paperwork for the seat so far. But now that it’s an open seat, a rare and golden opportunity for elected office, there is going to be more interest. Besides, nobody wants Alonso to just walk into it.

Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid said he has been approached by multiple people urging him to run and could jump into the race. And Maribel Balbin, former president of the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade, said she is considering a run.

“Following the announcement by Chairwoman Perla Tabares Hantman that she will not be seeking another term in office, after so ably representing the public interests for so many years, many people have expressed concerns about the future representation of District 4 on the school board,” Balbin said last week. “I am forming an exploratory committee in the coming days to evaluate the possibility of becoming a candidate.”

Balbin, 67, has worked in government for at least 15 years, first at the South Florida Water Management district and then at the Miami-Dade County Office of Sustainability from 2005 to 2013. Since then she’s been president at Public Affairs Concepts, which means she’s a government consultant and does public outread. She is also president of the Women’s Speaker’s Bureau and works tirelessly to engage and empower women in business and politics.

“My community involvement has provided leadership opportunities with a focus on encouraging participation in the democratic process,” Balbin said.

And, importantly to the school board contest, she’s a public schools product. Her daughter went to public school. Her grandchildren go to public schools in the district, where she’s lived for 30 years.

“I believe that public education continues to be a cornerstone of American democracy and a way to equalize opportunity for all citizens,” she told Ladra.

Mayor Cid, 38, is a product of private school, specifically Monsignor Edward Pace High (class of 2002) and works at Horeb Christian Academy as “guest lecturer” on civics and government and also as head basketball coach. Before he became mayor in 2016, he was a councilman before that he served seven years as senior legislative aide to two Florida state reps, Ralph Arza for a year and then Eddy Gonzalez.

Cid has been a mostly fair and effective mayor, bringing Miami Lakes back from the brink of hell under former Mayor Michael Pizzi. He’s very accessible — has his own popular café in the town — and pretty stainfree.

Friends have long said that this was Cid’s next step and that he was waiting for Tabares Hantman to resign rather than run against her. But then again, everyone always wants Cid to run for everything. He’s long been the rumored candidate for this House seat and that Senate seat. Like he’s a universal politician you can plug in anywhere.

Yet, Cid seemed reluctant when Ladra spoke to him this past week.

“I’ve been listening to the educators and students in the area, but yeah, I have two and a half years left in my term and I’m committed to the people of Miami Lakes,” Cid told Ladra.

“While I’m contemplating it, the reality is the best person is principal Carlos Alvarez,” Cid said, referring to Miami Lakes Councilman Carlos Alvarez.

The mayor has started a drumroll in the community for Alvarez, who has both public school experience — as teacher and then assistant principal at Jose Marti Middle School — and in the private sector where he is now as principal at City of Hialeah Educational Academy (COHEA), a charter school he helped found in 2008. He might be the perfect hybrid, but he has, so far, rejected the notion.

Everyone has until noon June 17 to qualify for the $45,000-a-year job.

The other seats up this year are District 2, where incumbent Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall is facing a challenge from La-Shanda West. Incumbents Marta Perez and Maria Teresa Rojas (sister-in-law to Congressman Carlos Gimenez) have not drawn challenges — yet. Las malas lenguas say that the local and state Republicans are going to find opponents for both women, who voted in favor of masks and not lockstep with the governor’s agenda. These seats are non partisan but that’s on paper only.

And there’s going to be another open race soon. Member Christy Fraga is running for mayor of Doral and would have to resign, causing for either an appointment or special election to fill that seat. It should be the latter. Can’t Fraga time it so that her replacement can be elected on the same ballot?

Manny Cid, Miami-Dade School Board, Perla Tabares Hantman

Perla Tabares Hantman bows out and Miami-Dade School Board race ignites added by Ladra on May 1, 2022
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