Miami-Dade School Board gets extreme makeover with two hard right newbies

The next vote on the chairmanship may hang in the balance

Two candidates hand-picked by Gov. Ron DeSantis to punish, er, challenge Miami-Dade School Board members that did not toe his line on face masks and other COVID-29 craziness won Tuesday, likely changing the dynamic on that dais and further politicizing a “non-partisan” governing body.

Expect more heated debates about books, bathrooms and pronouns.

Roberto Alonso, a real estate professional and software developer appointed to the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees by DeSantis, won in District 4 with 57% of the vote. Maribel Balbin, the former president of the League of Women Voters, got 25% and Kevin Macki Menendez, principal of a Christian school, got 19%.

Alonso raised almost $165,000, including a bunch of small bundles from the likes of Lewis Swezy and Alex Vilarello, an attorney who does business with former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and his partners. He also has interesting maximum contributions for a first time candidate — from former State Reps. Jose Felix “Pepi” Diaz and Michael Bileca, county commission candidate Kevin Marino Cabrera, Hialeah Councilman Carl Zogby and lobbyists Ron Book, Felix LaSarte and Hugo Arza.

By comparison, Balbin raised $45,545.

Still, t\his race could have been forced into a runoff — where Balbin might have had a better shot because of the expected turnout — if the Miami-Dade Democrats and United Teachers of Dade had thrown their weight around a little bit more. Instead, Alonso will replace Chairwoman Perla Tabares Hantman, who retired rather than defend her seat in what would have been a nasty, ugly race, and we get a developer-friendly, charter school-loving marionette with the support of the Christian Family Coalition.

In District 8, Monica Colucci, who has been teaching for 26 years — and served as Special Assistant to Lt. Gov. Lieutenant Jeanette Nuñez, South Florida Regional Representative, from February of 2019 to August of 2020 — won 54% of the vote to unseat Marta Perez, who has been on the school board for 24 years.

Like Alonso, Colucci raised incumbent-like money — a total of $211,617 — though most of her advertising, including multiple negative hits and cellphone videos, was paid for by Nuñez’s political action committee, Jobs and Prosperity for Florida.

Alonso sent a mail piece attacking both Balbin and Macki, saying they would raise taxes. But he, too, said he was in favor of the November referendum for teachers’ raises and safety funding. He did call Balbin a communist at early voting sites and reportedly made Macki’s mother cry. Alonso’s PAC, Better Values in Education, also got at least $50,000 from the LG’s PAC.

Tuesday’s victory, in fact, was more a win for Nu˜nez — who took a huge risk, putting her political capital behind a novice and against Perez — as it is for Colucci. Is the LG going to hold the new school member’s hand the rest of the way?

Because it could get rocky.

And, believe it or not, School Board Maria Teresa “Mari Tere” Rojas — who defended her seat with 64% of the vote against teacher Sandra Manzieri — may end up being the swing vote.

There are still five Republicans and four Democrats on the dais, same as there were before, but their views seem more extreme, more aligned with DeSantis, and while these are non-partisan seats, party values are increasingly seeping into almost every discussion. Alonso and Colucci are expected to be far more conservative than even Tabares Hantman and Perez, even though that may have sounded unlikely a few years ago. We already know that School Board Member Lubby Navarro is a full cult groupie willing to do whatever DeSantis wants and so will whoever the governor appoints to the seat that will soon be vacated by Christi Fraga, who is running for mayor in Doral. That’s four ultra right wingers.

Rojas, in comparison, is moderate. Republican light. Unless her brother in law, Congressman Carlos Gimenez, applies pressure, of course.

And the first test may come when the school board members choose the new chairperson in the November organizational meeting. Vice chair Steve Gallon III, one of the Dems on the board, is the natural choice and heir apparent. The other Dems are likely to support him. They are Luisa Santos, Lucia Baez-Geller and Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, who won her re-election Tuesday with 75% of the vote against teacher La-Shanda West.

But Navarro has made no secret of the fact that she, too, wants to be top dog. And she also has the three votes from Alonso, Colucci and the Fraga replacement. Assuming each votes for his or herself, that ends 4-4, with Rojas as the swing vote.

Las malas lenguas say Rojas already made a deal to support Navarro in exchange for leaving her alone in this election. After all, she is the only one who didn’t get a fully-funded, DeSantis approved opponent.

Reached by phone for comment, Gallon made a long-winded and very political statement he sent me via text:

“First, I don’t concede to the notion that any one person put persons into elected office. In fact, the democratic process occurred in which people legally went to the polls or mailed in their ballots for the candidate of their choice. To accept any other suggestion would be to diminish the voice and votes of those who engaged in the process.
“I recognize that the process also allows for candidates to receive support and endorsements from various sources.
“Also, as a lifelong educator, I maintain the premise and belief that those who choose to serve, especially in education, do so on behalf and in the interest of students — it is the students’ education to which we all are beholden. I believe a focus on our students is our ‘shared’ agenda. The outcome of last night’s election has not changed my optimism and outlook in this belief.
“As for board leadership, we serve at the pleasure of the board. I’ve been honored to serve as vice-chair for the past several years at the pleasure of my colleagues and pursuant to a process driven by policy and statutory timelines, a process that occurs annually in November. I’ll continue to defer to and respect that process and remain willing and committed to collaborating with and serving at the pleasure of my colleagues on the School Board.”
Miami-Dade School Board Vice-Chair Steve Gallon III

Perez says this election could have a chilling effect for years to come.

“I think some members might think, ‘I better behave or I’ll get the same treatment.'”

Miami-Dade School Board

Miami-Dade School Board gets extreme makeover with two hard right newbies added by Ladra on August 25, 2022
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