Former Miami Springs Councilman Victor Vazquez wants his old job back.
Vazquez, who resigned last year to run for Miami-Dade County commission — and lost in the first round — is running for the city council again.
And, again, he has the backing of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. Not that it’s a big deal. It didn’t help him much in the county race, where Kevin Marino Cabrera and Jorge Fors beat him to a runoff. He got almost 18% of the vote with a tiny fraction of the funds.
Ladra doesn’t know the political players of Miami Springs, but maybe Political Cortadito should pay more attention to that little city that could. We know about Vazquez because of the county race.
He is a U.S. Air Force veteran who lost a leg on active duty and learned to walk with a prosthetic. He has also been a professor, department chair and interim dean at Miami-Dade College, where he has published books and articles on immigration issues. And he’s been active with local non-profits such as Aspira, Disabled American Veterans Association, the Puerto Rican Leadership Council of South Florida and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Read related: For a brand new Miami-Dade County Commission, Ladra prefers these people
“Dr. Vazquez’s priorities include keeping property taxes low, maintaining
green areas, ensuring that Miami Springs benefits from the Hotel Bed Tax,
implementing recommendations of the Business and Economic Development Task Force to jump-start entrepreneurship, workforce development and economic diversification,” a statement from the county Dems says. He also wants to keep “neighborhoods peaceful, safe and secure by improving training for law enforcement, improving the efficiency of traffic and code enforcement and restoring Community Councils.”
Vazquez is facing Tom Hutchings in the Group 4 race, son of former Councilwoman and longtime realtor Joan Hutchings and co-owner of the pizza restaurant A Little Bit of Philly, which is probably the only place locally where you can get an original Phila cheesesteak.
There are also two other council races. Mayor Maria Puente Mitchell and Councilman Walter Fajet won automatically with no opposition. But in Group 2, Councilwoman Jacky Bravo has been challenged by Jennifer Graham, president of the Miami Springs Historical Society. And in Group 1 there are three wannabes for the open seat vacated by Councilman Bob Best: They are Orlando “Landy” Lamas, MaryJo Mejia Ramos, Jorge Santin.
There are also five charter amendments ballot questions that mostly revolve around unfinished terms and filling vacancies.
The election is April 4. There are two days of early voting, March 31 and April 1. For more information, visit the city website.
Victor Vazquez wants back on Miami Springs council, and two other city races added by Ladra on
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