Property appraiser, commission wannabes will also speak at KFHA event
Now that all the candidates are set with last week’s final qualifications, the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Associations will have the first candidate forum this Thursday with at least four of the seven Miami-Dade mayoral candidates on the Aug. 20 ballot. But probably not the incumbent alcaldesa.
“We’ve not been able to schedule Mayor Daniella Levine Cava but we are working on it,” says an email from the KFHA, which also explained that Eddy Rojas, who owns a valet parking company, is out of the country and podcast host and rightwing Republican darling Alexander Otaola will come at a later time. Doesn’t he want to compare himself to everyone else?
Confirmed for this mayoral standoff are Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, former Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger, trapeze artist and instructor Miguel Quintero — who has a YouTube channel called Miami Circus (no joke) and is running for revenge after being cited by code enforcement — and TV show host and commentator Carlos Garin. Even without Levine Cava, this will be an interesting opportunity for these four guys to try to distinguish themselves from each other.
Also going are the two candidates that qualified last week for the property appraiser’s seat: Former Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado — was going to run for mayor of Miami, which is a much better fit and idea, and for some reason changed his mind — will go up against Marisol Zenteno, who ran for the post in 2020 and lost to Pedro Garcia, who is not seeking reelection. She still did pretty good for a first-timer, with 47% of the vote.
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Regalado, a Republican, has more name recognition and is leading in fundraising with almost three times as much just in his campaign account, not counting political action committees. But this is Zenteno’s second run and the Democrat arguably has more experience, as a property appraiser for 20 years, the last eight of which she has worked at the county appraiser’s office. This is a competitive race.
There are two Regalados on the ballot, since Commissioner Raquel Regalado has been challenged to a rematch by former Pinecrest Mayor and state rep. Cindy Lerner, who lost the 2020 District 7 race with 49 percent of the vote, by a difference of 1,300 ballots. But they are not invited to this forum. That could come later, as there are many races on the ballot and there will be more forums.
We hope there’s one with the three Democrats who qualified for the primary race for Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections, former State Rep. JC Planas, political operative Willis Howard and digital media entrepreneur Arnold “Arnie” Benjamin Weiss.
County Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez is invited to this Thursday’s event. He hasn’t responded, but two first-time candidates in the District 11 race, both educators, will be there: high school teacher Bryan Paz-Hernandez, former president of the West Kendall Democratic Club, and elementary school teacher Claudia Rainville. All three qualified last week, but Paz-Hernandez has been running since February and Rainville just filed last month.
Appointed by the guv to fill the seat that was vacated when Commissioner Joe Martinez was arrested in 2022 on bribery charges, Gonzalez is that rarest of elected — an incumbent at his first real election. But he has no real reason to go to the forum. He has plenty of other avenues to reach his constituency and lots more money in his campaign report to do so.
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And let’s face it, La Alcaldesa has the bully pulpit too and probably won’t make it either. Hurricane press conferences will be more effective.
While KFHA is a somewhat influential group, the audience is usually relatively small at that “little house” across the street from the movie theater at the Kendall Village Shopping Center where their meetings are held. DLC likes a stage. And, by all accounts, is leading polls to the point that Levine Cava thinks she can win in August. It’s possible. The field is four Republicans who are going to divide the vote and one former Democrat (Quintero) turned NPA who is not going to make much of a dent.
But it would be a disservice by both Gonzalez and Levine Cava, who might be forced into a November runoff, after all, by the sheer number of mayoral candidates on the ballot. They should provide voters with as many opportunities as possible to learn about them and to ask questions.
Because they were elected by some of these very people.
The KFHA form begins at 7 p.m. Thursday in that small room at 8625 SW 124th Ave.
Kendall’s KFHA hosts Miami-Dade mayoral forum – sans incumbent mayor added by Ladra on
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