Miami-Dade voters deserve a real race, runoff, debate for county mayor's job

There are seven candidates on the ballot for Miami-Dade Mayor. But really, there are only two.

Eddy Rojas, who owns a valet parking company, is way out of his league here. Alex Otaola, a Cuban-American actor, comedian and podcaster who doesn’t speak English, is out of his mind. Unfortunately, so are the hundreds who will vote for him because of his ridiculous anti-communist platform. Carlos Garín, a TV personality, is a fish out of water. And while Ladra really likes Miguel “El Skipper” Quintero, the trapeze artist who is running just to bring attention to what he says is a double standard in code enforcement, we all know he’s out on a limb.

Former Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger, who only became interested in this job after he failed to get reelected in his own city, could be out for blood. He knows he’s not going to make it into a runoff, so is he just there to steal Republican votes from Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid? Apparently the GOP is not happy with Cid’s decision to run for this seat, which they want open in 2026 when DLC runs for governor or something. Did the GOP leadership whisper in Danzinger’s ear?

It’s a lot of noise and too many distractions for a very important race that should be getting more laser focused attention. Voters need to know more about the only two viable candidates, who are Cid and incumbent Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who became the first woman and first Jewish mayor elected to Miami-Dade in 2020 when she beat former Commissioner Esteban Bovo, who went on to grab a consolation prize and become the mayor of Hialeah.

Ladra, like many, is disappointed with La Alcaldesa for her top heavy staff — how many chiefs of this and that do we need? — her failure to follow through with the Pets’ Trust initiative and her regular blunders. Remember when she called last year’s loss of $18 million in half-penny gas taxes, a gaffe made by her administration, a “gas tax holiday?” Maybe she just sees the bright side of everything.

She enjoys unprecedented support and has an enviable approval rating, according to multiple polls. And she is usually on the right side of any issue or question. She has good ideas. She is just not that good at executing.

Her critics will tell you that Levine Cava is out of her depth. It often looks like defacto county manager Jimmy Morales, the “chief operating officer,” is running things. It sometimes looks like Levine Cava’s very prolific consultant, Christian Ulvert, is running things. It looks once in a while like the nonprofits whose profiles have been elevated during the mayor’s first term are running things.

The airport’s a perpetual mess, the “new and improved” bus service has left many commuters who depend on it in transit deserts (more on that later), garbage fees have gone up, at least twice, and taxes go up every year. Under Levine Cava’s recommendation, the county will pay $182 million — with $74 million more planned in upgrades — for the old FP&L building on Flagler Street, which was appraised at $110 million. She originally wanted to pay even more.

Levine Cava has also gone on taxpayer-paid economic junkets to Japan and Qatar, a country with an abysmal human rights record, according to Amnesty International, where women and gays are routinely discriminated against and persecuted by law and by society. Homesexuals and journalists routinely “disappear” or are jailed sans trials. But the country is Ulvert’s client.

Most recently, the mayor almost caused a tragedy at the Hard Rock with poor planning for the Copa America, which was an international embarrassment that, sources say, could cost Miami-Dade the World Cup games planned for 2026.

For all her talk about affordable housing and transit, the needle really hasn’t moved in four years. Not nearly enough.

Meanwhile, La Alcaldesa’s net worth has almost tripled from $4.6 million in 2014 to $12.8 million at the end of last year, according to her financial disclosures, filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics. She has raised more than $10 million between her campaign account and her political action committee and opened her 7th campaign office this weekend.

Cid, whose net worth is just under $800K and campaigns out of the trunk of a four-door sedan, looks and sounds like a breath of fresh air. A part time teacher at Horeb High School in Hialeah and St. Thomas University, and a small business owner, he is very down to Earth and his campaign is about the middle class and the working people of the county who, often, feel left behind. He seems infinitely tuned in, while Levine Cava often seems out of touch.

Miami Lakes has not been marked by any major scandal during Cid’s tenure. He hasn’t been caught in any dirty shenanigans. And the $1.7 million that the town recently decided to pay for the legal fees for former Mayor Michael Pizzi, who was arrested on bribery charges and later acquitted, was against his wishes. Despite what some DLC campaign ads and texts say — which show her camp is worried about a possible runoff — Cid voted against it.

But, despite his “no taxes” rhetoric, Cid did lose a hard fought attempt to pass a $19.5 million bond for improvements to Optimist Park in 2022 when almost 60% of the voters rejected it.

Cid, who got the endorsement this month from the Miami Young Republicans, is running as the owner of a small business. He is a partners with Danny Delgado and Jeffrey Rodriguez in the Mayor’s Cafe, which opened in 2019 as a franchise of the original eatery owned by Pembroke Pines mayor Frank Ortis, which was a regular breakfast stop for Cid. The restaurant is busy and employs adults with autism and developmental disorders or disabilities.

But he also has had several businesses, so he could be a failed small business owner. It could be a gamble to put the county’s $12.7 billion budget in his hands. The general operating budget in Miami Lakes is $20.2 million. That would be quite a jump.

After working as a legislative aide in Tallahassee — first for former State Rep. Ralph Arza and then for former State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez — Cid turned to construction and opened two businesses. Both El Cid Strategies and Cid Construction Group were founded in 2012. He did small scale projects — painting, windows, doors — and property management. The construction company was administratively dissolved in 2013 and the consulting business was administratively dissolved in 2014.

When Cid first ran for Miami Lakes council in 2016, he was the co-owner of Always At Your Side Adult Daycare. He has said that he sold his interest in that business to invest in the Mayor’s Cafe, where he can sometimes be seen working in the kitchen.

But do those life experiences mean that more voters can relate to him? We deserve a chance to find out.

There should be a runoff. Period. Although the incumbent’s team is trying to pull off a victory in the first round, this shouldn’t be decided right away. Who wouldn’t like to see DLC and Cid debate on the big issues? It wouldn’t only be fun, it would also be an important conversation for this community.

Levine Cava needs an opportunity to defend some of her more boneheaded decisions. And Cid has to make the case for a small town mayor and should be challenged on his claims of cutting taxes.

According to a May poll by Emiliano Antuñez of Dark Horse Strategies, which is working on the Cid campaign as well as the long shot Ernie Rodriguez for sheriff campaign, a runoff is very possible. The results of that survey of 474 voters show that while La Alcaldesa enjoys a majority, with 41%, it’s not enough to win outright next month. Both Cid, with 20% of the vote, and Otaola, with single digits, are behind the number of undecided voters, who were at 29%.

Ladra is in that last group. But leaning toward El Skipper.

Daniella Levine Cava, Manny Cid, Miami-Dade Mayor’s race

Miami-Dade voters deserve a real race, runoff, debate for county mayor’s job added by Ladra on July 28, 2024
View all posts by Ladra →