Miami Commissioner Ken Russell may finally have a serious challenge: Jim Fried, a radio show host for 10 years and the uncle of Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikky Fried, filed paperwork last week to run in District 2.
Another candidate, Javier Gonzalez, has been in the race since December. 
But he’s been running since 2015, when he stepped down as president of the Coconut Grove Village Council to join the 9-way clusterbunch running for the open seat left by the termed-out Marc Sarnoff. Gonzalez wasn’t able to muster 300 votes then. And he’s raised only $10,500 since December.
Fried, a real estate and mortgage broker with a talk show on 880 AM The Biz radio Thursday evenings, has been attending community meetings for the last few weeks and could become the first real challenge to Russell. Both are Democrat activists who entered politics out of frustration with the status quo. For Russell, it was the Douglas Park contamination. For Fried, it was the lack of what he calls “customer service” to residents and then R
ussell’s vote on the Miami Freedom Park no-bid real estate referendum.
“I totally disagree with the process. It’s one of the reasons I got in the race,” Fried told Political Cortadito Thursday.
“The number one issue is undue influence by connected insiders,” Fried said, not naming names. Number two is a lack of planning and customer service.
“I think I could provide a higher level of customer service to residents and business owners in District 2,” said Fried, who this week attended a meeting where angry Morningside residents demanded to have their community pool, closed for four years, reopened without a big redevelopment plan tied to it (more on that later).
Read related: Miami incumbents sans opponents raise big bucks for reelection
That’s just one of the issues that some say make Russell vulnerable. A poll by Sarnoff, who had contemplated a comeback, reportedly shows he is virtually unknown in some of the Northeast areas where Fried has friends. Sarnoff — who would not share the results with Ladra but has apparently shared them with some of her sources — 
said he decided not to run because voters passed Florida Amendment 12, which won’t allow any elected officials to lobby any federal, state or municipal body starting next year.
So, it not, as las malas lenguas say, because Sarnoff was bought off when his law firm got the contract to negotiate the Miami Freedom Park lease. Get your mind out of the gutter, people!
“It would have changed my financial situation tremendously,” Sarnoff told Ladra Thursday. That’s true either way, though, isn’t it?
Russell says he is comfortable with his own internal polling, but would not share either, which doesn’t bode well because they leak good numbers.
“District 2 is a really important district in South Florida,” he told Ladra, 
referring to his district, which runs from Coconut Grove through Brickell and the downtown, to Edgewater, Morningside, Midtown and the upper Biscayne communities (the orange part of the map here).
“I can understand why people would want to run. There’s a lot going on and there’s a lot to do. I welcome the engagement,” Russell said. “I’m going to run a strong, positive campaign about the things I’ve accomplished and the things I’m going to accomplish.”
Among those achievements he lists are progress on the Baywalk linear park, a ban on the dumping of 5,000 gallons or so of bug killer into Biscayne Bay and getting a 20% local pool and $15 an hour minimum for workers at the future Miami Freedom Park, which he sorta supports. In theory, anyway.
Read related: Closing Melreese is political drama to benefit soccer mall developers
He is also proud of increasing the criteria for a casino to come to the downtown — requiring more public scrutiny and a four fifths vote — and efforts to increase workforce housing downtown.
But critics, which include some 2015 supporters, say he has been largely absent, partly because he began a congressional campaign two years into his first term, only to drop out of the race four months til the primary. That felt like a slap in the face, some residents said. He looked like he had far more ambition than commitment and not like the activist they voted for.
They blame him for the artificial turf that momentarily replaced the little sod there is in the downtown and Brickell area, the impending demolition of the Grove Playhoue, over development by speculators in West Grove and the disbanding of a panel that oversaw streets in the downtown core.
“Right now, District 2 residents like me miss having a commissioner who cares about resident quality of life,” said activist Grant Stern. “From man 
sized potholes in the sidewalks to a decrepit downtown a group of 60,000 residents have been voiceless at City Hall under the current District 2 regime.
“There are potholes in the sidewalk next to Margaret Pace Park that could swallow your child whole,” Stern said.
Fried says he was encouraged to run by Stern and a group of other regular City Hall critics. Longtime activist Peter Ehrlich will work on his campaign.
“We’ve watched negotiations at the city for a while, and most often they are not in the best interest of the citizens,” Fried said. “I know how to make a deal.”
He said Russell is disrespectful at community and homeowner meetings, showing up late if at all. “If you really care about people, you have to show up,” he said, adding that he will listen and work on behalf of not only residents, but also business owners, commuters, tourists and other stakeholders.
That’s one reason why Gary Ressler, who lives in Miami Beach but owns a business in the downtown, was at a meet and greet earlier this week to learn more about Fried. He said he has not yet decided who to support, but seems solidly in favor of change.
“What I can say definitively is this: A vision, and a plan, are desperately needed. The current situation on the streets of the City of Miami’s CBD — a veritable Wild West — is untenable,” Ressler, a member of the Downtown Development Authority, told Ladra in a text message.
“There is no one in control of daily goings-on, no one is looking to reign in utility abuses, and no political will exists to confront the quality of life challenges that persist in our urban core,” Ressler added, listing a litany of disappointments in lighting, signage, parks and tree-plantings.
“Human feces litter the streets and urine flows through our gutters,” Ressler 
said, calling the permitting process “a process so replete with delays and incompetence, entrepreneurs are often bled dry before they have the opportunity to open up shop. And the City wonders why Flagler Street is so difficult to revive.
“The fact is urban revitalization is not rocket science. But it does require work, vision, and planning; all elements the current administration, particularly under this Chairman, has failed to provide.”
There is still time, a whole month, for anyone else disappointed with Russell to throw their hat in the ring. Qualifying begins Sept. 6 and ends Sept. 21.
“I am surprised more people haven’t come into the race,” Russell said.
But newcomers, including Fried, will have to hurry to raise the funds to get their message out to voters. Russell may have burned through almost $200,000 of his campaign account already, according to the latest campaign reports, but he has about $180K in hand.
Ken Russell draws new opponent; Jim Fried could be a real challenge added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
