The runoff in the special election to fill a vacancy on the Miami Lakes Town Council was won by attorney Bryan Morera, but one could say that three council members also won Tuesday.
Morera, who took 57 percent against Esther Colon‘s 43 percent, had been endorsed and/or supported by council members Marilyn Ruano, Luis Collazo and Josh Dieguez. Both he and Colon, the former manager of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea who beat the supposed mayoral’s favorite candidate to get into the runoff, are longtime town activists who have served on a bunch of committees and the all important Blasting Advisory Board, which addresses the issue of the quarry blasting, which is probably the biggest issue in Miami Lakes (maybe tied with the 170th Street bridge and the taxing districts).
So Morera’s victory could be a victory for them in the sense that, if he is their ally, they’ll have a majority voting bloc on the dais. Las malas lenguas say this is what Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, who is running for county mayor against incumbent Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, did not want. He advocated hard for the appointment process, which could have allowed him to maintain the majority voting bloc he had before Vice Mayor Carlos Alvarez resigned in November for the final six months of his last term.
Read related: Runoff for Miami Lakes council seat reveals rift on the town council
A little over 10% of the 20,045 registered voters in Miami Lakes cast ballots, according to the results posted by the Miami-Dade Elections Department. Morera won by 170 votes.
He also raised and spent at least twice as much as Colon, according to the latest campaign reports filed, which show transactions through April 25. Morera raised $30,850 in 122 contributions. Colon raised $14,545 in 33 contributions, but $6,000 of that was loaned to herself (so she really raised $8,545).
Cid, who had told Political Cortadito he could work with either candidate, congratulated Morera in a statement. But he was still a little salty that the special election even happened.
“Although I’m happy that we put this behind us, it still pains me that money to hire new police offices was shifted to host a election that cost $115,000 and where only 10% of registered voters participated,” Cid said in a text sent to Ladra. “Our rank and file officers are speaking out about augmenting our department, and I’m hopeful that we can add three officers to the force this fiscal year.
“This election could have been done in November at no cost to our taxpayers while adding another officer to our force,” he said.
Read related: Manny Cid PAC hits Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on $2.5 billion bond
Ruano, one of the council members who backed Morera, said she was also glad the election is in the past.
“Moving forward, the council will no longer be in a deadlock,” Ruano said. “Filling this vacancy with an election and a candidate. Rosen by the people will hopefully allow us to put the past behind us and work together for the benefit of our constituents.”
The race was mostly clean and the candidates seemed to get along with each other — in the first round. There were anonymous texts sent before the runoff that said Colon would be “a radical woke commissioner,” simply because she supported flying the Pride flag at Town Hall. Morera has denied sending the texts, which called on voters to elect him.
The group that reportedly sent the texts, calling itself “Concerned Residents of Miami Lakes,” is not a registered political action committee at the town, the county or the state level. So there’s no way to trace who funded the smear campaign.
And the drama might not be entirely over, because both Dieguez and Vice Mayor Tony Fernandez are running for mayor to replace Cid. That election, which wil also have four council seats on the ballot, is in November.
Stay tuned.
Bryan Morera wins special election in Miami Lakes, creating new majority added by Ladra on
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