Hialeah mayor, councilman clash over tax collector election endorsement

Important post oversees DMV, auto tag offices

Hialeah Councilman Bryan Calvo, who is running for Miami-Dade Tax Collector, crashed a press conference given by Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo Monday morning to announce the endorsement of Dariel Fernandez for the new constitutional position.

That’s gotta make for some awkward council meetings.

“It’s a personal vendetta,” Calvo said to the media in the parking lot outside the Paraiso Tropical restaurant where Bovo stood with several other electeds Monday, backing Fernandez.

Standing with him and Fernandez, Hialeah Council members Jesus Tundidor and Jacqueline Garcia-Roves, State Rep. Alina Garcia, who herself is running for Supervisor of Elections, and Miami-Dade School Board Member Daniel Espino. Fernandez also said he had been endorsed by Hialeah Councilwoman Monica Perez, former Councilwoman Vivian Casals-Muñoz (aka Bovo’s lap dog) and State Rep. Tom Fabrizio, who were not there.

“After analyzing and reflecting on who we want to serve our community, as mayor of Hialeah, I ask every one of our citizens to support Dariel Fernandez, the next tax collector,” he said.

He was quoted in El Diario de las Americas as saying that the seat be occupied by a Republican, “not only because they are fiscally conservative, but also to avoid these offices get used as a trampoline for social experiments, as has happened in many places.”

What places? Ladra called Bovo to get examples of what many places this office has been used as a trampoline for social experiments.

“I can’t help you with that,” he said, actually surprising Ladra by calling her back (it was out of sheer curiosity, he said), but not surprising her with his lack of any factual examples.

Also surprisingly, Bovo said that the position should not be partisan. But since it is, it just should not fall into Democrat hands, though he knows it will. “Chances are the Democrats who will probably get elected, just because of the numbers, are going to spout all the Democrat ideological positions,” he told Ladra in a short telephone chat Wednesday morning referring to all the constitutional offices.

The mayor and Calvo have been at odds since before Calvo was elected less than three years ago at the age of 23, becoming the youngest elected in Hialeah’s history. Last fall, Calvo sued Bovo to get records from the beleaguered 911 center (it was dismissed in January) and he also supported Councilwoman Angelica Pacheco in 2023, who went on to beat Casals-Muñoz, who had Bovo’s support. But Monday’s announcement put that conflict into focus on this very important race.

In what sounds like a dejavu of Ladra’s experience with former Mayor Carlos Hernandez at the 2012 endorsement announcement of then Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Calvo said they forced him out of the press conference. “They said, ‘This is a private event. You’re not invited. We’re going to call the cops on you,'” Calvo told Ladra, adding that the words came out of Garcia’s mouth.

He waited until they finished the press conference so he could get the attention of the cameras, but a Bovo bobo kept physically getting between the councilman and the cameraman until they just decided to take it outside to the parking lot where they would not be interrupted.

The tax collector, one of four new elected posts in Miami-Dade that Florida voters approved in 2018, not only collects property, bed and business taxes, not only regulates the auto tag agencies and DMV offices — the latter of which are in crisis — and issues fishing and hunting licenses. This person in this partisan job could be in a position to promote (or not) policies and, for instance, facilitate the development of projects under the Live Local Act that was passed by the legislature last year to help developers get more density in exchange for affordable housing that doesn’t really seem that affordable (more on that later).

In other words, this is not just some paper-pushing desk job. It has the potential to be so much more. Whoever wins the Republican primary Aug. 20 will go up against former State Rep and former Miami Commissioner David Richardson.

Bovo, who became Hialeah’s mayor after he lost a bid for the county mayor in 2020, said that Fernandez was the only Republican qualified for the post.

But Calvo said just the opposite.

“As the only candidate who worked at the White House for President Trump, studied at Harvard University, and licensed in Law, I’m uniquely prepared to be an ethical Tax Collector,” Calvo said in a statement, reflecting the same words he used with the TV cameras in the parking lot. “My opponent has filed for bankruptcy, been sued for non-payment, and had multiple pre-foreclosures. Is he really fit to manage an $8 billion budget?

“I stand firm on my principles and won’t back down from personal vendettas.”

Fernandez — who came in last in the 2022 race for Miami-Dade Commissioner in District 6, eventually won by Kevin Marino Cabrera in a runoff — posted his thanks in a post on Instagram (Cabrera, fyi, hasn’t endorsed in this race, but did endorse Garcia for SOE).

“The focus of our campaign is our community, and that’s the support we are receiving,” said Fernandez, who has served as a community council member. “It is always an honor to have the backing and trust of elected officials who are truly committed to finding real solutions for the residents of Miami-Dade County.”

And Bovo told Ladra he would commit to keeping any Republican who wins honest.

“I will make it my mission to hold these Republicans that hold these positions responsible,” Bovo said. “Just do the job.”

Documents provided by Bryan Calvo against Dariel Fernandez in Miami-Dade tax collector's race, 2024 by Political Cortadito on Scribd

Bryan Calvo, Elections 2024, Esteban Bovo

Hialeah mayor, councilman clash over tax collector election endorsement added by Ladra on June 19, 2024
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