PROCLAMATIONS
ical questions. Rosen Gonzalez is a powerful political force in the city but has also been a lightning rod for controversy.
‘AN APPEARANCE OF IMPROPRIETY’
When Gelber — who is prevented from running in the upcoming election due to term limits and has not endorsed a successor — learned last month that Rosen Gonzalez was having Gongora present proclamations that Gelber had signed, he decided to step in.
Gelber asked the executive director of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, Jose Arrojo, to weigh in on whether the practice is allowed under the county ethics code and state law, both of which prohibit the use of city resources for campaign purposes.
“I thought it might be problematic for the city to be creating proclamations that are being used by a candidate,” Gelber said. “I wouldn’t want someone to think I was endorsing someone, especially when I wasn’t.”
In a Sept. 26 email to Gelber, Arrojo recommended that the city ban the practice.
“At a very minimum, this practice creates an appearance of impropriety,” Arrojo wrote. “Of course, the bright line rule is that municipal resources may never be used to support or oppose a candidacy.”
Arrojo said Thursday he couldn’t disclose whether the ethics commission is investigating further.
Asked about the issue this week, Gongora said he doesn’t recall presenting a proclamation on Rosen Gonzalez’s behalf.
Because the city has no rules in place about who can give proclamations, Gongora said, “it seems like a non-story to me.”
“I’m always happy to assist the city of Miami Beach, and any commissioner, in any way that I can,” Gongora said in a statement. “I’m proud that our city has so many residents and businesses deserving of recognition for the good work they do.”
Rosen Gonzalez called it a “non-issue” in a text message to the Miami Herald.
Fernandez, meanwhile, called questions about the practice “trivial” and a “cheap shot” against Gongora’s campaign. “I don’t think presenting a proclamation advances any campaign,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things happening, it’s really not a big deal.”
Still, Fernandez expressed reservations about the practice this past
March after Gongora presented a proclamation on his behalf for a resident’s 70th birthday party. Fernandez told the Herald he was unable to attend himself but that he never asked Gongora to present the proclamation for him.
“It’s OK but I just get concerned since he’s a candidate,” Fernandez said in a text message to his legislative aide at the time. “I wish they would’ve had a commissioner present it.”
This isn’t the first time Gongora has faced questions related to proclamations.
In 2020, the general manager of the Fillmore theater accused Gongora, then a city commissioner, of mentioning the theater’s ongoing contract negotiations with the city after Gongora was instructed to pay for a ticket to see the band New Order and present a proclamation to the group.
Gongora denied bringing up the negotiations and said he paid for his own ticket, but the ethics commission later found probable cause that he had failed to properly disclose free entry to the show for a friend.
CLOSE TIES
TO ROSEN GONZALEZ
Gongora has pitched himself to voters as the most experienced candidate at the local level, having been elected to the commission three separate times since 2006.
He has garnered support from Rosen Gonzalez, Fernandez and Laura Dominguez, the three sitting commissioners who will remain in office beyond November.
Rosen Gonzalez has spearheaded opposition to various Gelber initiatives, including a ballot measure to redevelop the Deauville Beach Resort property. Voters rejected the plan last year. The upcoming election could potentially deliver a majority on the commission to Gongora, Rosen Gonzalez and their allies.
But Rosen Gonzalez also carries political baggage. Since 2021, she has made headlines for falsely claiming to be Hispanic, for comparing Gelber to Russian President Vladimir Putin and for expressing support for polarizing state-representative candidate Fabian Basabe, who now serves in the Florida House.
Gongora’s ties to Rosen Gonzalez have been a target for opponents. In February, mayoral candidate Mike Grieco released audio that he secretly recorded of Gongora saying he and Rosen Gonzalez had met with developer Russell Galbut, and that Galbut said he was “with me and giving me money.” Miami Beach prohibits developers from contributing to campaigns.
In the recording, Gongora referred to Rosen Gonzalez as his “political wife.”
After Grieco’s political committee released a recent attack ad using the audio, Rosen Gonzalez responded in an email saying she and Gongora had met with Galbut over “hummus and falafel” but didn’t talk about money.
“Galbut likes Michael Gongora, just like I like him, because he is the nicest and most fair of all the candidates,” she said.
‘THIS IS UNBECOMING OF A MATURE PERSON’
Arrojo’s message to Gelber about the use of proclamations by candidates has ignited the latest in a long line of spats between the mayor and Rosen Gonzalez.
In a Sept. 30 email to Rosen Gonzalez, Gelber said he learned she had “barged into” the office of his chief of staff, Michele Burger, and accused her of flagging the proclamation concerns to Arrojo. Gelber said Burger had nothing to do with it.
“Ironically, it was entirely your poor judgment, though, that caused the memo to be even necessary,” he wrote.
In response, Rosen Gonzalez said she had “lost all respect” for Gelber.
“How old are you? This is unbecoming of a mature person, a mayor,” she wrote, adding that she had told Burger “the day she and you leave office will be a wonderful and sunny day for Miami Beach.”