In Miami Commission District 2 race, Herald recommends a longtime community advocate
Fresh from a special election in February, the race for Miami Commission District 2 is, again, a crowded field with eight candidates.
Incumbent Sabina Covo, a former TV journalist, won the seat seven months ago. Ahead of the Nov. 7 election, the
Miami Herald Editorial Board looked at the candidates on a equal playing field, without an incumbency preference. District 2 stretches from Coconut Grove to Brickell, Downtown, Edgewater and Morningside. Early voting begins Oct. 28.
Covo has done a fine job in her short term, but we recommend Damian Pardo, a Morningside certified financial planner and investment analyst with a 35-year history of community advocacy.
Pardo, 60, is co-founder of one of the prominent LGBTQ+ rights organization Safeguarding American Values for Everyone, known as SAVE. The group historically lobbied the MiamiDade County Commission in the late 1990s to pass a human rights ordinance protecting gay rights. Pardo also co-founded 4Ward Miami, a diversity and inclusion nonprofit behind the annual Gay8 Festival in Little Havana.
Pardo is running because he feels “special interests are being served and residents are being set aside time and time again.”
We agree. Pardo could be a strong voice in a city amid the turmoil that has gripped the commission. Suspended Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla was arrested in September on charges including money laundering. A federal jury found Commissioner Joe Carollo abused his power to retaliate against two local businessmen. And Mayor Francis Suarez’s consulting payments from a developer are the target of a federal investigation, the Herald has reported. All three deny wrongdoing.
“During difficult times and difficult moments, like the human rights ordinance, I’ve demonstrated the ability to speak up,” Pardo said. “I’ve demonstrated the ability to be transformative in the sense that I can bring different parties to the table together, build coalitions, listen and help guide the discussion.”
Though we wish he had provided more in-depth questions about specific solutions, Pardo has a good grasp of Miami issues. He would reconsider the city’s decision to shut down its Neighborhood Enhancement Teams, which were absorbed by individual commission district offices — a transition Pardo described as a move to boost the individual commissioners’ office budgets.
Pardo wants to tackle the slow implementation of projects funded by the $400 million Miami Forever Bonds, which voters approved in 2018 to address climate resiliency, infrastructure needs, public safety and affordable housing. He would make expediting those projects a priority for the city manager. He would create a city-county task force to share resources and combine timelines for sea-level rise mitigation projects. Pardo also wants more bike patrol officers in central areas and he would look at what’s working in other parts of the country to address homelessness.
There are other good candidates in District 2.
Covo, 44, has grown into her role a new commissioner, focusing on issues important to her constituents. Her office established an “ecological squad” to check and clean drains in this flood-prone district and she sponsored legislation ordering the city to create a flood plan as well as a heat mitigation plan. She secured $3.5 million for affordable housing in the Little Bahamas neighborhood and maintains open office hours.
Although she’s vowed to introduce campaign finance reform that would ban donations from city lobbyists, Covo’s political committee has received thousands from developers and entities with business before the city. Her communications firm has some clients that have done business in Miami, though she says her work for them is only in Latin America. In May, she recused herself from a vote that benefited Melo Group, a client and local developer.
Ties to developers always raise conflict-of-interest questions in Miami. To be clear, there is no indication Covo has done anything wrong. She appears to be forthcoming about her business clients. She was pressured to return $15,000 her PAC received from Becker Boards, a company that pushed a proposal to allow 45 giant
LED billboards in downtown. Covo and the rest of the commission voted against the proposal after residents organized against it.
Eddy Leal, 38, is an attorney who served as Suarez’s general counsel. He’s a detail-oriented candidate — at times, too much in the weeds — with a deep understanding of city government. He wants to streamline the permitting process for buildings undergoing concrete restoration. He vowed to leverage his relationship with city department heads and push for the merging of departments to expedite projects financed by the Miami Forever Bonds.
Leal has criticized Covo for brokering a deal with the developers who donated land for Allen Morris Park in the 1970s. The park, one of the last green spaces in Brickell, had been closed amid almost a decade of litigation that started when the Allen Morris Company sued the city for allowing a nearby restaurant to use the park for outdoor seating. The deal Covo worked out, approved by the commission, reopened the park for at least 18 months, though it leaves open the question of whether the land may be developed.
The property will be up-zoned to match the zoning of abutting properties, which would allow a skyscraper. Covo, however, said the property is too small for such large development. The owners are considering opening a restaurant and could keep it as a park, she said.
We commend Covo for pulling the city out of expensive litigation, though Leal raises a valid question about the deal’s benefits to residents.
James Torres, 52, was the Editorial Board’s recommendation in February. He’s the president of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance and has been vocal in the fight against the LED billboards in downtown and pushing for the enforcement of a noise ordinance on city-owned property.
Torres, a business development director for a communications company, faced criminal charges at least four times between 1995 and 2010 in Arizona, most of which were dismissed. Arizona routinely destroys public records, so there are no documents detailing his criminal history.
Christi Tasker, 47, is a marketing professional who’s passionate about fighting corruption at City Hall. She would ensure that small businesses have the opportunity to bid on city contracts and said she would file legislation to fix the city’s drains.
The other candidates are: Michael Castro, 41, a Coconut Grove home restoration professional; Alicia Kossick, 52, a Grove business owner; and Gabriela Chirinos, 29, a field agent for the U.S. Department of Commerce who did not attend an interview with the Editorial Board.
Voters have good options, but one candidate stood out. The Herald recommends DAMIAN PARDO for Miami City Commission District 2.