City to appoint, not elect, Rosen Gonzalez’s replacement
The battle is on for a soon-to-be vacant Miami Beach commission seat.
On Wednesday, the City Commission decided to appoint someone to fill Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez’s seat when she resigns on Jan. 3, rather than holding a special election.
But even before commissioners made a decision, potential candidates had been quietly lobbying elected officials for weeks. Some commissioners said they’d gotten calls or visits from multiple contenders.
“There are already people lobbying for this seat, making appointments with all of us at City Hall,” said Commissioner Michael Góngora. “There are many rumored names on the street that would like to be in there.”
The most important qualification for candidates? Several commissioners said they would favor a replacement who promises not to run for a four-year term in November 2019. Instead, they want someone who pledges to leave office after serving out the remaining months of Rosen Gonzalez’s term.
“I think that whoever we choose should be required to take it as a fillin member,” Góngora said. “I don’t think that we should be appointing somebody to get a leg-up in the election,” he added.
Rosen Gonzalez resigned earlier this year in order to run for Congress after a recently expanded resign-to-run law forced her to choose between her city post and a longshot congressional bid. She submitted her resignation in April, but she doesn’t officially step down until Jan. 3.
After Rosen Gonzalez’s resignation takes effect, the City Commission will have a month to appoint someone to fill her seat. If commissioners “fail or refuse” to fill the vacancy, according to the city’s charter, Miami Beach would hold a special election, which would cost more than $300,000. If no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the city would have to hold a run-off, which would bring the cost up to at least $600,000.
Elected officials balked at the price tag, citing the cost as their main reason for wanting to appoint a replacement. Commissioner Mark Samuelian noted that by the time a run-off election is held, the new commissioner would only have time to attend a handful of meetings before the November elections. “That’s a huge investment if you talk about someone who is going to be here less than 6 meetings,” he said. “That’s like $100,000 a meeting.”
Instead, commissioners decided to appoint a replacement at the January 23 commission meeting. In the meantime, they agreed to advertise the vacancy and encourage interested Miami Beach residents to apply, although they left the details of the application process up to the city attorney.
Even before the commission made a decision about whether to hold a special election, potential candidates had been quietly lobbying commissioners for weeks. Some commissioners said they’d already met with multiple contenders.
Others have been less discrete in their lobbying efforts. Some Miami Beach residents have been urging city officials to put Rosen Gonzalez back in office, creating blood red “Reappoint Kristen” shirts.
They argue that the City Commission should honor the wishes of the voters who elected Rosen Gonzalez in 2015 before the state law was amended to force elected officials to resign in order to run for federal office. Rosen Gonzalez finished third in the August Democratic primary for the seat vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
In her farewell speech at Wednesday’s meeting, Rosen Gonzalez joked about the possibility of getting re-appointed and hinted that she plans to run in November.
“Who knows? I may be back sooner than you think,” she said. “Maybe the commission will hear this speech, fall in love with me and re-appoint me to serve out my term. And if they don’t, that’s okay. There’s always an upcoming election to look forward to.”
Rosen Gonzalez, who is known for her outspokenness and for sometimes making controversial remarks, doesn’t have many allies on the commission, however, and it’s unlikely she could convince her colleagues to reappoint her.
But while Rosen Gonzalez is a long shot, elected officials could opt for another former commissioner.
Commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán said she would favor a former commissioner or administrator would could “hit the ground running” rather than spending months learning how the commission works. “I wouldn’t want to burn through half of this opportunity just getting up to speed,” she said.
One former commissioner already actively campaigning in City Hall is Joy Malakoff, who served on the commission from 2013 to 2017 but decided not to seek re-election after suffering a serious back injury.
Malakoff, a retired banker, told the Miami Herald that she has spoken with each of the commissioners to express her interest in being reappointed and that she would commit not to running for re-election. Malakoff said she would use the remainder of Rosen Gonzalez’s term to ensure that the $439 million general obligation bond program, which voters recently approved in order to finance public safety, infrastructure and parks projects, “is off to a strong start.”
Former Beach commissioner Saul Gross, president of the real estate company Streamline Properties, said he would also be interested in the job. Gross, who served on the commission for two terms between 2001 and 2009, said he was contacted by a commissioner several months ago to see if he would be interested in being reappointed.
“I would serve if they asked me to, but I’m not campaigning for it,” Gross said. The former commissioner said his priorities would include making sure development “didn’t get out of hand” and helping small businesses.
Another commissioner joked that former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine was interested in the job.
Levine said he’s not. “I think they have a phenomenal mayor right now and they definitely don’t need two mayors sitting on the commission,” he said.
In the meantime, residents are already entering the race for a four-year term. Steven Jay Meiner, , and Rafael Velasquez, a former commission candidate, have filed paperwork to run for Rosen Gonzalez’s seat in November.
Last year, Rosen Gonzalez accused Velasquez of exposing himself and trying to force her to touch his genitals while the two sat alone in a car.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office decided not to charge Velasquez earlier this year, saying there was not enough evidence to prove a crime took place. Prosecutors also decided not to pursue Velasquez’s counterclaim that Rosen Gonzalez made up the incident and filed a false police report in order to further her congressional campaign.