First virtual forum for November Miami election is short on top candidates

First virtual forum for November Miami election is short on top candidates
  • Sumo

What if there was a virtual campaign forum for an important city election and none of the frontrunners were there? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? Could one of the also-rans take the opportunity to become a star?

We may just be about to find out.

The Urban Core Community Coalition — an umbrella group for downtown and Brickell activists and organizations — will have the very first forum for the November city election on Thursday.

But don’t expect Mayor Francis Suarez, who thinks he’s going to coast into reelected office by teasing all the tech pros and working on his tan. Don’t hope to hear from Commissioner “Crazy Joe” Joe Carollo or Bruno Barreiro, the former county commissioner challenging him in District 3. Don’t tune in if you want to hear Christine King, the heir apparent and favorite in District 5, who really doesn’t have to be there.

Know more: He’s in! Bruno Barreiro files to run against Joe Carollo in city of Miami

None of those very competitive candidates have confirmed. So who will be online? Well, we have Mayra Joli — who may or may not live in Coral Gables — and Maxwell Martinez (yeah, no idea) in the mayoral race, Rodney Quinn Smith in the District 3 race — where communications pro Andriana Oliva filed paperwork to run on Tuesday — and three candidates in the clusterbunch of District 5, which will be an open seat if appointed Commissioner Jeffrey Watson doesn’t run, like he “promised” Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who favors King. Those three are Zico Fremont, Michael Hepburn and the Rev. Shoshana Lincoln.

These are people whose names may not always make it into Political Cortadito’s coverage of the race — except now they get to shine. Of course, the qualifying period isn’t until September so some of these people may not even be on the ballot. Who knows?

Urban Core CEO Samuel Joseph said the organization never received any kind of response from the more viable candidates, nor from their campaigns. But he still has hope.

“As they have been instructed, their virtual access to the forum will be available throughout the event should their schedules and/or their interest to participate in the forum change,” Joseph told Ladra.

His organization formed recently in the wake of what he and others call a broken city government. He says there has to be change — and new blood.

Know more: Joe Carollo collects $763K in just two months for Miami re-election race

“Too often in elections past urban core residents and stakeholders have had to settle for choosing among the same characters, familiar names, and well-funded career politicians on the ballot due to a lack of qualified and/or interested candidates,” Joseph told Ladra late Wednesday. “Our goal is to educate our community by introducing them to all the options available in helping to address their needs, and providing them the information to make better decisions about the kind of governance they seek and the qualities they aspire to see in their future public servants.”

Good luck with that.

After one minute opening statements, candidates will answer questions from both the Urban Core board members and the audience.

“Active participation from neighbors, constituents, and other urban core stakeholders in the meeting is critical to its success,” Joseph said. “We need your help to keep our ‘public servants’ and those vying to serve honest by spreading the word and encouraging everyone to participate in this important community event.” 

It’s a zoom thing, so anyone can go from anywhere, and starts at 6 p.m. The link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84208578510 and the passcode is 596939.

Did you get that Joe?

5 Responses to "First virtual forum for November Miami election is short on top candidates"

  1. Christine King is a puppet of the Hardemon gang. That means she is perfect for the developers who like to buy their votes.

  2. City of Miami Strong Mayor:

    Sec. 4. – Form of government; nomination and election. Sub-part temporarily removed; it Stated if more than 25% of the electorate votes in favor of the strong Mayor form of government said votes can be “rolled” over till next general election; therefore only needing another 25% plus one vote to achieve the majority vote for a strong mayor form of government. In other words, if Mayor Francis Suarez is reelected he will in effect be a strong Mayor with full executive powers that he campaigned for during the strong Mayor’ race. This section has been removed to conceal the Mayor’s true intentions. Listen, don’t take my word for it call City Hall, ask the city employees, ask the media, this is happening. The residents of Miami need to know if they will be tricked into voting for a strong Mayor form of government. This issue should be looked at in more detail given the reality that the City of Miami has historically made questions on ballots Nebulous.

  3. Wow just looked it up as thought you were using term of ” shot himself in the head ” to make a point .

    I personally think the office of Commissioner is a disaster which in Miami is a powerful position add most are there forever .

    ” Former Miami Commissioner Arthur E. Teele Jr. — politically humiliated and facing two indictments with more to come — walked into the lobby of The Herald building Wednesday evening and shot himself in the head. He died less than two hours later at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

    During a 15-year political career, Teele became one of Miami-Dade’s most influential politicians, serving on both the Miami City Commission and the County Commission. But his life ended in a cascade of arrests and humiliating disclosures that reached a crescendo in recent weeks.

    Two weeks ago, Teele was indicted on 26 federal charges of fraud and money laundering — his third arrest in a year. On Tuesday, a probation officer filed papers seeking to revoke his probation from an earlier conviction and send Teele to jail.”

  4. Miami’s District 5 needs better commissioners. Thank god Keon Hardemon left. Thank god Michelle Spence Jones left and then moved out of state. Corrupt indicted commissioner Teele shot himself in the head in the lobby of the Miami Herald. King is a puppet of the Hardemon gang…

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