Flowers sat on the dais Thursday in the space where Miami Commissioner Manolo Reyes usually sat as his colleagues voted to hold a special election June 3 to replace him. The 80-year-old District 4 commissioner died last week after being hospitalized. There was a lovely public tribute Wednesday in front of City Hall before he was laid to rest.
The city commission could have voted Thursday to appoint someone to the seat until the November election — which many thought would happen with the justification of an estimated $180,000 to $380,000 in the estimated cost of a special election — or to hold a special election for the vacancy, and a term that would end in 2027.
Read related: Miami Commission will meet to try to replace Manolo Reyes, who died at 80
“We are not kingmakers,” said Commission Chair Christine King, adding that an appointed commissioner would have an advantage in the November election. She would have supported appointing someone who didn’t live in District 4 and who couldn’t eventually run as a de facto incumbent. “So we wouldn’t be tipping the scales,” she said. “Six months in office is a 
lifetime.” It would actually be seven months. But appointing someone outside the district is not allowed — nor should it ever be.
Commissioners Miguel Gabela and Damian Pardo — who is the product of a special election — made it clear that they were not in favor of an appointment.
“At the end of the day, let the best man or woman win,” Gabela said, adding that candidates were already campaigning anyway for the November election and that it would avoid “finger pointing” about special interests and favoritism.
Pardo questioned the $380,000 quoted by City Clerk Todd Hannon — $350K for the election and $30K for notices — and learned that the real cost of the 2023 special election was much higher than the $176,657 that was actually billed by Miami-Dade County.
Qualification will begin April 21 and end on April 25 at 6 p.m. Hannon will reach out to the county to see if early voting can be scheduled for May 30, May 31 and June 1 at the Shenandoah and West Flagler library branches.
Among the candidates expected to jump in is Ralph Rosado, who was at the meeting Thursday and might have thought he would be appointed. Lots of people thought that — Commissioner Joe Carollo even said on his morning radio show that Rosado would be his choice — but las malas lenguas say it would have been a split 2/2 vote and forced a special election anyway.
Rosado, who got a parade of residents to endorse his appointment, expressed his condolences to the commission and Reyes’ family. “He was an exceptional public servant,” he said.
Read related: Miami remembers Manolo Reyes while Joe Carollo kicks off mayoral campaign
But then he quickly went into his pitch.
“It would be the honor of a lifetime to serve with each of you and represent a community that I love so much,” Rosado said, citing his experience as former city manager of North Bay Village (2019-2024), where he prepared the budget, oversaw the police and ran a municipal post office. “I’m ready to hit the ground running,” he told the commissioners.
He’s also the president of Rosado & Associates, which proves “urban planning and neighborhood revitalization strategic services to select local governments, nonprofits, and private clients,” according to his LinkedIn profile. Sounds like a conflict of interest waiting to happen. Maybe that’s why he didn’t mention it at the meeting.
Rosado, who lives in Coral Gate, did talk about his experience on the Miami’s citizen oversight board for the $400 million bond, which has included work on housing, flooding, and parks. He was appointed to the board by Reyes, who beat him in the 2017 election (Rosado got 36%). He knew better than to challenge Reyes last year. But he’s been campaigning ever since anyway.
“For the last seven years, I have been able to express a deep commitment to this community,” Rosado said, and he told the commissioners about 200 or so trees he’s helped plant in the district, the decontamination of Douglas Park that he advocated for and negotiations he has had with the developers of the old Sears store site to lower the number of residences they plan to build under the exemptions of the Live Local Act. He said these talks were successful. We’ll have to get more on the later.
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He has also reportedly been knocking on doors already in preparation for a race later this year if Reyes had jumped into the mayoral contest, as he had announced he would last year (but before his health took a turn). So he has an advantage in a special election because of his name rec from 2017 and his door knocking this year — and the $268,000 or so he has put away in his political action committee, Citizens for Ethics in Government since November (that includes $100K of his own money, btw).
Rosado supporters said that the city did not have to incur the cost of a special election, which one resident said usually draws a poorer turnout, when they had a qualified and experienced person who could be a “stop gap” until November.
But other people — people who would not benefit from a de facto incumbency like Rosado would — urged for a special election.
“It’s important to let voters decide,” said Brenda Betancourt, who is running for commissioner in District 3. “We have plenty of other ways to save money.” She also reminded the commission that many people probably didn’t know about the special meeting.
Ariel Trueba, the chair of the LGTBQ+ Advisory Board — and Reyes’ appointment to that board — did know about both the meeting and what the city should do.
“As someone born and raised in District 4, I would like to elect my commissioner,” Trueba said.
Miami voters to fill Manolo Reyes’ District 4 seat with June special election added by Ladra on
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