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Ariel Meyer is not your typical person running for office. “I have zero political aspirations,” explains Meyer. “What I enjoy is working with people who are on a mission. I love living in Pinecrest and I think I can help with Pinecrest’s mission.”
Meyer is running for Pinecrest Council’s Seat 1, a spot being vacated by Anna Hochkammer through term limits.
“I am doing this for my family and to give back to the community,” says Meyer.
Professionally, Meyer is a tech executive and startup entrepreneur. He thrives in smaller companies where everyone is working toward a mission statement.
“When companies get too large, individuals tend to work for their own interests,” remarked Meyer. “I’m all about achieving the goal.”
Born in Argentina, Meyer has now lived half his 51 years in the U.S. He started in California, where he got an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2006, he moved to Miami with his wife Daniela. His laundry list of careers is impressive: created a Latin America exports division for a winery, worked at Bacardi as VP and Brand Manager Director, started a company for online peer-to-peer payments, ran the emerging markets division for eBay, worked at Lyft and now is incubating young companies in the health tech industry.
He’s lived in Pinecrest since 2015 and has four kids. His youngest is at Pinecrest Elementary and Meyer is active there as a Watch D.O.G.S. parent, shadowing a Pinecrest police officer, making sure the school is secure. His older kids are, or did, attend Gulliver.
Ariel has become quite involved in his community. He hosts neighborhood Crime Watch block parties, serves as a member of the Pinecrest Zoning Board and continuously advocates for safe pedestrian and biking features.
“After 13 years, we are finally getting a crosswalk across Old Cutler into Gulliver,” explains Meyer. “This is something I’ve championed for from the beginning.”
Biking is a passion for Meyer. He regularly accompanied his kids while they biked to school and bikes for both recreation and as a mode of transportation for himself.
“We still have a far way to go to make Pinecrest safer in this regard. These things get built by people who care…and I care. I care a lot, because it means we’ll be safer, greener and healthier.”
His Argentinian father instilled ‘do things for the greater good’ and ‘get where you want to go by doing the right thing’ in his mind. Ariel smiles thinking proudly about his 84-year-old dad.
“While I was at Berkeley, I met the founder of the Argentine chapter of Transparency International, an organization that exposes government corruption throughout the world,” explains Ariel. “As it turns out, my father took over for him! So, this really sits deeply within me to always do things right.”
While Pinecrest certainly doesn’t have a bad history, Meyer wants to be a part of his community’s representative government.
“Democracy is the best of all the bad options,” laughs Meyer. “I believe in Pinecrest. We have some of the best things in South Florida right here. It is my mission to ensure this continues and we are safe in our Village.”
Ariel believes in supporting the Pinecrest Police so they can continue to recruit and retain the best.
“Police Chief Cohen has expressed to me what needs to happen to keep our police force strong and I believe in providing that support through policy and otherwise.”
Ariel Meyer has the backing of all the prior Mayors of Pinecrest in his pursuit of a council seat. Evelyn Greer states, “[He] is a smart, reasonable, thoughtful person who loves the Village of Pinecrest. He wants to focus on public safety, keep our low tax rate, protect our beautiful environment and preserve our respectful community culture. He will be a very good Village Council member!”
“Our current Mayor, Joe Corradino, correctly states that with seven parks in Pinecrest, any resident is within 1.5 miles of a park,” remarks Ariel. “One of my missions is to ensure that our community can safely access these parks without getting in their cars. Further, I envision a future for Pinecrest in which anyone can walk or bike safely from their home to our schools, parks, centers of worship, or anywhere in our Village.”
“We have a public library, Pinecrest Gardens, excellent schools, great parks and a community center,” Meyer remarked. “My campaign is about supercharging everything. I believe we can make all these things even better and address some areas of our community that have negative connotations, like declining enrollment by Pinecrest residents at our public schools.”
Ariel has met with one school’s PTSA President and understands there is a perception about past problems that no longer exist there. He believes by exposing facts, this can be overcome. To that mission, he has connected the PTSA President to a public relations specialist to improve the school’s brand reputation.
By canvassing hundreds of Pinecrest homes, Meyer came to learn that many people believe there is a growing traffic and speeding problem. Meyer also learned that the Village does not have measurements of overall traffic flowing through Pinecrest.
“We need not only to perceive a problem, but rather to measure it,” Meyer says. “Once we have data, we can set goals and act holistically to make real-world improvements.”
He believes bringing his tech mind into the Council will diversify the conversation and will directly impact the future Pinecrest we live in.
“I got into tech because I like the fact that change is the norm,” explains Meyer. “Most people are afraid of change, but I’m all for change so long as there is a good result with that change.”
Ariel asks for your support in the November 5 election to place him on the non-partisan Village Council. Please visit ArielForPinecrest.com for more information. The website, like Meyer, is bilingual.
Real Estate Update
As of 5/8/24, there were 131 properties for sale in Pinecrest, 24 homes pending sale and 5.0 months of inventory. If you’re ready to move, contact me to get the best local expertise, truthful guidance and realistic expectations. It’s easy to get started at miamihal.com/getstarted. I invite you to view past episodes of my The MiamiHal Real Estate Show at miamihal.com/the-miamihal-real-estate-show to hear from experts and get the latest real estate news.
Hal Feldman (MiamiHal) is a Realtor with RE/MAX Advance Realty. You can contact him with your story ideas or real estate questions at www.MiamiHal.com, Hal@MiamiHal.com or www.facebook.com/MiamiHal
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