Alex Penelas officially launches his campaign for Miami-Dade County Mayor in 2020. As a part of his announcement, Penelas released the following statement:
“My passion for public service has always been about improving people’s lives through a bold agenda that delivers impactful results. The challenges we faced in the past in Miami-Dade required us to be innovative and unafraid. Today, our community faces a new set of challenges and unfortunately some that have lingered because of inaction. Traffic congestion is strangling us; social inequities are severe and continue to get worse; there is an affordability crisis with the cost of housing becoming exorbitant for the average Miami-Dade resident, and the environment, from water quality to sea level rise, has become the single biggest threat to the survival of South Florida and our precious natural resources. Miami-Dade is on the frontline of this crisis and we must be at the forefront of its solution. Now, some of the very County Commissioners who have sat on their hands, showing zero leadership, and worse yet, having mismanaged precious public resources, want to be your next Mayor. It is not time for more of the same. Our County needs bold leadership to deliver concrete results.”
“The issue that most motivates me to return to service is the lack of meaningful progress on mass transportation. I will be laser focused on transit and mobility projects along several of our proposed corridors. The half penny Sales Tax passed by voters in 2002 will be spent as it was intended – to build-out mass transit and rail throughout Miami-Dade. Fellow residents who spend up to two hours in their cars to get to work or their kids to school must have relief. We will confront our climate change challenges and lead the world in confronting this threat with strategy, technology, and the best science. We will take advantage of all of the County government’s resources and partner with the private sector to bring affordability to our housing market. We will take on the inequities that exist throughout our community by creating policies that level the playing field in terms of access and opportunity for those that have been shut out so far, and safety for those who are bearing the brunt of gun violence. And we will address other important issues that are ignored, like mental health.”
ABOUT ALEX PENELAS
Alex Penelas, 57, is a businessman who served as Miami-Dade County Mayor from 1996 to 2004. He previously served as a Miami-Dade Commissioner and Hialeah Councilmember. His most notable accomplishments in public office include the approval of a dedicated funding source to expand public transit, universal Pre-K, gun control legislation to close the “gun show loophole,” a property tax reduction for seniors, reducing crime, and the creation of the Homeless Trust, among others. In his fifteen years out of public office, Penelas built a successful business. He currently lives in Miami Lakes with his wife of 25 years, Lilliam and their three children.
