Penelas: Campaign is Over but Challenges Remain

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Alex Penelas

With my campaign for Mayor of Miami-Dade at an end, the last two weeks have provided an opportunity to spend time with my family and reflect on the past 16 months. While it is disappointing not to advance in the mayoral contest, it is impossible not to feel a profound sense of gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to have participated in our cherished democratic process in the community I love and called home my entire life.   

 

I want to congratulate Commissioners Levine-Cava and Bovo for advancing to the run-off election.  They both ran passionate campaigns, albeit with much different plans for our path forward as a community. In the remaining time before the general election, it is my hope that both candidates make meaningful efforts to reach out to the entirety of this ethnically, culturally and ideologically diverse community and lay out specific plans to address our many challenges.  It is one thing to succeed politically in this environment but another to govern in a community such as ours. I wish them nothing but the best and stand ready to assist in any way I can!

 

Although my campaign did not end as planned, I take great pride in having elevated a number of critical issues that had previously been absent from our local discourse and hope our next Mayor will follow suit. Most notably, I am still awe-struck by the overwhelming reaction when opening up about my family’s struggle with mental illness and the need for a clear set of policies to help those afflicted and their families. Mental health was at a crisis level even before the Coronavirus pandemic and is a root cause of crime, homelessness and so many other issues that impact all of us in profound ways.  It is my hope that leaders at all levels will treat the issue with the urgency it demands.

 

I am also proud of our efforts to highlight the importance of infrastructure investment. Of course, this begins with investing the half-penny sales tax in the way voters mandated nearly two decades, including bringing rail to as many of our transit corridors as possible. Equally important will be making investments in Miami-Dade’s water infrastructure. Whether or not we want to acknowledge it, sea-level rise and climate change are impacting us more rapidly than we had previously expected.  Whether in the way of excessive street flooding, sargassum on our beaches, or massive fish kills in Biscayne Bay, the costs of moving too slowly to address this crisis are existential.

 

My appreciation goes out to all who helped me develop a comprehensive agenda to achieve racial equality in our community.  To that end, it is my hope that the next Mayor and Board of County Commissioners will work to erase the systemic disparities that impact so many by implementing policies on economic opportunity, race- and gender-based contracting, citizens oversight panel, gun violence, and affordable housing in order to give everyone a fair opportunity for success in Miami-Dade.  All of our children should have confidence that there is a place for them in the social, business and political structures of this community. 

 

To all who supported my candidacy, whether with your vote, financial contribution, or volunteer effort, I will be forever grateful for the confidence you placed in me to make our community a better place. To those who supported another candidate, thank you for stepping up and participating in our democratic process. To each of the record-breaking 417,161 voters who participated in this year’s mayoral primary, know that our democracy is stronger because of you. 

 

Although my time as a candidate has come to an end, my commitment to fighting for a Miami-Dade County that lives up to the values we share has not. I look forward to continuing my advocacy for these and other issues. You were the reason I got into this race in the first place, and you are the reason I am confident that Miami-Dade County’s best days lie still ahead. 

 

Thank you. 

 


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2 COMMENTS

  1. It is a shame that Miami Dade residents will not be able to have Alex Penelas as oue next Mayor
    .I am honor to have supported him and to know him since the school days in the 70s.
    God Our Father has blessed him grealy through out his life and I know that He will keep on blessing him greater
    Alex sPenelas what a public servant
    Alex Penelas Gods servant
    Ramon Alonso

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