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There were five contenders for Group III Commissioner until Robert Telleria withdrew. And then there were four. Candidate P.J. Mitchell loaned himself $5,000 at the beginning of the campaign and doesn’t appear to have spent any of it. Either he gave up when the qualifying period ended or is holding back to make a sudden surge right at the end.
Yeah, we don’t think so, either.
Kirk Menendez, a longtime Gables civic leader, supported the up-zoning in the Crafts Section in a campaign year when everyone is talking about overdevelopment and curbing zoning changes. While the latest report shows that he’s raised more than $41,000, normally a good sum in a local race, he sits far behind the two remaining candidates.
The race has drawn two heavy hitters when it comes to fundraising — Javier Baños and Alex Bucelo. Bucelo has raised over $130,000 and still has a lot of cash left in the till according to the City Clerk’s website. He’s a 28-year-old running for his first political office, a hometown boy whose made good. He’s got an associate degree in arts from Miami-Dade College, a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from FIU and a law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law. His major issues are helping bring back businesses into the commercial districts dealing with parking and commuter. Bucelo is backed by former Miami City Manager Joe Arriola.
City of Miami politics have further intruded into this race. Javier Baños is Miami City Commissioner Joe Carollo’s CPA. Readers of Community Newspapers can probably guess that we’re not the biggest fans of Crazy Joe. But we don’t hold that against Baños. Everyone is entitled to best accountant or lawyer they can afford.
Baños has raised the most money in the race, over $141,000 and, at least at the time the latest financial reports were filed, he still has the most cash in the bank.
A review of his campaign literature shows that his major experience has been with pension reform. He served on the Coral Gables pension reform panel, helped take South Miami’s underfunded pension fund and right it, and advocated for greater pension transparency. The word “pension” appears five time in one of his most recent flyers. And it’s an important issue. Cities here in South Florida and across the nation have underfunded their pension liabilities. Some have called underfunded pensions still in place in order cities, the ticking time bomb of local finance.
Baños is also involved in issue like parks and making government more sustainable.
We were faced in this race with two excellent candidates. We hope that Alex Bucelo puts himself forward as a candidate in the future. However, when all the points were toted up, Javier Baños got the “W”.
The Coral Gables New proudly endorses Javier Baños.
