|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
There’s a three-person race in the contest for Miami-Dade County Commission District 3. Marion K. Brown, a political neophyte, put his paperwork in. Former County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, who was barred from running again by term limits, filed paperwork saying that she wanted her old seat on the Commission dais back.
And then, there’s Keon Hardemon, the incumbent County Commissioner who’s seeking a second term in office. We’re backing Keon.
Audrey Edmonson served District 3 from 2005 to 2020. But when we approach an election where an incumbent is running with the first and foremost question of whether the officeholder needs to be replaced.
When we look back on his term in office, our answer to that question is a hard and fast “NO!”
The County Commission election in 2020 wasn’t Hardemon’s first foray into politics. He was the youngest serving Miami City Commissioner since adoption of single member districts and served as chairman four times. He represented Miami District 5, comprised of Overtown and Liberty City.
While on the City Commission, Hardemon served as the chairman of the Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment Agency. As chairman, he worked with renowned Chef Marcus Samuelsson to establish Red Rooster Overtown, which became an award-winning restaurant. He pushed the City to fund the Town Park housing rehabilitation program, which allocated more than $50 million to fully renovate Overtown’s oldest multi-family housing units to ensure that an historically neglected neighborhood would see a rebirth.
Hardemon was born in Liberty City and is a product of his community. He graduated Miami Northwestern Senior High School and went on receive an MBA from FAMU. He moved back to Miami and worked for drug giant Pfizer. He got an itch to become a lawyer and went on to UM’s law school. Fresh out of law school, he became an assistant public defender and is now in private practice.
He and grew up as a part of the Hardemon family, a political dynasty in the City of Miami. Before Miami adopted single-member districts, the Hardemons held great sway in the at-large city elections. Once the County Commission was forced to adopt single-member districts as the result of a Voting Rights Act lawsuit, Hardemon’s family became an even greater force to be reckoned with in the Black community. The proof of that can be found in the results of the 2020 Miami-Dade Commission election where Hardemon won his race with 67% of the vote, a veritable landslide.
Within his first few months of service, he sponsored legislation that secured nearly $90 million to combat the gun violence that has been burdening poorer communities in Miami-Dade County. His initiative, the Peace & Prosperity Plan, helps to employ troubled youth at nearly $15 an hour and incentivizes them to become productive residents of Miami-Dade County.
Commissioner Hardemon also serves as chairman of Miami-Dade County’s Airport and Economic Development Committee and is the chairman of the Tourist Development Council, two vital engines that keep our local economy humming.
In her 15 years on the County Commission, Audrey Edmonson tried hard to represent her residents, even serving as County Commission Chair during her last two years in office.
But she’s failed to make a case for why Hardemon should not get another four years in office. It’s not enough for her to say that she wants her old job back.
The burden is on her to prove that Hardemon hasn’t done the job.
She hasn’t because she can’t.
Keon Hardemon deserves to be re-elected to the District 3 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission.
Please vote on Election Day, Aug. 20, or take advantage of early voting Aug. 5 – 18.
