Dallas Manuel, a right-hand man to Miami-Dade Commissioner Dennis Moss, will retire after 10 years as manager of District 9, largest of 13 commission districts that cover nearly half of Miami-Dade County from SW 120th Street to the Monroe County line.
“I won’t really be retiring,” Manuel laughed, when asked what he planned to do after a decade in government service that began when he joined “The Moss Team” as commission aide/outreach coordinator in 2003.
“I’m planning to continue in community service, as well as church and other activities, serving people in District 9 and the county, wherever and whenever I can,” he declared.
He will leave officially on July 31.
What will he remember most about his service? “
I think it’s how Commissioner Moss goes ‘all out’ helping people. It’s a type of caring that just isn’t that common in government today,” replied the 71-year-old Manuel, whose prior careers varied from insurance sales to radio broadcasting.
Born in Americus, GA, “a tiny town that is barely a crossroads today,” Manuel arrived in Miami- Dade County as a 4-year-old with his mother to settle in Perrine where he still makes his home.
A graduate of Mays High School, he attended the RETS School of Electronics, RCA School of Business, American Academy of Broadcasting — all providing a background for a career in electronics, service business and broadcasting. For 36 years, listeners have known him as a part-time “oldies” disc jockey on Radio Station WEDR/99JAMZ — especially for his Round the Clock show where he “played music of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s eras — Elvis, Chuck Berry — but my favorite was Jackie Wilson, an extraordinary singer,” he recalled.
When not involved in his love of broadcasting, Manuel owned the Services Plus Insurance Agency Inc. for 12 years, providing multilines of insurance coverage.
A member and deacon of the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Perrine, he has served as president of the No. 2 Choir for many years and plans to continue singing with its male chorus and mass choir.
“Dallas Manuel was a household name when he came to this office over a decade ago,” Moss said. “He is like family here and residents in the district feel the same way. He does it all when it comes to outreach, from working with our agricultural community to coordinating efforts involving public safety.
“That kind of staff person is hard to come by.”
