David Zisman, a 20-year resident of Palmetto Bay and owner of Evenings Delight located on S. Dixie Highway (US1), is running for mayor of the Village of Palmetto Bay in the Nov. 2 general election.
“I encourage the residents of Palmetto Bay to vote for someone new in this election,” Zisman said. “I’ve experienced things in this city that I think are wrong and need to be changed.”
If elected mayor, Zisman plans to help solve the problems of the residents of Palmetto Bay by focusing on the “four P’s” — People, property, parks and police.
“As a homeowner in Palmetto Bay, I believe that everyone should have easy access to the mayor and council members,” Zisman said. “I’d like to provide the residents my email address (eve9621@aol.com) and invite them to express their concerns to me as I forge forward in this campaign.”
With his focus on people, Zisman continued, “People should be treated with respect. I’ve had experiences with this current administration where I’ve been treated badly. If a request doesn’t fit perfectly inside their little box, it falls upon deaf ears; there’s no discussion and the answer is ‘no.’”
When it comes to property, Zisman turns his attention to the Building and Zoning Department in Palmetto Bay.
“The processes in the Building and Zoning Department needs to be streamlined and improved,” Zisman said. “Most residents will one day be affected by this department. As a contractor with four different state licenses, I’ve pulled over 1,000 permits throughout South Florida, so I know how it should operate. There are a lot of fine people in that office, they just need more user friendly procedures to follow.”
On the issue of Palmer Trinity, Zisman said, “The Palmer Trinity zoning issue is an example of botched zoning procedures. The courts proved that the council handled it poorly and they gave Palmer Trinity everything they wanted after more then $150,000 of our tax dollars were spent. It doesn’t matter what side you are on, if you are a homeowner in Palmetto Bay, you lost. The taxpayers should hold the council responsible for wasting taxpayer money.”
When is comes to the parks in Palmetto Bay, Zisman believes the village is off to a very good start, but said there always is room for improvement.
“The parks are an important part of the community,” he said. “One issue that needs to be addressed is outside vendors and non-residents using Palmetto Bay facilities and limiting the park access to the residents.”
Zisman wants to see more police patrolling the streets of the village.
“From a business perspective, I would question the current system of paying the Miami-Dade Police Department to serve Palmetto Bay versus having our own police department like Pinecrest or South Miami,” Zisman said.
If elected mayor, Zisman intends to apply the success he’s had in the business world to the management of the Palmetto Bay government. Zisman’s family business, Evenings Delight, was started by his father and grandfather in the 1960s. It currently has two locations, Pinecrest and Davie, and more than 30 employees. Zisman also owns the second largest kitchen hood manufacturer in the U.S., Luxury Kitchen Hoods LLC, located in Reno, Nevada.
“A good business person is never happy with the status quo,” Zisman said. “You must always work to improve the product, improve the service and improve your reputation. This same philosophy applies to someone in public office.”
Zisman is proud to be chair of the Membership Committee for the South Florida Touchdown Club, a 40-year old non-profit, 501(c)(3), organization. One of the primary goals of the club is to obtain football scholarships for local high school seniors. The group of sports enthusiasts raises money for the project, Operation Scholarship, by hosting events that feature football players and coaches as keynote speakers.
“We gather and compile the bios and photos of every senior football player in Dade County and send it out to colleges across America. Our mission is to get college scholarships for athletes who might otherwise go unnoticed,” Zisman said. “Ten to 12 Dade County athletes each year are awarded scholarships from this program.”
Zisman was born and raised in Miami and graduated from Palmetto Senior High School in 1977. He is married to his wife of six years, Myriam. He has two grown children — an adopted son, Jason, who lives in Georgia, and a daughter, Susan, who is a senior at the University of South Florida and describes her dad as “the savviest business man I know.”
If you would like to reach David Zisman you can send email to him at eve9621@aol.com. You also may call him on his cell at 786-236-9893 or stop by to see him at Evenings Delight Inc., 9621 S. Dixie Hwy.
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