Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins has parted ways with her Chief of Staff, Maggie Fernandez, a longtime public servant who has served as Higgins’ second-in-command since her 2018 upset election to the Miami-Dade County Commission.
Florida Politics confirmed Fernandez’s departure with Higgins’ Office.
“Maggie Fernandez has been by my side for nine years, and it is impossible to overstate the role she has played in my public service journey. From my time as County Commissioner to my first months as Mayor of Miami, Maggie has been a trusted adviser, a tireless public servant, and a driving force behind so much of what we have accomplished together,” Higgins said.
“Her dedication and deep love for this community have helped shape my office, strengthen our team, and deliver real results for residents. I am deeply grateful for her service and leadership. As she begins this next chapter, I thank Maggie for her extraordinary service and wish her nothing but success in all that comes next.”
Fernandez said in a statement that serving with Higgins “has been one of the greatest privileges of my life,” calling her time working with the Mayor “an extraordinary journey of public service, friendship, and a shared belief that government can — and should — make people’s lives better.”
“I am incredibly proud of what we built together, first at Miami-Dade County and now at the City of Miami. I have had the privilege of working alongside some of the most talented, dedicated public servants in our community, and together we took on big challenges, built strong teams, and worked every day to deliver meaningful results for the people we served,” she said.
“I am especially grateful to Eileen, my dear friend, for trusting me to be by her side through so many chapters of this journey. Few people get the opportunity to spend nearly a decade helping turn a shared vision into action, and I will always be grateful for the trust, friendship, laughter, challenges, victories, and memories that came with it.
“Leaving a role and the team I’ve helped to build is bittersweet, but I do so with enormous pride in what we accomplished and tremendous optimism about what lies ahead. I believe deeply in Miami, in public service, and in the power of good people with big ideas to create meaningful change. After these unforgettable years, I am ready to build something new, take on new challenges, and begin my next chapter. I leave with a full heart, immense gratitude, curiosity, and excitement for what is still to come.”
A Miami-born daughter of Cuban parents, Fernandez brought nearly three decades of government experience to the Chief of Staff job, including prior roles in the County Manager’s Office, sustainability programs and her own public-sector consulting firm. Before joining Higgins’ team, she served as Treasurer to the League of Women Voters.
Higgins announced Fernandez for the role in mid-December, shortly after she won the Miami mayoralty and became Miami’s first woman Mayor and the first Democrat to win the post this century.
In a statement at the time, Higgins described Fernandez as an indispensable partner in her county-level work who “knows how to cut through bureaucracy, build strong teams, and keep government focused on residents.”
Fernandez, in turn, said it was “an honor to continue serving the people of Miami alongside” Higgins, adding that she aimed to “build an administration that delivers results, strengthens public trust, and ensures residents see and feel the work of City Hall in their everyday lives.”
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Editor’s note: This report has been updated with a statement from Fernandez.