{"id":36467,"date":"2025-11-06T22:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T22:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/36467\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T22:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T22:34:09","slug":"the-miami-dade-commission-has-an-empty-seat-how-will-members-fill-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/36467\/","title":{"rendered":"The Miami-Dade Commission has an empty seat. How will members fill it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Eileen Higgins now officially off of the Miami-Dade Commission after resigning Wednesday<\/a> as part of her Miami Mayor\u2019s bid<\/a>, there\u2019s an open spot \u2014 and an even vote count \u2014 at County Hall.<\/p>\n

Commissioners have two options<\/a> to fill the vacancy:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Appoint a short-term replacement within 30 days who would face voters next year and again in 2028, when Higgins\u2019 term in District 5 was to expire.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Call a Special Election within 90 days, the winner of which would serve through 2028.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not guaranteed which route the Commission will take, and a Thursday press release<\/a> from Chair Anthony Rodriguez announcing a Nov. 18 discussion on the matter included both options.<\/p>\n

At Rodriguez\u2019s direction, Miami-Dade\u2019s Commission Auditor has opened an application portal<\/a> for appointment hopefuls. It will remain open until noon on Nov. 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cDistrict 5 plays a vital role in the fabric of our county,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s important that residents and businesses in every community continue to have a voice in the decisions that shape Miami-Dade\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two notable names are already in the mix: Miami Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez, a former Lee County Commissioner who notched endorsements<\/a> from Rodriguez and Commissioner Oliver Gilbert last year; and former Miami City Commissioner Joe Sanchez, who ran for Sheriff last year and filed paperwork<\/a> Thursday in anticipation of a Special Election.<\/p>\n

Sanchez said he prefers a Special Election, but would also \u201chumbly ask to be considered<\/a>\u201d for an appointment, if the Commission decides to forgo voter input until next year.<\/p>\n

Doug Hanks of the Miami Herald was the first to<\/a> flag Lopez<\/a> as a candidate. Florida Politics contacted Lopez and Rodriguez for comment, but received no response by press time.<\/p>\n

Commissioners last filled a vacancy in May, when they voted 9-3 to appoint<\/a> then-West Miami Vice Mayor Natalie Milian Orbis to replace Kevin Marino Cabrera in District 6. That decision isn\u2019t a perfect analogue for the one County Hall now faces, as Cabrera had just 18 months left in his four-year term and the seat was up for grabs next year anyway.<\/p>\n

Such is not the case with Higgins\u2019 District 5 seat, which she kept unopposed last year, and each option to fill it carries pluses and minuses.<\/p>\n

If the Commission appoints a replacement, the appointee will serve only until the next regularly scheduled countywide election. That would save the county money, since it wouldn\u2019t have to print ballots and administer a Special Election in District 5.<\/p>\n

But it would also bestow the appointee what some would contend are unearned advantages, from the visibility and name recognition that comes with being an incumbent and easier access to county resources and public events to a chance to build a record as a county policymaker before facing voters.<\/p>\n

Of the last five people appointed to the Miami-Dade Commission \u2014 Milian Orbis, Rob Gonzalez, Danielle Cohen Higgins, Zoraida Barreiro and Audrey Edmonson \u2014 only Barreiro failed to keep her appointed seat in the subsequent election. (She lost to Eileen Higgins.)<\/p>\n

If the Commission opts to call a Special Election instead, voters would have a say sooner in who holds the District 5 seat, albeit at an added cost to taxpayers. But the winner would fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term through 2028, not just until the next cycle.<\/p>\n

Higgins and Commissioners Ren\u00e9 Garc\u00eda and Micky Steinberg voted against appointing Milian Orbis earlier this year, arguing that voters, not the Commission, should decide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Eileen Higgins now officially off of the Miami-Dade Commission after resigning Wednesday as part of her Miami…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[25162,24952,123,125,124,24953,373,24954,11674],"class_list":{"0":"post-36467","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-anthony-rodriguez","9":"tag-joe-sanchez","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-headlines","12":"tag-miami-news","13":"tag-miami-dade-commission","14":"tag-miami-dade-county","15":"tag-miami-dade-county-commission","16":"tag-vicki-lopez"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}