online village bio page<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Juan-CarlosPlanas.jpg\")
Attorney J.C. Planas<\/p>\n
A DONATION WITH NO IDENTIFIED DONOR<\/p>\n
On Oct. 6, Miami-based elections law attorney Juan Carlos \u201cJ.C.\u201d Planas, who unsuccessfully ran for Miami-Dade elections supervisor in 2024, filed complaints with the Florida Commission on Ethics and the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust over Nickerson\u2019s financial disclosures and the source of the $25,000.<\/p>\n
The complaints center on statements Nickerson made at El Portal\u2019s Sept. 10 budget hearing. According to Planas\u2019s affidavit, the mayor alternated between saying the donation came \u201cthrough him\u201d and saying it came from him.<\/p>\n
Asked to identify the donor, the village\u2019s chief financial officer Harry Tabfeld said he would research the matter and report back, according to a video of the budget hearing. At the Sept. 22 council meeting, Tabfeld still could not identify the source, Planas\u2019 complaints state. Tabfeld did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
In an affidavit attached to the complaint, Planas questioned Nickerson\u2019s ability to donate $25,000 when the mayor listed his annual $3,000 village salary as his only income and no assets worth more than $1,000 in his statement of financial interest filed with the village. \u201cNo bank account, no home, no stocks. None,\u201d the affidavit states.<\/p>\n
Planas, who told Florida Bulldog he filed the complaint on behalf of residents who fear retaliation by Nickerson, contends village staff\u2019s failure to confirm the $25,000 was indeed deposited into El Portal coffers prevents residents from determining whether someone with business before their government provided Nickerson with the money or if he just made it up to make himself look good.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no idea where he got the money,\u201d Planas said. \u201cSo either he lied on his financial disclosure or at the village council meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The complaints ask ethics authorities to examine whether the transaction involved unreported compensation, deficient financial disclosures or the use of public office to obtain money for the mayor\u2019s promotion. \u201cI think the village needs to be investigated as a whole,\u201d Planas said.<\/p>\n
After spending a decade as a village councilmember, Nickerson was elected mayor without opposition in 2020. But as soon as he took office, Nickerson faced scrutiny.<\/p>\n
El Portal\u2019s then-village attorney Norman Powell issued a legal opinion alleging the mayor submitted deficient qualifying paperwork, including a suspended driver\u2019s license, and failed to disclose income sources. Then-Councilmember Vimari Roman forwarded Powell\u2019s findings to the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, and Powell sent his opinion and supporting documents to the state attorney\u2019s public corruption unit.<\/p>\n
However, both agencies did not open investigations and Nickerson went on to win two more two-year terms without opposition. In this election, resident George Alvarez is running against Nickerson.<\/p>\n
His El Portal official bio page identifies him as \u201cMayor Omarr C. Nickerson, Ph.D,\u201d and describes post-graduate academic accomplishments spanning three continents. Nickerson, who has a University of Miami bachelor\u2019s degree, claims he obtained a master\u2019s degree in \u201cGlobal History and Socio-Geographic Studies\u201d from the University of Cairo and a second master\u2019s degree in \u201cInternational Political Science and Economic Development\u201d from the University of Damascus.<\/p>\n
His bio says he then obtained doctorate degrees in \u201cInternational Studies and International Relations\/Affairs from the University of Beijing Peking, in China, and the University of Damascus, respectively.\u201d His bio does not state the dates he attended and obtained those degrees.<\/p>\n
The Egyptian institution\u2019s formal name is Cairo University. The registrar\u2019s office could not confirm if Nickerson actually attended the school, requesting his graduation date in order to conduct a deeper search. However, Cairo University does not offer a master\u2019s degree in \u201cGlobal History and Socio-Geographic Studies,\u201d and only offers graduate studies courses in history and geography through separate academic departments, according to a school spokesperson.<\/p>\n
In China, there is a Peking University in Beijing that has a School of International Studies offering graduate and doctoral programs in international politics, diplomacy, and global affairs. The courses are taught in Chinese only, require four years to earn a doctoral degree and applicants must have a master\u2019s degree from an institution accredited by the Chinese Ministry of Education, according to Peking University\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
Officials in Peking University\u2019s student affairs department and registrar\u2019s office did not respond to emails seeking confirmation about Nickerson. Officials at the University of Damascus also did not respond to emails.<\/p>\n
VEXED BY RESIDENCY, CHILD SUPPORT WOES<\/p>\n
Questions about Nickerson\u2019s residency have dogged him since he sold his three-bedroom El Portal home in 2018 for $445,000. At the time, Nickerson was going through a messy divorce preceded by a couple of run-ins with law enforcement over alleged domestic violence on his then-estranged wife, Barbara Gasaly.<\/p>\n
In 2017, Nickerson was arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge after Gasaly told police he grabbed her around the neck and pushed her to the floor during an argument. Four days later, she filed for divorce and obtained a temporary restraining order. Nickerson was arrested again a year later on a felony charge of aggravated stalking of Gasaly.<\/p>\n
He pleaded no contest to the battery charge in October 2018 and completed probation in January 2019. Later that month, a jury acquitted him of aggravated stalking.<\/p>\n
The divorce court separately found that Gasaly was a victim of domestic violence. The July 2018 final judgment awarded her full custody of their two children, required Nickerson\u2019s visits to be supervised and ordered him to undergo a psychological evaluation and reunification therapy.<\/p>\n
The judge also granted an indefinite restraining order, finding that Gasaly \u201cmaintains a reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm.\u201d In a 2020 interview with Florida Bulldog, Nickerson denied harming his ex-wife. \u201cI have done nothing wrong and I hope the best for her,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n
Several residents, speaking on background, said Nickerson has claimed to own four properties outside of Florida, including a mansion in Malibu, CA. They said he was recently living in a top-floor unit at The Kavista Apartments, an eight-story multifamily project with 282 units completed in 2024. The building was the first large-scale apartment development in El Portal.<\/p>\n
Court records show that recent correspondence related to his child support violations is sent to El Portal Village Hall at 500 Northeast 87th Street. In 2024, Nickerson formed two companies called Comfort Fit and This Is. Their most recent annual reports, filed in January and February, list his parents\u2019 Palmetto Bay home as the principal address.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t lived here since his divorce,\u201d ex-councilmember Roman said in a recent interview. \u201cHe really shouldn\u2019t be serving in El Portal.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Nickerson\u2019s academic and residential history remain murky, his failure to pay child-support is documented by the state attorney\u2019s child support program. According to an arrearage affidavit filed on Feb. 20, Nickerson has routinely missed his monthly $797 payments due since he was required to start paying child support on Dec. 1, 2019. Over the years, Nickerson made roughly 40 payments under $200, two payments of $800 and one payment of $1,200. His last recorded payment of $148 was on April 6, 2023, the affidavit shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiami-Dade has a lot of deadbeat dads,\u201d elections lawyer Planas said. \u201cBut not a lot of deadbeat dads get elected to office. The signs of corruption are all over everything I have seen in El Portal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n ![\"Print](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793197947_640_printfriendly-button.png\")
\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"El Portal Mayor Omarr Nickerson meets with Charles Chou, director general of Taiwan\u2019s Taipei Economic and Cultural Office…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[13791,14585,61045,89285,76464,171969,171970,171971,123,125,124,171972,94246,171973,171974,52493,21550,171975,23938],"class_list":["post-440506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-child-support","tag-china","tag-egypt","tag-el-portal","tag-florida-commission-on-ethics","tag-harry-tabfeld","tag-j-c-planas","tag-juan-carlos-j-c-planas","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-dade-commission-on-ethics-and-public-trust","tag-miami-dade-state-attorney","tag-odine-laurenvil","tag-omarr-nickerson","tag-palmetto-bay","tag-syria","tag-taipei-economic-and-cultural-office","tag-taiwan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440506","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=440506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Omarr-Nikerson1.jpg\")
El Portal Mayor Omarr Nickerson meets with Charles Chou, director general of Taiwan\u2019s Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Coral Gables to discuss municipal development on Feb. 7, 2025. Chou also presented the mayor with a spring couplet, wishing him \u201csmooth governance and prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n