{"id":86498,"date":"2025-12-17T10:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T10:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/86498\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T10:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T10:32:09","slug":"mayor-eileen-higgins-brings-in-expert-transition-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/86498\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Eileen Higgins brings in expert transition team"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tWritten by Genevieve Bowen<\/a> on December 17, 2025<\/p>\n

\"www.miamitodaynews.com\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Advertisement\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Mayor<\/p>\n

Stepping into City Hall in the new year, Miami Mayor-Elect Eileen Higgins last week announced her chief of staff and a transition team of civic, business and community leaders to help guide her first 100 days in office.<\/p>\n

The team, unveiled Dec. 12, will be led by Maggie Fernandez, a local government official who has worked closely with Ms. Higgins for years. It also includes experts from healthcare, urban planning, business, philanthropy and civic organizations who will help set the administration\u2019s early policy priorities.<\/p>\n

In the Dec. 9 runoff, Ms. Higgins defeated former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez with 59% of the vote, ending a 28-year Democratic drought in the mayor\u2019s office and marking the first time a woman will hold the position. First-time District Three Commissioner Rolando Escalona also won his runoff race, securing 53% of the vote against former Commissioner Frank Carollo.<\/p>\n

Ms. Fernandez, born and raised in Miami, brings 28 years of government and policy experience to her new role. She previously was Ms. Higgins\u2019 chief of staff on the Miami-Dade County Commission, overseeing initiatives in transit, climate resilience, capital projects, small business support and constituent services. Ms. Fernandez called her new position an honor, emphasizing a commitment to ethical, effective governance that residents can see in their everyday lives.<\/p>\n

Ms. Higgins\u2019 transition team includes: Jackson Health System President and CEO\u00a0Carlos Migoya; Sant La, Haitian Neighborhood Center co-founder and Executive Director\u00a0Gepsie Morisset-Metellus; business and government affairs leader\u00a0Jose Bermudez; innovation and economic development executive\u00a0Matt Haggman; urban planning and public transit leader\u00a0Marta Viciedo; public policy and civic strategy leader\u00a0Michele Burger; Miami Foundation President and CEO\u00a0Rebecca Fishman Lipsey; government scholar\u00a0Terry Murphy, Ph.D.; and community and youth development leader\u00a0Tina Brown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis transition team reflects the best of Miami \u2013 community builders, problem-solvers and leaders who know our neighborhoods and care deeply about our city\u2019s future. Together, we will prepare a bold, practical agenda for my first 100 days focused on affordability, public safety, resilient infrastructure and a government that is transparent, ethical and responsive,\u201d said Ms. Higgins.<\/p>\n

During her campaign, Ms. Higgins emphasized restoring public trust, improving affordable housing, modernizing infrastructure and promoting climate resilience. She pledged to cut red tape, strengthen public safety, expand city commission representation and ensure Miami government serves all residents. \u201cFrom day one, my focus as mayor is simple: get City Hall working for the people of Miami,\u201d\u00a0Ms.\u00a0Higgins said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Escalona, general manager of Brickell restaurant Sexy Fish who also holds a real estate broker\u2019s license, will represent District Three, which spans Little Havana, East Shenandoah, West Brickell and parts of Silver Bluff and The Roads. The 34-year-old first-time candidate ran on improving public safety, supporting economic development, enhancing communities, expanding affordable housing, modernizing transit and advocating for fiscal responsibility.<\/p>\n

Ms. Higgins is to be installed as mayor at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 18 in the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus Auditorium, 300 NE Second Ave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Written by Genevieve Bowen on December 17, 2025 Advertisement Stepping into City Hall in the new year, Miami…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-86498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-hialeah","9":"tag-hialeah-headlines","10":"tag-hialeah-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86498","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=86498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}