{"id":99020,"date":"2025-12-29T18:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T18:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/99020\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T18:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T18:22:07","slug":"miami-mayor-eileen-higgins-picks-ex-sheriff-candidate-for-city-manager-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/99020\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins picks ex-sheriff candidate for city manager job"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">MIAMI \u2014 Less than two weeks after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/politics\/2025\/12\/18\/democrat-eileen-higgins-sworn-in-as-miamis-first-female-mayor-after-30-years-of-gop-control\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/politics\/2025\/12\/18\/democrat-eileen-higgins-sworn-in-as-miamis-first-female-mayor-after-30-years-of-gop-control\/\">her swearing-in<\/a>, Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins has selected James Reyes, the county\u2019s public safety chief, as her choice to become the city\u2019s top administrator, her office announced Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Reyes would replace current City Manager Art Noriega if confirmed by commissioners. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Reyes has worked for Miami-Dade County since 2022, when he was hired by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to first lead the corrections department after a long tenure as a high-ranking deputy with the Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office. He now oversees both the corrections and fire rescue departments and also oversaw what was then the Miami-Dade Police Department before it reverted to being led by an elected sheriff earlier this year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Reyes was the Democratic nominee for that office in 2024, losing to Republican Rosie Cordero-Stutz in a near-sweep of top county offices for the GOP that year. He and Higgins, also a Democrat but serving in a nonpartisan role, shared the same campaign manager.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Reyes, Higgins said in a memorandum to commissioners, \u201cdemonstrated the transformational leadership our city needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">In a news release, her office touted Reyes\u2019 current role, \u201coverseeing operations serving nearly three million residents with an annual budget exceeding $1.2 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cJames Reyes brings the executive leadership skills essential to municipal management: fiscal accountability, process improvement, strategic planning, and the ability to develop high-performing teams,\u201d Higgins wrote in the memo. \u201cHis servant leadership approach emphasizes transparency and empowering others to succeed. He shares my commitment to serving all Miami residents with respect and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Reyes, in a statement, said he was \u201chonored\u201d by Higgins\u2019 nomination and \u201cgrateful for the trust she has placed in me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cMy career in public service has been guided by a commitment to listening to our community, leading with integrity, and delivering results that make a real difference in people\u2019s daily lives,\u201d he said. \u201cI look forward to working with the City Commission through the confirmation process and helping deliver results for residents while restoring trust in City Hall through transparent, accountable leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Higgins said she believes that Reyes will help her achieve her goals of streamlining and modernizing city government, including the permitting process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Commissioners are expected to vote on Reyes\u2019 nomination on Jan. 8.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body__copyright\">Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 Less than two weeks after her swearing-in, Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins has selected James Reyes, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-99020","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\/99020","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=99020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}