Doral voters will choose a mayor and two council members. Here are the candidates

Sep. 30--The elected council that sets Doral's property tax rate, determines the strategy for real estate development and oversees the police department will have at least one new member after this fall's city elections.

Incumbents in the races for mayor and Council Seat 1 face challengers while Council Seat 3 is wide open in the Nov. 3 election. Mail ballots are already being sent out to voters across Miami-Dade County. If no candidate in the three-person races for mayor and Council Seat 3 wins 50% plus one vote, then the top two vote-getters will go to a runoff on Dec. 1.

Doral, a suburban city on the western edge of Miami-Dade, is home to 65,000 residents and is a growing city that first incorporated in 2003. About one-third of the city's roughly $75.8 million municipal budget comes from property taxes. The public dollars fund the city's parks system, the police department and maintain roads. Doral is also the location of a golf resort owned by President Donald Trump, Trump National Doral.

With the economic fallout from COVID-19 threatening municipal budgets in the coming years, financial recovery will be a challenge for the city.

Mayor

The mayor is a key decision-maker in how tax dollars are spent. Mayor Juan Carlos "JC" Bermudez is running for reelection against telenovela actor Victor Cámara and Emmanuel "Manny" Sarmiento, president and CEO of the Doral Chamber of Commerce.

The mayor is the figurehead for the city with one vote on a five-person City Council, but the mayor leads council meetings and can play a large role in setting the city government's agenda.

Candidates see the rapid pace of real estate development and traffic as major issues facing Doral residents.

Bermudez, 58 and born in Cuba, is running for a second consecutive term as mayor and his fourth overall. He is Doral's founding mayor, serving his first stint in that post from 2003 to 2012, when he was term-limited. In 2016, he returned to office after winning reelection by a large margin with 67% of the vote.

The mayor said he believes the fast pace of development can be slowed by revisiting the city's original master plan. He says he's tried to push the city back toward approving projects that are in line with the plan instead of allowing residential property to encroach on formerly industrial space.

"Growth in general isn't bad, but it has to be planned as it was originally," Bermudez said. "It has to be reasonable."

Sarmiento, Cuban-born and 58 years old, favors a temporary building moratorium until the city reviews its growth plan.

"Are we following the master plan? I don't think so," he said. "Look at what we have now. The over development is absolutely ridiculous."

Bermudez calls traffic a "regional issue" that involves county and state authorities supporting local efforts. He said the city has improved the utility of the Doral Trolley, which has around 900,000 riders each year and is free to ride. The city's portion of the countywide half-cent sales tax funds the trolley. Some issues are less in the city's control, the mayor said. He noted that if Doral adjusts the synchronization of traffic signals inside city limits, but signals outside the city west of the Palmetto Expressway are not adjusted, then congestion still occurs.

Doral needs more trolleys to better coordinate with the Metrorail, Sarmiento said. He recounted waiting 20 to 30 minutes for the trolley to arrive at the nearest Metrorail station in Medley one day he had used the train to commute downtown. Sarmiento also favors taking an aggressive stance toward pushing the county to negotiate use of train tracks that run east and west in the southern part of Doral.

Cámara, a 61-year-old Venezuelan-born actor and well-known name to Spanish-language television soap opera viewers, emphasized improving the city's cultural facilities. He told el Nuevo Herald he has a vision for bolstering the city's cultural cachet.

"If elected, one of my priorities would be to create a cultural complex to serve as a center for artistic endeavors, especially for our youth," Cámara said. "I don't want to be a politician. I want to be a public servant."

In recent comments to el Nuevo Herald, Bermudez appeared to be dismissive of Cámara's candidacy.

"Being a mayor requires understanding budgets, knowing how to run an administration, knowing how to work with your council, with other governments, and knowing how to work with the community," Bermudez said. "Being the mayor is not a telenovela."

Bermudez and Sarmiento both said the city has to fight for more state and federal dollars to help Doral recover from the financial downturn after the coronavirus led to widespread business closures.

Council Seat 1

Councilwoman Claudia Mariaca, 46, was first elected in 2016 and is running to keep her seat. Her challenger, management consultant Rafael Pineyro, 36, has worked in various local government jobs for a decade, including serving as chief of staff to Bermudez and former Doral mayor Luigi Boria. Pineyro previously ran for Miami-Dade County Commission in 2018.

Mariaca told the Herald the most important issue facing the city is recovery from the pandemic.

"Together with the mayor, we have worked to ensure our residents and businesses have what they need. We have provided food assistance, and help in accessing state and federal grants," she said. "At this moment, after fighting hard to receive our fare share of the CARES Act funding, we are providing rent assistance, small business grants and free COVID testing for our city."

Pineyro told el Nuevo Herald that he if were elected, he would advocate for keeping property taxes flat and launching a small business program to help proprietors recover from the pandemic. In responding to questions for the Miami Herald's voter guide, he said quality-of-life issues are paramount when considering how Doral bounces back, including investment in public-private partnerships to offer recreational, cultural and educational programs to residents.

"People have lost their jobs and we need to work in collaboration with the local colleges and universities to offer online technical programs, so that residents have more opportunities in finding better jobs," he said.

Council Seat 3

This council seat is being vacated by Vice Mayor Christi Fraga, who is running for a seat on the Miami-Dade County School Board. Three candidates are vying for the open seat: financial adviser Alberto Chavez, 35, logistics professional Juan Carlos Esquivel, 54, and real estate agent Oscar Puig, 53.

Puig said boosting the local economy should be a top priority for the city.

"Currently, jobs and small businesses that are being impacted by the pandemic," Puig said. "We must continue to request funding from the federal government, state and Miami-Dade County to assist employees and owners."

Chavez listed his priorities as promoting after-school programs for teens, making it easier to pull business permits and beefing up the city's trolley service.

"I will be the independent voice to ask the tough questions in council and commit to be a good steward of taxpayer money," he said.

Esquivel did not respond to a Herald questionnaire. In comments to the Doral Family Journal, Esquivel said he wants to review building permits, the city's zoning process and code enforcement to reduce bureaucracy and simplify processes for city residents.

___

(c)2020 Miami Herald

Visit Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.