MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — There are three candidates running for the District 5 seat in Miami-Dade County.
The district encompasses parts of Miami Beach, Brickell, and The Roads.
Candidates are incumbent Commissioner Vicki Lopez, former Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joe Sanchez and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Rob Piper.
Lopez was appointed to the seat after Eileen Higgins was elected city mayor.
“What I have seen since being a county commissioner is the housing affordability has gotten worse in Miami-Dade County, unfortunately,” she said. “We need to find ways in which we incentivize developers to build both senior housing and more workforce housing.
Lopez said her experience as a member of the Florida House of Representatives makes her qualified to tighten the budget.
“We have to rely on community resources,” said Lopez. “We haven’t done, I don’t think, a good job of partnering with churches who traditionally have been serving many of our constituents. And so putting the pie together, I think we have to look for waste.”
Sanchez highlights his career in law enforcement and as a veteran and says safety and quality of life are key.
“We want to make sure that our streets are safe,” he said.
He was also asked about his plan for the county’s budget.
“I’m for one that’s promoting and want to make sure that there are property tax relief for people that are using their homes,” he said. “Our government continues to waste money, and we need to make sure that we’re fiscal responsible, and we have a government that has common sense.”
Piper, who moved to Miami in 2012, thinks a task force ought to analyze the county’s true fiscal situation.
“I want to ensure transparency and accountability at County Hall,” he said. “I want to end special interest influence at County Hall, and I want to lower cost.”
He added, “the county needs to take a serious look and ask the hard questions regarding not just what needs to be cut, but how we can expand the revenue base, and with my revenue generation task force that I look into introducing ordinance for, those questions will be asked, ways that we can expand the revenue base in order to pay for all the things that we are losing in this county as a result of the fiscal crunch.”
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