Fighting the Good Fight can be tough

By Michael Miller….
Win some, lose some.

It sure can be a bitter pill for hard-working candidates to swallow as winning opponents celebrate results of last Tuesday’s primary.

East Kendall’s Albert Harum-Alvarez, a popular civic do-er with strong backing of conservationists and Continental Park neighbors, ran a strong campaign but fell victim to a race with too many candidates for Katy Sorenson’s County Commission 8 seat.

Expect a hard-fought runoff between Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn and ex- Homestead Mayor Lynda Bell, runoff winners who led a field of seven hopefuls.

Flinn stakes a good part of his abilities on contacts in Tallahassee where he has waged a fight for community causes during legislative sessions. He wants to recover $80 million funding Miami-Dade County lost by a new reapportionment of state revenue. “I am someone who doesn’t make promises I can’t fulfill,” he said in a postelection email.

Bell has a track record in Homestead that includes innovative attempts to bring disparate groups together, such as contractors and government officials concerned on bidding and specification procedures. She also vows to continue a fight to downsize government.

We’re pleased that Millie Herrera, a staunchly active community leader, won the Democratic nomination for a State Representative 114. She’s been an active Democratic leader in state political affairs, chairing the Hispanic Caucus for her party.

Republican Carla Ascencio-Savola, once a colleague of Ms. Herrera on East Kendall Community Council, got a sizeable 40 percent of the District 115 vote but not enough to offset her opponent’s 60 percent as Jose Diaz garnered 5,610 votes. She says she’s not interested in anything more than a “good rest” from a summer of busy campaigning.

Not unexpectedly, Commissioner Javier Souto took a commanding 77 percent (13,152 votes) to Miriam Planas’ 23 percent (3,968 votes), retaining his seat for a fifth consecutive four-year term which may be closing on a longevity record for 20- plus years of Commission service.

As one TV commentator put it: the happiest folks in town were general managers of media who can’t wait to see Rick Scott’s wallet open up again!

By the way, Gene Flinn reports that he didn’t get much sleep last Tuesday night. First he, his family, friends and supporters stayed up late watching the coverage of August 24th’s election results, and then after the good news, when he finally did have a chance to hit the sack, he was too wired by all that energy to doze off. He probably made up for it later. We suspect a few other candidates experienced the same thing.

Meighan Alexander, Palmetto Bay’s village clerk who is also in charge of elections, at least had an easier go of it, since it wasn’t a municipal election and balloting was handled strictly by the county at the usual county locations. The November 2 election is another matter, though. Meighan says that the qualifying period for village council races is now closed, so we won’t be seeing any more entrants for the mayor’s or other council seats. Oh, and by the way, if you’re planning on voting in that election but you haven’t yet registered, you must do so before October 4.

For more info, go to this web address: http://www.palmettobay-fl.gov/election- 11-2-10.htm

Thought for the Day:

I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

— Christopher Reeve

Gary Alan Ruse and Richard Yager contributed to this column.

Got any tips? Contact me at 305-669-7355, ext. 249, or send emails to michael@communitynewspapers.com.


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