Biggest Upset in Miami Dade County History: Eileen Higgins is County Commissioner for DiEileestrict 5. By Geniusofdespair

Eileen Higgins with Her Communications Campaign Manager. Eileen easily beat the favorite and better funded - Zoraida Barreiro.  We have now lost a charter member of the unreformable majority and replaced him with what might be the difference on all the shitty votes in the County. If only Sally Heyman would realize she is a Democrat, we might move things the right way with Higgins, Levine-Cava, Suarez and Monestime.

More photos from the victory party:

Happy Higgins.

Well funded Barreiro was trounced by Higgins.

Eileen Higgins and Cindy Lerner

As for the 836 Expansion:

Zoraida Barreiro pointed to pleas from homeowners for an alternative to Krome Avenue or Florida's Turnpike as a way to connect with the 836.

"This is something that is needed in that area. The residents of Kendall want it," Zoraida Barreiro said during the debate hosted by Glenna Milberg and Michael Putney. "They've been asking for it. They need it. It's been horrible traffic in that area. That's going to help."

Higgins said building new roads hasn't helped traffic in Miami-Dade yet, and pointed to warnings that low-lying areas in the west have significant risks for flooding from a rising water table.

"I worry very much about putting any sort of development, including roads, outside the Urban Development Boundary," she said. "Anybody that witnessed the horrific flooding in Houston, when they begun to encroach upon their wetlands, knows the danger of taking our protected wetlands around from us, given what's going on with sea-level rise."


Higgins will not be sworn in until Friday but the hearing on 836 is tomorrow. I wonder if she will be speaking from the floor? I wonder if the vote can be postponed.


MEANWHILE...

County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava has a motley crew of 3 running against her.

 

They are a bit behind on the fundraising front.

Read More

Eileen Higgins Endorsed by the Miami Herald to be County Commissioner in District 5! By Geniusofdespair

Yes, Eileen Higgins really does use public transit.

Way to go Eileen! Eye on Miami also strongly supports Eileen Higgins. We need her vote on the County Commission -- as Tuesday's failure to override the Mayor's Veto proves.

From the Miami Herald Editorial:

Higgins’ strong showing at the polls was telling in this largely Hispanic district. She received 70 percent of that vote. Higgins admits some Latin voters have a difficult time pronouncing her name and she speaks just enough Spanish to get by on the radio, but she is unfazed. In fact, she is affectionately called La Gringa (“the American woman”) in some circles. “I just know that people want good governance; they’re not going to vote for just a Hispanic last name,” she told the Editorial Board.

And:

“I ride public transit,” Higgins told the Board. She knows first hand the late buses, the operational challenges. “The cities are moving ahead of the county with circulators,” she said. “They’re cheap and [use] a smart-card purchase, so there are no delays.”

It’s part of Higgins’ practical philosophy to get things done: “Why wait for multibillion-dollar solutions?”

She also knows that there is a never-funded Housing Trust. Now that it has a board, she says, it can get to work raising funds that will draw down private money for affordable housing.

Higgins has spent quality time in several areas of service, teaching entrepreneurship to school children, advocating through PACT for gun-violence intervention as part of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance.

And:

Higgins is full of energy and new ideas and a sense of duty to serve the public in the progressive style of former Commissioner Katy Sorenson. She has a smart, crisp and engaging appeal we have not seen in a long time. She can tell you which bus routes are underserved; she has realistic solutions to affordable housing and wants to make the county’s sea-level-rise resiliency effort “move faster.”

As the much-stronger candidate, the Herald recommends EILEEN HIGGINS for Miami-Dade Commission District 5.

Read More