Meet the 14 people who want to be a Miami city commissioner for a year

Fourteen people have applied to fill the District 5 seat on the Miami City Commission, a process that has triggered a debate over the issues, a salacious attack ad and a mix of old and new candidates.

Keon Hardemon, the 37-year-old attorney first elected to Miami’s commission in 2013, was on Tuesday sworn in as the new representative for District 3 on the Miami-Dade County Commission. On Wednesday, Miami’s four remaining city commissioners are expected to decide how to fill the vacancy left by Hardemon’s departure. District 5 includes Overtown, Liberty City, Wynwood, Midtown, Little Haiti and the Upper Eastside.

In October, commissioners agreed to solicit applications and resumes from interested residents. Of the dozen, four have run for local elected office in the last decade. One has Hardemon’s blessing and clear support from a sitting commissioner.

Commissioners Alex Díaz de la Portilla, Ken Russell, Joe Carollo and Manolo Reyes, can either appoint someone to represent District 5 for one year or hold a special election. There has been concern over the estimated $250,000 cost of a special election in a year when the city is facing a budget deficit, although that deficit decreased significantly last week after administrators found revenues exceeded their projections by more than $20 million.

Another possible determining factor: Whether or not candidates would commit to not running next year. Reyes has said he believes the appointed commissioner should not be a candidate in the 2021 election because they have an incumbent’s advantage. Russell said an appointee could either help or hurt their chances in next year’s race, but it shouldn’t matter if they want to run.

The candidate who has already amassed a sizable war chest and carries endorsements from Hardemon and Díaz de la Portilla, Christine King, has been the target of a particularly nasty robocall that reached District 5 residents in recent days.

An anonymous automated call from a supposed political committee called “The Liberty City People’s PAC” accuses King of having an inappropriate relationship, and of mismanaging funds from the nonprofit she leads, the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation.

The Miami Herald found there is no committee with that name registered with the city, county or state elections divisions. The call ends with a Biscayne Boulevard address that does not exist.

On Tuesday, King dismissed the attack as “ridiculous,” saying that the call backfired because it has only fueled her supporters’ energy to back her candidacy.

“That robocall might as well have said that I’m 6-foot-5 and purple,” she said.

In interviews, other candidates condemned the call and said it was disturbing, unnecessary and sad. Several praised King for her nonprofit’s work. No one claimed responsibility.

The candidates

▪ Jacquetta “Jacqui” B. Colyer, 70: Colyer is a former candidate for Florida House District 109, worked as the Miami regional director for the Department of Children and Families, and worked for the foster care contractor in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, Our Kids. She said she is applying to the seat because “the community has asked me to.”

“Some of the things that I heard from them was just about the fact that our community has so much potential and that it’s not being pursued in any way,” said Colyer, adding that she’s concerned about affordable housing and bringing jobs that residents can apply for.

Colyer left her job at DCF in 2011 after a state panel concluded agency failures and lack of her department’s intervention contributed to the death of a 10-year-old, a finding that Colyer has said is false.

If she’s elected, Colyer said she wants to address feelings from residents that they are being “replaced and displaced.”

“The people living in the community are left out for reasons that don’t make any sense,” she said.

▪ Zico Fremont, 33: Fremont said he is running because he supports measures to remediate the effects of climate change in the district and finding transit alternatives in the city. He said he supports the expansion of the Brightline train.

“I’m a Miami boy. So that’s who I am and I’m ready to be the voice for the people of District 5,” said Fremont.

He currently runs an automotive business, RA Automotive, and works with two local nonprofits that serve underprivileged communities: Manifezt Foundation and Family of Excellence Community Alliance.

▪ Michael Hepburn, 38: Hepburn is currently a coordinator for Miami Dade College’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy. He said he is interested in “closing the achievement gap for Black and Brown kids” in the city by focusing on affordable housing, workforce development, tuition-free college for Miami graduates and public safety.

“We need champions who believe in creating a 21st century economy,” Hepburn said in an email. He has run for public office before, most recently for U.S. Congress for District 27 in 2018.

He said he is prepared to be Commissioner for District 5 because he has worked in the city as a mentor, an educator and project manager for nonprofit organizations like the Miami Workers Center. He has also worked with the City of Miami government as a member of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board and as a Citizen-on-Patrol for the Miami Police Department.

▪ Grady Howard, 52: Howard said District 5’s housing affordability problem should be addressed by encouraging more homeownership in addition to requiring developers to provide more affordable and workforce units in exchange for expanded development rights.

He said the city needs to keep pushing for a greater share of federal COVID-19 aid that is being managed by the county. Howard said he’d advocate for using that additional money for direct assistance to renters, homeowners and businesses struggling to pay the bills.

A mask mandate, Howard said, ought to be enforced.

“We’ve got to get the pandemic under control,” he said.

▪ Andre D. Joyce, 57: Joyce works as director of resident services and safety at the Broward Partnership for the Homeless. Joyce unsuccessfully ran for the District 5 seat in 2010. He told the Miami Herald he does not plan to run for the full four-year term next year, saying he wants to help pass the baton to the next politician.

If appointed, he said he would immediately push for more community education around COVID-19, and he’d advocate for community policing to help stop super-spreader events in the district — he recalled driving by large gatherings of 40-50 people in his area lately, giving him concern.

“Within our community there’s a need for education, including educational materials,” he said. “We do have testing, but just need more education on how to prevent the spread.”

▪ Christine King, 35: King, an attorney and president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Economic Development Corporation, has been campaigning for the the District 5 seat for more than a year. She has raised nearly $100,000 since April 2019 to mount a campaign in 2021, adding to the perception that she is a front-runner for the appointment.

King said she would balance the diverse needs of a district that spans a range of neighborhoods, from some of Miami’s poorest to the wealthier waterfront. She said her strengths lie in building coalitions through her nonprofit, which she would translate to City Hall to tackle District 5’s multifaceted problems.

“Affordable housing is a crisis in the city of Miami,” King said. “But also, Biscayne Bay is important. And Ms. Sally’s pothole is important.”

King said she is committed to running for the seat in 2021.

“I will be the caretaker,” she said. “But I absolutely intend to run. I‘ve been actively campaigning as much as I can during this pandemic.”

▪ Revran S.M. Lincoln, 83: Lincoln owns property in Overtown and runs a nonprofit called “People Helping People Self Reliance, Inc.”

▪ Dr. Robert Malone Jr., 52: An educator, consultant and former president of the Hadley Park Homeowners Association, Malone has run for the District 5 seat twice before. He said addressing gun violence among the area’s youth would be an immediate priority.

“I think law enforcement are very much needed in District 5,” he said. “I just want the opportunity for a year to make a mark.”

Malone said he would not seek election in 2021. He was critical of King because she moved to the Upper Eastside in 2018, and he contrasted his longer residency in the district as an important qualification for someone to fill the seat for one year.

“She has this machine behind her to promote her and put her in the seat,” Malone said.

▪ Patrick O. Owens, 56: Owens, a member of the city’s community relations board, said he wants to restore residents’ trust in government and law enforcement institutions.

“I just want to minimize the distrust of the local government, state government, federal government,” said Owens, who is currently a private security contractor and consults with emergency management agencies on public safety concerns.

He said he wants to take a “people-oriented approach” on city issues and get more residents involved in city matters. Owens also added he would let commissioners take the lead on actions.

“They have pretty good judgment,” he said.

▪ Ronald Page, 29: Page, who works for the Social Security Administration, said District 5’s commissioner should fight against gentrification and displacement of longtime residents, the city should provide more scholarships to youths — he received one from Hardemon’s office in 2016 — and residents and small businesses need direct financial assistance, especially during the pandemic.

He added that improving the community’s relationships with the police is a priority, a belief rooted in personal experience. His brother was fatally shot in 2005.

“My brother was murdered when a coward robbed him. It’s important to me that we have a relationship with the police department,” he said. “That person who murdered my brother, that person would have been caught if witnesses had come forward.”

He said while he would prefer the city hold a special election under normal circumstances, the budget concerns mean the commission should make an appointment, and that person should only serve one year.

“I do not believe that any person who will be appointed should be a candidate in the 2021 election for District 5,” he said.

▪ Mark L. Pitts, 42: Pitts lists his employment as a clerk in the county juvenile court. He said he’s previously worked in the broadcasting field for the Miami Heat and WSVN-Channel 7.

▪ Stephanie Thomas, 51: A former deputy city clerk in the city of North Miami, Thomas wrote in a cover letter that she would bring a wealth of public service experience to Miami City Hall as a lifelong District 5 resident. The Haitian-American public servant with 18 years of municipal experience is currently seeking a doctor of health sciences degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School.

▪ Francoise Junior Alexandre, 34: Alexandre announced on Facebook on Tuesday that he intends to seek the District 5 appointment at Wednesday’s hearing. Alexandre has sued the city over an incident in which police beat him, breaking his eye socket, after the Heat won the NBA championship. Two of the officers involved are scheduled to go to trial. His name was added to the list of qualified candidates on the city clerk’s website on Tuesday.

▪ Jeffrey Watson: Miami officials added Watson’s name to the list of qualified candidates Tuesday. His qualifying paperwork was not immediately available.

Miami Herald staff writer Martin Vassolo contributed to this report.