Ryan Nicol
Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate Daniella Levine Cava is releasing a new plan to help the county rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan comes as a new survey from the Miami Herald puts her 7 points ahead of her rival, Esteban “Steve” Bovo.
Levine Cava’s RECOVER plan has seven steps: reopen, expand, community partnership, opportunity, vertical integration of county resources, entrepreneurship and jobs, and reinvest.
“The best way to tackle and solve the issues Miami-Dade faces is through collaboration and partnerships with our public and private sectors,” said former Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Levine Cava backer.
“Daniella Levine Cava has always shown a willingness to work with diverse stakeholders to get stuff done. As the founder of a prominent nonprofit, she often brought business leaders together to solve the pressing issues of the day. That’s exactly what Miami-Dade needs in their next Mayor and it’s exactly why I am proud to support her campaign.”
The proposal largely centers around sending aid to small businesses in the region, which have been hit hard by economic restrictions imposed to help contain the virus.
Levine Cava is promising to give more procurement contracts to businesses less than 5 years old, making Miami-Dade’s small business loan program permanent and expand grants for Black-owned small businesses, among other proposals.
“I started my small business in the garage of my home with less than 10 employees,” said Raul Vergara, founder and vice president of Cutler Bay Solar Solutions.
“Thanks to Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava and her Small Business Academy and South Dade Incubator, I was able to gain the knowledge and resources to build our company to where it is now with over 65 employees. It goes without saying that if Daniella does for the County as Mayor what she has done for District 8 as Commissioner, Miami-Dade will be in great shape — she is the small business champion our county deserves.”
The new Herald poll shows Levine Cava leading Bovo 39%-32% with 29% of voters still undecided. The poll was conducted by Bendixen & Amandi and ran from Sept. 1-4. It sampled 500 likely voters and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
That’s tighter than a late-August poll commissioned by Levine Cava, which showed her with an 11-point lead. Voters will likely look to the candidates for help in addressing the COVID-19 fallout. Miami-Dade County has been the main hotspot for the outbreak in Florida, accounting for one-quarter of all confirmed cases in the state.
“The world as we know it has been turned upside down, and this is especially true for small businesses — the backbone of our economy,” Levine Cava said Wednesday.
“They have suffered immensely through uncertainty caused by an unclear recovery and reopening plan and a lack of the support they desperately need. I am committed to reinvesting in our workers and small businesses, expanding our economy, and providing the resources we need. Together can we rebuild a stronger Miami-Dade.”
