Jesse Scheckner
Miami-Dade County’s two Sheriff candidates faced off for the second time in a televised debate, sparring over an array of issues, from wonky subjects like budgeting to hot-button topics such as immigration and the Jan. 6 riot.
Voters are just over two weeks from choosing between Republican Rosie Cordero-Stutz and Democrat James Reyes. Tuesday’s hour-long debate, moderated by reporter Jim DeFede of CBS Miami, may help those still undecided to make their pick.
DeFede opened the debate with a question to Reyes about on-the-street police experience. Reyes, a longtime Broward County jail warden now overseeing Miami-Dade’s Police, Fire and Corrections departments as Chief of Public Safety, doesn’t have any.
But that’s not vital to the job of Sheriff, Reyes argued, because he’s not running to be a police officer.
“The job of Sheriff is not to pull somebody over and write a citation,” he said. “The job of Sheriff, when done truly the right way, is a leadership role within our community, the police force, corrections … and I have that.”
Reyes spent 22 of his 24 years in law enforcement with the Broward Sheriff’s Office, where he was promoted by four different Sheriffs from both side of the political aisle. Cordero-Stutz, meanwhile, has spent her entire 28-year police career with the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), which the returning Sheriff’s Office will replace early next year.
Cordero-Stutz stressed that while a Sheriff won’t be patrolling neighborhoods or making arrests, having first-hand experience about the risks officers face daily is vital to the job.
“You have to understand the relationships that are built with our community, on the streets, with leaders, with actual criminals when you’re not arresting them,” she said. “You have to understand what it takes to be on a team like in Surfside (or) responding to a hurricane evacuation. These are all things that you gain (in the job) I’ve had.”
Asked about the Jan. 6 riot in Washington and whether she at all blames Donald Trump for the chaos that led to the deaths of several Capitol Police officers, Cordero-Stutz — who carries and endorsement from the former President — equivocated.
It was a “clearly very troublesome” event and a “dark day in the history of America,” but while some people there broke the law and deserved to be arrested and punished, others attended the “Save America” rally to express their freedom of speech.
She said Trump endorsed her because of her qualifications, not her political leanings.
“Everybody knows he is very strong when it comes to crime,” she said. “That is something that we are both in agreement. He is strong on crime, and so am I.”
Reyes said he’s been troubled by social media posts Cordero-Stutz has published, more than one of which expressed of support for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
The candidates clashed over the budget, which Reyes stressed was a non-issue and that the spending plan for public safety had increased for the coming fiscal year, contrary to what Cordero-Stutz said.
Reyes said Cordero-Stutz politicized that issue as well, noting that in none of her prior years with MDPD, including during budget downturns amid the Great Recession, did she go before the County Commission to protest the budget.
Cordero-Stutz fired back that the 8% “overage” Reyes touted as spending increases were really shifts of basic funding. Part went toward covering raises negotiated for under Reyes’ boss, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Another part is to cover the cost of transitioning from a Police Department to a Sheriff’s Office next year.
Meanwhile, she said she’d seen two police academy classes cut, which over a year will result in 90 fewer officers trained to replace retirees.
DeFede said he and other CBS Miami reporters spoke with MDPD officers who said overtime had been cut “dramatically,” a change that will impact public safety. Reyes said the overtime budget was determined internally by the department, not the county administration, and that the next Sheriff will have the authority to add more overtime and fund extra academy classes if they choose.
The candidates debated over Miami Dolphins player Tyreek Hill’s national-headline-grabbing traffic stop last month and statistics that show Black motorists are at far greater risk of being killed during roadside detainments.
Both agreed problematic behavior patterns within the department should be addressed, that officers on patrol should be reflective of the communities they serve and that there should be better training for de-escalation and intervention and against implicit bias.
In a separate exchange, both also concurred that mental health provisions for officers should be a priority.
Reyes’ campaign is running an attack ad against Cordero-Stutz claiming she was sentenced to seven days in jail for contempt of court. Cordero-Stutz was eager to address that assertion early in the debate and was able to do so later in the show.
The issue, DeFede confirmed, stemmed from a 2013 civil court dispute with a North Carolina bank. Documents DeFede read showed that Cordero-Stutz had failed to appear for multiple depositions, prompting the court to threaten her with a week’s jail time unless she satisfied its demands.
Cordero-Stutz said she had never been sentenced for contempt of court and that the matter, which involved a timeshare property, was settled without her facing any penalization.
“But the fact my opponent utilized these words to attack me, to mislead this community, is very concerning to me. The position of Sheriff is about integrity,” she said, adding that Reyes’ willingness to mischaracterize that event for political expediency should give voters pause about how truthful he’d be with them.
Reyes rejected that notion. The facts were written in “black and white,” he said, and his campaign never said Cordero-Stutz was sentenced, but only that it took her being threatened with jail time to “finally, for her, show up in the courtroom.”
“You don’t get to claim to be the law-and-order candidate and then refuse to follow law and order,’ he said.
On the subject of immigration and Trump’s pledge to round up and deport immigrants who are in America illegally, both candidates said they didn’t think the role of a Sherrif’s Office is to enforce federal laws.
Pushed on whether, as Sheriff, they’d provide U.S. immigration enforcement officials help with crowd control, road closures and other such support, Reyes said the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office has no business doing the job of federal agents.
He added that under his leadership, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office would not help to “round up members of the community.”
Cordero-Stutz was more flexible on the prospect.
If the federal government comes to Miami-Dade to conduct a sweep, she said, its agents should work with local law enforcement. But there are boundaries — including incursions at schools and work sites — that the Sheriff’s Office shouldn’t cross.
“It’s important for a Sheriff to understand and be involved, but there is a separation of powers. There’s a separation of what I’ll do,” she said. “We’re not a sanctuary city.”
Miami-Dade voters haven’t elected a Sheriff since 1966, when the county eliminated the position following a grand jury report that revealed rampant corruption within the office. But that changes this year, due to a 2018 statewide referendum requiring that Miami-Dade join Florida’s other 66 counties in having an elected Sheriff by January.
Cordero-Stutz took 24% of the vote in an 11-person Primary, in which multiple candidates outraised her, to advance to the General Election. Reyes beat three Primary opponents with 46% of the vote to clinch his spot on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Both have platforms prioritizing public safety, combatting public corruption and improving the county’s technological capabilities in fighting crime.
The candidates first debated Sunday, Oct. 6 on WPLG Local 10’s “This Week in South Florida,” with host Glenna Milberg moderating.
There are also plans for them to debate twice in Spanish. One is confirmed. Cordero-Stutz and Reyes will participate in an Oct. 16 debate on WLTV Univision 23, with anchor Ambrosio Hernandez moderating. It will air on Oct. 20.
They’ve both also agreed to debate on WURN Actualidad Radio with Roberto Tejera and Juan Camilo Gomez moderating, though the date is yet undecided.
The General Election is on Nov. 5.
