Miami-Dade Mayor hires ex-challenger as economic opportunity adviser, drawing rebuke from another foe

Well, you can’t please everyone.

This week, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava reached across the political aisle and hired former Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, an outspoken critic who unsuccessfully ran to unseat her last year.

Levine Cava is a Democrat. Cid is a Republican. And while the county Mayor’s position is technically nonpartisan, the move is nevertheless notable amid ample political polarization.

Many will view it as a positive step, a decision to prioritize policy over politics. At least one of Levine Cava and Cid’s former opponents in the Mayor’s race, conservative social media influencer Alex Otaola, disapproves.

He called it a “mockery of democracy.” More on that later.

Cid will serve as senior adviser for economic opportunity, a new role within the county’s Office of Innovation and Economic Development.

In that job, which pays $200,000 a year, Cid will work to improve Miami-Dade’s business environment by easing superfluous regulation, supporting small businesses, helping first-time homeowners and engaging in other economically focused activities.

The Miami Herald reported on the hire Sunday, citing a meeting Levine Cava and Cid had during a joint interview with the outlet’s Editorial Board in July. During the meeting, the Herald said, Cid criticized Levine Cava for increasing county spending and expanding her staff while the cost of living for residents continued to climb.

At the meeting’s conclusion, Levine Cava invited Cid to speak with her more about how to improve county functions.

Levine Cava told Florida Politics on Monday that she and Cid, a restaurateur who previously worked in commercial real estate leasing, had a “very positive working relationship” before the election. That mutual respect continued during the race, she added.

She expects Cid’s efforts to add to and strengthen existing efforts to boost small businesses in Miami-Dade, such as the STRIVE305 program she created as a County Commissioner.

“Manny knows about the challenges businesses face and has connections to help expand our reach to get more people to the table. He can also help us identify ways that we can cut red tape, facilitate businesses to grow, and make it easier and less expensive to do business in Miami-Dade,” she said.

“Small businesses are critical to the well-being of our workforce because they tend to hire more locally and invest in our community. So, I’m a big, big fan, and I think he’ll be a great asset.”

Cid, 41, was elected to the Miami Lakes Town Council in 2012 and became the municipality’s youngest Mayor in 2016 with 77% of the vote. Four years later, he won re-election unopposed.

He was one of six people last year to challenge Levine Cava, 69, and he wasn’t for want of ideas.

“I talked about small businesses and the preservation and growth of the middle class and what we need to do for working families to get ahead and build equity. All of that is going to be encompassed in what I’ll be doing (in this new job),” he told Florida Politics.

“Having this opportunity to bring some of these ideas to fruition opens up a world of possibilities, and I’ve got to give major kudos to the Mayor for reaching across the aisle.”

Last year, Cid was one of six people to challenge Levine Cava, Miami-Dade’s first woman Mayor and the first Jewish person to hold the job. He placed a distant second in August with 23% of the vote. Levine Cava took 58% of the vote to avoid a runoff.

Otaola, who placed third in the race, chalked up the partnership between Levine Cava and Cid to political exploitation.

In a two-page statement Sunday, Otaola bashed what he errantly described as a recently created “department tailored for Manny.” Levine Cava launched the Office of Innovation and Economic Development in March 2023, 17 months before voters re-elected her to a second four-year term.

Otaola called Cid’s job a “consolation prize” and part of a “strategy designed to consolidate Levine Cava’s power and, at the same time, weaken” Otaola’s status “as a strong and promising figure in county politics.”

“This act, which seems intended to divide the vote and minimize (my) influence, is a maneuver that disregards the true meaning of democracy,” he said. “At the end of the day, voters deserve clarity, and what we see is confusion orchestrated by those who should be public servants, not players on a board of power.”

Otaola took 12% of the vote in the Aug. 20 Primary, by which he’d raised about $311,000 through tens of thousands of small donations. Levine Cava amassed $6.3 million since first winning the mayoralty, while Cid collected close to $528,000.

Much of Otaola’s campaign focused on a promise to fight communism and investigate businesses and “frontmen” in Miami-Dade that he alleged were funneling laundered money back to the oppressive regimes of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Levine Cava’s campaign rebuked his claim that she allowed such activities to happen on her watch.

Cid declined to respond to Otaola’s accusation.

“I’m really just laser-focused on delivering for small businesses, the middle class and working families,” he said. “I’m no longer a politician. I got into the public administration realm, which is something I’ve really become enamored with, so I’m not going to be commenting on any political stuff.”

Levine Cava said she’s long prioritized collaboration over politicization, and this is just the most recent example.

“I am a collaborator. I have the title, ‘collaborator-in-chief.’ I have a lot of perspectives in my administration, and I’ve hired across the aisle already,” she said. “I don’t seek based on party. I seek based on skill and capacity and getting a job done. Manny brings something to the table that will help us achieve more for our small business community and to help people grow into the middle class, and those are the reasons I’m very pleased to bring him into my administration.”