Hialeah Council gridlocked over vacancy as deadline looms

A divided Hialeah City Council has failed so far to appoint a new member, ending in a 3-3 deadlock that has left the city without a clear replacement for Jacqueline Garcia-Roves, who became Interim Mayor last week.

The impasse now raises the possibility of a costly Special Election.

Verónica Egui Brito of the Miami Herald first reported on the deadlock.

Six nominees remain in the running for the open seat, with a 30-day window for the Council to appoint a replacement.

But the City Council remained locked in disagreement Tuesday, split evenly between supporters of 21-year-old William Marrero and those opposed to his selection.

Marrero, a former aide to Council member Luis Rodriguez and a student at Florida International University, received backing from Rodriguez and Council members Juan Junco and Carl Zogby.

The remaining three members — Melinda De La Vega, Monica Perez and Jesus Tundidor — rejected his candidacy, citing his lack of experience. Perez, however, indicated she would support Marrero in an election.

Multiple rounds of voting failed to break the tie. When a motion to postpone the decision was raised, the Council instead reexamined other candidates, including lawyer Abdel Jimenez, educator Kassandra Montandon, mortgage broker Luis Antonio Morales, city surveyor Javier Morejon, former city Human Resources Director Gelien Perez and activist Juan Santana.

All candidates remain under consideration as the city reopened the application process through May 23. The next Council meeting is scheduled for May 27 — the final opportunity to make an appointment before triggering a Special Election.

A similar election in 2022 cost Hialeah $44,000, the Herald reported, citing Miami-Dade Elections Department data.

If Garcia-Roves’ replacement is selected by appointment, it would mark the third time in a year that someone joined the Hialeah Council without being elected.

In November, Junco became the oldest person to ever take a seat on the city dais when his now-peers selected him to replace ex-Council member Bryan Calvo, who ran unsuccessfully for Miami-Dade Tax Collector. Ironically, Calvo was the youngest person city voters ever elected to the Council.

And in July, the panel appointed De La Vega to replace ex-member Angelica Pacheco, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended in June after she was federally indicted on health care fraud charges.

Garcia-Roves was elevated to Interim Mayor on May 6 after former Mayor Steve Bovo stepped down for a federal lobbying job.

The city’s charter provides that in cases of mayoral vacancies, the Council President — then Garcia-Roves — takes the spot in an interim capacity.

Garcia-Roves has not confirmed whether she will run to keep the job, but told the Herald that if her former Council peers “keep putting on a show” by delaying the pending appointment, “they might help me make up my mind.”