Tomás Regalado for Miami Mayor

It's time to choose a mayoral candidate. I had been putting this endorsement off for awhile, because I honestly like both mayor candidates, Tomás Regalado and Joe Sanchez. I know them both and they are both very good people. They are honest, caring and they truly want to help the City. They are in the race to do good things.

But when it all comes down to what I feel is best for the Grove (as well as the city), I have to choose Tomás Regalado. I truly like Joe Sanchez, I was just with him on Saturday night for the Chamber Casino night. He is a decent, honest guy and fun to be around. But I feel the city needs Regalado at this point in time. Regaldo has always been for the neighborhoods, before it was the thing to do.

One main reason I favor Regalado is that we need a breather. The city has moved too fast, we have overbuilt, paid out too much, screwed up our budget and just gone downhill because of the Manny Diaz regime. Regalado to me, is the anti-Manny Diaz. I know people say that Joe Sanchez means progress. But how about we catch our breath from all the progress that has put Miami in a deep hole from all these years of non-stop progress?

Regalado is said to be the "just say no," guy and he has been. But apparently, so am I, because throughout all these years, whenever Regalado made a decision on the City Commission, I agreed with him 100%. I like to think I am a positive person, and just because people say, "no," does not make them a negative person. I think it takes will to say "no," when everyone else is saying "yes."

Regalado voted "no" on things that were close to me -- the Home Depot issue, the 300 Bay Residences at Mercy Hospital, the Marlins stadium (and the over-budget-already Marlins parking garage).

Joe Sanchez is too much in the shadow of Mayor Manny Diaz right now. I feel he is too pro-development. I feel that Mayor Diaz ruined the city with his kowtowing to large developers who have no allegiance to Miami other than to rape it and make money and move on to other cities to do the same. Maybe Miami 21 will help, maybe not, but it's too late for the damage that has already been done.

Why do we need to try to be New York or Chicago? How about let us be satisfied as being Cambridge, Mass or Hartford, CT. Why do we need to be overbuilt and congested? Why do we need to support billionaire sports team owners and millionaire players? Why do we need to agree to allow big box stores in neighborhoods that are out of place for them? Regalado was against all of these issues.

Regarding the Home Depot -- Regalado was against that from day one. He used the messed up Home Depot store in his own district as an example of what we don't want in the Grove. And he could have easily said, "well, we have ours, you are stuck with yours," but he actually was against saddling us with the mess that is now in SW 8th Street.

Is this dwelling in the past? Maybe, but when I think of Regalado, that is what always comes to mind. Neighborhoods first. Everybody's neighborhood, not just his own.

Joe Sanchez always tells me that the new Marlins stadium brings jobs. But to whom? The workers from outside the City who are the bulk of the construction crews? And when the stadium opens, those who will benefit will be the same workers who will just move the jobs from Landshark Stadium down to Marlins Stadium. Same jobs, different location. No new jobs.

Again, the main reason I like Regalado is because he is the anti-Mayor Manny Diaz.

We recommend Tomás Regalado for Mayor of Miami. He stands on his own two feet and has always been a friend to Coconut Grove.

In the photo: Tomás Regalado, me and Jose Regalado.