Recap of the City of Miami Democratic Candidate Mayoral Forum

On Sunday, October 5, the Coconut Grove Democrats and the Miami-Dade Democratic Party co-hosted a mayoral candidate forum at St. James Baptist Church. With early voting just weeks away, the event gave voters a chance to hear directly from the four Democratic candidates for City of Miami Mayor: Ken Russell, Eileen Higgins, Michael Hepburn, and Elijah John Bowdre. The forum was moderated by Coconut Grove Spotlight editor Don Finefrock.

The evening centered on the biggest challenges facing Miami - housing affordability, climate resilience, economic opportunity, and restoring public trust in city leadership.

Opening Perspectives

Ken Russell, former City Commissioner for District 2, rooted his remarks in lived experience: "Miami is not affordable and our youth is moving away. Our elderly are having trouble holding on. So tonight's big theme is going to be affordability. I guarantee you we're going to answer many questions about it. We can't afford corruption anymore because corruption is what's keeping us from solving these issues."

Eileen Higgins, a County Commissioner serving Miami's urban core, described her background as an engineer, Peace Corps director, and diplomat: "When I settled in Miami, I wanted to keep making a difference. I wanted to continue giving back to this community. And so in 2018, I ran for office unexpectedly in a very, very heavily Republican seat and flipped it. It had been in Republican hands for 25 years. I've continued to serve and since that time I put my engineering skills to work: building housing, working on resiliency, supporting small businesses, and getting things done."

Michael Hepburn, a nonprofit leader and sports executive, reflected on a lifetime of civic involvement: "I am in this fight for one reason only, and that is to lower the cost of living for working class people in my city. Okay? Period. Every policy idea that I push forward, all 44 initiatives that I got from my community, is to do just that."

Elijah John Bowdre, an entrepreneur and chair of the Miami-Dade Cryptocurrency Task Force, emphasized government efficiency: "Latency creates silly surpluses and devastating deficits. Even right now… all the factors that attribute to the actual pain or the increased hopelessness or that squeezing feeling can come through efficiency of government and people who actually have solutions."

Housing and Development

On affordable housing, candidates shared different strategies.

• Higgins pointed to redevelopment models that avoid displacement: "We cannot be gentrifying people out of the neighborhood. So we took the first step of building a first new building so we could move all the folks in from the other buildings so that they knew we were not going to displace them. And now… every one of those elderly people is living in a brand new unit."

• Hepburn called out the lack of a comprehensive approach: "We still haven't passed a comprehensive affordable housing master plan in the City of Miami. So before we can even have conversations about affordable housing and displacement, can we actually get serious about having a coordinated plan of how we want to rehab, develop, and preserve?"

• Russell stressed that the city did have a plan: "The city actually does have a comprehensive plan. It was done at great expense and time. It took over a year. We hired FIU's Metropolitan Center to come in and analyze exactly what our affordable housing crisis was and then give us the plan to address it. The commissioners accepted that plan, so it does exist within the city, but they... refused to implement it. They refused to implement it because it took their power away from shaking down developers."

• Bowdre drew from his work in housing compliance: "What we found was that there are many developers who can be incentivized. They want to come to Miami… having a mayor and leadership who can actually speak to these developers, but actually understand what their actual costs are, their density, how we can change that, actually builds affordable housing as well."

Economic Opportunity

All four candidates underscored the importance of supporting working families and small businesses.

• Hepburn pointed to the mismatch between wages and costs: "Income of a household in my city is $60,000 in the majority, but that majority cost is about $40,000 or less… minimum wage, $14 in a city that we live in, right? That's a joke."

• Bowdre described his experience connecting developers' community benefits to residents: "As the Overtime Community Oversight Board liaison, it was my job to take the actual allocations from a lot of the developers… but make sure that it worked its way through the actual machinery of Miami-Dade County into their hands."

• Higgins spotlighted her Elevate Small Business program: "We've already helped a thousand of the 8,000 small businesses in my district. This program has been completely comprehensive… and most importantly, I'm preparing these small businesses for access to capital."

• Russell reflected on revitalizing Coconut Grove's business district: "When I got the job, it was buckled bricks and paper on the windows. And you can see what Coconut Grove is like today for the small business owners, the restaurants, the retail, the hotel."

Climate and Resilience

The candidates spoke passionately about flooding, sea level rise, and preparedness.

• Bowdre: " What I would do is to, one, fund the pumps, find the actual critical areas, make sure that everything, every plan that actually goes out, has a climate resilience plan to counter (flooding)."

• Russell: "While I was commissioner… not only did we implement the Miami Forever Bond… but it has $400 million in it, half of which is for storm surge and sea level rise. We also passed the stormwater master plan to tell us exactly how to spend it and when. Problem is they're not spending it appropriately and at the right pace."

• Higgins: "The permitting system at the City of Miami is an absolute disaster. You want to stop a street from flooding? Two to three years to get a permit. You want to get a new roof on your house so you'll protect yourself from the next hurricane? Two to three years to get a permit. The first thing we need to do is… make this city start working."

• Hepburn: "How are we going to improve Miami's resilience to sea level rise and extreme heat and hurricanes?… My administration is going to utilize Section 5 of the charter - the petition - because that's how I'm going to push policy in this city."

Governance and Accountability

Candidates also discussed ethics, campaign finance, and the role of the mayor.

• Hepburn on outside employment: "The mayor workload in the city is actually part-time work, y'all. If y'all look at the charter and what the person can and cannot do… most of the time, it's not like they're doing anything else."

• Bowdre emphasized transparency: "I propose that we put it on an open ledger. Every record, every decision is essentially that record. We have them. We need to implement them. So then we don't have to worry about human fragility or temptation."

• Russell on campaign finance: "Sunlight is the disinfectant - you don't want to just drive it underground further and hide it. You want everyone to know who's receiving money from whom."

• Higgins was clear: "I have no intention of having outside employment. I will be the mayor full time. Because it's a full time job."

Reflections on Mayor Suarez

When asked to grade Miami's outgoing Mayor Francis Suarez, each Democratic candidate offered a mix of praise and criticism:

• Higgins gave him a C, noting his ability to attract new businesses and industries to the city, but criticized his administration for neglecting long-time residents and affordable housing needs.

• Bowdre offered a B-, acknowledging some successes while stressing that a mayor must balance visionary leadership with attention to the day-to-day needs of residents.

• Hepburn gave Suarez an A as the city's chief marketing officer, praising his promotion of Miami globally, but an F as mayor, citing a lack of attention to governance, civic engagement, and day-to-day execution of city responsibilities.

• Russell was the most critical, giving Suarez a "G if he could" for grift. He argued that the mayor's welcome of outside industries has benefited outsiders financially more than Miami residents and exacerbated the city's housing challenges.

Together, their assessments highlighted the candidates' focus on governance, resident-focused policy, and the need for a mayor who balances Miami's global brand with local equity and accountability.

The Runoff Question

When asked which opponent they would support if they did not make the runoff, candidates instead highlighted the risks of electing other figures in the race.

• Ken Russell warned: "Emilio Gonzalez has said he will basically militarize our police against the homeless. This is not the way to take care of the homeless situation in our community. Homeless people are people first and homeless second."

• Eileen Higgins cited past scandals: "We have one gentleman that left the airport because there was a whole lot of fraud and money laundering going there. This is the same person that ran the dysfunctional permitting system… Then we have Joe… $63 million in fines, $20 million of it is our money. Another person arrested, removed by the governor. That says a lot."

This exchange underscored how the Democratic candidates framed the race not only around their own priorities, but around the dangers of returning City Hall to entrenched interests.

Unity and Vision

In response to an audience question about unifying Miami, the candidates each offered hopeful perspectives:

• Russell: "Please don't give up. Please know that there are people fighting who do care. You've got them all here on the stage."

• Higgins: "When you win, you do not get to represent just the people who voted for you. You have to represent every person."

• Hepburn: "We have never been a melting pot. This has always been a salad bowl… policy actually helps us move this thing forward. Having participatory budgeting, a Miami Citizens Academy, campaign finance reforms - that's how we push forward."

• Bowdre: "Actually, the city is unified more than it's ever been before. We're unified in the thought that we know that we're being squeezed… and that something needs to change."

Closing

The forum reflected the diversity of experience and vision among the Democratic candidates for mayor, while underscoring shared commitments: tackling Miami's affordability crisis, building resilience, supporting small businesses, and restoring integrity to City Hall.

With election day approaching, the candidates' remarks made one thing clear: Miami's future is on the ballot, and Democrats are ready to lead.