Tag: steven meiner

Four Miami Beach city commissioners did not attend Mayor Steven Meiner’s State of the City address Wednesday, noticeable absences at an event that often brings shows of unity and support for the mayor.

The four commissioners missing from the mayoral address were Tanya Katzoff Bhatt, Laura Dominguez, Alex Fernandez and Monica Matteo-Salinas.

Fernandez cited unspecified concerns.

“Recent matters have been disappointing and have divided our city,” Fernandez told the Miami Herald in a text message. “I decided it was best to focus on efforts that move our city forward.”

Dominguez told the Herald she had a conflict with her nephew’s confirmation and that the mayor’s team “didn’t check with anyone’s availability.”

Katzoff Bhatt and Matteo-Salinas did not respond to requests for comment.

Commissioners Joseph Magazine and David Suarez were in attendance. Meiner’s chief of staff, Veronica Coley, acknowledged them prior to Meiner’s speech, referring to them as “two gentlemen that are strong in leadership and policy.”

Meiner mentioned all six city commissioners in his address. At one point, an image of each of the elected officials was displayed on a screen behind him.

“When our commission works together, Miami Beach wins,” the mayor said.

Meiner has faced backlash over his recent decision to send a resident’s critical Facebook comment to the city’s police chief, who said he subsequently directed detectives to knock on the woman’s door.

The resident, Raquel Pacheco, led a small protest Wednesday outside the New World Center before Meiner delivered his speech inside.

The commissioners’ absence could portend challenges for Meiner in implementing parts of his agenda going forward, as four votes represents a majority of the city’s seven elected officials.

Miami Beach’s mayor and city commissioners serve in nonpartisan roles. Still, the divide on the dais pits four registered Democrats — Katzoff Bhatt, Dominguez, Fernandez and Matteo-Salinas — against three people registered as non-party affiliated in Meiner, Magazine and Suarez.

Beyond the incident involving Pacheco, Wednesday’s no-show by the four commissioners comes on the heels of Meiner revealing new committee appointments for 2026 that seemingly ruffled feathers.

Meiner elevated Suarez to chair of the land use committee, while shifting Fernandez from chair to vice chair. He made Fernandez chair of the public safety committee as Dominguez moved from chair to vice chair, and kept Magazine in charge of the finance committee.

That left no female commissioners in chair positions — something that none of them commented on publicly but that caught the attention of the news site Florida Politics. Meiner told the site that the appointments were “made based on merit, perspective, skill, and what each committee needs right now to be most effective in moving our city forward.”

Miami Beach elected officials have been largely aligned on big-picture priorities in recent years, such as cracking down on spring break chaos and streamlining permitting processes.

Meiner highlighted those efforts in Wednesday’s speech.

He announced a new city marketing campaign for spring break in March, boasting that the City Commission “didn’t waver in ending spring break chaos.”

He called Miami Beach a “law and order city” and touted an 18% drop in major crimes last year, according to police data.

And he emphasized the city’s approach to homelessness, one that includes making arrests of people who sleep outside and don’t accept a temporary shelter bed. Meiner said that a recent countywide homeless census found fewer than 100 unsheltered homeless people in Miami Beach, a 12% drop from last January.

READ MORE: Here’s the new Miami Beach spring break marketing video for 2026

Meiner has made more waves with his approach on other issues, most notably in his reactions to those who criticize Israel.

Pacheco, the resident whose comment Meiner flagged to police, had said in the comment that Meiner, who is Jewish, “consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians.” Pacheco recorded the police visit to her home in a video that went viral and prompted rebukes from free-speech advocates and candidates for Florida governor.

After his speech, in response to questions from reporters, Meiner defended his decision to flag Pacheco’s comment — his first time speaking publicly about the matter aside from a written statement.

Meiner said that, after someone forwarded the comment to him, he told Police Chief Wayne Jones the post could be “a dangerous escalation for not just my safety and my family’s safety, but for the Jewish community.”

Meiner has not explicitly called for the death of Palestinians. Pacheco told the Herald last month that she was alluding to statements Meiner has made at public meetings expressing his support for Israel and its war in Gaza.

“This is age-old antisemitism. This type of post is literally antisemitism 101,” Meiner said Wednesday. “You say that Jews are trying to commit violence, so basically what’s inferred is you need to commit violence against Jews.”

Meiner added that he “never heard any discussion” about police going to Pacheco’s home.

“I did not ask for it, I did not direct it, I didn’t know it even happened until after it happened.”

READ MORE: ‘Dangerous Escalation’: Emails show Miami Beach mayor sent Facebook post to police

Last year, when Meiner sought to terminate the lease of independent movie theater O Cinema because it screened a documentary about conditions in the West Bank, it made international headlines and brought dozens of speakers to Miami Beach City Hall before the mayor dropped his proposal.

Meiner also pushed for limits on protests that prompted a lawsuit by a pro-Palestinian group.

At the protest on Wednesday, a police officer approached Pacheco and a group of fewer than 10 people holding signs and ordered them to move to a different location.

The group was initially standing on the sidewalk at 17th Street and Washington Avenue, separated from the New World Center by Soundscape Park. The officer said their presence could distract drivers at the busy intersection.

After Pacheco confronted the officer and initially declined to move, she agreed to relocate to the spot preferred by police — a less busy location just down the street near Lincoln Lane. Miami Beach police have previously sought to relocate protesters to so-called “free speech zones.”

Pacheco told the Herald she had called police one day earlier and spoke with the same officer who approached her Wednesday, sharing details about where the protest would take place.

The order to relocate was “consistent with Meiner’s policy of designated free speech zones,” Pacheco told the Herald on Wednesday. “This is the United States of America. The entire country is a free speech zone.”

Later, during his address, Meiner emphasized that there is “zero tolerance in our city for hate or antisemitism or any form of discrimination against any person or any group.”

“We protect freedom of speech, civil rights and the rule of law,” Meiner said. “And there is no place for hate in Miami Beach. Not now. Not ever.”