Surfside residents performed a near-total wipeout of the town’s previous commission March 19, when a new mayor and body were elected to serve for two-year terms.
Charles Burkett, who served as mayor from 2006-2010 and again from 2020-2022, beat former Mayor Shlomo Danzinger in last month’s highly anticipated election with 53% of the vote.
Burkett is joined on the new commission by Vice Mayor Tina Paul and Commissioner Ruben Coto, both of whom have served in their same capacities before, as well as first-time Commissioner Gerardo Vildostegui. Commissioner Nelly Velasquez was the only person from the previous commission to run and get reelected.
(Town of Surfside via Facebook)
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett being sworn into office.
The newly elected members of the commission collaborated heavily during the campaign season, choosing to meet voluntarily to discuss important issues on video and even signing a self-made “code of responsibility for Surfside government.”
“I’m so proud to be serving with these people,” Burkett said of his peers. “They’re smart, they’re kind, they’re compassionate and they make a lot of sense.”
Just one day after being sworn into office March 20, the town commission held a special meeting to undo certain actions performed by the previous commission, including retracting nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements with former public employees.
Surfside made headlines in December 2022 when three of the town’s leading staff members resigned unexpectedly, leaving residents suspicious of foul play. Former town manager Andrew Hyatt, former assistant town manager and CFO Jason Greene, and former police chief Rogelio J. Torres Jr. all resigned within a 48-hour period.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
The new Surfside commission convened for the first time on March 21 to host a special meeting.
The previous commission did not entertain requests from residents and Velasquez to lift the nondisparagement clauses barring the former employees from speaking publicly on the matter. Now, the current commission has promised to do just that. All such agreements for public employees who have worked for the town within the past five years will be lifted.
Vildostegui, a former law teacher, additionally said at the March 21 special meeting that he would bring an item before the commission to ensure that the town no longer use nondisclosure or nondisparagement agreements for future employees, either.
“Governments should not in general be hiding secrets from the public and certainly should not be threatening former public employees with the threat of retaliation if they tell the truth,” he said.
That same night, the town’s attorney, Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman, submitted its 30-day resignation notice, saying it “will allow the new commission to chart a new path forward and obtain a different perspective.”
(TownOfSurfsideFl.gov)
Former Surfside town manager Andrew Hyatt was one of three commission members to unexpectedly resign within 48 hours in December 2022.
The town commission also unanimously moved to remove all board and committee members from their voluntary roles. Though the removed members are allowed and encouraged to reapply for their positions, the town commission voiced its desire to restart the appointee process anew by reviewing all available applications and ensuring the best individuals for the roles are chosen.
“In an abundance of caution, we just want to be doubly sure that some of these people who have been serving on these boards who have been serving themselves instead of the residents are gone, and gone for good,” Burkett said.
David Forbes, a real estate developer who served on the town’s planning and zoning board, was also one of the candidates for commissioner in the past election. He came in seventh place.
The commission also approved measures undoing a plat waiver approved just one week prior by the previous commission, pausing construction on new sidewalks in the town until community input is ensured, and halting the design process for a two-story recreation center at 88th Street and Harding Avenue.
When asked by this publication if the commission intends to undo any more of the previous body’s measures, Burkett answered in the affirmative.
(TownOfSurfsideFL.gov)
A rendering of a completed 96th Street park in Surfside.
“The residents can expect that we’re going to go right down the list, especially with respect to the irresponsible zoning changes that [former commission members] made that benefited themselves, we’re going to go right down the list and reverse every single one of them,” he said.
During the special meeting, the new commission members made their alternative priorities clear: building a memorial to honor the 98 lives lost during the 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse, improving flooding conditions on Abbott Avenue and finishing construction on the 96th Street park.
Burkett later added onto that list of priorities by promising to underground power lines, fix parking congestion downtown, improve walkability, stop speeding and cut-through traffic in residential districts, and making the town’s beach “world class.”
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett
He added that residents should and will feel welcome to speak publicly at the town’s meetings, whatever their points of view. Danzinger came under fire often during his term for allegedly silencing opposing voices, often using his gavel to end off-topic discussions and threatening to have "disruptive" residents removed by the police.
Burkett referred to this commission as one that is “kinder and gentler.”
During the March 21 special meeting, residents who asked for it were granted additional time to speak, including former Vice Mayor Jeffrey Rose himself, a strong ally of Danzinger’s who had lost his reelection bid just days before.
“We don’t interrupt people,” Burkett said. “We don’t want to stop them from expressing themselves … Everyone’s entitled to their opinion and to be heard respectfully and fully.”