The City of Miami Beach is seeking to fill a vacancy in the City Commission seat for Group IV, following the resignation of Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, which resignation was effective January 3, 2019.

At the December 12, 2018 City Commission meeting, the City Commission directed the City Clerk to issue a Notice of City Commission Vacancy to provide an opportunity for all interested individuals to submit an application for consideration.

Pursuant to City Charter Section 2.07, “[a]ny vacancy occurring in the City Commission shall be filled by the vote of the majority of the remaining members of said City Commission with the appointee serving the remainder of the unexpired term until the next succeeding general City election . . . .”

In accordance with City Charter Section 6.03, each applicant shall be a “qualified elector of the City residing within the City at least one year prior qualifying . . . .” In this case, each applicant must have resided within the City for at least one year prior to the date of application.

The individual appointed to the City Commission seat for Group IV will serve for the remainder of the unexpired term, which will end in November 2019.

As approved by the City Commission on January 16, 2019, the procedure that will be followed during the January 23, 2019 Commission meeting, which starts at 5:00 p.m., in order to fill the vacancy in City Commission Group IV are:

• The Mayor will convene the meeting. At the commencement of the meeting, and prior to the Presentations and Awards, the Mayor and each Commissioner may nominate up to three (3) applicants on a written form provided by the City Clerk. Nominations shall be based on the applications submitted for the Group IV seat.

• The written form from the Mayor and Commissioners will be submitted to the City Clerk, who shall publicly announce the names of each of the applicants nominated by the Mayor and each Commissioner.

• Following the Presentations and Awards portion of the City Commission Meeting, each nominated applicant will be given an opportunity to give up to a two-minute presentation before the City Commission.

• The Mayor and Commissioners will deliberate.

• The Mayor and each Commissioner will select their top applicant on a written form provided by the City Clerk.

• The written form from the Mayor and Commissioners will be submitted to the City Clerk, who shall publicly announce the name of the applicant selected by the Mayor and each Commissioner.

• Voting will continue until an applicant receives at least four (4) votes.

• If an applicant is appointed, the swearing-in will occur immediately.

Attached are the applications received as of Thursday, January 18, 2019, at 10:00 a.m.