It looks like Brian Ehrlich won’t have to pay to run for the Miami Beach Commission.
Ehrlich, a longtime city resident running for the panel’s Group 1 seat, says he just turned in 1,284 petitions to qualify for the race.
That’s well over the 856-petition requirement, and it reflects “broad support from neighbors across every corner of Miami Beach,” his campaign said.
“I’ve knocked on doors and spoken with people in every corner of our city,” Ehrlich said in a statement. “Collecting 1,284 petitions shows that our support is real, built neighbor to neighbor. Together, we can make Miami Beach a safer, stronger and more affordable community for everyone.”
Ehrlich, a 44-year-old real estate investor, has lived in Miami Beach for more than two decades and has served on numerous city advisory boards, including the Historic Preservation Board, Board of Adjustment and Cultural Arts Council.
He also chairs the Bass Museum of Art’s Strategic Planning Committee.
He’s one of seven candidates running to replace Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who is vying for the city mayoralty.
Others running include Miami Design Preservation League Executive Director Daniel Ciraldo, Realtor Ava Frankel, Park View Island Sustainable Association Founder Omar Jimenez, former Miami Beach Black Affairs Committee member Luidgi Mary, Miami Beach legislative aide Monica Matteo-Salinas and lawyer Monique Pardo Pope.
Ciraldo, Ehrlich and Matteo-Salinas are Democrats, according to state records. Mary and Pardo Pope are Republicans. Frankel and Jimenez have no party affiliation.
Ehrlich filed to run April 9. If elected, he vows to push for a citywide master plan that supports walkable neighborhoods and well-maintained public spaces, enhance transparency in public spending through independent audits, and a “responsible growth” policy that benefits residents while addressing resiliency and traffic issues.
Last year, he penned a Miami Herald op-ed opposing a since-passed Florida measure called the Resiliency and Safe Structures Act that eased the demolition and replacement of buildings with local historic relevance, many of which are in Miami Beach.
The Miami Beach Commission is a technically nonpartisan body, as are its elections.
The Miami Beach General Election is on Nov. 5.
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