Voters head to polls in Coral Gables, Miami Shores

Voters in two major Miami-Dade cities will head to the polls Tuesday to select from 16 people vying for seats in Coral Gables and Miami Shores.

Precincts in the two communities will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There is only one polling place in Miami Shores, the C. Lawton McCall Community Center, 9617 Park Dr. All polling places in the Gables will be open. Both elections are winner take all.

In Coral Gables, the most contentious race is the mayoral one. Incumbent Jim Cason, a retired U.S. diplomat and former head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, was elected two years ago. Cason, 68, faces longtime Commissioner Ralph Cabrera, 54, who was elected to his seat in 2001 but was term-limited.

Three candidates are running for Cabrera’s Group 2 seat:

•  Marlin Ebbert, 65, a retired teacher and longtime civic and arts volunteer;

•  Ross Hancock, 58, communications director for the nonprofit American Welding Society;

•  and Vicente (Vince) Lago, 35, a project executive with BDI Construction & Design, which primarily designs and builds schools.

Five candidates are running for term-limited Commissioner Maria Anderson’s open Group 3 seat:

•  Jackson Rip Holmes, 61, a commercial real estate broker.

•  Patricia (Pat) Keon, 64, retired nurse, Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board member.

•  Phillip (P.J.) Mitchell, 39, lawyer, partner with Mitchell & West.

•  Norman Anthony (Tony) Newell, 30, vice president of operations, Hammer Construction Corp.

•  Mary Young, 55, director of the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration’s Ziff Graduate Career Services Center.

In Miami Shores, six candidates are running for three seats in the Miami Shores Village Council election. Two of the three seats — held by council members Al Davis and Steve Loffredo — are term-limited and open.

Miami Shores candidates run at large; the top three vote getters win. The candidates are:

•  Jesse Walters, 57, executive director of the Greater Miami Shores Chamber of Commerce and the village’s representative to the Florida League of Cities. He is the only incumbent to seek reelection;

•  Herta Holly, 75, a former Miami Shores mayor who served from 2007 to 2009, who works for The Cushman School in the advancement office;

•  The Rev. Jonas Georges, 62, pastor of All Nations Presbyterian Church in North Miami Beach;

•  Ivonne Ledesma, 39, owner of Sage Lifestyles, a yoga studio, in downtown Miami Shores;

•  Eddie Lewis, 60, a retired Miami-Dade police officer and a candidate for the Miami-Dade County Commission in 2012;

•  Julio Martinez, 55, owner of Hightower Property Management in Miami Shores and board member of the Shores’ Chamber of Commerce.

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