By David L. Snelling

Miami Beach, Fla. – Miami Beach community activist Luidgi Mary is seeking to become its first Black/Haitian American city commissioner.

Mary, 44, is challenging incumbent Commissioner Alex Fernandez for Group I in the Nov. 4 election.

Mary, who served on the town’s Black Affairs Advisory Board, told the South Florida Times he would be “part of a new wave of anti-establishment candidates working to bring real accountability and fresh leadership” to the commission.

“It’s a fight to take Miami Beach back from the political machine,” he said. “I saw a city being pulled apart by politics, overdevelopment, and decisions made behind closed doors.”

Mary said he is focusing on protecting the environment, stopping overdevelopment and backroom deals, fostering education, promoting small businesses and enhancing law enforcement.

“Pollution, neglect, and mismanagement are degrading Biscayne Bay and threatening our way of life,” he said. “I’m committed to aggressive action to clean our canals and bay, hold polluters accountable, and work with environmental groups, state agencies, and residents to restore our natural surroundings, because protecting Miami Beach means protecting the water that surrounds it.”

Small businesses are the local economy’s backbone, he said, but “Endless permitting delays, overregulation, and inconsistent enforcement have pushed too many hard-working entrepreneurs to the brink.” He plans to help small businesses thrive by streamlining approvals Mary said he also wants to address one of the tourism hub’s biggest issues: lack of parking spaces. “For too many years, elected officials at city hall have neglected our infrastructure,” Mary said. “Miami Beach needs more parking now.”

As a member of the Black Affairs Advisory Board, Mary said he worked to expand access to small business resources, strengthen youth mentorship programs, and build trust between law enforcement and community.

He said one of the biggest challenges in Miami Beach continues to be ensuring each neighborhood has equal access to city services and is properly informed about the resources and programs that exist to support them.

“That includes helping families stay in their homes, connecting residents to available assistance, and making sure no one is left behind simply because they do not know where to turn,” he said. “That is work I remain fully committed to carrying forward.”

As a community activist, “At first, I just wanted to be part of the conversation,” he said, but residents’ concerns such as rising housing costs and other quality of life issues “made it impossible to stay quiet. The deeper I looked, the more I realized how much damage has been done and how badly we need change.”

Mary was born and raised in Miami-Dade and lived in Miramar before he moved to Miami Beach in 2019.

Fernandez couldn’t be reached for comment. According to his bio, Fernandez, 38, spent nearly 20 years in legislative and public policy roles at Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami Beach, including work under former Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa and service on numerous city advisory boards.

He lived in Miami Beach for 12 years and first won reelection to Miami Beach City Commission in 2021. Fernandez switched from the Republican Party to no party affiliation in 2020, then from no party affiliation to Democrat in 2023.

Mary has raised $330,00 for his campaign, according to campaign contributions reports. Fernandez’s finance campaign reports were not available at press time.