Miami Beach

Matti Who?

Few Miami Beach Senior High students know the name of the city’s mayor

By Julia Carfagno

Miami Beach Senior High students have their priorities. Who runs the city around them is not one of them. Photo by Julia Carfagno

On the heels of a highly publicized and contentious mayoral election, a recent survey of Miami Beach Senior High School students revealed that most of the city’s teenagers don’t know the name their new mayor, illustrating an alarming problem among the next generation of Miami Beach voters.

Of 100 Miami Beach Senior High School students recently surveyed about the city’s November mayoral election, only 20 percent could name Bower as the new mayor. Although 13 percent of the students, ages 14 to 18, said they followed the race, only 3 percent could name all four candidates.

The results did not surprise Bower. “I think that if you were to conduct this same survey among adults you would find out [that] they wouldn’t be far off on the same percentages,” Bower said. “This is because life is so busy now and people are not really into government that much.”

That includes adults. In the runoff election between Bower and Simon Cruz, only 9,319 of the city’s 39,883 registered voters cast ballots.

“It does not surprise me, but I am saddened by the fact that a few people control the choice of the many,” Bower said.

Elise Giuliano, a political science professor at the University of Miami, said the manner by which teenagers get their political information partly depends on their parents. “I think children and teenagers should be aware, but it’s something that happens at home,” Giuliano said. “If parents are apathetic and not discussing politics with kids, then where are our teenagers going to learn about it?”

Bower’s lack of name recognition in Miami Beach’s public high school is ironic considering her background in the Miami-Dade County public school system and her ongoing involvement with parents and students in the community. In fact, Bower began her community involvement through school parent-teacher associations and started the first PTA at Fienberg-Fisher Elementary School 30 years ago.

“I learned everything that I know about politics by being involved in the PTA and trying to help the school system,” she said.

Bower’s granddaughter, Natalie Hernandez, a sophomore at Miami Beach Senior High School, said teens are just too into themselves. “High school kids should be involved, but at this age they care too much about how they look,” she said. “They don’t care about what’s going on around them.”

The U.S. Department of Education and the Nation Center for Education Statistics found similar results when testing the civic development of U.S. high school students in 1996 with five politically themed questions. Nearly half of the students, 49 percent of the 14.2 million polled, answered none or one of the questions correctly. About 31 percent answered two or three questions correctly. Only 19.6 percent answered all five correctly.

The results of both surveys reflect a low interest in government issues among teenagers. In the Miami Beach Senior High survey, some students jokingly responded that the new mayor was Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Washington, Bob Saget, President Nixon and even the pimp Bishop Don “Magic” Juan. Among those who answered seriously, 3 percent thought that the new mayor was “Jeff Bush,” a mix-up with Florida’s former governor, Jeb Bush. Two percent of those surveyed said the new mayor was “Cuban lady Linda Grosz.” Grosz, who did not run for mayor and is not Cuban, ran for a seat on the City Commission and lost, but even her daughter did not know the correct name of the city’s new mayor.

Some students were taken aback by their lack of knowledge.

“Wow, I really can’t believe I didn’t know anything,” said Frank Targia, a junior.

Others acknowledged that they were politically unaware.

“I don’t care about mayors, I care about presidents,” said Jonathan Torres, a sophomore who left his survey completely blank.

Even though many Beach High students don’t know her, Bower is thrilled to be Miami Beach mayor.

“Ahhhh, it’s great. I’m very happy to be the new mayor of Miami Beach,” Bower said. “I feel great!”

As the city’s first female and first Cuban mayor, Bower occupies a unique position in Miami Beach’s annals. Now she wants to use her influence to educate the next generation of voters.

“I really am very honored that I was elected. I didn’t realize that I was making history; I did it because I wanted to help the city,” Bower said. “I would like to go into high schools, into the government classes, and explain to them. People need to understand just like they understand student council. It’s the same thing, but on a larger scale.”

— SunPost intern Julia Carfagno is a student at Miami Beach Senior High.

Comments? E-mail letters@miamisunpost.com

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