The Name Factor
Wife of Termed-Out Commissioner and Incumbent
Victorious in City Election

His campaign advisor attributed Holzberg’s win to the “11 years of name recognition” enjoyed by her husband.

By Randy Abraham

First-time political candidate Teri Holzberg and incumbent Bob Diamond handily beat their opponents in Aventura’s March 6 municipal election.

Holzberg, wife of 11-year commissioner Harry Holzberg, who is retiring due to term limits, captured her husband’s vacant seat with 1,157 votes to Gustavo Blachman’s 895.

Commissioner Bob Diamond coasted to an easy re-election win, capturing 1,367 votes to Jonathan Weitz’s 408 votes and Scott Abraham’s 284.

Holzberg, whose campaign relied heavily on her husband’s involvement and a last-minute flier that painted real estate broker Blachman as a tool of development interests, was ecstatic at her victory.

“I had wonderful support from my friends, volunteers and supporters,” said the commissioner-elect, who stated she had raised $26,000 and spent about $20,000.

Blachman filed a complaint over the flier with the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics after hearing about it from a friend who received it last Saturday.

Among his objections, Blachman complained that Holzberg’s campaign repeated a typo in a Miami Herald article that listed Blachman as a two-year resident — he has lived in the city for 11 years — even though the Herald had printed a correction a few weeks ago.

Holzberg defended the flier, noting that her campaign advisors created it with the information they had at the time it was printed. She also said she felt Blachman’s ties to the real estate industry were a legitimate issue in a city trying to come to terms with various impacts from development.

Holzberg and Diamond posted sizable margins in absentee ballots and almost all of the city’s voting precincts. Blachman was present at Aventura’s Government Center as the votes were counted but slipped out when the final results were tallied. His campaign advisor, Sydney Davis, attributed Holzberg’s win to the “11 years of name recognition” enjoyed by her husband.

Diamond, unopposed in a bid for a second term until the last day of qualifying, when homebuilder Weitz and retired Internet entrepreneur Abraham jumped into the race, was also pumped at the Tuesday’s outcome. “As an incumbent for the last four years, every time you vote you make a leadership decision, and that means some will support your decision and some will oppose it,” Diamond said. “To come away with this resounding victory, I am absolutely thrilled with the results of the election.”

Diamond praised his opponents for running clean campaigns. “I have nothing but respect for my opponents; they both ran positive campaigns and they both fought [well].” Diamond said he hoped the two continue being active in civic affairs.

Weitz said he intends to get more involved. “I will not disappear after the election,” he said.

Abraham was not spotted at Government Center while votes were being counted.

Commissioner Zev Auerbach was unopposed in his bid for a second term and won his seat automatically. He, along with a majority of city commissioners, had endorsed Diamond and Holzberg.

With little in the way of controversial campaign issues and only one public forum, held last week at the Point East condo complex, most of the city’s 15,558 registered voters did not participate in Tuesday’s election. Asked whether he would support moving city elections back to November, Commissioner Michael Stern said he’s willing to discuss the issue but is not convinced it would boost attendance. “I’m disappointed [by the turnout] but not surprised,” said Stern, who supported Holzberg’s candidacy. He then conceded that sharing the ballot with county, state or national election could serve to affect turnout, “but with so many things going on in the November election, our city election could get lost in voters’ minds,” he said.

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