NORTH MIAMI BEACH — On June 12, Mario A. Diaz was sworn in as the new City Manager of North Miami Beach.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, the Julius Littman Performing Arts Theater in front of a selective audience that included city council staff, members of the North Miami Beach Police Department (NMBPD), and Diaz’s friends and family.
During his acceptance speech, Diaz made a public commitment to honoring his duties and responsibilities for the greater good of the great city of North Miami Beach.
Diaz, who grew up in Hialeah, took an oath to “faithfully execute the duties of the office of city manager” and said he is committed to improving the city for its 43,000-plus residents.
Mario Diaz replaces interim city manager Mark Antonio after the commission voted for him during a meeting in May.
Antonio, a former Hallandale city manager, expressed no desire to stay on long-term when he was hired during the March 22nd meeting. Antonio temporally took over this position from the previous city manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey, who was fired without cause during the same meeting by the commission. But the commission recently voted 4-2 to rescind its prior vote and subsequently fired “Duke” Sorey with cause. Now, Sorey will lose his 20 weeks’ severance. Newly elected Commissioner Jay Chernoff cited “massive misspending” discovered later, which led to the reversed decision.
Prior to his hiring as North Miami Beach City Manager, Mr. Diaz occupied the positions of Chief Administrative Officer for Biscayne Park (Dec 2020 to Jun 2023) and Chief Of Staff of North Bay Village (May 2019 – Nov 2020).
Supportive, integrity, generosity, honesty, and transparency are some of the words that characterize Mr. Diaz’s personality. The new city’s boss seems ready to work with anyone as long as that person can be a team player.
“As I prepare to step into City of North Miami Beach,” reads a post on his LinkedIn page, “I am looking for a Deputy City Manager to join me. I won’t promise it will be easy, but it will be fun if you are into accountable, transformative, transparent, and local government.”
A son of Cuban immigrants, at the ceremony, Diaz recognized his parents for believing in him, raising him with good morals and values and teaching him to always work hard to achieve his goals. He sent a shout out to his mom, Theresa, his brother, sisters, wife and children who were present in the audience.
At one point he said, “Bro, I know that dad is smiling from heaven.” Further, he said, “A public service is a noble calling when it is done with integrity and with dedication.”
“My parents have always instilled in me the hard work that it takes to really make sure I follow the dream, always, and just that hard work really pays off,” Diaz said. “Being a good person and trying to treat people with compassion, dignity and respect and to never forget where you came from because that is very important.”
Diaz sent his gratitude to his former bosses at the current commission of Biscayne Park for their support and the trust they placed in him for the last past two and half years.
He also thanked his new bosses, Commissioners Jay R. Chernoff, Daniela Jean, Fortuna Smukler, McKenzie Fleurimond, and Phyllis Smith for entrusting him to implement their vision for the great community of city of North Miami Beach.
“Thank you for believing in me to lead this team as we work to turn the page to a new and prosperous chapter for North Miami Beach,” Diaz said.
He continued, “We have reached the right time to unify our commission, staff, and community around shared goals and values. Everybody here wants the same thing: public safety, prosperity, high quality of service, and all for the lowest taxes possible. I promise to be supportive for all your needs and priorities, to do my duties as manager with integrity, setting the example of being the consistent leader for staff, businesses, residents and to you the government body.”
“Throughout my career, I have excelled in building relationships and getting the most out of my teams. With more than ten years of local government management experience, I have helped to reestablish trust and transparency to the day-to-day functions of the municipal government,” added the city’s new boss.
“Thank you to the residents and staff that have already welcomed me with an open mind and heart. I have been blessed to have a career where we strive to improve the quality of life for others. I am truly humbled to be City of North Miami Beach,” he concluded.
The City Manager of North Miami Beach, where about 23% of its residents are Haitian, is appointed by the Mayor and City Commission and serves as the CEO of the City. The Manager is responsible for implementing policies set forth by the City Commission, administering the day-to-day operations of the City, and delivering services to the citizens and business community of the City of North Miami Beach.
The City Manager is the steward of a total budget exceeding $100 million and is responsible for more than 460 full-time employees and ten (10) departments, (commonly referred to as “The Team”).
It is our hope that Mr. Diaz will work in the manner with which he promises, with integrity, generosity, and supportiveness throughout a distinctly diverse city. It is not easy to lead a city with such vast differences in backgrounds and cultures, and with three Haitian-American commissioners and a large population of Haitian and Haitian-American residents, Mr. Diaz stands as a new beacon of hope that we can all witnesses North Miami Beach grow and excel in ways that illuminate neighboring communities to see how a focus on people, not politics, on lifting up rather than tearing down will make the difference and may Mr. Diaz lead well for the future of this great community.
Dessalines Ferdinand
Le Floridien
