Raquel Regalado is working for the big developers. Not for you.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalado is a rubber stamp for developers & special interests at the County Commission.

Why? Her campaign has raised over $1.1 million from developers and real estate interests — and she’s voted again and again to approve new development in our community.^[1]

That’s over A MILLION reasons for her to side with developers and ignore what the residents want.

Former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner is running a grassroots campaign. Cindy will oppose overdevelopment and protect our communities and neighborhoods.

🚫 Raquel Regalado is working for the DEVELOPERS.

For RAquel Regalado, Politics is a Family Business

Raquel and her family have made over $276,000 working for her father’s campaigns. Just this year, Raquel and her son were paid $31,345 by Tomás Regalado’s campaign for Property Appraiser for “consulting services”.^[2]

And since she was first elected to the School Board in 2012, Raquel Regalado’s personal wealth has exploded by over 800%^[3] – increasing 350% in just the last four years!

Raquel Regalado has paid thousands of dollars in fines for breaking Florida’s election laws

Raquel Regalado has admitted to breaking Florida election laws at least five times, and has paid over $5,000 in civil fines to the Florida Elections Commission, $1,000 to the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics, $1,000 to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, and $1,000 to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement^[4].

Cindy Lerner has a lifetime of experience fighting for our communities

Cindy’s spent her whole life in Miami-Dade, advocating for children, fighting corporate polluters in the Florida Legislature, and serving as Mayor of Pinecrest for eight years. She’s running for Miami-Dade County Commission, District 7 to fight for honest, ethical local government, to take meaningful action on sea-level rise and flooding, and to be a voice for the residents of this district – not developers, lobbyists and corporate polluters.

Taking on Corruption & Special Interests

From County Hall, to City Halls throughout Miami-Dade, our community is suffering from a crisis of ethics and a lack of leadership. That’s why Cindy Lerner is precisely the type of County Commissioner District 7 needs right now. Throughout her career, Cindy has stood up to corrupt special interests – and won!

As a State Representative, Cindy took on powerful special interests and entrenched Florida state government officials that threatened our drinking water. She defeated their efforts to allow untreated stormwater to be injected into our aquifer. She also fought against the powerful citrus lobby to protect our local fruit trees from elimination.

And when FPL wanted to install giant new power transmission lines, along with giant rate hikes to pay for them, through the heart of Miami-Dade, Cindy – as the Mayor of Pinecrest – organized residents, businesses and neighboring cities to fight the plan. Despite opposition from the Governor and the most powerful utility in the state, Cindy and her coalition prevailed, stopping the project in its tracks.

Mayor of Pinecrest

In addition to her successful efforts taking on FPL, as Mayor of Pinecrest from 2008-2016, Cindy created a Climate Action Plan, and organized dozens of Mayors from across Miami-Dade to address the threats from sea level rise, flooding and extreme weather. She also transformed Pinecrest Gardens into a beautiful botanical garden and a popular cultural arts facility for the entire county which attracts significant cultural arts grants.

As Mayor, Cindy created numerous “Advisory Councils” comprised of residents, to helped guide Pinecrest’s future. She led by giving residents an outsized voice in their local government – instead of leaving all the decisions to politicians.

A Lifetime of Service and Advocacy

In addition to raising her three own children, Cindy spent sixteen years advocating for children in Florida’s foster care system. She worked as lead attorney for the Florida Guardian Ad Litem program, representing the best interests of thousands of abused and neglected children, and training and supervising hundreds of volunteer attorneys helping our most vulnerable children.

And as a community organizer, when women’s health care services were threatened, Cindy built and led a coalition of community advocates, concerned women, and doctors to defeat the merger of hospitals that would have denied women access to important health care services. When funding for our public libraries was threatened, Cindy lent her strong voice to the coalition fighting to protect and restore that funding.

Cindy has never stopped advocating for causes and issues important to Miami-Dade, and currently serves on the boards of: Miami Waterkeeper, The Cleo Institute, Tropical Audubon Society, and the Pace Center for Girls.

Cindy & her husband, Dr. Irv Lerner, DVM have been life-long residents of Miami-Dade County. Cindy graduated from Palmetto Senior High and Irv graduated from Coral Gables Senior High. They own a veterinary clinic in Kendall. Cindy & Irv have three adult children and five grandchildren.

Priority Issues

Public Corruption

• From County Hall, to City Halls throughout Miami-Dade, our community is suffering from a crisis of ethics and a lack of leadership.

• Cindy Lerner believes that holding elected office means serving the public, not self-interest or special interests.
• As a County Commissioner, Cindy will fight for ethical government, independent oversight, and transparency.

Holding the line on the Urban Development Boundary, Overdevelopment

• Raquel Regalado broke her promise to the residents of Miami-Dade when she voted to move the UDB & build warehouses over nearly 400 acres of sensitive wetlands in the Everglades.

• Everglades restoration is critical for our long-term ability to stay resilient against the threats of flooding & sea level rise, as well as protecting our drinking water.
• Cindy will always put Miami-Dade’s future before the interests of big developers.

Expanding Transit Options

• Everyday drivers and users of transit in Miami-Dade experience anger and frustration from the battle they face to get to work or other obligations of daily life. We were promised transit and we don’t have it.

• Cindy is committed to expanding transit in Miami-Dade through expansion of the Metrorail, overhauling & electrifying our outdated bus system, and adding more charging stations for EVs throughout the county.
• She would also make maintenance and improvements to existing Metrorail stations a priority. Broken elevators and escalators at stations have become the new normal, leaving parents with strollers and wheelchair patrons with inconsistent, unacceptable transit options.

Flooding and Rising Seas

• The effects of flooding, sea level rise, and extreme weather conditions are being felt in Miami-Dade nearly every day – and Cindy believes the County needs to do more, more quickly.

• As Mayor of Pinecrest, Cindy created a Climate Action Plan, and organized dozens of Mayors from across Miami-Dade to work together to address these issues.
• As County Commissioner, Cindy will increase cooperation and partnership between Miami-Dade County and the cities and towns within District 7 to combat flooding and rising seas.

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Notes:

1: Campaign finance documents filed with the Miami-Dade Elections Department for Raquel Regalado campaign and her political committee “Citizens for Excellence in Miami-Dade County Government“. ↩

2: During Tomás P. Regalado’s 2007 campaign for City of Miami Commission, Raquel Regalado was paid $11,608.42, her brother Jose Regalado was paid $3,000, her sister-in-law Marta Basallo Regalado was paid $2,000, and Tomás Regalado reimbursed himself to the tune of $1,303.04. City of Miami Clerk.

During Tomás P. Regalado’s 2009 campaign for City of Miami Mayor, Raquel Regalado was paid $4,578, Jose Regalado was paid $2749, Marta Basallo Regalado was paid $5,000, and Tomás Regalado reimbursed himself $4,164. City of Miami Clerk.

For Raquel Regalado’s 2010 campaign for Miami-Dade School Board, Raquel Regalado reimbursed herself $1,629.76, and her brother Jose was paid $2,500. Miami-Dade Elections Department.

For Tomás P. Regalado’s 2013 City of Miami Mayoral race, Jose Regalado was paid $9620, Raquel Regalado was paid $29,520. City of Miami Clerk.

For Raquel Regalado’s 2014 campaign for Miami-Dade School Board, Jose Regalado was paid $13,650 for “social media”, “campaign coordinator”, and “website” from her campaign account. Miami-Dade Elections Department. 

For Raquel Regalado’s 2016 campaign for Miami-Dade County Mayor, Jose Regalado was paid $5,884.20 for “advertising production”, “social media management”, “email marketing” etc. from her campaign account. She reimbursed herself to the tune of $1,997.36. Miami-Dade Elections Department. 

In 2013, an Electioneering Communication Organization (E.C.O.) called “Serving Miamians” was filed with the State of Florida to support the Regalado family’s various political efforts, including Tomás P. Regalado’s mayoral race, Raquel Regalado’s 2014 School Board race, and her 2016 campaign for Miami-Dade County Mayor. From 2013 until it closed in 2017, it paid Jose Regalado $124,652.83 for “advertising”, “social media”, etc. Serving Miamians ECO paid Raquel Regalado $10,500 from 2013-2014 explained as “committee consulting” and “Christmas event coordinator”. The ECO paid Marta Basallo Regalado $4,200 in 2013 for “media outreach”. Florida Department of State.

For Tomás N. “Tommy” Regalado’s campaign for City of Miami Commission in 2017, Raquel’s older brother “Tommy” reimbursed himself to the tune of $1,606.84. City of Miami Clerk.

For Raquel Regalado’s short lived campaign for Congress (she filed to run in July of 2017 and terminated her campaign in January of 2018), she paid Jose Regalado $3,200 for “social media consulting” and reimbursed herself $1,958.89. Federal Election Commission. 

For Raquel Regalado’s 2020 campaign for Miami-Dade County Commission, she reimbursed herself to the tune of $5,154.48. Miami-Dade County Elections Department.

For Raquel Regalado’s 2024 campaign for Miami-Dade County Commission, she reimbursed herself to the tune of $3,272.49, and she paid her son Sebastian Herrera $6,000 for “canvassing and data analytics” from her campaign committee. Her son was paid an additional $4,500 from her political committee “Citizens for Excellence in Miami-Dade County Government”.For Tomás P. Regalado’s campaign for Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser in 2024, Raquel Regalado was paid $12,000 for “consulting services” and her son Sebastian Herrera was paid $16,000 for “canvassing and data analytics” from Tomás P. Regalado’s political committee “Proven Leadership for Miami”. Additionally, Raquel Regalado was reimbursed to the tune of $3,345.89 from Tomás P. Regalado’s campaign account. ↩

3: Raquel Regalado disclosed a net worth of $49,350 in her Form 6 “Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interest” filed on June 6, 2014 (available at the Florida Commission on Ethics). On her 2023 Form 6, Regalado declared “My Net Worth as of December 31, 2023 was $422,000.00” (this form is available at the Florida Commission on Ethics).↩

4: “Order accepting stipulated agreement and statement of Facts” of the State of Florida Florida Elections Commission “In Re: Raquel Regalado” Case No.: FEC 12-041, done and ordered on May 8th, 2012 (covers $2,000 in fines to the Florida Election Commission, $1,000 in fines to the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics, $1,000 in fines to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, and $1,000 in fines to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement).

Regalado was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine to the Florida Elections Commission for violating Florida election law in “FEC 15372” (final order filed on Nov. 16, 2016).

Regalado was ordered to pay $1,500 in fines to the Florida Elections Commission for violating Florida election laws in 3 cases: “FEC-151“; “FEC 16-623“; “FEC 16-705” filed in March 2018.↩

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