Tamarac candidates weigh in on housing, crime and community as Nov. 8 election approaches

A who’s who of candidates are competing for seats on the Tamarac City Commission, sounding off on how to overcome the housing crisis, curb crime and promote more unity in the community.

Michelle Gomez, the incumbent mayor, and Commissioner Mike Gelin are the two competitors for the mayor’s race. As the Nov. 8 election nears, here’s a look at the additional candidates running for the two other open seats on the commission.

Because Gelin has left his commission District 2 seat to run for mayor, it’s now open and there’s a crowded field of five candidates. District 2 includes the neighborhoods of Hampton Hills, Woodlands, Plum Bay and Plum Harbor.

Alexandra N. Alvarez serves on the newly created Ruth Bader Ginsberg Committee Board Meeting, appointed by Gelin. Now in her own home in Hampton Hills, she lived in the city for 17 years, first as a renter. She oversees the autism program for the School District at a Hollywood elementary school. A mom and former soccer coach, she wants to push for more programming for the both the youth and elderly.

Her own 9-year-old son plays soccer, but because Tamarac doesn’t have a travel league, she had to go elsewhere, in this case, to Coral Springs.

“I want to enhance the quality of life,” she said. She also wants to beef up police presence, saying her house was burglarized in 2008 “in broad daylight” and it left her rattled: “You feel stripped and violated.”

The thief, who she said was caught, made off with jewelry, her laptop, her son’s iPad and her checkbook. “I see the need for more community policing whether it’s a car at a Publix parking lot or certain communities.”

Candidate Joseph Lanouette has lived in the Woodlands since 2018 and works for the federal government overseeing military procurement including airplane parts and missiles. In addition to his post within the Defense Contract Management Agency, he’s an adjunct professor at Kaiser University teaching technology, business and economics. Although he’s never served elected office, he’s been appointed to two city boards.

He said he wants to concentrate on filling empty storefronts and he criticized a plan to hire themselves legislative assistants. He said he feels the current commission is working against the mayor, and “they can never get on the same page.” He wants to see the city become more “cohesive.”

Stuart R. Michelson is a retired amateur boxer, and former Sunrise city attorney who also served as special counsel to several cities. He’s also the husband of former County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman. He retired as an attorney three years ago after a 41-year career, and during his time he represented former Tamarac Commissioner Patte Akins-Grad when she tried to stop a recall election after she was acquitted of corruption charges in 2012. Unable to stop the vote, Atkins-Grad resigned her seat.

Michelson and his wife have lived in the Woodlands for 25 years.

“There are people who would like to destroy the neighborhood with overdevelopment,” he said. He said his opponents are novices “with no experience in local law.”

“None of these people would be able to figure that out because if they got elected they’d need time to figure out what the job was about. They’d have to first figure that out because none of them know. That’s why I got into the race.”

“I could sure stop it from getting worse,” he said of the city. “I could bring some decorum to the City Commission meetings.”

Tyneka M. Rene has lived in the Woodlands for two years and owns a boutique day spa in the western part of the city. A former combat medic with the U.S. Army who served in Iraq, “I understand what it means to lead with integrity and honor. I want to bring it back to the things this country was founded on.”

She said she wants to “restore civility and transparency” and avoid public incidents that have made the city the “laughingstock of Broward County.”

She said one of her goals is to focus on the “intergenerational gap between new Tamarac and old Tamarac” as the former retirement city that now has a younger demographic.

Morey Wright lives in an apartment complex, and he said being a renter puts him in the position of being able to relate to so many of the city’s residents.

“Over the past year, I’ve seen rent go from $1,400 to $2,100,” he said. “I want to fight for affordable housing.”

Wright, a technology executive and consultant who describes himself as a 38-year-old “millennial,” moved to the Woodlands in Tamarac when he was 14, and left for graduate school and then in the southern part of Broward to help his mother. He came back to Tamarac about a year ago.

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Commissioner Debra Placko is not seeking reelection in District 4, which includes Woodmont and Heathgate-Sunflower. Three people are seeking that seat.

Kicia Daniel lives in Woodmont, and is the principal of Charles Drew Elementary School in Pompano Beach. “I have a problem with the property tax being so high, I think we need to bring more businesses in so we can stop the property tax from rising too much.”

Daniel has lived in the city 10 years and has two small children.

She wants to see attention on programming for children, especially teenagers, that involves more than sports. “An idle mind is the devil’s playground,” she said.

Her computer was stolen out of her car in her driveway, and so she wants to see more deputies on the streets.

“I need to know I’m safe,” she said.

Carol Mendelson, a resident of Woodmont for more than 20 years, and is a retired schools district assistant principal at middle and high schools who has also worked in adult education. She has not held elected office before.

“I would like to see better communication, better corroboration, civility, fiscal responsibility, just to name a few of the issues,” she said.

She said the commission needs “better teamwork” and she wants to address money the current commission has previously appropriated itself.

Political novice David Witman Mountford lives in Woodmont and owns a pension consulting company. He serves on the city’s police pension fund and has lived in Tamarac for almost 19 years.

“It’s time for a change. You want to bring integrity and leadership to the dais and to the city,” he said. He said his theme is “fiscal responsibility. Everyone needs to be accountable.”

And he said the city needs to not allow itself to become overbuilt. “We need to make smart decisions for growth in the city.”

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008. Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash