Carlos Hernández (born March 8, 1961 in Camagüey,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

) is a

n-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. Hernández served as the Mayor of

Hialeah, Florida Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, Hialeah is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in the Miami metropolitan area ...

, from May 2011 to November 2021. He became acting mayor in 2011 upon the resignation of his predecessor,

Julio Robaina Julio Robaina (born April 21, 1965) is an American politician who was the mayor of Hialeah, Florida. He was first elected in 2005. Robaina was re-elected to a second term in office in 2009. Robaina also serves as Hialeah's city manager. His ...

, who left the Hialeah mayoral office to pursue an unsuccessful campaign for

Mayor of Miami-Dade County The following is a list of mayors of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Mayors See also * List of mayors of Miami (city) * Government of Miami-Dade County The government of Miami-Dade County is defined and authorized under the Constitution of Fl ...

. Hernández was raised in Hialeah, Florida. He received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in organizational leadership from St. Thomas University in

Miami Gardens Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located north of Downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th and Northwest 57th Avenues to its west ...

. Hernández was elected to the Hialeah city council in November 2005. He was further elected council president in 2007 and again in 2009 by the members of the council. Under the Hialeah

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charte ...

, Hernández, who was still council president in 2011, became Mayor of Hialeah upon the resignation of former Mayor

in 2011. Carlos Hernández won a full term in the 2011 Hialeah mayoral election.

Ethics violation

In July 2015, the Miami-Dade County Ethics Commission made findings that Hernández had lied twice in an October 2011 press conference about high-interest loans of $180,000 to a convicted Ponzi schemer. He was fined $3,000 by the Miami-Dade County Ethics Commission. On November 7, 2015, Hernández sent 28 buckets filled with pennies and nickels via a truck to pay the fine despite being ordered to pay with a check. The payment was refused and the Commission is now suing him for refusing to pay. In May 2016, Hernández delivered 145 boxes of coins to a Miami bank that, in turn, transferred the $4,000 to the Miami-Dade County Ethics Commission. In September 2019 he decided to cut the pay of The City of Hialeah Firefighters by 6% which, on average, is $500 or more per person. He claims that the cut was to raise pensions for other citizens without raising taxes.

Ethics violation

References

Further reading