Tomás Regalado (American politician)
Tomás Regalado | |
---|---|
Miami City Commission from the 4th district | |
In office November 1996 – November 2009 | |
Succeeded by | Francis Suarez |
Personal details | |
Born | Tomás Pedro Regalado y Valdez May 24, 1947 Havana, Cuba |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | Raquel Ferreiro
(m. 1972; died 2008)Ana Cristina Carrodeguas
(m. 2015) |
Children | 3 |
Residence(s) | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
Tomás Pedro Regalado y Valdez (born May 24, 1947) is a
He served as the news director for Radio Mambí
Early life and education
Born in
In Miami, Regalado attended high school at
Journalism career
Regalado became the youngest reporter on staff at WFAB, La Fabulosa. He quickly ascended from reporter to assistant producer. At twenty one, Regalado was hired by WCKT (now WSVN) an NBC affiliate as the Latin American news editor and host of the news program Tele-Amigo. After two years at WCKT then Channel 7, Regalado returned to WFAB as a news producer and anchor.
In 1974, Regalado became a reporter for
Regalado had interviewed Presidents
In 1986, Regalado was approved as an applicant to NASA's Journalist in Space Program which was canceled after the Challenger explosion. While a full-time news director on Spanish-language radio Regalado also worked for El Miami Herald as a weekly columnist. Regalado covered the civil war in Nicaragua and El Salvador and has visited over 78 countries throughout the world. Along with his wife Raquel, Tomas spoke several times before the Human Rights Commission of United Nations in Geneva Switzerland against human rights violations in Cuba.
In June 2018, Regalado was sworn in as the Director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB).[4]
Political career
Miami Commissioner (1996–2009)
On September 3, 1996, Regalado was elected in a special election for city commissioner, vacated by newly elected Mayor Joe Carollo.[5] He defeated CC Reed.[6]
One week after his election, the city of Miami's economic crisis was exposed by Operation Green Palm and an oversight board was installed. Governor Lawton Chiles declared Miami a state of financial emergency.[7] He opposed laying off police officers saying "The police have been the darling of the city of Miami."[8]
During that time, he kept the news director position in the Spanish Broadcasting Systems by working as a daily host and commentator on WWFE la Poderosa and a host of a daily news program on the Cable Network TeleMiami.
Regalado won re-election in 1999 (unknown), 2003 (unopposed),[9] and 2007 (90%).[10]
Mayor of Miami (2009–2017)
On November 3, 2009, Regalado was elected Miami's 42nd Mayor with 72% of the vote.
He kept his promise he would lower his salary by $50,000 as well as reducing his pension by 25%. In 2012 he received from the hands of Roman Viotto Leandro Award "Referrer" awarded by the Foundation Young Leaders. Regalado said in August 2011: "I feel like Bill Clinton. Some people really hated him, and some people loved him."[11]
Regalado said of his goals: "Do I have a vision? Keep taxes down. Reduce the size of government. Fix the potholes. Fix the streets. Pick up the garbage." His biggest accomplishments are balancing the budget three times and striking deals with the unions.
Regalado was re-elected to a second term in office in 2013 with 78% of the vote, garnering over 20,000 votes out of over 26,000 votes cast.
Regalado got national attention for challenging President Donald Trump on the issue of sea level rise.[12] Prior to leaving office, Regalado placed on the ballot and campaigned for a sea level rise bond which received overwhelming support.[13]
Personal life
Regalado married a fellow radio commentator, Raquel Ferreiro, in 1972 at St. Hugh Catholic Church in
Regalado's father was a political prisoner. In 1979, Tomás Regalado Molina, was released from prison thanks to the intercession of the then
Regalado has three children:
- His eldest son, Tomás N. Regalado, known as Tommy, is an anchor and producer at TV Marti with political ambitions. In April 2017, he announced his candidacy to City Council for District 3.[15]He was defeated in the general election in November 2017.
- His daughter, Raquel Regalado, is an attorney and was an elected Miami-Dade County Public School Board member for six years representing District 6 and ran for Mayor of Miami-Dade County in 2016. She became a candidate after taking on the proposed Courthouse tax, and took the incumbent Mayor, Carlos A. Giménez, to an unexpected run off.[16] She eventually lost to Giménez, a Republican who supported Hillary Clinton.[17] She later ran for Florida's 27th congressional district, after the incumbent, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said she would not be running for re-election.[18] However, she dropped out in November 2017. She currently represents the District 7 seat of the Miami-Dade County Commission.[19]
- His youngest son, José, volunteered for a few years in his father's office, shortly after he began to work in adventure television. As of 2017, he is a legislative aide to Miami's Commissioner from the 4th district, Manolo Reyes.[20]
References
- Specific
- ^ http://miamidadecode.org/3.03/
- Unión de Periodistas de Cuba. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
Tomás Regalado
- ^ "City of Miami - Official Website". Miamigov.com. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ "Tomás P. Regalado". bbg.gov.
- ^ Miami Herald: Search Results
- ^ Miami Herald: Search Results
- ^ Miami Herald: Search Results
- ^ Miami Herald: Search Results
- ^ "Miami City Commissioner - District 4 Race - Nov 04, 2003". Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ "Miami City Commissioner - District 4 Race - Nov 06, 2007". Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ Alvarado, Francisco (August 9, 2011). "Tomas Regalado Compares Himself to Bill Clinton". Blogs.miaminewtimes.com. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
- ^ Thomson, Jacquline (September 9, 2017). "GOP Miami mayor calls on Trump to talk climate change". The Hill.
- ^ "Miami's mayor seeks climate change converts among Miami's Republican voters | Miami Herald". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017.
- ^ Smiley, David (October 5, 2015). "Shhhhh. Miami mayor gets hitched". Miami Herald.
- ^ Smiley, David (April 25, 2017). "Son of Miami's mayor announces campaign for City Commission". Miami Herald. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
- ^ Bach, Trevor (January 27, 2015). "Raquel Regalado Took On the Establishment; Now She Wants to Run It". Miami New Times.
- ^ Hanks, Douglas (October 9, 2016). "Miami-Dade's Republican mayor: I am voting for Clinton". Miami Herald.
- ^ Smiley, David (February 12, 2018). "Regalado says she's running for Florida Senate seat as special election looms". Miami Herald.
- ^ "Official website for Miami-Dade County". Retrieved February 5, 2022.
- ^ Smiley, David (November 30, 2017). "The walls of this Miami politician's new City Hall office hid a surprise from 1989". Miami Herald.
- General
- "HIStory - Tomas Regalado". Archived from the original on October 31, 2009.
- http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/1328985.html