Meet Joe

Who is Joe Sanchez?

Early Life: Cuban Roots

Joe’s family fled communist Cuba on the Freedom Flights when Joe was five years old. His family settled in Little Havana, where Joe and his brother attended school and his parents worked multiple jobs until his father started his own business. Through his parents’ example, Joe saw the American dream fulfilled in his own home and learned to value family, faith and freedom and to understand the importance of integrity, hard work and community from an early age. Joe has raised his children in District 5, close to where he grew up and his mother still lives.

Service: Military and Law Enforcement.

Throughout his career, Joe has served our community and its residents. Here are a few examples:
‍
Florida Highway Patrol – 38 years of service
‍Public Information Officer, South Florida
U.S. Army Reserve Veteran
City of Miami Commissioner – 11 years including 3 years as the Commission Chairman and service as Chairman of both the Downtown Development Authority and the Bayfront Park Trust.
Medal of Valor Recipient for leadership during the ValuJet crash recovery.

Joe has spent his life answering the call to serve, always with honor, integrity, and accountability.

Leadership

As City Commissioner Joe fought for transparency, public safety, and fiscal responsibility. Joe’s leadership resulted in the renovation of the historic Tower Theater, the revitalization of Calle Ocho, and the construction of thousands of units of affordable and elder housing in his district. Joe supported local businesses bringing cultural events like Viernes Culturales and neighborhood improvements like the renovation of Domino Park and the green walking trail through Cuban Memorial Boulevard. He improved safety in Little Havana by introducing the first traffic circles to Miami after a child was killed by a speeding vehicle. And, perhaps most visible in Downtown and Brickell, Joe initiated the DDA’s highly successful Downtown Ambassador program and the Downtown Master Plan which improved the quality of life for residents by requiring developers to provide public access to the water through the baywalk and riverwalks.

Today: Why has Joe decided to run for the District 5 County Commission Seat?

Our county has lost its way. Millions are given away to the World Cup and FIFA, to developers and outside contractors, while people are losing their homes and being forced out of Miami. Over the last 15 years, Joe has watched as some of our elected representatives have become overtly partisan, self-serving and at times corrupt. He has seen commissioners talk to each other and look at their phones instead of listening to constituents who took the time to address the commission. It seems that they are more interested in serving the interests of big corporations and Tallahassee than protecting the residents of Miami-Dade County. In the last five years, our County Commissioners have chosen three times to appoint their friends to a vacant commission seat instead oforganizing a special election so the voters could decide. After District 5’s commissioner was elected to be the Mayor of the City of Miami, a majority of our county commissioners chose to take away your right to vote by appointing acommissioner none of you got the opportunity to elect. Joe can no longer stand by and watch while the community he loves is destroyed from within. His retirement from law enforcement gives him the ability to dedicate his time to you, his neighbors in District 5, to fight for your voice in our community and restore integrity and transparency to County Hall.