Name: Michael “Mike” Hernández
Office sought: Pembroke Pines Commissioner, District 4
Campaign website: www.mikeforpines.com
Date, place of birth: September 2, 1982, Miami, FL
Do you agree or disagree that Pembroke Pines should develop a succession plan for the eventual departure of City Manager Charlie Dodge after nearly four decades? Do you support or oppose a national search for his successor?
City Manager Charlie Dodge is an excellent chief administrator. I very much appreciate his five decades of service to the City of Pembroke Pines, including his 39 years as Manager. He was the visionary that led the effort to transform what was a small town into the second most-populous city in Broward County. In addition to his stewardship of the city’s maturation and growth, he also advocated for Florida law to allow municipalities to have the ability to operate their own charter schools. That led to the establishing of the Pines Charter School System.
Seven schools – four elementary, two middle and one high school – make up the standalone, lottery-based educational system with 6,285 enrolled students in the 2025-2026 academic year. Mr. Dodge serves as the superintendent while our city commission acts as its governing body.
Now nearing his fourth decade as manager, I have communicated directly with both Mr. Dodge and others within his senior leadership team that I would appreciate the opportunity to review a transition plan for the next City Manager. Under our Charter, the manager can designate an interim (acting) manager, but that does not answer the other questions I will have including whether the new interim manager will have the discretion to change departmental leadership and what his or her views will be on how the municipal government should operate in a post-Charlie Dodge era.
CTION 4.03 ACTING CITY MANAGER. By letter filed with the Commission, the Manager shall designate a qualified City Administrative Officer to exercise his powers and perform the duties of Manager during his/her temporary absence or disability. During such absence or disability, the Commission may remove the designated acting City Manager by an affirmative vote of at least four (4) members of the City Commission and appoint another officer of the City, by a four-fifths (4/5ths) vote, to serve until the Manager returns or his/her disability ceases.
I value stability in the role of City Manager even if in an acting status, however, much like I have advocated for open and competitive procurement processes, I also will likely support a national search for the next city manager that will hopefully include current municipal leaders from Pembroke Pines and throughout South Florida as candidates.
I am asking administration that the commission be provided details of that transition plan later this spring. I look forward to reviewing that with Mr. Dodge, his assistant city managers, and with my colleagues on the commission in a public setting in accordance with state Sunshine Law.
Did you vote for or against the city bond referendum that failed in March 2025? Briefly explain the reasons for your vote.
I voted in favor of the bond. One of the top reasons was because approximately $110 million would have been invested to build a new Pembroke Pines Police headquarters which is a necessity for a facility originally constructed in the early 1990s.
Although the bond’s approval would have increased my family’s personal property taxes by up to $300 per year, working as a senior executive in Miami-Dade County government and with my other professional experiences consulting for governments larger than the City of Pembroke Pines, it is clear to me that when a community has needs to address such as roadway and infrastructure enhancements, additional dollars are usually required to do the work. If approved, the bond would have meant city residents paying slightly more for investments for our entire city, but those additional dollars would have been reinvested within Pembroke Pines for our families and businesses and not shared with other government jurisdictions.
I did however publicly question the timing (a March 2025 election was not ideal and probably would have been better on a November ballot) and size of the bond (originally slated to be $250 million but through a motion by Commissioner Tom Good that I supported was reduced to $230 million) at our December 2024 meeting. I understood what residents in Century Village and throughout the western areas of my district of approximately 47,000 residents were concerned with. To them, rising property insurance costs, and other increasing expenses have deeply impacted our residents. It isn’t unique to Pembroke Pines—indeed, it’s something all South Florida residents in the Tri County area are feeling. I sympathized with that perspective and appreciated the candor from our residents.
The bond’s failure does not change that our city must address its challenges, however. That is why I supported the use of just under $10 million from a restricted reserve account maintained by the city—basically $66 million in savings the manager had saved away over several years—to introduce traffic-calming measures, roadway and park enhancements, and drainage throughout Pembroke Pines. These budget allocations were approved by our city commission as part of our city strategic plan. I look forward to reviewing plans for years two and three of our capital improvement plans and allocating the dollars necessary towards building on the progress we’ve made for our residents and businesses.
The Pembroke Pines Commission also must decide sometime in 2026 whether to place a bond on the November 2026 ballot specifically for our police station. The city commission authorized the design-build process and awaits information from the firm authorized to do the work this summer. I am inclined to support a bond for our new police station, but it will depend on the information presented by both the firm and our administration, and the total amount our residents would need to approve for the construction of the headquarters.
Assess the leadership of Mayor Angelo Castillo. What does he do well and not so well?
Mayor Castillo is the kind of leader Pembroke Pines needs at this pivot-point in our history. Our city is built out and must diverse its tax base; our services and labor agreements have increasing costs we must confront; we are inching closer to a change in municipal administrative leadership; and our nearly 180,000 residents are asking to balance the quality of life they chose to live in Pembroke Pines for, along with development across our 34.5 square miles. With his over two decades of experience as a city commissioner and now as mayor, Castillo is best positioned to lead Pembroke Pines during this transformative era. I support most of his agenda—we have had some public differences on policies–and look forward to continuing to serve alongside him.
The city has decided to re-bid the contract with a private vendor that has provided city permitting services for nearly two decades. Do you agree or disagree with this decision, and why?
I supported the decision to send the building department contract currently held by Calvin Giordano & Associates since 2009 out to competitive bid. I know that open, transparent and competitive bidding is a government best practice because it can result in lower costs and higher returns for cities, counties and states.
As a former senior executive in the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Office who oversaw competitive bidding processes for services and contracts in the hundreds of millions of dollars in the largest local government in Florida, I have witnessed what competitive bidding rather than simple bid extensions can do for governments. During my four-year tenure, the county government led a competitive bid to address major challenges with the water and sewer system that was under Consent Decree from the Environmental Protection Agency, with the total ratepayer investment being $14 billion. If Miami-Dade could lead a competitive bidding effort for a decade-long process in a county’s water infrastructure, why shouldn’t the City of Pembroke Pines do the same for a modestly sized municipal building department after 17 years of one vendor holding the contract?
It’s worth noting that I also opposed bid extensions for our city’s golf course management contract. That vendor demanded a retroactive contract extension and enhancements to his profit of between 30 and 40 percent. That vendor also held the contract for three decades—without a competitive bid. It was abhorrent to witness him threaten city commissioners with walking off the job unless he received what he demanded. My colleagues voted to grant him the extension. I voted against it. That is one other example of my advocacy for competitive bidding over contract extensions.
The Florida Legislature is considering proposals to reduce or eliminate property taxes. Do you agree the taxes are too high, and what tax cut proposals do you support?
I agree rising costs—not property taxes alone—particularly the outrageous cost of property insurance, have been hurtful to homeowners. I’m also aware that any drastic reduction to operating dollars for cities and counties could reduce services and impact our hardworking public servants. I’m supportive of increasing property tax exemptions in a manner that will not have detrimental effects to essential municipal and county services. Our local governments can make adjustments to a little lower revenue by restructuring services and fees. However, I oppose any plan to eliminate property taxes altogether or eliminating school board taxes.
What most distinguishes you from your opponent(s)?
I have the experience and knowledge to better represent Pembroke Pines’s 4th commission district and to serve as our Vice Mayor for a city of nearly 180,000.
List in reverse chronological order, starting with most recent, colleges and universities attended with years of attendance and degrees held.
Florida International University; 2000-2004; B.A., Political Science, Minor in Communication
Florida International University; 2005-2011; M.P.A. Public Administration
List in reverse chronological order your work history for the past 10 years.
Pembroke Pines City Commissioner, May 2024-Present
Vice President for Communications, Partnership for Miami, December 2025—Present
Adjunct Instructor, Florida International University School of International and Public Affairs and the College of Communication (2019-Present)
President, Panther Consulting, Inc. March 2021-November 2025
Political Analyst and Commentator, NBC 6 and Telemundo 51 (June 2019-February 2024)
Vice President, Mercury Public Affairs, March 2018-February 2021
Director of Communication and Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Miami-Dade County Office of the Mayor May 2014-March 2018)
Senior Director for International Political Consulting Team (March 2010-February 2014)
Have you ever been a party to a lawsuit, including bankruptcy or foreclosure? If so, provide details and disposition.
No.
Have you ever been charged or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, including an adjudication of guilt withheld? If so, provide charges, dates and terms of sentence.
No.
