Aventura voters must fill three City Commission seats

About the candidates

Seat 1:

Teri Holzberg

Age: 82

Education: Attended Brooklyn College did not obtain a degree.

Employment: Retired. Worked in human resources for an electronics firm.

Civic Involvement: Volunteer at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center, Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Aventura resident for: more than 27 years.

Sergio Vuguin

Age: 43

Education: Bachelor’s degree in physical education from Nautico School in Buenos Aires.

Employment: Physical education teacher.

Civic Involvement: He has volunteered in Jewish Community Centers in South Florida and in Argentina.

Aventura resident for: 11 years.

Seat 3:

Rosa Naccarato

Age: 49

Education: Attended Broward College but did not obtain a degree.

Employment: Court reporter and consultant working as an independent contractor for Goldman, Naccarato, Vela & Associates.

Civic Involvement: Admirals Port condominium association board member. Treasurer of the Florida Court Reporters Association. Miami-Dade County Commission for Women member. Board of Directors member of The Women’s Breast Health Initiative, Florida Chapter, a South Florida non-profit outreach organization that educated women and provides them with resources for breast health. Founding member of Casa Valentina, a program that provides housing, support and life skills to women who have aged out of foster care.

Resident of Aventura for: 18 years.

Howard Weinberg

Age: 51

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami, master’s in government from Georgetown University, law degree from Boston University.

Employment: Attorney for the Association Law Group in North Bay Village. The firm represents homeowners and condominium associations.

Civic Involvement: Served two terms as a Surfside commissioner and vice mayor. In 1995 he interviewed Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, a nonprofit established with the aim to collect videotaped testimony of Holocaust survivors; former member of the Miami-Dade County League of Cities board of directors; baseball coach at North Miami Beach Little League; member of Aventura Marketing Council Chairman’s Roundtable.

Aventura resident for: three years.

Seat 5:

Enbar Cohen

Age: 24

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Barry University.

Employment: Former assistant director at Safe Schools South Florida, an organization that works to establish a safe environment at schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Said she stepped down from her post as assistant director in order to focus on her campaign.

Civic Involvement: As part of International Relief Teams, worked in Haitian orphanages in the Dominican Republic after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Former chairwoman of The Alliance for GLBTQ Youth in North Miami. Board member, founder and chairwoman of OUTlet – Plugging Women into the Arts, an annual conference that supports young women with an interest in the visual and performing arts.

Committee member of The Pride Center at Equality Park, a Wilton Manors-based organization that works to advance the LGBTQ community; the Aqua Foundation for Women, an organization that gives grants and scholarships to further lesbian, bisexual and transgender wellness and equality in South Florida.

Aventura resident for: 12 years.

Ian Llobregat

Age: 26

Education: Bachelor’s degree in international business from Lynn University.

Employment: Self-employed consultant in the auto industry where he matches clients with exotic cars such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

Civic Involvement: Volunteered to register people to vote.

Aventura resident for: two years.

Gary Pyott

Age: 54

Education: Bachelor’s degree in sports administration from St. Thomas University.

Employment: President of the Property Management division of The Continental Group, a Hollywood property-management company.

Civic Involvement: Member of the Aventura Community Services Advisory Board and former chairman of the organization; member of the Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee; member of the Aventura Marketing Council Board of Directors.

Aventura resident for: 21 years.

With just weeks left before the Nov. 6 Aventura election, the seven candidates for the three open commission seats have been holding debates at condominiums to present their agenda for the next four years in the city.

At a two-hour debate at the Coronado condominium on Oct. 23, candidates discussed how they would better programs for seniors, and how they would, if at all, change the budget.

There was not much difference of opinion on either issue.

Candidates agreed that while there is plenty for seniors to do in Aventura, they would look into ways of increasing attendance at events.

They also said that they are not looking to change the budget.

The open seats this year are seats 1, 3 and 5.

Seat 1

Sergio Vuguin, an 11-year Aventura resident, has challenged incumbent Teri Holzberg, who was not present at the last debate due to a death of a loved one.

Vuguin said if elected he would work to add a high school to Aventura’s K-8 charter school and also to add free WiFi at city parks.

"I know this area and I want to create a good environment for everyone," he said at the debate. "I have the passion. I have the energy."

Holzberg was elected in 2007. She filled the seat formerly occupied by her late husband, Harold Holzberg. He is considered one of the city’s founding fathers. Teri Holzberg promises to work not to increase taxes as Aventura has the lowest property-tax rate in Miami-Dade County. She also said she has pushed for the county to rebuild the city’s library, which was rendered unusable after Hurricane Wilma.

These efforts are finally coming to fruition as a new library is slated to open in 2014.

"I would like to be there to see that completed," she said.

Seat 3

As Commissioner Bob Diamond is term limited out in November, two new candidates – Howard Weinberg and Rosa Naccarato – will go head-to-head for Seat 3.

Weinberg, an attorney, has served two terms as a Surfside commissioner and vice mayor.

A Miami Herald background check showed that in the past he has been sued. In a 2004 lawsuit, two companies, E.A.M., which does grant proposals, research, consultancy and management training for mid- to senior-level professionals, and JML Investment Group, had formed an agreement under which they are to together buy and develop real estate in Wynwood, according to records. The plaintiff, E.A.M., alleges in the lawsuit that Weinberg assisted JML Investment Group in “acquiring the Wynwood properties for themselves.”

Court documents from 2008 show the dispute was settled out of court.

“It was settled amicably,” said Weinberg.

Weinberg boasts three degrees, including a master’s in government from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and a law degree from Boston University in 1988.

His opponent Naccarato attended Broward College but did not obtain a degree because while she was still in school, she began her career as a court reporter.

“I haven’t spend my time getting a bunch of lofty degrees,” she told The Miami Herald. “I spent my time giving back to the community – that’s the way I enrich myself.”

One of many of Naccarato’s community-service activities is with the Women’s Breast Health Initiative. As a board member, she spends her weekend going door-to-door in low-income neighborhoods signing up women for free or low-cost breast exams.