By Douglas Hanks
Miami-Dade’s newest county commissioner will likely be chosen by just 12 people — the rest of the sitting commissioners on a board with a 13th seat left vacant by the new ambassador to Panama.
With about 18 months left in former Commissioner Kevin Cabrera’s term, the 12 remaining county commissioners appear poised to appoint someone to fill Cabrera’s vacant District 6 seat instead of spending up to $1 million on a special election.
Chairman Anthony Rodriguez said on April 14 that he wanted the board to appoint Cabrera’s replacement at the commission’s May 6 meeting, and he invited interested candidates to apply online.
Only two did so by the Monday deadline: Maria Puente Mitchell, a retired county administrator who was mayor of Miami Springs until earlier this month, when term limits required her to leave office, and Natalie Milian Orbis, a West Miami commissioner who also works as a county administrator.
Both Miami Springs and West Miami are in District 6, which also includes Virginia Gardens and parts of Coral Gables, Hialeah and Miami. Cabrera, a former lobbyist, won the seat in 2022 after securing the endorsement of President Donald Trump, then two years out of office from his first presidential term. Cabrera was director of Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign in Florida.
Like Cabrera, both of the candidates for the District 6 appointment are Republicans for an officially nonpartisan seat representing a district that Trump won by 33 points in November. Without Cabrera, Democrats have a two-seat majority on the commission. The appointment of either candidate would return Democrats to a single-seat majority on the nonpartisan board.
A majority vote is needed to appoint a new commissioner or to call for a special election to be held within 90 days of the May 6 meeting. The Elections Department estimates a special election for District 6 would cost roughly $500,000. Should none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the vote from the roughly 115,000 registered voters in District 6, a runoff contest would be held. That would cost another $500,000.
Rodriguez cited those costs and the downside of an empty commission seat in urging fellow commissioners to back an appointment for replacing Cabrera. “I am aware that we could proceed with a Special Election to fill this vacancy,” Rodriguez wrote in an April 14 memo, “but this option would leave our Commission, and the residents of District 6, without a voice for many months.”
If commissioners follow Rodriguez’s recommendation for the appointment process, these are the two candidates for the next District 6 commissioner:
Maria Eugenia Puente Mitchell
Mitchell, 69, is a veteran of Miami-Dade’s government workforce. In 2016, she retired as manager of the county’s safety and risk-management division within the Internal Services Department. She was elected to the Miami Springs City Council in 2017 and as mayor in 2021. She finished her second two-year term on April 14.
She’s pitching her time in county and municipal government as a good fit for the open commission seat. “I have extensive knowledge of every department in the county,” she told the Miami Herald.
As a recent mayor in District 6, Mitchell said she’ll make it a priority to include municipal leaders in discussions about county decisions affecting their governments and residents. She recently publicly criticized Cabrera for arranging the sale of county land in Miami Springs through a last-minute addition to a commission agenda without the city’s blessing. (Cabrera said the development deal changed based on input from Miami Springs before the April 1 vote.) “My goal with the seat would be to make sure that whenever there is a decision about any of the cities or unincorporated Miami-Dade that the commissioner gives them a seat at the table,” she said. Mitchell also said she would not seek a full four-year term on the commission in 2026, saying she would rather hand voters an open seat next year.
“There’s a void right now. We need to have someone who can hit the ground running,” she said. “That would allow the election to occur in 2026 without having an incumbent that wasn’t elected.”
Natalie Milian Orbis
Milian Orbis, 38, works as the director of the county’s Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board, which makes recommendations to the commission on Hispanic issues. She’s also program director of a county economic development board.
She got her start in county government in 2006 working for Cabrera’s predecessor in District 6, then-Commissioner Rebeca Sosa. That began her seven years working on legislation for board members, including for then-Chair Joe Martinez and as legislative director for then-Commissioner Juan C. Zapata.
“I’ve written policy, and I’ve passed legislation,” she told the Herald. “I know how the system works. I understand how to make sure our government delivers.”
She transferred to the Hispanic Affairs board in 2013. Her husband, Manuel Orbis, served as Cabrera’s chief of staff and now works for the independent Tax Collector’s Office.
The West Miami commission appointed Milian Orbis to a vacant seat early last year, and she was elected to a full four-year term in April 2024. She also serves as vice mayor of the city.
“My goal has always been making sure our government is actually helping people,” she said. “I focus on the day-to-day issues that matter most to families.”
She earns about $109,000 a year in her county job, which she would need to resign from if appointed to the District 6 seat. Milian Orbis said she took unpaid leave from her county job this month once the application process began for the District 6 seat.
County commissioners earn about $75,000 a year, but Milian Orbis said she does not plan to seek outside employment before the 2026 election so she could be “totally focused on the seat” and her campaign.
Milian Orbis also offered only praise for Cabrera. “10 out of 10,” Milian Orbis said when asked to rate his tenure as commissioner.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
