Accusations vs two Hialeah mayoral candidates only benefit Jesus Tundidor

The race for Hialeah mayor — which was already shaping up to be a good old-fashioned street fight with chancletas flying — has turned into a full-blown telenovela. And the one smiling quietly in the corner right now is Council President Jesús Tundidor, who’s watching both of his rivals trip over their own scandals just weeks before Election Day.
First, there’s the sitting mayor, Esteban “Jackie” García-Roves, who apparently decided the building code didn’t apply to her. The Miami Herald broke that little gem earlier this month: unauthorized additions to her home, built without permits. Maybe she thought inspectors would just look the other way — it is Hialeah, after all. But it’s never a good look when the one in charge of enforcing the city’s rules gets caught breaking them herself.
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According to the Herald article, records from the Hialeah Building and Code Compliance Department show Garcia-Roves’s property is currently under an active code violation for “building without a permit.” An inspector noted the violations were for “addition, awning, re-roof, fence, and columns,” and provided photographs that documented the changes made to the Hialeah home, like roof extensions in the back and a cement wall where there was none.
The Herald also found Miami-Dade Property Appraiser records that show one of the roof extensions could be for an addition to the home, like a guest room or an efficiency.
Then, just when García-Roves thought the heat was off, Bryan Calvo managed to hand Tundidor another gift — courtesy of his own family’s tax mess.
According to another Herald story, Calvo, who loves to talk about integrity and transparency, lived for years in a home that was receiving a low-income senior property tax exemption that his parents weren’t actually entitled to. Yep. The “senior” exemption. For low-income households.
Except young Bryan wasn’t exactly low-income. He was a Harvard student, later a law school grad, and a Hialeah City Councilman earning $44,000 a year — all while living in a house that got a tax break meant for abuelitas living on Social Security.
The County Property Appraiser’s Office eventually caught it, thanks to an anonymous phone call from a concerned neighbor (and you know that’s Hialeahese for “someone from the other campaign”). The Calvos had to cough up $5,282.97 in back taxes and penalties.
Calvo says it was all a misunderstanding. That his parents applied, not him. That he didn’t even know about it. That nobody meant any harm. Sure, m’ijo. And the dog ate the homestead paperwork, too.
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He told the Herald that his parents just wanted to protect the family home “like many Hialeah families.” But here’s the difference — most Hialeah families don’t have a Harvard-educated son running for mayor while taking a senior exemption.
The house is pictured in 2022 on the left and more recently on the right. Notice all the changes.
This isn’t the first time Calvo’s image as a clean-cut reformer has taken a ding. Remember, he’s already had to resign from the City Council to run for office and was hit with residency questions during his run for Tax Collector. The guy’s got more explanations than campaign slogans at this point.
Meanwhile, Tundidor — who’s been keeping a low profile and focusing on talking about infrastructure and fiscal management (imagine that, issues!) — is looking more and more like the only adult in the room.
So now, with two opponents dragging their baggage behind them — people are starting to get tired of the excuses and García-Roves’ little construction scandal didn’t exactly inspire confidence either — Jesús Tundidor is walking into the final stretch of the race with what may be the most precious thing in Hialeah politics: a relatively clean record.
At least, so far. Because in Hialeah, as we all know, that can change faster than you can say permiso de construcción.

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