Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins names James Reyes warden, er, city manager

Ladra must have misheard.
Didn’t newly sworn-in Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins say she would conduct a proper search for a new city manager? You know — open it up transparently to competition and seek résumés from city managers who have, say, managed a city?
Because what Miami got instead was a memo quietly sliding across commissioners’ desks announcing the political patronage nomination of James Reyes, Miami-Dade County’s Chief of Public Safety, whose résumé is long, impressive… and entirely devoid of actual city manager experience.
But who needs that when you have connections?
Reyes is not only one of the top advisors to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, he was a client of Christian Ulvert — the political consultant behind Higgins’ historic run as Miami’s first female mayor — last year when he lost the sheriff’s race to Rosanna Cordero-Stutz. She can’t make him the police chief, because he’s not a cop — which is why he lost the sheriff’s race. But he’s a pretty boy with potential. He could run for something again.
And just like that — abracadabra — the professional search evaporated faster than a City Hall ethics pledge.
The appointment still needs commission approval on January 8, but make no mistake: this wasn’t a search. This was a selection.
Read related: A beautiful beginning: Eileen Higgins sworn in as Miami mayor; now what?
To be fair, Reyes is no lightweight. And, well, he has a track record for keeping criminals in line, which might come in handy at Miami City Hall. Higgins’ appoint of a law enforcement professional to city manager could be sending a message: The party is over.
Reyes ran Miami-Dade Corrections during the time the jail system went back into federal compliance after more than a decade under a DOJ consent decree. That’s not nothing. He climbed the ranks at the Broward Sheriff’s Office, managed billion-dollar budgets, and earned plaques, awards, and acronyms galore. But corrections may end up eventually in the new Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, so there’s that.
But here’s the thing: running jails is not running a city.
A city manager doesn’t just oversee departments. They navigate zoning wars, developer tantrums, pension landmines, procurement disasters, Sunshine Law traps, and elected officials who believe the city charter is more of a suggestion.
Miami is not a corrections facility. Although  maybe that’s exactly why Higgins thinks Reyes is perfect. Because if you squint hard enough, City Hall does resemble a detention center: repeat offenders, questionable behavior, and an alarming number of people who should probably be supervised more closely.
In her letter to commissioners, Higgins praises Reyes’ “servant leadership,” “transformational vision,” and ability to “restore trust in City Hall.”
Bold words, considering Miami City Hall is where trust goes to die.
And while Reyes has undeniably managed massive budgets, his experience has been internal-facing — command-and-control environments where orders flow downward. Miami governance, on the other hand, is a knife fight conducted in public, with lobbyists, developers, unions, activists, and commissioners all pulling in different directions.
Could this choice be tied to her words about not necessarily adhering to the 287g agreement with the federal government about assisting in the detention of immigrants?
Read related: Miami could join 250 Florida cities with 287g contract to help ICE vs immigrants
Ladra wonders how long Reyes will last. Sure, the city commission has changed, but there is a history of churning out city managers and Reyes doesn’t seem like he’s just going to go along with them. Let the betting begin. Ladra’s money is on three months.
And who’s next? If this is the new logic, Ladra has questions. Will former State Rep. and former Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson — another one of Ulvert’s other clients who lost a constitutional office in 2024 — be named finance director. How about J.C. Planas — another Ulvert client who lost the supervisor of elections race last year — as City Attorney?
Actually, both of those would make sense. Richardson is a forensic auditor who can sniff out the former administration’s shenanigans and Planas, although he does not always prevail, is almost always fighting the good fight. And he won’t break the law for his bosses. And can we find a place for former Sen. Annette Taddeo, the Ulvert candidate who lost the county clerk’s race? Maybe in economic development?
But how much influence is Christian Ulert going to have at Miami City Hall now. There were already fears that Ulvert would take Higgins’ victory and, like he did with DLC, get his glass menagerie of people on display. The veteran Democrat consultant, who is respected and feared with equal fervor, came up frequently during the campaign as one reason not to vote for Higgins. Now people fear this move to appoint Reyes proves them right — Ulvert’s grip has expanded to Miami government.
Let’s play Miami City Hall bingo for a minute here. Who else could become part of La Alcaldesa 2‘s Dinner Key cabinet?
PR and government relations guru Helena Poleo, who was the director of communications in Doral once, might get the job in Miami. She was at the first and secret, invitation-only swearing in –before the official swearing in — where Barby Rodriguez Gimenez, the congressman’s daughter-in-law, was the officiator. Does she have that authority vested in her?
She didn’t only swear Higgins in, Rodriguez sat smiling in the picture next to her, between the mayor and longtime BFF and Chief of Staff Maggie Fernandez. Between them. Ladra thought at first it was AI.
Read related: Miami’s public safety circus: A sardonic welcome to new Mayor Eileen Higgins
Astute political observers say a Gimenez or two in a new Miami City Hall is not unforeseeable, particularly if it’s true that Congressman Carlos Gimenez made some sort of deal to secretly support her. I mean, why else have Barby herself officiate the swearing in?
Ladra expects one or two Transit Alliance kids to get in as aides or something. But nobody with any real chops is going to do anything with transit, because she wants to keep that business — transit and housing — to herself. Some political observers noted that could also be why Reyes is such a great choice for city manager — no experience in transit.
So far, only Reyes is announced as a new hire (after Fernandez). And Miami is being asked to accept that a career corrections administrator — talented, credentialed, but never tested in municipal chaos — is suddenly ready to run one of the most politically combustible cities in America.
All because the consultant math checked out. I mean, really, Miami City Hall might become the next place for Ulvert to grow a  new Democratic bench.
Reyes says he’s honored. Higgins says he’s the future. And Ladra thinks he’s being positioned to run for something else later. Now, commissioners get to decide whether Miami wants a city manager… or a warden.
Maybe this is just another case of campaign loyalty trumping experience, dressed up in bureaucratic buzzwords and rushed through before anyone can ask uncomfortable questions.
Or maybe Reyes will be what the doctor ordered. Maybe he’ll bring discipline, order, and accountability to a building that desperately needs all three.

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