Surfside voters unseat Danzinger, bring back Burkett as incumbents flounder
Charles Burkett, the former mayor of Surfside who led the town through the aftermath of the deadly Champlain Towers South condo collapse, defeated incumbent Mayor Shlomo Danzinger on Tuesday as voters expressed their desire for new leadership — albeit with some familiar faces — in the tiny beach town.
Burkett led Danzinger by 102 votes, a five-point margin, with the town’s one precinct reporting results around 8:30 p.m.
Two years ago, Danzinger unseated Burkett by just 35 votes. Burkett, who was mayor from 2006-2010 and 2020-2022, will be sworn in again Wednesday.
Burkett, 63, ran on a slate alongside four candidates for Town Commission, all of whom were victorious Tuesday. Incumbent Nelly Velasquez, former Vice Mayor Tina Paul, and newcomers Gerardo Vildostegui and Ruben Antonio Coto were the four top vote-getters among 10 candidates, meaning they will each take office.
Surfside residents also voted out incumbents Commissioner Fred Landsman and Vice Mayor Jeff Rose, the latter of whom has been at the center of controversy in recent weeks over the arrest of a young activist who allegedly pushed Rose. Danzinger, Rose and Landsman were often aligned on big issues during their two-year terms.
“I’m excited for the people that wanted change,” Burkett told the Miami Herald. “We’re going to take two years, and we’re going to turn the ship around.”
Paul garnered the most votes among the commission candidates, meaning she will become vice mayor.
READ MORE: ‘Really disturbing’: Arrest of young activist brings turmoil to Surfside before election
Surfside politics have long been marred by bitter divisions and controversy that continued during Danzinger’s time in office. Danzinger, 44, was elected in March 2022 as the town’s first Orthodox Jewish mayor, defeating Paul and Burkett as he pledged to address political bickering on the commission.
“If we don’t end up in the newspapers in the next two years, that’ll be an accomplishment,” Danzinger told the Herald at the time.
But the mayor made his share of headlines, including for taking a clandestine trip to Dubai to meet with the developer of the Champlain Towers South collapse site, declining to support the flying of a Pride flag at the town’s community center, and asking during a commission meeting whether anyone knew “how to speak Spanish” to communicate with Velasquez, a commissioner who is bilingual and fluent in English.
The most recent political scandal to engulf the town came in recent weeks after Rose, the outgoing vice mayor, told police that Joshua Epstein, the 18-year-old son of former Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer, pushed him after a candidate forum, leading to Epstein’s arrest. Dozens of residents rallied in support of Epstein and blasted Rose during a commission meeting last week for pressing charges against a young activist and political opponent.
Danzinger framed the scandal as the latest example of bad behavior by his rivals. “If the allegations are accurate, are we okay with people now physically assaulting elected officials in Town Hall?” he said at the meeting last week. “I personally teach my kids better.”
Burkett made frequent local and national media appearances after the Champlain Towers collapse in June 2021, seeking to unify Surfside during a grueling search-and-rescue mission. He clashed with county officials over a lack of access to the property for an engineer hired by the town and floated a conspiracy theory as residents desperately sought answers about why the building had fallen.
He also faced scrutiny during his time in office for his handling of a property he owns in Miami Beach, where tenants were forced to move out because of poor conditions.
Nearly three years after the collapse, a federal investigation into its causes is ongoing, and the engineer the town hired to do his own probe, Allyn Kilsheimer, has yet to release findings.
Meanwhile, in September, the Town Commission voted 3-2 to accept plans for a 52-unit luxury condo tower at the former Champlain Towers South site and adjacent to a street designated as the site of a future memorial. Developer DAMAC offered the city a donation valued by the firm at $1.5 million for construction of a park where the memorial would be built on 88th Street.
“I shouldn’t be begging for this memorial,” David Rodan, a Surfside resident whose younger brother was killed in the collapse, said during that meeting. “We want the memorial as soon as possible.”
On Tuesday night, Burkett said he will “focus on residents, not developers” as he fosters “a kinder, gentler Surfside.” The town’s divisions, he added, are a result of different ideas about the best way forward.
“I just think there are people with competing visions and that creates real passion,” he said. “This vision won tonight.”
