Samuelian​ Defeats Opponent Accused Of Exposing Himself

MIAMI BEACH, FL — After one opponent dropped out of the race amid a controversy over his misleading Facebook posts during Hurricane Irma and another was accused by an elected official of exposing himself, Miami Beach businessman Mark Samuelian cruised to an easy victory over Rafael A. Velasquez on Tuesday to take the Group II commission seat once held by Michael Grieco.

Samuelian, a former partner at the international technology and business consulting firm Accenture, took 67.82 percent of the vote compared to 32.18 percent for Velasquez, who suffered a major blow to his campaign last week when incumbent Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez charged that Velasquez exposed himself to her after an impromptu dinner.

Velasquez denied the allegation from Rosen Gonzalez, who had been supporting him. A second woman identified as Frances Alban of Alban Communications told Local 10 News that Velasquz grabbed her backside while taking a photograph with her in June and then sent suggestive text messages, something that the candidate apologized for in an interview with Patch even though he said he did not intentionally touch the woman inappropriately.

Samuelian's other opponent was incumbent Commissioner Michael Grieco, who dropped out of the race one week after Patch published an article questioning his misleading Facebook posts during Hurricane Irma. Grieco, a former prosecutor, later resigned his seat altogether and entered a plea deal over a misdemeanor election crime stemming from his one-time mayoral bid.

Rosen Gonzalez, who is running for Congress in the seat now held by the retiring U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said she may also go to the police.

In the Group III race, former commissioner Michael Gongora defeated Adrian Gonzalez to take the seat held by Commissioner Joy Malakoff. The incumbent chose not to run.

Gongora captured 64.81 percent of the vote compared to 35.19 percent for Gonzalez. He is no stranger to Miami Beach politics having been elected to a partial commission term in 2006 and re-elected to a full term in 2009.

During his previous tenure on the commission,, Gongora chaired the city's Land Use and Development Committee, represented Miami Beach at the Miami-Dade County League of Cities; and served as a member of the Finance Committee.

Mark Samuelian photo courtesy Samuelian campaign