Brett Moss, Key Biscayne’s vice mayor, confirmed Wednesday he was dropping out of the race to be the island’s next mayor.
“I made the decision to postpone my plans to run for Key Biscayne mayor to another time. I want to concentrate on the Village issues in my current seat as a council member over the next two years,” he said in a brief statement. He said he changed plans after “a long discussion with my wife and family.”
Moss was the first candidate to announce, but he failed to meet a deadline to file papers to resign his current position as a member of the Village Council. Under Florida’s “resign to run” law, candidates have to file an irrevocable notice of resignation if they would be running for a term that would overlap with another. He has two more years left on his council seat. A resignation would have created a vacancy for the remainder of his term, meaning four seats would have been up for election in November.
Mayor Mike Davey, who is term-limited, had made no secret of his desire that Moss fill out his term before seeking the mayor’s post. Council seats are four-year terms; the mayor’s seat, though a voting member of council, is two years.
“I think Brett will be a great mayor when he gets four years. I’m happy he’s staying in that seat.”
Currently, former Mayor Joe Rasco and former lobbyist Fausto Gomez are the only announced mayoral candidates. The deadline for filing papers for mayor is June 17.
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Tony Winton is the editor-in-chief of the Key Biscayne Independent and president of Miami Fourth Estate, Inc. He worked previously at The Associated Press for three decades winning multiple Edward R. Murrow awards. He was president of the News Media Guild, a journalism union, for 10 years. Born in Chicago, he is a graduate of Columbia University. His interests are photography and technology, sailing, cooking, and science fiction.