Candidate Ramon Gonzalez Diez, Pinecrest Council Seat 4

Ramon Gonzalez Diez is running for Pinecrest Village Council Seat 4, the council’s at-large seat, on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot. He faces incumbent Vice Mayor Ken Fairman and Jill Lerner, according to the official Pinecrest sample ballot. The race is nonpartisan. It shares the ballot with a two-way contest for Council Seat 3. The mayor’s office is already settled: Shannon del Prado drew no opponent and was automatically elected under the village charter, so her name will not appear on the ballot.

Public information about Gonzalez Diez’s candidacy is limited. This profile reports what could be confirmed from official records and news coverage. The candidate may submit additional information through our Contact page.

At a Glance

Office: Village of Pinecrest Councilmember, Seat 4 (listed by the Village Clerk as the At-Large Seat)
Area covered: The whole Village of Pinecrest; at-large members may live anywhere in the village
Incumbent: No
Opponents on the ballot: Ken Fairman (vice mayor, incumbent), Jill Lerner
Ballot number: 196
Name variations: The ballot prints “Ramon Gonzalez Diez.” The Village Clerk lists him as Ramon Gonzalez-Diez, and one local newspaper editorial referred to him as Ray Gonzalez-Diez
Campaign website: None located

Background

Gonzalez Diez qualified for the at-large seat during the village’s qualifying period, which closed in late June, according to the Pinecrest Tribune and the Village Clerk’s election page, which posts his qualifying documents and campaign finance reports.

Coverage of the race has offered little biographical detail. Political Cortadito‘s overview of Miami-Dade municipal races gave no background for him, and a Miami Herald candidate guide published Sept. 24, 2026, listed “Awaiting response” for each of his answers. Community Leadership Alliance did not find a campaign website or a public biography covering his profession, education or civic history.

In Their Own Words

We did not find direct statements from Gonzalez Diez in published coverage of the race. The Herald guide that carried answers from the other four Pinecrest council candidates showed no response from him at publication.

Where He Stands on the Issues

Florida Politics, in a Sept. 8, 2026 overview of Miami-Dade municipal elections, reported that his concerns include:

Pinecrest’s millage (property tax) rate
Roadway congestion and cut-through traffic
Public safety
Faster processing of building and zoning permits
Expanding the use of solar power
Capital gains taxes on the sale of primary homes

The outlet did not detail specific proposals on these topics.

What This Office Does

Pinecrest, incorporated in 1996, is a village of about 18,400 residents (2020 census) covering roughly 7.5 square miles southwest of downtown Miami, according to census-based reference data. It operates under a council-manager form of government.

The Village Council has five members: a mayor, three councilmembers for Seats 1, 2 and 3, who must live in the residential areas those seats represent, and one at-large councilmember who, like the mayor, may live anywhere in the village. The council is the village’s legislative body. It sets policy, adopts the annual budget and property tax rate, and passes local laws, while the mayor presides over meetings. Elections are nonpartisan.

On Sept. 22, 2026, the council adopted a property tax rate of 2.503 mills for fiscal 2026-27, which the village described as unchanged from the prior year. Issues raised in this year’s campaign include traffic, zoning and permitting, parks, policing, public works and peafowl, according to Political Cortadito. Amendment 3, the statewide homestead exemption measure, is also a shared concern. A village notice republished by the Pinecrest Tribune said it would raise the exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, reduce local government revenue, and first affect the village budget in fiscal year 2027-28.

The Race

Three candidates qualified for Seat 4, according to the Village Clerk:

Ken Fairman, the incumbent vice mayor, elected without opposition in 2022. He co-founded a paving company and has a long record of youth-sports and environmental volunteering. He is campaigning on parks, police and public works, easing permitting, and the budget effects of Amendment 3.
Jill Lerner, a lifelong Pinecrest resident and South Beach Wine & Food Festival event production manager. She is campaigning on “smarter spending, not higher taxes,” communication with residents, schools and long-term planning. She is the daughter of former Pinecrest Mayor and state Rep. Cindy Lerner.

Fairman’s campaign site lists endorsements from the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, Miami’s Community News and the Miami Realtors PAC. In its Sept. 22 endorsement editorial, Miami’s Community News described both Gonzalez-Diez and Lerner as candidates “who care about Pinecrest.”

Pinecrest’s council seats are decided on the November ballot. The South Dade News Leader’s roundup after the Aug. 18 primary did not include them. If no Seat 4 candidate wins outright on Nov. 3, Pinecrest would hold a runoff on Nov. 17, according to Florida Politics.

How to Vote

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, and polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters casting a ballot in person on Election Day must go to their assigned precinct.

Early voting: Oct. 19 through Nov. 1, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, at any early voting site in Miami-Dade County, according to the county’s early voting schedule. Nearby sites include the Coral Reef Branch Library and Kendall Branch Library.
Vote by mail: Requests must be received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 22, and completed ballots must reach the Miami-Dade Elections Department by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3, according to the Village of Pinecrest. The South Dade News Leader also reported the Oct. 22 request deadline.
Check your ballot: Sample ballots, precinct lookups and vote-by-mail requests are available from the Miami-Dade County Elections Department.

Community Leadership Alliance is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates. This profile is based on public records, candidate statements and news coverage, including the South Dade News Leader. Candidates who wish to submit corrections may contact us through our Contact page.