Julio Robaina

Julio Robaina
Former Mayor of Hialeah
In office 2005–Present
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Residence(s)	Hialeah, Florida

Julio Robaina

Mayor Julio Robaina has a vision for Hialeah and the strength, as well as commitment to achieve it. As an active real estate and mortgage broker for over 20 years and past president of the Northwestern Dade Association of Realtors, he has managed to be successful without ever losing focus or his passion for the community as a public servant.

Mayor Robaina began to make his vision for the City of Hialeah reality ever since he was elected Councilman in 1997 for a four year term. In 2000, he was subsequently elected President of the City Council by his peers. During his term as Council Member, he was named Chairman of the City of Hialeah Charter Review Board. This appointment gave him the opportunity to serve as the Council’s Representative for the City of Hialeah Elected Officials Retirement Board. The residents of Hialeah re-elected him without opposition for another four year term in 2001. Nevertheless, after serving the city for thirty years, Mayor Robaina was elected Mayor of the City of Hialeah with overwhelming support from the community in 2005. Once again, the Hialeah community supported Mayor Robaina by re-electing him on November 3rd, 2009 as the leader of the City of Progress.

Leadership Role

Mayor Robaina’s community-based focus stretches from a local to a regional scope in an effort to improve the lives of all Floridians. Moreover, his leadership continued to flourish in 2003 when he was elected President of the Miami-Dade League of Cities and in 2004 as President of the Gold Coast League of Cities. His highest honor as a municipal leader was attained in 2005, when elected officials from over 400 municipalities across the State of Florida unanimously confirmed their support for his presidency of the Florida League of Cities. This organization is recognized as one of the largest municipal leagues in the nation. Mayor Robaina accomplished numerous achievements through his involvement in several boards within the Florida League of Cities. For instance, he serves as Chair of the Florida Municipal Investment Trust, Chair of the International Relations Committee, and a Member of the Nominating Committee consisting of the seven largest cities in the State of Florida. These leadership roles have given him the opportunity to share ideas on how to improve respective cities in Florida. Also, Mayor Robaina had the honor of being appointed to the Florida Municipal Investment Trust by the former President of the Florida League of Cities, Mayor Frank Ortis, as “President’s Appointee”.

In 2006, he was appointed to the State of Florida Century Commission by former Florida House of Representatives Speaker, Allan Bense, to review and establish a sustainable growth pattern for the State of Florida.

Mayor Robaina is a graduate of the Leadership Florida Class XXV, an organization that takes a statewide view of the conditions, as well as challenges that face the State of Florida. Leadership Florida provided Mayor Robaina with vital skills that every government leader should posses. Additionally, to become a better leader Mayor Robaina obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Saint Thomas University.

Mayor Robaina has been honored with recognitions throughout his career as a public servant. He was presented with the Developers and Builders Alliance “Green Award,” which honors the Mayor with the greenest initiatives enacted and scheduled to be enacted in the City of Hialeah. During October 2007, Mayor Robaina received the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year Award and the Hialeah Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year Award. On November 2nd, 2007, Mayor Robaina had the honor of being named “Public Official of the Year” by the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, recognized as one of the largest Hispanic Chambers in the State of Florida. Additionally, Mayor Robaina received the “Premio Juturo” in recognition for defending the history, as well as the values of the Cuban Exile.

Educational Role

Mayor Robaina placed himself at the forefront of educational programming by establishing the Mayor’s Education Advisory Board in an effort to bring awareness and discussion on local education issues. He also created an Education to Business (E2B) Board at the Hialeah Chamber of Commerce & Industries to further fulfill his goal on improving education. With this purpose in mind, he successfully led the effort along with the Florida Legislature and the Florida Board of Education to obtain the authority to grant Municipal School Charters. In addition, he initiated the Partnership to Advance School Success program (PASS), the after school tutoring program “Tutoring in the Parks”, and Reading Corners at various Hialeah recreational facilities in order to instill academic values for life long educational success.

Mayor Robaina led the South Florida movement of Generation Engage, a local civic-engagement, which hosted an interactive iChat video conference in 2007 with former Secretary of the State, Colin Powell at Miami-Dade College. Mayor Robaina took the opportunity to address participants on the significance of becoming more involved with our community. This is an ongoing program which periodically allows the Mayor to communicate through a teleconference with students from across the country regarding current events and issues facing our country.

Mayor Robaina created the City of Hialeah Scholarship Fund for students who are Hialeah residents and choose to continue their education in a post-secondary school. In a continued effort to improve education, Mayor Robaina entered an agreement called Compact with Miami-Dade Public Schools, which provides goals and accomplished achievements. Above all, Mayor Robaina implemented the Creative Learning and Play Program (CLAP) in our city libraries, which provides tutoring services for students.

Since 2008, the City of Hialeah and Take Stock in Children joined forces to establish a mentor program. Each City of Hialeah employee is given the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a student. The program’s success is evident as the number of mentors participating has increased since the program’s initiation. Through this program, the elementary and middle school students / mentees who participate become eligible to receive a scholarship for their college education. On January 26, 2010, Take Stock in Children presented Mayor Robaina with the Marta Gutierrez Award recognizing Mayor Robaina as a dedicated mentor, advocate, and supporter to many take stock in children scholars.

During September of 2008, Mayor Robaina launched the first career academy in the City of Hialeah. The academy offers students who are in ninth grade or above, careers in the following fields: fire, police, and communications. Mayor Robaina was also instrumental in the implementation of the South Florida Autism Charter School by offering the school a home at the Educational Complex at Slade Park.

Nova Southeastern University has recognized that Mayor Robaina is spearheading the field of education, as an example for all Mayors and leaders across the State of Florida to follow. On October 29, 2008, Mayor Robaina was honored with the Cervantes Outstanding Award during an event where business and community leaders were recognized. On October 3rd, 2008, Mayor Robaina had the honor of receiving the 2008 Hispanic Heritage Award for exceptional service to the youth of South Florida, which was presented to him by the South Florida Council Boy Scouts of America.

The City of Hialeah is working in collaboration with all local high schools and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund in an effort to bring awareness in relation to scholarship resources.

Vision transforming into a reality

During Mayor Robaina’s first few months in office as Mayor of the City of Hialeah, he fulfilled numerous aspirations. For example, he secured more than $6.025 million in state funding, the highest ever appropriated in the state budget to the City of Hialeah. Mayor Robaina is diligently integrating the community’s elderly population by expanding existing adult and special populations programs, as well as amenities and building new facilities throughout Hialeah.

Mayor Robaina is an actively involved executive member of the Hialeah Hospital Governing Board. He has participated in numerous forums throughout the world regarding significant topics such as water resources, education, public safety, emergency preparedness, and eco-friendly policies and practices. On August 10, 2010, Mayor Robaina was appointed as a member of the US Conference of Mayors Water Council. The Water Council was created to provide mayors with a focal point for discussion regarding issues impacting cities such as providing water and wastewater services. The purpose of this Water Council is to protect water resources for citizens, the environment and the local economy.

Mayor Robaina’s enthusiasm and support for the arts is evident as he implemented several new cultural initiatives in Hialeah. Mayor Robaina inaugurated the city’s first art in public spaces sculpture “The Beat” and he collaborated with Perez Celis, a renowned artist to create a masterpiece painting on the façade of a four story building. In furtherance of celebrating the city’s cultural diversity, every year Mayor Robaina hosts “Art on Palm,” an event that exposed thousands to culturally enriching art exhibits.

While revitalizing and encouraging new business development and growth potential in the area, Mayor Robaina is working closely with the Beacon Council, the Chamber of Commerce, and Hialeah-Dade Development on various new projects including the development of the new annexation area and the reconstruction of Hialeah’s in-fill areas. As an acting Board Member of the Beacon Council, Mayor Robaina engages in discussions of economic development for the purpose of attracting new businesses to our community.

Mayor Robaina has participated in numerous forums throughout the world on significant topics such as water resources, education, public safety, emergency preparedness and eco-friendly policies and practices. As Mayor Julio Robaina heads into the future, he remains steadfast in his commitment to the people of Hialeah and will continue to build on the foundation that his dedication has established over the first part of his term.