Miami Beach elects Armenian-American for commissionerNovember 9, 2017 - 16:26 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Mark Samuelian has won his race for the Miami Beach City Commission. With all precincts reporting, Samuelian received 7,535 votes out of a total of 11,111 votes cast, or 67.82%. He is the first Armenian American to hold public office in Miami-Dade County, Florida Armenians reports. In a wild race that once had five people vying for the Group II seat, Mark Samuelian stayed above the fray throughout the campaign. He ran a clean, professional, and solid grassroots campaign, and he kept working until the very end, despite his opponents’ woes. Surrounded by family, friends, and supporters at the Betsy Hotel in South Beach, Samuelian shared the big news to a long and celebratory applause. In his victory speech, he outlined his governing principles and campaign priorities. He reiterated his vow to work hard to ensure his policies are adopted and that residents are well represented on the commission. In addition to Samuelian, two other FLArmenians.com endorsed candidates won their races. Dan Gelber was elected Miami Beach Mayor with 82.38%, and Michael Gongora was elected to the Miami Beach Commission Group III seat with 64.81%. “Florida Armenians congratulate all the winners in Miami Beach and throughout Miami-Dade County,” stated Florida Armenians Editor Taniel Koushakjian. “We are especially proud of Mark Samuelian on his historic, and resounding victory. I expect there to be many more Armenian Americans holding public office in Florida in the years to come,” Koushakjian said. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. CSTO recognizes Armenia’s sovereign right to withdraw Tasmagambetov has said that if Armenia decides to leave the organization, “it will be the sovereign right of Armenia.” |