Statement from Dariel Fernandez, Miami-Dade County Tax Collector.
Government exists to serve the people, protect their freedoms, and create an environment where families, entrepreneurs, and businesses can succeed. Government is not there to sell food, operate grocery stores, or compete against the very small businesses whose taxes fund it.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s government-backed grocery store proposal raises a fundamental question: if these stores require public subsidies to offer lower prices, who ultimately pays the bill? The taxpayers do. And when government-subsidized stores compete with independent supermarkets and neighborhood businesses, we risk hurting the same entrepreneurs and working families we should be helping.
There is a better way. Reduce unnecessary regulations and costs, encourage competition and private investment, support small businesses, and provide targeted assistance to families who genuinely need help. Government should create opportunities, not replace private enterprise.
As a Cuban American, I have seen what happens when socialist and communist ideology gives government greater and greater control over the economy. Cuba’s murderous communist and socialist system destroyed private enterprise, devastated its economy, and left generations of Cubans paying the price. Similar policies have failed elsewhere. We should learn from history, not repeat it.
The answer to high food prices is not more government control. It is more opportunity, more competition, stronger small businesses, and greater economic freedom.
Dariel Fernandez
Tax Collector
Miami-Dade County
