Miami, Florida Hip-Hop icon Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell has officially announced he will run for Mayor of Miami-Dade County, after the sitting Mayor, Carlos Alvarez, was booted from office in a recall election last month.
Luther Campbell said that his campaign’s biggest obstacle is people taking his run for Miami-Dade County Mayor serious.
But Campbell is serious. The former rapper/producer’s platform will focus on four areas: Economic Development, Public Safety, Affordable Housing and the Community.
According to Campbell, once he is elected Mayor, he will help create jobs, attract new businesses, expand small businesses and create new revenue sources for Miami-Dade County.
“We will revitalize the small business environment that supports existing enterprise, recruits new business and creates incentives to help meet long-term economic objectives,” Luke Campbell said.
The rapper also plans to restructure and rebuild commercial and residential areas and resources to stabilize local neighborhood, to attract new residents and to “uphold the cultural values of our diverse community.”
According to Campbell, he will also build strong bonds between the government and the community, including law enforcement, to help increase patrolling in troubled neighborhoods, while working to restore the public’s trust.
“Every citizen has the right to expect a safe environment,” Luke explained. “We will work with the various stakeholders to implement results-oriented practices that provide protection, prevent loss at work and at home and enhance the well-being for our constituents.”
Luke Campbell also plans to redevelop the public housing model in Miami-Dade County, to help clean up impoverished areas like Liberty City and Overtown, without gentrifying the neighborhood.
The rapper will engage the community by engaging the youth, providing better care for senior citizens, and community and faith based organizations.
“Community is the sum total of the cultural, social and economic make up of Miami-Dade Count,” Luke said. “It includes the cares of our citizens and stakeholders as much as it reflects a specific a neighborhood, leader or institution. Our community is about us, who we are and what we believe in. It also dictates what we must do to preserve our most precious values.”
Luther Campbell’s competitors include County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, Gabrielle Redfern, former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina, Jose ‘Pepe’ Cancio, activist Jeffery Lampert and others.