Born in Cuba, Yolanda Aguilar arrived in the United States in 1960 at the age of two. She was raised by both her parents and grandparents in their original West Miami home, in which her mother still resides in today.
Graduating from La Salle High School, Aguilar never attained a college degree, and was married at the young age of eighteen to her high school sweetheart.
“I never regretted my decision and 33 years later I am still happily married,” West Miami City Manager Yolanda Aguilar said. “I have struggled but in the end I am where I needed to be.”
Following the birth of her first child, Armando Jr. Aguilar, she spent the first six months as a stay-at-home mom. When the growing expenses of raising a family became too much, Aguilar set out in search for a job.
“It started off with that I needed a job close to home, since I had a young son that I needed to take care off,” Aguilar said. “So I went to my city, where I applied for a clerical position.”
On January 1, 1982, Aguilar was hired as the Water Department Clerk for the City of West Miami. A year later, following the recommendation of previous City Clerk, Boots Kleiner, the then mayor and city commission appointed Aguilar to hold the position of City Clerk.
“I worked 11 years as the City Clerk of West Miami,” Yolanda said. “It became a job where I realized that public service was rewarding and that you can do so much more for others.”
In 1994, Aguilar was appointed as the new City Manager of West Miami, in a unanimous decision by the then Mayor, Rebecca Sosa, and the City Commission.
“I would like to see more women undertake what she has done and excel as she has,” long time friend and West Miami resident Sarah Menendez said. “She has been very transparent, tight on the budget and never misused any funds.”
In a small city with a total population of 5,587 people, Onboard Informatics and City-data.com calculated that the majority of occupational females in the City of West Miami, a total of eleven percent work as secretaries and administrative assistants. Eight percent actually achieve clerical positions, but almost none achieve government leadership positions.
However, such positions don’t come without the expected challenges and hurdles public officials need to overcome on an almost daily basis.
In 2006, Yolanda Aguilar was under fire, by both city officials and police officers, for firing Police Chief Eber Afre, after he had suspended Police Capt. Nelson Andreu without documented cause.
“I am paid to be the City’s watchdog,” Aguilar said. “There are things you don’t compromise, and my integrity is nonnegotiable.”
One of Aguilar’s first real challenges as City Manager was that of a 52-percent budget deficit in the City of west Miami.
“My first real challenge as City Manager, was to recommend measures to bring the city back to financial soundness,” Aguilar said.
The City of West Miami was placed on a Possible Financial Crisis Watch List, following a financial audit.
“In a state of financial crisis, through the collective efforts of then Mayor Rebecca Sosa and the passion and leadership of the city and the legislature, we were able to emerge from a 52-percent budget deficit,” Aguilar said. “It was tough in a small city like ours.”
Eight years later, Aguilar was offered the opportunity to serve as City Clerk for the City of Coral Gables.
“I have the highest respect for her, both personally and professionally,” City of Coral Gables Interim City Manager Maria Alberro Jimenez said. “While I was disappointed that she left Coral Gables to return to ‘her’ West Miami, I recognize her love for that city as well as ours”.
Following a five-month service, Aguilar left the City of Coral Gables, and returned as City Manager to West Miami.
“I thought that the position would be a little bit more professionally challenging, and even though I was welcomed with open arms, I felt that both professionally and personally I had to go back to my city were I could make a difference,” Aguilar said.
Upon her return as City Manager to the City of West Miami, Aguilar together with the city’s leaders, set in motion various projects, including a multipurpose facility for the community, the development along the commercial corridors, a massive drainage improvement job, as well as an official web site for the City of West Miami.
“The overall economy needs to improve so that we can achieve these goals,” Aguilar said. “The decline in revenue in the last 18 months could take the city back into some sort of financial crisis in the near future, so we need to work in terms of budget revenue.”
The City of West Miami lost over 1-million dollars of revenue within the last 18 months, in part due to the decision of reducing garbage pick-up fees as well as overall cuts in funding from the government.
“My goal is to have a multipurpose facility which will be a venue for the arts and culture to accommodate our city and community, as well as the development along the commercial corridors of our city before I retire,” Aguilar said. “I believe that these projects which are in the pipeline will guarantee the much needed revenue for our city and improve the general aesthetics.”
Aguilar’s greatest legacy however, was the completion of $13-million dollars in drainage improvements for the city.
“It is through the collective efforts of the city that we have create a massive a 13-million dollar drainage improvement project, which promises to alleviate past flooding episodes, that kept some of the homes flooded for a period of weeks,” Aguilar said. “Any visions we share as a team, is for the greater well-being of the city; I was simply the conduit that was needed to accomplish the project.”
Approximately 10-million dollars out of the 12.5-million were efforts of the then Mayor, Rebeca Sosa and her work through the Local Mitigation group formed after the 1999 and 2000 storms. These storms left three communities in Dade-County, including West Miami, under water for over eight days.
“Yolanda was very instrumental when working with the mayor and commission to improve the city’s sewer system,” Menendez said. “She worked hard to increase certain fees to develop this project.”
The city has received an additional 2.5-million dollars from the State of Florida through the South Florida Water Management District to complete the last phase of the project.
“Yolanda is the ultimate professional, she has great energy, great intellect and a true commitment to the force of public service,” Jimenez said.
To Yolanda Aguilar, the ties with her community are of extreme importance, especially in a city so small in size.
“It’s the small details, such as giving a senior citizen a ride home in our own vehicle, that make a difference,” Aguilar said. “That is how personal we are.”
While Aguilar’s retirement is imminent, West Miami residents hope that she will extend her service for their City for a couple more years.
“Yolanda has been a stability to West Miami, and I would most definitely like her to stay on with the city for at least five more years,” Menendez said. “She has the strength and youth to continue.”
Two years away from her official retirement, Aguilar will probably have the option of continuing her position as City Manager if she decides to go into the drop program.
“I am not going to fade away, that’s for sure,” Aguilar said. “I can either choose to stay on with the city, or stay home and bake cookies with my granddaughters.”
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