Miami's newest city commissioner, Rolando Escalona, has spent his first months in office sprinting to restore both pride and foot traffic on Little Havana's iconic Calle Ocho. His early agenda mixes hands-on cleanups and zoning proposals with a push to return cultural programming and building management to local control.
Escalona, who won the District 3 runoff on Dec. 9, 2025, represents Little Havana, Shenandoah and parts of Brickell, and campaigned as a political newcomer promising neighborhood cleanup and economic revival, according to the City of Miami. Since taking office, he has treated neighborhood beautification and cultural programming as core priorities rather than side projects.
What Escalona Is Proposing
In recent weeks Escalona has rolled out a multi-pronged plan to "beautify" Calle Ocho. That plan includes buying a fleet of trucks dedicated to trash rounds, proposing façade-repair grants for homeowners, and pushing a zoning overlay designed to keep new development in scale with the existing neighborhood.
At a Feb. 12 meeting, commissioners approved a resolution he sponsored to begin the process of creating a Calle Ocho Business Improvement District that would fund extra cleaning, security and marketing. The city administration is now preparing the documentation needed to formally establish a BID, and Escalona told WLRN that "I'm gonna bring back that pride that people should have of living not only in Little Havana, but in District 3 and also in the city of Miami."
Culture And Control
One of Escalona's first formal moves was to return management of the historic Tower Theater to Miami Dade College. That change, approved at a commission meeting in early January, drew both cheers and criticism. Business owners and neighbors welcomed the shift, while some local actors argued that programming decisions should include community input, according to the Miami New Times.
Escalona also backed moving "Viernes Culturales" back to its traditional Friday slot at Domino Park. "Returning to our original date and location truly marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Viernes Culturales," the event's chairwoman said, as reported by WLRN. The message from City Hall has been that Little Havana's signature cultural events should feel rooted in the neighborhood that built them.
How A Calle Ocho BID Would Work
A business improvement district would let property owners charge themselves an additional assessment to pay for services that go beyond what the regular city budget provides. That could include extra trash pickups, street beautification, security and community events focused on the commercial strip.
The Coconut Grove BID describes how that model works in practice, noting that levy dollars are channeled into cleaning, marketing and capital projects for the neighborhood's commercial core, according to the Coconut Grove BID. Calle Ocho's proposed BID would follow the same basic playbook, just with a Little Havana twist.
What's Next
The next few weeks will show whether Escalona's early flurry of moves leads to more visitors on the sidewalk and stronger protections for longtime residents as development pressure keeps building. If the BID proposal advances, it will require outreach to property owners, plenty of paperwork and a series of formal approvals.
For now, Escalona is betting that cleaner streets, local control of cultural institutions and a more coordinated business district can make Little Havana a place residents are not just living in, but proud to claim as home.
