September 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 27

People for Parks
Meet the Mayor: Hialeah,
Florida's Carlos Hernandez

arlos Hernandez was born in Camaguey, Cuba, but his formative
years were spent in the verdant embrace of Hialeah, Florida's many
parks and public green spaces. The connection to nature and community he formed there held strong into adulthood, with the 53-year-old father
of two now serving as mayor of his adopted hometown. Before embarking
on his political career, Hernandez served the Hialeah Police Department for
more than 22 years, eventually retiring as commander of the Sector 4 substation. In 2005, he earned a post on Hialeah's City Council. Hernandez was
later elected council vice president in 2007 and council president in 2009, his
final post before being appointed mayor May 23, 2011. Just five short months
later, Hernandez was returned to office by public election, where he continues to serve today. Mayor Hernandez took time out from his busy schedule to
speak with Parks & Recreation Magazine about his continuing commitment to
the health and well-being of his community through partnerships with public
parks and NRPA.
Parks & Recreation Magazine:
You grew up in Hialeah, playing
in the city's parks. How has this
influenced how you think about
parks and green spaces? Why do
you believe parks and recreation
is important to the health of
both your city and its individual
citizens?
Mayor Carlos Hernandez: Growing up in the City of Hialeah and
in our parks had a great influence
in my life. Not only was I staying
actively fit, but I was in a safe environment where I was surrounded
by people who were a positive influence. As an elected official, I've
always believed that there are two
groups that are very important for a
city to progress: the senior citizens
who took care of us when we were
young and our youth who will care
for us when we're older and will become the leaders of our community. I strongly believe that parks and

Parks & Recreation

Mayor Carlos Hernandez

recreation is the backbone of the
health of a city and a community.
It supports the physical, mental and
communication skills that we develop for our future as adults. I can't
reiterate enough how much being

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part of the park and recreation environment has helped me throughout my life.
P&R: Hialeah is part of the NRPA
Commit to Health initiative that
involves committing to healthy
eating and physical activity standards. Why is this a priority?
Mayor Hernandez: Drawing from
the great influence I received growing up in Hialeah parks, physical
fitness and healthy eating habits
were very important. Today that's
one of the biggest problems we have
throughout the country where our
youth are not exercising enough
and have bad eating habits, and as a
product of this, we see the problems
this is creating with obesity and diabetes so early in their life. The City
of Hialeah takes this very seriously
and makes it a priority in working
closely with our community and
NRPA to create these health initiatives to inform and create a clear
commitment to our children staying
healthy, having good eating habits
and exercising.
P&R: Hialeah has one of the largest
Spanish-speaking communities in
the country - 92 percent of residents are fluent in Spanish. How
do you incorporate the culture of
the community into your outreach
efforts around physical activity and
healthy eating?
Mayor Hernandez: We do have a
large Spanish-speaking community,
and as such, all our information is

September 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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