Doral candidate caught up in residency dispute is qualified to run, judge determines

Restaurant owner Irina Vilarino is a qualified candidate for the Doral City Council, a judge determined Thursday after a hearing about her residency that followed a complaint from the CEO of the city’s chamber of commerce.

Vilarino is one of three registered candidates for the open Seat 3 on Doral’s City Council. Doral Chamber of Commerce CEO Emmanuel “Manny” Sarmiento had filed a complaint questioning her residency, providing records that showed she recently lived in Pinecrest. On Thursday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Peter Lopez determined that she had provided enough proof of residency in Doral to be considered a valid candidate for the city election this November.

Per Doral’s charter, candidates for City Council must have lived in the city for at least two years prior to qualifying for office. Sarmiento claimed that Vilarino did not live in Doral as of July 2022, a claim that Vilarino denied on the stand. Vilarino said she purchased a home in Doral in June 2022 and began moving in shortly after the purchase.

One of the main pillars of Sarmiento’s argument was Vilarino’s filing for a homestead exemption on a house in Pinecrest.

Prior to purchasing her home in Doral, Vilarino lived in Pinecrest in a home she still owns. Property filings show that she filed and received a homestead exemption for that property beginning in 2021. According to property appraisal records, Vilarino sold that house in June of this year.

Vilarino said she was not fully aware of the intricacies of homestead exemptions and that she didn’t know she had to change it after moving to Doral.

Sarmiento’s legal team argued that filing for a homestead exemption in another city showed Vilarino’s intent to remain a resident in that city and not as a part of the community in Doral. Vilarino also voted in Pinecrest in November 2022, although she argued that, since it was not a local election, her vote counted the same as voting anywhere else in Miami-Dade County.

In the ruling, Lopez decided that, while intent is subjective, homestead filings do not have enough weight in the case to disqualify Vilarino from running for office. The Doral city charter does not specify that a candidate must have a primary residence in Doral, just a continuous one, which Vilarino proved through her documentation, the judge said.

Sarmiento disagreed with the end decision but accepted the outcome.

“If you claim homestead, you can’t claim ignorance for not knowing what homestead means, especially when you have tons of years of experience in business,” Sarmiento told the Herald after the decision. “I think I did the right thing. Someone has to advocate for the community, and that’s what I tried to do here.”

Vilarino has an administrative role in the operation of her family-owned business, Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine. The restaurant has two locations in Doral, one of which has been open for 15 years. She said that their restaurant is part of the Doral community and that the move has made the commute easier.

“I think it’s lamentable that there’s election interference ... instead of letting voters decide who they want to represent them,” Vilarino told the Herald.

Vilarino is running against Nicole Reinoso, 38, and Juan Carlos Esquivel, 58, who is making his third bid for a seat on the Doral council.