Experience
Eight years inside City Hall.
Appointed December 2014. Elected three times to the Commission, then Mayor in 2021.
2.0mills: the millage rate in her FY2022–23 budget, down from 2.1, the tenth year the city lowered its tax rate
$26.7Mfor capital projects in her FY2022–23 budget: parks, road resurfacing, sidewalks and pedestrian safety
61budgeted sworn police positions in her FY2022–23 budget, up from 58
8years on the Commission and as Mayor, Dec 2014 – Dec 2022
Sources: City Manager’s Budget Message, Sept 15, 2022 · Adopted budget books FY2021–22 and FY2022–23 (personnel complement) · Local10, April 8, 2022 · Miami-Dade Elections official results.
Qualifications
What she brings to the job.
In City Hall
- Mayor of Sunny Isles Beach, November 2021 – December 2022. The first woman elected to the office.
- Vice Mayor, December 2016 – December 2018.
- City Commissioner, Seat 3, December 2014 – 2021.
- Won four elections: 2015, 2016, 2020 and 2021.
The law
- Real estate and condominium attorney, Dana Goldman, P.A.
- Formerly Of Counsel, Shutts & Bowen LLP.
- J.D., George Washington University Law School.
- B.A., Brandeis University.
Before Sunny Isles
- Legislative assistant to Senator Al Gore.
- Legal intern to Senator Bob Graham.
- Research assistant at the Helsinki Commission, chaired by Congressman Dante Fascell.
- Sunny Isles Beach resident since 2001, starting on the city’s Citizen Advisory Committee.
Beyond the dais
- Creator and moderator of the free Condo Rights Workshops, 2019 to today.
- Board of Directors, Miami-Dade County League of Cities, 2018–2020.
- Florida League of Cities Land Use & Economic Development Policy Committee, 2022.
- Graduate, FBI Citizens’ Academy.
What changed at City Hall
Dana left office in December 2022. Since then, from the city’s own budget documents and agendas:
While Dana was Mayor (2021–22)Since (2023–26)
$44.5 million in general-fund operating spending in the FY2022–23 budget she presided over.
$66.7 million budgeted for FY2026–27, up about 50% in four budgets (+11.4%, +12.7%, +11.5%, +7.3%); 351 budgeted positions, over 40 more than in her budget.
Free Condo Rights Workshops run by Dana herself since 2019, including a post-Surfside session in July 2021.
City Hall’s condo help is mainly a once-a-month state appointment desk (30-minute slots, first Wednesday), a link to the County’s $50,000 loan, and the state ombudsman’s email.
Sources: City Manager’s budget messages FY2023–24 through FY2026–27 and adopted budget books (staffing summary); sibfl.gov Condominium Resources page and the City Manager’s 2025 Annual Report.