The county commission makes a lot of very important decisions on your daily life, including how much the county will spend on the infrastructure you use, what kind of public transit serves your neighborhood, and what happens with major land developments in unincorporated parts of the county. Kind of a big deal.

They’re also the eyes and ears of their district residents, making sure the concerns of their slice of the county make it to the table.

If you’re in District 2, 6, 8, 10 or 12, you’ve got a decision to make, and we’ve got Q&As with the candidates to help you. (A few candidates didn’t respond to our questionnaire so we’ve included some basic info on them, and if they opt to participate, we’ll add their answers when they come in.)

• District 2: Dorrin Rolle and Jean Monestime (the incumbent)
• District 6: Maryin Vargas and Rebeca Sosa (the incumbent)
• District 8: Gus Barreiro, Johnathan Burke and Daniella Levine Cava (the incumbent)
• District 10: Jose Garrido, Julio Sanchez, Alfred Santamaria, Javier Souto (the incumbent), and Robert Suarez
• District 12: Patricio Moreno, Rafael Pineyro and Jose “Pepe” Diaz (the incumbent)

The District 4 seat would have been on your ballot but Commissioner Sally Heyman didn’t draw an opponent, so she’s automatically re-elected.

Thanks to Alissa Farina, Rebecca Willett, Olga Cormier, Chris Caines, and Jessica (some readers opted not so share their last name), who suggested questions for the county commission and helped us build the questionnaire the candidates answered.

We’ll be adding to our Aug. 28 voter guide all week as we head into early voting on Aug. 13. Next up: key Florida House and Senate primaries and the U.S. Congress District 27 primary.

So far we’ve given some info on the school board candidates and a break down of the referenda for Miami and Miami Beach residents.

Shady. It’s totally normal to get campaign mailers listing all the candidates on a party’s slate. What’s not normal is getting a mailer from “your Republican neighbor” with a Democrat on the list, basically hinting that she’s also a Republican. But that’s what happened in Florida Senate District 38 this week, and no one knows who’s behind the mailer. Because there are no Republicans running for that seat, the Aug. 28 election between Democrats Daphne Campbell and Jason Pizzo is open to all voters, not just registered Democrats, and whoever wins the primary wins the seat. The Miami-Dade Democratic Party says it’s investigating what’s up. (Miami New Times)

Vroom vroom. The City of Miami may have temporarily banned scooters in July, but Coral Gables just gave the OK for scooters to be used in the city streets and launched a pilot with the dockless scooter company Spin. The Gables is the first city in the state to make this official and they’ll be trying it out until Aug. 28, so if you want them to stick around, give them a try, and make sure to follow the City Beautiful’s (many) rules. (Miami Herald)

Left guessing. The east coast of Florida is coping with a slimy, blue-green algae bloom, while the west coast is littered with dead marine animals killed by an ongoing red tide – and Florida has little ability to monitor the pollution levels that caused these crises in the first place. For the last decade, the state steadily cut funding for water management and environmental initiatives, including an algae task force. That’s left researchers scrambling, turning their crucial research into guesswork. (Miami Herald)

Get sweaty. Little Haiti’s Sweat Records basically gave birth to Miami’s modern record scene when it opened 13 years ago, and now they’re blazing a trail again with the launch of their own independent record label: Sweat Records Records. The debut LP is coming out later this year, and the launch party is going down Aug. 26. (Miami New Times)

Jumping the gun. Coconut Grove resident Andrew Rasken owns two of the 35 West Grove “shotgun” houses that the city declared historic back in July, barring them from demolition because they’re some of the only remnants of the gentrifying neighborhood’s Bahamian and African-American past. Since Rasken’s plan was to knock them both down, he wasn’t happy about the designation (neither were many other owners). His solution? Get onto the preservation board that made the decision. Since joining, the city says, he’s been illegally making alterations to his home to compromise its structural integrity, and some want him off the board.  (Miami Herald)

Movies in the home of Moonlight. Liberty City has brought a movie theater to the Sandrell Rivers Arts Theater, and they’ve had free screenings of everything from “The Color Purple” to the Miami-made classic “Moonlight,” along with movies like “Wonder Woman” and “Ghostbusters.” The screenings happen about once a month and you can keep tabs via their Facebook page. (The Miami Times)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY.

But if you missed last night’s forum with the school board candidates, you’re in luck. You can catch the whole thing on our Facebook page.

We’ll catch you mañana.

– The New Tropic