Xavier Suarez, Miami's first Cuban-born mayor, plans to run for mayor again
Suarez's announcement landed hours after a judge ruled that it was unlawful for the city of Miami to postpone its November 2025 election to November 2026 without voter approval. The city quickly filed a notice of appeal.
'I'm energized,' Suarez said in a brief interview with the Miami Herald. He said he plans to file his candidate paperwork Tuesday morning.
Suarez became the city's first Cuban mayor in 1985. He was reelected to a two-year term in 1987 and then to a four-year term in 1989.
Suarez's announcement tees up a potential redo of the 1997 mayoral race, when Suarez and Joe Carollo went head-to-head. Carollo, now a city commissioner, has long been teasing a run for mayor in November.
Carollo, the incumbent, initially lost to Suarez in 1997. But the election was overturned because of ballot fraud, and Carollo was declared the winner the following year, serving as mayor from 1998 to 2001.
READ MORE: Dynasty city: How three Miami families may extend their decades of political power
Suarez's son, Francis Suarez, was elected mayor in 2017 and is termed out of office at the end of the year. If Xavier Suarez is elected in November and serves the entirety of the four-year term, a Suarez will have occupied the position of Miami mayor for 12 consecutive years.
Xavier Suarez said Monday that the city 'could use a serious reform.' That includes supporting ballot initiatives to move the city elections to even-numbered years and to expand the City Commission from five to nine members.
Suarez said in a press release that he also plans to 'actively oppose' a proposal from Commissioner Damian Pardo to create lifetime term limits for elected officials. That ballot referendum is heading to voters in November.
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Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Recall stalled? Next step in effort to remove Kingsville commissioners might be court
Residents petitioned the Kingsville City Commission calling for the removal of three commissioners. But last week, the commission declined to call for a recall election. Now, the matter could head to the courts to decide. Exactly how the issue will play out, including whether the commissioners will remain in office and whether voters will have their say in a recall election, isn't yet clear. Texas law offers little guidance on the recall of local government officials, and the Kingsville city charter leaves questions unanswered. The dispute in Kingsville officially began in early May, when two individuals, Michelle Lerma and Selina Tijerina, filed affidavits with the city demanding the removal of Commissioners Norma Nelda Alvarez, Hector Hinojosa and Leo Alarcon, alleging unprofessional conduct. Alvarez is a retired teacher who has served as an elected official at the city and county levels in various capacities since 1994. Hinojosa is a former city of Kingsville accountant, finance director and city manager. Alarcon is a former county clerk and city director of tourism. Alvarez, Hinojosa and Alarcon could not be reached for comment. What is a recall? According to the Kingsville city charter, any member of the City Commission can be removed from office by voters. The only restriction is that a recall petition can't be filed within certain periods after the official's election or before the end of their term. The petition must state the grounds for removal, with examples like incompetency, misconduct or malfeasance, and noncompliance with the provisions outlined in the charter. According to a 2023 report from the University of Houston Election Lab, 89% of Texas home rule cities studied had language in their charters that allow for the recall of public officials. Most do not indicate the specific grounds for a recall, though some do ask petitioners for some sort of justification. Home rule cities are cities that can set policies within their jurisdiction as long as their charter provisions or ordinances do not violate state or federal law. The University of Houston Election Lab is a team of undergraduate students led by professor Brandon Rottinghaus. For the recall report, students looked at elections in Texas from 2004 to 2022. 'There are no typical recall elections,' Rottinghaus said. 'Each has their own chaotic backstory and application. ... Cities have a lot of flexibility in terms of how they handle recalls.' According to the Kingsville city charter, if a recall election is called, the ballot should ask voters whether the person should be removed from office. This is a yes or no question. The current recall effort focuses on three commissioners. The recall question on the ballot would be asked for each commissioner individually. If a majority of votes are against the recall of any individual, that person would continue in office for the remainder of their term. But, if a majority of votes are cast in favor of the recall, that individual would be removed from office. What's happening in Kingsville? Tijerina said that the path that led to her pursuing a recall began more than a year ago. She didn't like the way things were going in Kingsville, including the departure of the last city manager and the still-pending replacement process. The Kingsville native also had concerns about the handling of city tourism events. Watching commission meetings from 2024, she felt that commissioners were 'bickering like children.' In her affidavit, Tijerina alleged unprofessional conduct and behavior, neglect of fiscal responsibilities, targeting personnel and neglect of city government policies and procedures. By June 6, the petition had received 292 certified signatures. Though only a small amount compared to the total number of registered voters in Kingsville, the petition narrowly exceeded the city charter requirement. In Kingsville, the number of signatures needed for a successful petition must be at least 20% of the number of qualified voters who voted in the most recent city election. The last city election in Kingsville was held on May 4, 2024, with low voter turnout. Only 1,412 votes were cast. This means that the recall petition needed more than 282 certified signatures from qualified voters to succeed. When the petition was received by the city, none of the targeted commissioners chose to resign. In this situation, it is 'the duty of the City Commission to order an election and fix a date for holding such recall election,' according to the city charter. But on July 14, Alvarez, Hinojosa and Alarcon voted against an ordinance that would have called a special election for the recall. Mayor Sam Fugate and Commissioner Edna Lopez, the only two officials not mentioned in the recall petition, voted for the election based on the requirements of the city charter but were outnumbered. During the July 14 meeting, several attendees spoke during public comment in opposition to the recall and in support of the commissioners. Nothing in the meeting documents or mentioned during the meeting indicates that there were any problems with the validity of the petition. A draft ordinance included in July 14 documents states that a sufficient number of signatures was certified. "They complied with our charter,' Fugate said, also saying that it might be worth revising the city charter. What happens next? Though it states that it is the duty of the commission to call a recall election, the charter also includes language regarding the failure of the City Commission to call an election. 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The city of Alice requires 10 voters to initiate a petition for recall, but the number of signatures required only needs to equal at least 5% of voters in the last election or a minimum of 100 signatures. That's a lower bar than what was required in Kingsville. A 2017 recall in Alice resulted in the ouster of two City Council members, leading to a proclamation from the governor giving the city permission for a special emergency election to fill the vacancies so that the council would have enough members to operate. A successful recall in Kingsville could pose similar problems — the petition targets three members. Kingsville only has four commissioners and one mayor. The city needs at least three members to be present in order to conduct official business. The next date when the city of Kingsville could conceivably hold an election is Nov. 4. The deadline to order an election for that date is Aug. 18. But it's still unclear if or when a recall election might take place in Kingsville. Tijerina said that she is consulting attorneys and intends to continue pursuing a recall, possibly through a lawsuit. Back to School Bash to be held at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Bend From the brink of extinction, wintering whooping crane counts rise Can AI predict flooding? A&M-Corpus Christi project focuses on Oso Creek This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Future of recall effort for Kingsville commissioners uncertain Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
In Mexico City, two icons of Cuban repression are banished
But for all the radical chic they inspired, and despite the swooning of countless Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Yet even after all these years, they are still celebrated as Advertisement When Castro and Guevara came to power in Cuba in 1959, they quickly consolidated their control through terror. Political opponents were hauled before kangaroo courts and executed at what became known as 'el paredón,' the wall where executions took place. Those they killed, recounted ' At the Havana fortress of La Cabaña, Guevara personally oversaw mass executions. 'A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate,' Even after the revolution's early days, This month — July — evokes a particularly On July 13, 1994, more than 70 Cubans crowded onto an old tugboat, the '13 de Marzo,' and set out from Havana under cover of night, desperate to reach Florida. Seven miles off the Cuban coast, they were intercepted by government vessels. The security boats rammed the tug repeatedly, smashed its hull, and trained high-pressure hoses on the passengers — Advertisement The tugboat massacre is only one entry on the long list of A row erupted after the sculpture was removed from the park in Cuauhtémoc last week. Among those complaining was Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who insisted that the 'historic moment' represented by the statues merited a public tribute of memory. As the Mexican journalist Carlos Bravo Regidor Symbols matter. Statues and monuments help shape a society's collective memory, and to enshrine Castro and Guevara in bronze was to enshrine the lies they told and the suffering they caused. Their sculptures on a bench in the heart of Mexico's capital was a declaration that their partnership was something admirable and worthy of commemoration, perhaps even something to emulate. In reality, it was a partnership in despotism, and it brought misery to millions. Rojo de la Vega's order to cart away the monument was an act of moral hygiene. May the removal of the statues in Mexico City be only a prelude to the removal of their dictatorship in Havana — and to the day when the Cuban people can finally breathe free. Advertisement Jeff Jacoby can be reached at
Bloomberg
13 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Miami Mayor Election Date Still in Flux as City Appeals Ruling
The date for the vote to elect the next mayor of Miami is becoming a contentious dispute between the city commission, aspiring candidates and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Originally planned for November, the city commission delayed it by a year in a meeting held last month. On Monday, after a Miami-Dade County court ruled that the move was unconstitutional, the city filed a swift appeal.
