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Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Miami's lifetime term limits proposal advances. Carollo mayoral run still possible
A proposal to create stricter term limits for elected officials that became entangled in a separate, controversial measure to postpone the November 2025 election will now go before Miami voters in a special election this fall. On Thursday, the Miami City Commission green-lighted a proposal to limit elected officials to two four-year terms as mayor and two four-year terms as a commissioner during their lifetime. It passed 3-2, with Commissioners Damian Pardo, Miguel Angel Gabela and Ralph Rosado voting in favor. Commissioners Christine King and Joe Carollo voted against. The proposed change will now go to Miami voters as a ballot question in a special election in November. Pardo, the item's sponsor, said at Thursday's meeting that the proposed term limit change 'creates more focus' for elected officials to accomplish their goals in office during a fixed time frame. 'It also opens the door for other people, more innovation, other ideas, to come into those seats,' Pardo said. But King, the commission chairwoman, said restricting term limits takes away choice from voters who may want to reelect someone who's already served eight years in a particular seat. She noted that as it stands now, after serving two terms, an elected official must sit out of office for one term before returning. 'Four years out of office is a lifetime in politics,' King said Thursday. The special election will cost the city several hundred thousand dollars, according to the city clerk, but the exact amount won't be known until a later date. When Pardo first announced the item in the spring, the reform measure promised to block career politicians who've spent years, if not decades, in City Hall, from returning to office. But a recent change to the proposal included a loophole that could pave the way for certain legacy politicians to return. The proposal still limits elected officials to two terms in each role, but it now comes with a carve-out that excludes 'any time served as a result of having been elected to fill a vacancy' — meaning that candidates who win a special election could still serve two additional four-year terms. Under the earlier version, Carollo, a former mayor, could have been blocked from seeking elected office in Miami again, since he has served two terms as mayor and multiple stints as city commissioner, dating back to 1979. However, Carollo won his first term as mayor in a special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of Mayor Stephen Clark in 1996. That means that under the new version of the term limits proposal, Carollo would be eligible to run for mayor again — an idea he has been teasing for months. READ MORE: Dynasty city: How three Miami families may extend their decades of political power The odds of Pardo intentionally creating any sort of benefit for Carollo are slim, seeing as the pair are political adversaries who've consistently sparred over city issues for the better part of a year. Pardo said the change was made in effort to be fair to candidates who are elected in a special election, filling in for the remainder of a term. 'The concept was all about equity, fairness and democracy,' Pardo said Thursday. He added that the city attorney advised him that counting a shortened term that was won through a special election as a full term 'leaves us open to legal challenges.' 'In the drafting process, these legal issues came up about what is a term and what is fair,' Pardo said. The first version of Pardo's proposal also didn't define the length of a term, meaning that, in theory, even serving one day in office could count as a term. But the legislation now restricts elected officials to two four-year terms specifically. That might seem like a minor change, but it could open the door for former Mayor Xavier Suarez to return to City Hall — something he also has been considering and has yet to rule out. Suarez has served three terms as mayor — seemingly disqualifying him under the earlier version of Pardo's term limits proposal — but only one of those terms was a four-year term. In a text message last week, Suarez said he was still 'considering' running for mayor and that he doesn't think the proposed term limits change will affect him. The change also benefits Rosado, a newly elected commissioner who won a special election last month to replace the late Commissioner Manolo Reyes. Rosado's term was supposed to run through November 2027, but a City Commission vote last month extended his term to 2028. If voters pass the new version of the term limits proposal, Rosado will be allowed to run for two more four-year terms after he finishes his current one, allowing him, in theory, to be a Miami city commissioner for 11 years. Under other circumstances, the term limits proposal would have gone on the ballot in the November 2025 general election, where residents were slated to vote on a new mayor and two city commissioners. But in a 3-2 vote last month, the City Commission postponed the upcoming November election to 2026. That measure, also sponsored by Pardo, achieved the goal of moving the city from odd- to even-year elections, when voter turnout is higher. But it came with the side effect of giving the city's elected officials an extra year an office, including Carollo and Mayor Francis Suarez, who are both termed out in November. The change has spurred outrage among residents, as well as criticism from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, who has threatened legal action against the city but has yet to take formal action. Pardo has argued that the decision to move the election back to 2026 'cures' a flaw in his term limits proposal. If the general election had taken place in November 2025 and the term limits question was included on the same ballot as candidates who could be affected by the term restrictions, that could set up the city for a legal challenge. So in a roundabout way, moving the election date back gave the city a safer legal avenue for putting the term limits proposal to voters. But it's still up in the air whether Miami's next general election will take place this November or next. Following last month's City Commission vote to postpone the election, mayoral candidate and former City Manager Emilio González filed a lawsuit against the city. He's asking the court to determine that the ordinance the city passed is 'unlawful and invalid,' effectively reverting the election date back to 2025. The parties are scheduled to have a hearing on the matter in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Wednesday.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Outrage followed Miami's vote to move election. Now some are trying to reverse it
Absurdity. A brazen power grab. Disenfranchisement. A slap in the face to democracy. The most self-serving non-solution. An absolute disgrace. Those are some of the things being said about the decision Miami city commissioners made last week to cancel the upcoming November election, where voters would have chosen a new mayor and two commissioners. The change was made to move the city's elections to even years, aligning it with the federal election cycle, starting in November 2026. Those criticisms are much different from how the item's sponsor, Commissioner Damian Pardo, explained it: a legal and applicable reform. While seemingly fewer, supporters of the change have called it common sense and a victory for future voter turnout. Just hours after the City Commission voted 3-2 to approve the controversial ordinance, Mayor Francis Suarez signed the measure into law, effectively extending his — and the commissioners' — terms in office for one more year. Outrage, both from residents and candidates who planned to run this November, quickly followed. As news spread across social media, the commission's vote garnered national attention, with some connecting the local issue to larger concerns about democratic processes and institutions. As debate and interest intensified online, some political leaders became the targets of scorn while others enjoyed a sudden, unexpected swell of support. Several mayoral hopefuls are already turning their campaigns into crusades to restore the November election. One of those candidates, Emilio González, has already sued, calling the commission's decision 'an outrageous abuse of power,' and another has threatened legal action. Voters have begun receiving surveys asking if they would support a recall of Pardo. And some are looking toward a possible intervention by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, who both admonished the city against moving the election without first getting voter input through a ballot question. Activist and mayoral hopeful Michael Hepburn told the Miami Herald he's hoping to 'fight back' with other candidates, including by attempting a recall of Pardo. Hepburn said that, like González, he plans to sue the city, alongside residents from several districts. As news broke Friday that the mayor had already signed the election ordinance, Hepburn said he wasn't surprised. 'Mayor Francis Suarez has been a self-serving politician in this city for years, and this is just another example of him using his public office to benefit himself,' Hepburn argued. Suarez did not respond to reporters' attempts to reach him for comment. Over the last week, González said his campaign has received a sudden boost in support and attention. He shared images with the Herald showing his campaign's average website traffic recently surged by over 10,000%. 'People are energized; folks who in the past couldn't care less, now they care,' González said. 'People usually ask about why you're running — now everyone knows why I'm running.' In the last week, Miami's election change jumped to the fore of conversations in online forums like Reddit. The social media pages and posts of elected officials were also inundated with debate over the ordinance. 'If it's so popular then why didn't you allow your constituents to vote on it?' read one comment under a video Pardo posted to Instagram addressing objections to the legislation. 'You disappointed me today more than ever,' someone else wrote below a post from Commissioner Christine King, who backed the measure. While some commenters supported the change, saying it would increase voter participation, others connected the commission's vote to concerns expressed by last month's 'No Kings' protests, responding with references to 1776 and remarks like 'America, we don't do kings.' 'I'm seeing many on social media comparing this to Trump's potential effort to violate term limits,' said Ken Russell, one of the mayoral candidates. A former city commissioner, Russell said he believes in increasing voter turnout by moving to even-year elections — but only if voters approve of doing so in a ballot referendum. Many younger voters feel similarly, said Luna Plaza, a student at the University of Miami. 'We want higher turnout, especially for youth voters — but this was undemocratic,' said Plaza, an activist involved with several advocacy groups. 'They stole a year of political participation from an entire cohort of young people. Three commissioners decided that they knew better than the people.' James Torres, president of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance, echoed those remarks: 'Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with moving the election date, it should be decided by the voters.' González is banking on his lawsuit ending with the courts voiding the ordinance and forcing the city to reinstate a November 2025 election. 'I know we'll win big, and the city of Miami will have egg on its face,' González said. Through a spokesperson, Pardo said he was unable to comment on issues tied to current litigation involving the city, which moved swiftly to dismiss González's lawsuit. In a motion filed this week, the city argued that state law allows cities to align local elections with statewide contests, regardless of whether that extends the terms of current officials. The city argued such changes can be enacted by ordinance and without requiring a public vote. State officials have disagreed. 'It is wrong for incumbent politicians to cancel elections and unilaterally extend their terms in office,' DeSantis said in a June 26 social media post, threatening a 'swift legal response' if the change was enacted. Uthmeier, the state's attorney general, previously issued an opinion that changing the election's date without voter approval violates the state constitution and county charter. Since the City Commission's vote, neither DeSantis nor Uthmeier appears to have publicly commented on the decision, and neither responded to inquiries from the Herald. Commissioner Joe Carollo, who was joined by Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela in voting against the change, said he expected a judge would rule against the city. 'The courts will agree that this decision can't stand,' Carollo said. Russell, a Democrat, said he found himself in the odd position of supporting Republican state officials' interpretation of the law. 'It's a real Twilight Zone to find myself agreeing with Governor DeSantis and the attorney general,' said Russell, 'but in this case, I do.'
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
No veto on controversial election change. Miami mayor already signed it into law
Within hours of the Miami City Commission approving a controversial measure to postpone the upcoming November election to 2026 in order to move the city to even-year elections, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez had already signed the legislation into law. Suarez does not have a vote on the City Commission, nor is he required to sign commission legislation, which automatically goes into effect within 10 days if it's not signed or vetoed by the mayor. But a copy of the legislation obtained by the Miami Herald shows that Suarez signed the document on June 26 — the same day as the City Commission meeting. Suarez did not respond to questions asking why he opted to sign the legislation. But his decision to do so tracks with Miami Herald reporting that the mayor had been quietly lobbying behind the scenes in favor of the legislation, which was sponsored by Commissioner Damian Pardo. Pardo has argued that the change is a reform measure and that by moving the city to even-year elections, voter turnout will increase drastically while also decreasing election costs. But a side effect of the change is that it gives city commissioners and the mayor — who is termed out at the end of the year — an extra year in office. Commissioner Joe Carollo, a Pardo adversary who voted against the election date change, alleged that Suarez's involvement went beyond simply lobbying for Pardo's legislation. 'There's been a tremendous amount of backroom dealing on this whole thing, led by the mayor of the city,' Carollo said. 'It's not just that he was backing it, it was his idea originally — he got Pardo to play lapdog … to present the ordinance for him.' Pardo has denied that, saying the idea originated with him. Moving the election without voter approval has been a source of controversy in recent weeks, drawing condemnation from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier. 'The citizens of Miami deserve and are entitled to the right to make this decision, directly,' Uthmeier said in a June 25 letter to the city. 'Home to thousands of patriotic Cuban Americans who know better than most about regimes that cavalierly delay elections and prolong their terms in power, the City of Miami owes to its citizens what the law requires.' Uthmeier concluded his letter with a warning. 'If you nevertheless move forward with the proposed ordinance,' he wrote, 'my office reserves the right to consider taking all available actions to prevent this violation of law from occurring.' The state has not yet announced any formal action against the city.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Despite controversy, Miami moved election date. One candidate has already sued
A lawsuit filed Monday is challenging last week's controversial Miami City Commission vote to postpone the city's upcoming November election to 2026. The 41-page complaint by Miami mayoral candidate Emilio González argues that the decision to move the city from odd- to even-year elections effectively granted Mayor Francis Suarez and city commissioners an additional year in power without the consent of voters. 'The commissioners unconstitutionally bypassed the democratic will of the people in a way that the Florida Constitution, the Miami-Dade Charter, and the City's Charter expressly prohibit,' the lawsuit alleges. 'Reminiscent of regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, or Cuba — the very places so many of Miami's people come from — those in power, while in power, forced upon those voters what they think is best for elections going forward — and secured for themselves additional time in power, without a vote of the electorate. That cannot stand.' Representatives for the city did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday, but City Attorney George Wysong has defended the election change as appropriate and legal. Suarez could still issue a veto on the controversial measure but would have to do so within 10 days of last week's city commission vote on June 26. However, that seems unlikely; the Herald previously reported that Suarez was working behind the scenes to push the even-year change. Proponents of the measure, including its sponsor, Commissioner Damian Pardo, have argued that aligning elections with national races will boost voter turnout and prove a boon for democratic participation. But opponents have accused city officials of pursuing a self-serving extension of their terms. Florida's governor and attorney general both warned the city not to change the election date without first asking voters in a ballot referendum. 'Attorney General James Uthmeier has already warned that this violates the law, and Governor Ron DeSantis has strongly supported that position,' retired U.S. Army colonel González, a former Miami city manager, said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. 'Disenfranchising voters undermines our democracy and robs citizens of their voice at the ballot box.' Ahead of last week's vote, Wysong defended the legal and ethical grounds of moving this year's election to 2026 to align with federal elections. 'Somebody is gonna get that extra year, whether you do it now, or next year, or two years from now,' Wysong said at the June 26 meeting. Ultimately, Commissioners Pardo, Ralph Rosado and Christine King voted in favor of the measure, which passed by a vote of 3-2, with Commissioners Joe Carollo and Miguel Angel Gabela voting against the change. In an interview Tuesday, González said commissioners had only offered 'nonsensical, bogus justifications' for the change. 'I've never sued anybody in my life and I've never run for public office so this is all new to me,' González told the Miami Herald. 'But I've spent my adult career as a U.S. Army officer serving around the world promoting and defending democracy — only to find I now have to promote and defend democracy here in my hometown.' 'I'm a real stickler for process and procedure,' González added. 'This isn't a campaign publicity stunt. I'm filing this as a voter.' While González is the first to sue, other candidates who planned to run in the November 2025 election have been critical of the change as well. 'Miami voters want new leadership in the city. For them, these elections cannot come soon enough,' mayoral candidate Ken Russell, a former city commissioner, told the Herald. 'Commissioners enriching themselves and violating their own term limits erodes voter trust.'
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
It's official: Miami cancels November election, postpones it to 2026
With less than five months to go before Miami residents were scheduled to head to the polls to vote on a new mayor and city commissioners, the city of Miami has postponed the upcoming November election to 2026 in a move that critics have described as a 'power grab.' On Thursday, the Miami City Commission voted 3-2 to move the city from odd- to even-year elections — a change that its proponents said will drastically increase voter turnout. But the decision also comes with fine print. As a result, the city's elected officials will get an extra year in office. That includes Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Joe Carollo, who are both term limited. Suarez, a former city commissioner, will get a 17th consecutive year in Miami City Hall, and Carollo will get a ninth. Commissioners Damian Pardo, Ralph Rosado and Christine King voted in favor of the election date change, and Commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela and Carollo voted against. READ MORE: Miami mayor is lobbying behind the scenes for proposal to skip November election Pardo, the item's sponsor, has argued that changing to even-year elections is a much-needed reform that will significantly increase voter participation while also saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in election costs. But some have questioned whether the city actually has the authority to change the election date without voter approval. The city charter states that municipal elections take place in odd years, and charter changes require voter approval. READ MORE: State says Miami can't move city election without voter input. Who's right? During the public comment section of the commission meeting Thursday, some residents said they believed the proposed change should be put on a ballot for voters to decide. 'This commission is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons,' said Rammel Guzman, 49, who told the officials they were reminding him of the kind of autocratic rule that drove him to immigrate to the United States. 'I was born in Venezuela, and in 1999 the constitution was reformed by Chávez, and even he put it to a vote — we need to do better than that.' Morningside resident Sandy Moise agreed, telling the officials: 'Commissioners should not be voting to cancel elections and give themselves and the mayor an extra year in power. That's not a democracy, that's voter suppression.' Other residents said that changing to even-year elections would strengthen democracy by encouraging more voters to turn out. Branden Jones, 34, said that keeping the current election schedule was tantamount to voter suppression. 'It plays on the ignorance of so many individuals in our communities,' said Jones, a pastor. 'If we want more civic engagement, why not allow everything to be on the ballot when we know most people are coming out to vote?' Pardo shared a similar sentiment as he urged the commission to pass the proposal. 'Voter participation goes from an estimated 10% to 15% — to 60% or 65%, and that is huge,' Pardo said. And he argued that commissioners should act quickly. 'If we wait for another cycle, another election, for other people to show up, we may never have this chance again,' Pardo said. But Carollo disagreed, arguing that the measure had broad appeal and could easily be passed in the future. 'If this is such a slam dunk where everybody wants it, why are you afraid to wait?' Carollo said, adding that he agreed with an opinion by Florida's attorney general that the commission did not have the authority to change the election date. 'We all know that if this passes today, it will wind up in the courts,' Carollo said. Several declared candidates have questioned and criticized the election date change. Mayoral candidate and former City Manager Emilio González has called the move 'a power grab to stay in office' and said that city of Miami voters 'have been disenfranchised.' 'We are outraged by City of Miami elected officials who, despite warnings from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier that canceling the November 2025 Miami election would violate the law, persist in this action,' he said in a statement Thursday. ' … This illegal act by the City of Miami elected officials will not stand!' Eileen Higgins, a current Miami-Dade County commissioner and another candidate for city of Miami mayor, also responded Thursday. 'City leaders' decision to extend their terms by a full year without voter approval highlights the dysfunction in our government,' Higgins said in a statement. 'While I support moving city elections to even years to boost turnout, bypassing voters was wrong.' A third mayoral candidate echoed that sentiment. 'Even year voting is a good thing,' said Ken Russell, a former city commissioner, 'but this is the slippery slope of bad government — where you have good intentions, but you start bending the rules to get there.' Russell, who filed to run for mayor in March, said the decision should have been left up to voters, not the commission. 'The emoluments clause in our charter precludes any commissioner — or the mayor — from voting to enrich themselves,' Russell said. 'This vote today, giving themselves an extra year — it's also giving themselves an extra $100,000 in salary.' Earlier this month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a written opinion saying the city does not have the authority to move the election date without voter approval in a ballot referendum. In a post on X, Gov. Ron DeSantis concurred with Uthmeier. But City Attorney George Wysong has publicly disagreed. 'We believe we're in good standing with the Florida Constitution,' Wysong said Thursday before the commission, laying out an argument refuting the state attorney general's opinion. 'We believe it's legal and consistent with Florida law,' Wysong said, pointing to what he said was a precedent set by the city of North Miami, which recently changed its elections to even years. That decision was challenged in court and went up to the Third District Court of Appeals, which affirmed a lower court's ruling that the city had the authority to make the change. Wysong also argued Thursday that the proposal was not a self-serving measure for the commission. 'No matter how you slice it, if you move the dates of the election, somebody is gonna get an extra year,' Wysong said. 'This doesn't necessarily benefit anybody.' Thursday's vote could cause a major shakeup to the city's political landscape. So far, 18 people have filed to run for one of the three open seats in November: mayor, District 3 commissioner and District 5 commissioner. Carollo, who previously served as mayor in the '90s, has long been teasing another run for mayor, but he has yet to officially file for the race. Political insiders have said the election date change could deal a blow to a Carollo candidacy, as he could face an uphill battle getting elected to a citywide seat when voter turnout is higher. The election date change also clears the way for another Pardo reform measure. Last week, the City Commission voted to direct the city attorney to draft legislation that would create lifetime term limits for elected officials. The item needs to come back to the commission for final approval, at which point it would be sent to voters on the November ballot — now in a special election since the main election has been postponed. If voters pass the lifetime term limits proposal, elected officials in Miami will be limited to two terms as mayor and two terms as commissioner for their lifetime. While Pardo has argued that the measure has widespread support, it will also face an opposition campaign from those invested in keeping term limits as-is. As it stands now, elected officials in the city are limited to two consecutive terms as mayor and two consecutive terms as commissioner, but they can return after sitting out for one term.
