Screenshot via City of Miami media archives
Audio By Carbonatix
Just when you thought the Carollo dynasty might be on its final chaotic lap in Miami politics, a court ruling has seemingly snatched change from the clutches of election reform.
On Wednesday, Judge Peter Lopez of Miami-Dade County’s 11th Circuit Court released a ruling that effectively keeps Joe Carollo’s brother Frank, an accountant who is running to fill his older brother’s District 3 seat, on December’s runoff ballot. Oscar Alejandro, a candidate who came in third for District 3 Commissioner, accused Frank Carollo, who served two terms from 2009 to 2017, of violating the city’s new term limit ordinance by attempting to serve a third term as city commissioner. With 79 percent support, voters strongly approved the referendum to end lifetime term limits.
Lopez, on Wednesday, however, declined to enforce the new rule retroactively, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
“Today’s decision is deeply disappointing and disenfranchises the more than 80 percent of Miami voters who overwhelmingly approved lifetime term limits applied retroactively, as clearly written on the ballot, to end the revolving door of politicians cycling through public office,” reads a written statement from plaintiffs Alejandro, Victor Milanes, and Alex Almirola. “By failing to uphold the measure exactly as written, the court has undermined the will of the voters and weakened the mandate for reform that Miami residents so clearly demanded at the ballot box. This decision does not just impact one election — it undermines confidence in our city’s democratic process and the principle that the people’s voice should be final.
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“Miamians spoke decisively for change, and we will not stop until that change is fully realized.”
City commissioners approved the ballot language in June, before residents could vote on the referendum, which garnered more than 27,000 votes last week. Commissioner Damian Pardo proposed the move in an effort to halt the carousel of familiar faces ruling Miami politics, as the Carollo family has done for decades. Wednesday’s ruling means that Frank Carollo is headed for a runoff election on December 9 against Rolando Escalona. If Frank wins, he and his brother Joe would hold the same District 3 seat for 20 consecutive years.
It’s unclear whether Wednesday’s ruling could have broader implications than allowing Frank Carollo to remain on December’s ballot, or whether other candidates could use the decision not to enforce term limits retroactively to their advantage.
