Miami City Commission Approves Election Reforms

On Tuesday, June 17, near the end of a contentious meeting packed with major decisions, Miami City Commissioners narrowly approved a pair of election reform bills.

City Commissioner Damian Pardo spearheaded motions to move city commission elections to coincide with federal midterms and introduce term limits to a governing body he argues is a veritable carousel of familiar faces.

Commissioners in a 3-2 vote approved the motion to change election dates at its first of two readings, with Commissioners Christine King, Damian Pardo, and Ralph Rosado voting in favor and Commissioners Joe Carollo and Miguel Gabela voting against. The issue will come up again for a final vote at a June 26 meeting.

In another 3-2 split vote, commissioners approved a motion to limit candidates to two four-year terms as commissioner and/or two terms as mayor. Gibela, Rosado, and Pardo voted in favor; Carollo and King voted against.

Both motions still face another vote. Commissioners will make the final decision this week at a Thursday meeting, while Miami voters will vote on the term limits at a special election in November.

The reforms drew considerably fewer public comments than the city's vote to deputize police officers as immigration enforcement agents. But several residents and politicians came and offered mixed opinions on the matters.

Pardo and his proponents argued that moving elections to the same four-year cycle as federal midterm elections will increase voter participation from about 15 percent to 70 percent. However, opponents contend that the election date change is a power grab that gives current commissioners and Mayor Francis Suarez an extra year in office.

Pardo is two years into his first four-year term, while Suarez and Carollo are in their eighth year and would get a ninth if the election is delayed. Commissioner Christine King is in the fourth year of her first term and would get a fifth year, while Commissioner Miguel Gabela, who won a runoff election in 2023, would get a fifth year during his first term.

The commissioners' decision to move their election drew clear disapproval from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who issued a June 11 opinion in response to a query from Gabela asking Uthmeier whether Tuesday's vote would be consistent with the Florida Constitution. In the letter, Uthmeier argues Miami City Commissioners can't change their elections to even years without voter approval.
"The electorate of the City of Miami, by way of the county's provisions in the County Charter, has a direct role in amending its charter; ignoring this procedure would render meaningless the applicable provisions of the 1885 Florida Constitution," Uthmeier wrote in his opinion.

Uthmeier wrote that any changes to Miami's charter, whether altering election dates or officials' terms, must be approved by voters. He emphasized that the 1885 Constitution only allows charter amendments through the process outlined in the Home Rule Charter, barring any alternative methods.

Pardo, who introduced the item, pushed back in a written statement to New Times, saying the letter reflects an opinion — nothing more.

"We have immense respect for the Office of the Attorney General; however, the stated opinion is not a mandatory precedent in the state of Florida and is regarded as persuasive," Pardo said. "Multiple municipalities across Florida have already transitioned to even-year elections through ordinances without requiring voter referendums."

City Attorney for the City of Miami George Wysong agreed with Pardo in a five-page opinion issued June 12. He pointed to three Florida statutes that "confer authority to change the date of a municipal election, by ordinance."

Wysong, however, wrote in his opinion that Uthmeier's opinion hinges on the notion that the Miami-Dade County Charter trumps state statutes.

"Unless legislatively or judicially determined otherwise," he wrote, "the City of Miami may change the date of a municipal election by ordinance."