Sure, there’s the dog fight between Donald Trump and Joe Biden and the cat fight between Miami-Dade Commissioners Daniella Levine Cava and Esteban Bovo for the mayoral seat, but there are also three county charter amendments that need voter approval to become reality.
And they all should become reality.
The first, county referendum 1, would change the home rule charter to establish an independent Inspector General. Wait, you say. Don’t we already have an Inspector General? Yes. Well, we’ve had three — Chris Mazzella, Mary Cagle and interim IG Felix Jimenez — since the office was created in 1997. But because it was created by ordinance, it can also be dissolved by a 2/3rd vote of the commission.
Approval of this amendment would make it independent, which automatically gives at it more teeth as a watchdog agency that looks over the county’s contracts, projects and programs for abuse, waste and mismanagement. Something it could use with the beleaguered procurement department that’s been such a pain in the wallet lately.
Detractors say there is already enough oversight between the State Attorney’s Office and the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. To which Ladra says, hahahahahahahahahahahaha. This is Miami-Dade. There is no such thing as enough oversight.
County referendum 2 would change the way vacancies on the commission are filled when there are vacancies created by the primary or general election. It could be called the Levine Cava amendment because it is the result of the commissioner’s resignation date being effective in November, which is too late to have her successor elected at the same time.
Read related: Daniella Levine Cava timed resignation to force special election in Miami-Dade
“Shall the charter be amended to require that when the mayor or member of the county commission resigns prospectively to run for another office the vacancy will be filled by election during the primary and general election rather than by appointment or by subsequent special election?
Um, yeah. Duh. It’s going to cost the county nearly $1 million for a special election after Levine Cava becomes the mayor. Electeds can’t be trusted to pick their own effective dates. We should do it for them.
County referendum 3 would require that the races for sheriff and supervisor of elections — when voters get to make those decisions starting in 2024 — be nonpartisan, as well as the property appraiser, which is already a nonpartisan race.
This is obviously being pushed by Republicans because there are more Democrats registered in Miami-Dade and they want to be able to compete for those seats. The Miami-Dade Democratic Party doesn’t want the competition and has recommended we vote no (it recommends yes on the other two county referendums).
Read related: Elected Miami-Dade sheriff, SOE could curb mayor’s abuse of powers
“The elected offices mentioned in the referendum increasingly have great influence on day to day operations,” the group explains on its website.
“Decisions often align with political parties, whether voters agree with this or not. Republicans tend to want to stick to the status quo and protecting those in power, while Democrats push for social justice, progress, equity, technological advances, and protecting the vote of every adult citizen. We think it’s important for voters to have clarity on who they are voting for.”
But we do, regardless. Everyone knows who the Democrat is and who the Republican is in the “nonpartisan” mayoral race.
In other words, this will only be on paper.
But it’s still a good idea. We need to be less partisan, not more, and Ladra can’t think of a better example of an elected office that should be nonpartisan than the sheriff’s.
And also, it’s easier to remember if they’re all the same vote: yes, yes, yes.
Just say yes, yes, yes to three Miami-Dade county charter amendments added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
