Expect lawsuits and challenges to follow term extension Most people think that moving the city elections in Miami from odd to even years, to coincide with the midterm and general election, is a good idea to both save more than $1 million a year and, more importantly, boost turnout from the low two-digits to more […]
Lifetime term limits moved forward to November ballot There will still be an election in the city of Miami this year — but it might be for a charter amendment, not for candidates. Miami commissioners on Tuesday took the first step toward moving city elections from odd to even years, which extends everybody’s terms by […]
… Bayfront Trust, affordable housing, traffic calming The Miami Commission agenda for Tuesday’s meeting is 123 pages long and has almost 90 items — and that’s counting the 14 consent agenda items as one. There are 17 public hearings, 25 proposed resolutions, four ordinances on first reading, three ordinances on second reading, an emergency ordinance […]
Spotted at the Pollo Tropical on 57th Avenue and Northwest 7th Street Wednesday: Miami Commissioners Damian Pardo and Ralph Rosado, who was elected earlier this month to fill the vacant seat in District 4, chatting and bonding over maduros. Pardo said it was just a chance encounter: Both men stopped for a bite to eat […]
Miami City Commissioners could give themselves an extra year in office at their next regularly-scheduled commission meeting. Just like that. All it takes is three votes. Maybe. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says they can’t do it without voter approval first. “If the City of Miami is to amend its charter, either to move the […]
Evil triumphed over good on Tuesday in the rushed, special election for Miami commission in District 4, to replace the late Commissioner Manolo Reyes., who must be rolling in his grave. Ralph “Rafael” Rosado, an urban planning consultant and compulsive liar whose campaign was run and funded by Commissioner Joe Carollo, beat Jose Francisco Regalado, who left […]
The city of Miami commission meeting Thursday is a doozy. There are agenda items on two potential ballot questions — one strengthening term limits and another setting up a redistricting committee — on the extension of the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, the establishment of a needs assessment for the Allapattah CRA, a $135 million Parrot […]
The Miami Downtown Development Authority, an entity that was formed in 1967 to promote the urban core and bring development, has a budget of $13.5 million through a special tax levy on properties within its district boundaries in downtown, Brickell and Edgewater. About a quarter of that is on salaries, some of which seem excessive and […]
Miami voters could say no to political retreads or professional politicians by extending term limits this November. City Commissioner Damian Pardo wants to put a charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot so that elected officials who have served on the commission or as mayor for two terms cannot come back and run for office after […]
After several months of holding the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency hostage, Miami Commissioner Miguel Gabela — who has pushed for its expansion into Allapattah, the heart of his District 1 — looks like he is ready to compromise with a CRA all his own. Miami Commissioners last month directed City Manager Art Noriega to expedite […]