Steve Bovo’s parting gift: Retirement benefits for himself, Hialeah electeds

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Before Hialeah Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo steps down to take a job at a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm, he voted Tuesday to give himself retirement benefits.

Ladra was still trying to get details on what the deferred compensation plan for electeds would look like, because there was zero discussion or debate about the two ordinances on the dais before everyone voted in favor of giving themselves more free money. But there were no official answers as of Friday afternoon.

According to sources close to City Hall, council members will be vested after five years of service, but the mayor is vested from Day One. It’s also retroactive to October 21, 2021.

Ladra was unable to get more details after several emails to the city clerk and calls to Bovo went unanswered and unreturned.

Read related: Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo posts extreme views, promotes ‘big lie’

There will still have to be a second reading Feb. 25 before it’s final.

It’s not exactly a pension, per se. Voters in Hialeah did away with pensions for elected officials in 2013 with 80% approving a charter amendment.  Before that, electeds got a pension after they reached the age of 55 and completed 12 years or more of service on the council. It also required any future changes to the pension plans of elected officials to be approved by a city-wide vote.

It did not wipe out the pensions that were already granted. According to Ballotpedia, former Mayor Raul Martinez gets a pension of $180,000 a year and former Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez gets around $190,000 a year.

Bovo, who makes $190,000 a year in salary and expenses, will be leaving his post to join The Southern Group, a prominent lobbying outfit in D.C., according to the Miami Herald, which reported it last week. His compensation is reportedly going to be higher, but he still felt the need to take a little more from Hialeah taxpayers.

It’s likely that a majority of Hialeah residents don’t have pensions. This population’s average household income was $53,000 a year in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s household. Individual average salary was at about $25,800. The Census also said that 17.5% of Hialeah’s residents are living at or below the poverty level.

Remember when Miami Commissioner Miguel Gabela pulled the same thing with granting lifetime pensions in his city and got pummeled for it on the radio and in the news? The backlash from the community caused him to want to put an item to reconsider o the agenda. But Mayor Francis Suarez got there first with a veto and was hailed as a hero.

Read related: Bryan Calvo becomes first candidate to file for November Hialeah mayor’s race

But in Hialeah, so far? Crickets.

And here we have a mayor who has one foot out the door, voting on extending his benefits before he does.

Former Councilmember Bryan Calvo, who resigned to run for tax collector (lost in the primary), is now running for mayor in November to replace Bovo and said he would undo the golden parachute as soon as possible if given the chance.

“The pension proposals are a total slap in the face to residents and father proof that Bovo and company are more concerned about extracting every possible cent from the tax payer than public service,” Calvo told Political Cortadito. “For both items to be approved unanimously and without any discussion on the dais is proof that the fix was in for Bovo to make a final cash out before his departure and to setup his heir apparent for a comfortable transition.

“If elected, I will absolutely repeal said ordinances,” said Calvo, who sued Bovo in 2023 for abuse of power after the mayor allegedly hampered his efforts to get 911 information. The lawsuit was dismissed in court last year.

Ladra smells a campaign issue.

  Bryan Calvo, Esteban “Steve” Bovo, Hialeah politics