Third DCA says no, again; Miami loses third try to cancel November elections

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Como un novio feo, the City of Miami just won’t take no for an answer.

After losing in circuit court and then getting their appeal slammed by the Third District Court of Appeals July 31, city officials went right back on Monday and filed yet another motion for rehearing — still trying to justify their illegal power grab to cancel elections and keep a term-limited mayor and two commissioners in their seats for another year.

Former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who sued to the city to stop the change — calling out the ordinance for being unconstitutional and self-serving — was ready. His legal team filed a blistering 28-page response Tuesday asking the court to shut this nonsense down and stop the waste of taxpayer money. Lead attorney Alan Lawson — a former Florida Supreme Court justice — pointed out that Miami’s move to change the election by ordinance (read: three votes on the commission) has already been shot down by the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office, the state Attorney General, Governor Ron DeSantis, and four separate judges. All unanimous: It’s a violation of the city charter and the county’s Home Rule charter.

Lawson also said that Miami wanted to pay a bunch of pricy outside lawyers to “rehash arguments already rejected by the courts.”

Read related: Third DCA strikes down Miami election change; November ballot is on

That’s probably why the Third DCA on Friday denied the rehearing — without even bothering to explain why. This time, the court basically said they don’t even want to hear the same sob story. And it was unanimous, again. Maybe because their first decision, also unanimous, wasn’t even the least bit tentative. There was no hesitancy, no dissent, no wavering. There were no ifs, ands or buts.

“The Ordinance is unconstitutional,” wrote the panel of judges in their ruling, which upheld the earlier decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr. They weren’t buying the city’s argument that they were just “tweaking” the code — not the charter. “It is, in truth, a charter amendment dressed in lesser clothes — fragrant in title but thorned with consequence,” the decision reads.

This is the lawsuit González filed back in June, after commissioners Damian Pardo, who sponsored the item, Ralph Rosado and Christine King voted to change the city’s election date from odd- to even-numbered years to coincide with general and midterm elections in order to get a better turnout, and, also, save some money. But critics — including Gonzalez and a slew of other mayoral candidates who did not take legal action to stop it — call it what it is: a shameless power grab that would give everyone at City Hall — even term-limited Suarez and Joe Carollo — an extra year in office.

It’s strange that Carollo voted against the scheme. But he keeps threatening to run for mayor this year. And he could afford to vote no because it already had three votes. The other no vote was Commissioner Miguel Gabela.

Read related: Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote

It was kind of unexpected for the city to appeal the Third DCA decision to begin with. Pardo, who pushed the measure because it was tied to his lifetime (but not for everyone) term limits, issued a statement the same day of the ruling, congratulating “those who fought hard” to keep the election in November and saying that he would put the proposed change on the ballot. For voters to decide. “As soon as possible.”

Shortly after that, Chairwoman King also issued a statement indicating she would respect the court’s opinion.

“Alexander Hamilton once said ‘the first duty of society is justice.’ The Court’s decision today allows us to adhere to that duty,” King, who is an attorney herself and should have known better, said in her Instagram post.

“Although I voted in favor of revising our election schedule to increase voter participation based on my understanding that our proposed process was legally sound, the Appellate Court’s decision indicates otherwise,” King wrote. “Our nation was founded on a system of checks and balances that are provided in the Constitution. I appreciate the clarification from the Court and will support our adherence to its direction. As always, I remain committed to serving my constituents.”

Read related: Courts killed Miami commission’s election shuffle, but city wants a do-over

So what the heck happened? One would think that with two of the three votes that set this in motion — the sponsor of the ordinance and the chair, to boot — the issue would be dead. The political will is gone.

But the secret hand guiding this all along has been Mayor Francis Suarez, who really wants to stay another year in the mayor’s office he hardly occupies despite the fact that his dad — former Miami Mayor and Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez — has filed to run for mayor this year. The senior Suarez has even claimed that he gave Gonzalez legal advice in the case.

That’s gonna make Sunday dinners interesting.

Baby X likely convinced City Attorney George Wysong to just give it another try. After all, it’s not the mayor’s money.

The city attorney, who represents the whole commission and the mayor, is allowed to talk to the different commission members without violating the Florida in the Sunshine law. He can’t serve as a go-between but can talk to them and gain his own consensus. In speaking to them, he may have convinced Pardo and King to keep fighting.

Pardo did not return calls and texts Thursday and Friday seeking comment. And he has not issued another statement like the one he posted on social media after the DCA ruled the first time.

Could that be because the city has already decided it will appeal this ruling to the Florida Supreme Court? When will they stop throwing green at this and raise the white flag?

“City of Miami officials are squandering taxpayer money on a losing battle to cling to power,” Gonzalez said Thursday, before the rehearing was denied on Friday. “The courts have spoken clearly: canceling elections and extending terms without voter approval is wrong. Instead of accepting defeat, they are dragging this out, wasting resources that should be improving our schools, streets, and neighborhoods.

It’s sort of ironic because one of the reasons Pardo sponsored the ordinance changing the election was to , save money. Piggybacking off the county and state election ballots, they save about $1 million each election cycle, he said.

But does it have to start now? Can’t city voters elect their officials once they know if their terms are going to be extended, because they themselves changed the date? Actually, Gonzalez and several other candidates have agreed to shorten their terms if voters do decide to move the elections. That certainly make it more palatable.

Meanwhile, the city is paying outside attorneys up to $2,350 an hour for their legal team to make it happen. A contract shows that Dwayne Robinson was hired on July 25 to handle the appeal of Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Valerie Manno Schurr, the first judge to say nananina, Miami. His time is worth $750 an hour. His partners Charles Throckmorton and Brandon Sadowsky get $700 and $600 an hour, respectively, and paralegal Farola St. Remy gets $300 an hour.

It adds up to $2,350 an hour when they work together and Ladra suspects the bill is already pretty high. Now, it’ only going to grow bigger with more billable hours, legal briefs, court filings. Maybe they’ll do another mock trial. It’s going to add up. It’s taxpayer money used to deny those very taxpayers their right to vote, just so officials can stay in power for another year. When does the elusive (read: impossible) end not justify the means anymore?

Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year

Now, with candidate qualifying just days away (Sept. 5-20), nobody knows yet if the city mayor and city attorney are crazy enough to drag this circus all the way to the Florida Supreme Court. González says the city doesn’t have a prayer. “The chances of them winning there are probably zero,” he said, adding that the city is gambling with public dollars.

“It’s almost like they’re purposely wasting taxpayer money,” Gonzalez said. “City officials are using our tax dollars to undermine democracy.”

Ladra thinks the city’s legal tab is starting to look like a campaign contribution to the incumbents — only it’s being funded straight from the people’s pockets.

Former City Commissioner Ken Russell, who is also running for mayor, said that it had already been a colossal waste of taxpayer money for “selfish reasons,” and that the city should absolutely let it go.

“At this point, the priority should be on clarity for the voters,” he said.

The election is a little more than two months away. Absentee ballots will be start to arrive at voters homes in about a month. There’s no time to keep playing politics with the people’s money in a losing game.

Maybe Miami voters need to get a restraining order.

  Damian Pardo, Emilio Gonzalez, Francis Suarez, Miami Elections 2025