Campaign for Miami commission appointment includes email to residents

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Some residents in Miami started getting emails this week that attempt to pre-empt people from protesting the possible upcoming appointment of a city commissioner to replace Ken Russell, who resigned to run for Congress.

Russell lost in the primary and last week changed his resignation effective date to Dec. 30. That means the commission has to decide how to fill the vacancy within 10 days. So they set a meeting for Saturday, which is the last possible day to decide between an appointment or a special election.

With the subject line “Nothing special about Special Elections,” the whole purpose of the email is to lay the defense for an appointment, perhaps in the hopes that people don’t show up to the meeting. It is on a Saturday, after all. That already discourages participation.

Read related: Ken Russell leaves Miami early; commission gets ready to replace him

Because everybody knows that this will go to a special election if Commissioners Christine King and Manolo Reyes stand their ground. And they will have a hard time changing course if dozens of people go to the meeting to demand a special election and oppose a political appointment that will only serve the commissioner making it — Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Joe Carollo.

One of them had this email sent by Mike Valdes-Fauli, who runs a boutique PR and digital advertising firm. There’s even a hashtag recommended: #specialelectionwaste.

City of Miami Commissioner Ken Russell resigned his seat last week, creating a vacancy that needs to be filled. Currently up for debate is whether to have the Commission appoint a temporary replacement until this November’s election or have a “special election” sooner to elect a new commissioner. There’s an understandable tendency to believe good democracy should always include letting the people’s voice be heard, and I agree. However, in this case hosting an emergency election is without a doubt the wrong move for the people of Miami. Here are seven reasons why:

1. Special elections are incredibly expensive (upwards of $300,000 of taxpayer money), requiring the city to marshal resources and employees of the elections department, police and security, getting the word out, paying additional staff, production of signage and more.

2. The special election would seat a commissioner for less than eight months, leading to another election in November. 

3. If we did proceed with a special election, it wouldn’t be held for several weeks (at earliest) and the soonest a new Commissioner would commence is March 9^th… (if no delays come up, which is highly unlikely).

4. That means the elected Commissioner would miss about 25% of the 2023 meetings, rather than having an appointed Commissioner hit the ground running immediately, representing the district and citizens of Coconut Grove. 

5. There is a new law which took effect on 1/1/23 that all vote-by-mail requests are purged, and the voter needs to re-apply in 2023 to receive an absentee ballot, which means many (and very likely most) of these will miss the vote. The last race represented approximately 6,500 voters, of which approximately 1/2 voted by mail. Voting by mail is heavily waited for older folks and those with disabilities, potentially excluding this important portion of our community.

6. Historically, special elections open municipalities to a host of lawsuits, and many results are overturned. In this case, for example, should the ACLU file a lawsuit for redistricting, the election would be deemed illegal and in essence put us back to square one with a vacancy in District 2. In contrast, an appointment cannot be overturned.

7. Lastly, we shouldn’t forget that an appointment DOES in fact represent the voice of the people, since the public democratically elected the four commissioners who would appoint a temporary office holder.

In short, there is nothing special about special elections. Democracy is the lifeblood of our country, and our city. But with limited resources and critical issues to address, a special election would disenfranchise the very people we aim to empower. We urge you to let your voice be heard, post this message to your respective networks and attend the special Commission meeting at Miami City Hall this Saturday at 11:00am. #SpecialElectionWaste

The language and syntax sounds like it was written, at least in part, by The Dean. But let’s dissect their reasons, shall we?

1. The price seems low for democracy to prevail. Otherwise, what will happen is that ADLP and Carollo will form a three-vote voting block that will make King and Reyes moot and give the Two Amigos more power. Seems like a bargain, actually. Anyone appointed would also only serve until November.
2. City commissioners have postponed meetings in the past for no good reason. Most recent example is the December meeting, cancelled to stick another knife in Russell’s back. They can postpone for a good reason.
3. Not if they postpone the important votes, which they can do. See #3.
4. Vote-by-mail lists are purged regularly. There are ways to let voters know. It’s sweet that the commissioner or whoever wrote this is concerned about those voters being disenfranchised. But the solution is not to exclude the whole community.
5. Bullshit. An appointment can also be made invalid by a lawsuit over redistricting if the appointee doesn’t live in the district. This is ridiculous. There have been no special elections overturned, which is why the email sites no actual examples.
6. An appointment does not represent the voice of the people because the people in District 2 did not elect the commissioners who would make the choice. They will be totally disenfranchised and have zero representation.

Their seven reasons seem like thin defenses from a desperate camp afraid that they could lose control of the commission with a special election if, crossed fingers, King and Reyes stay strong.

Read related: Miami’s Joe Carollo feeds thousands to stay in office as recall talk starts again

It ends with this: “In short, there is nothing special about special elections. Democracy is the lifeblood of our country, and our city. But with limited resources and critical issues to address, a special election would disenfranchise the very people we aim to empower. We urge you to let your voice be heard, post this message to your respective networks and attend the special Commission meeting at Miami City Hall this Saturday at 11:00am. #SpecialElectionWaste”

They haven’t listened to people who have voiced their opinion before. On nothing. From the homeless camp on Virginia Key to Miami Freedom Park to the redistricting that cut the Grove into three districts.

Everybody was in favor of a special election when Ken Hardemon left to the county. Even Commission Chairwoman King was adamantly against an appointment. The commission didn’t care and appointed Jeffrey Watson. Was that a better choice?

Everybody says this is already in the bag for former Dade Circuit Judge Marvin Zilber, who was removed from the bench for unethical behavior. As of early Friday, Zilber was not on the list of 14 people who had turned in paperwork applying for the position.

  Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Ken Russell, Miami politics