Miami lifetime term limits, election year change intertwined, like bait & switch

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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 date of municipal elections or to change the terms of office for elected officials, then the change may only proceed by a vote of the elector,” Uthmeier wrote in an opinion Wednesday (more on that later), which is a response to an inquiry from  the Commissioner Miguel Gabela.

But Commissioner Damian Pardo, the sponsor of the the ordinance to move the next election to November 2026, is not giving up. He is working with the city attorney to figure out some kind of go-around.

“We are in receipt of the Attorney General’s letter regarding our item on the City Commission agenda to change the dates of the City’s election from odd to even years,” Pardo said in a statement. “We have immense respect for the Office of the Attorney General; however, the stated opinion is not a mandatory precedence in the State of Florida and is regarded as persuasive.

“Fortunately, the Third District Court of Appeal, which is mandatory precedence, has issued a ruling which may fully address these issues.”

Fortunately? How invested is he in this change without taking it to voters?

Read related: Miami commissioners could extend terms, gain a year for themselves, mayor

Pardo said that several municipalities across the state have already made the change to even-year elections without going to a vote of the citizens and that the aim is to save millions of dollars over the years and quadruple participation.

“We are confident that this reform is both legal and necessary for the benefit of future generations of Miamian,” Pardo said.

This has been cast as a necessary sacrifice to not only get lifetime term limits for city electeds on the November ballot — to stop professional politicians who have already served two terms from running for that same seat again after a short break — but also to make the term limits stick if they are passed. There is some fear that if someone like, say, former Commissioner Frank Carollo or his big bro Commissioner Joe Carollo are elected this year — in District 3 and the mayor’s race, respectively — they could challenge the charter amendment because it was on the same ballot and, an argument can be made that it would disenfranchise voters to remove the newly again elected individual they put in office.

Pardo is sponsoring both measures — the lifetime term limits and the election year change — and once said they had nothing to do with each other. Now, they are on the same agenda and Pardo says that one explains the other. He says both proposals aim to strengthen voter participation, transparency, accountability and to restore public trust.

“These reforms are about creating a government that works for everyone, not just those already in power or those seeking to return to power,” Pardo said in a statement last week. “We must set clear, enforceable guardrails that invite new voices and ideas. Miami’s residents deserve leadership that reflects its dynamic neighborhoods and evolving priorities.”

Currently, the Miami mayor and commissioners are termed out after two terms, but can run again after sitting just one term. This amendment would make electeds permanently ineligible after two terms. It would apply retroactively, mirrored on term limits in the city of Miami Beach, where it was upheld by the courts when former Commissioner Michael Gongóra wanted to run again for commission in 2021. A judge didn’t allow him, citing a 2014 voter referendum that limits commissioners to two complete terms.

Pardo says that’s a strong legal precedent.

But it’s not a sure thing. Commission Chairwoman Christine King spoke against it when originally introduced in April. She said she doesn’t want to limit voters’ choices, but most observers in the know say she is protecting the future interests of Miami-Dade Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who was a Miami commissioner and could want to return when his eight years gig is up at the county. King did say she might feel differently if the ordinance expanded the limitation to sitting out two terms rather than one. Which perfectly serves Hardemon. And Frank Carollo, too.

When Pardo saw he didn’t have the voters in April, he deferred the item.

According to the notice from Pardo’s office, “The charter amendment would take effect immediately upon voter approval, applying to all candidates in the 2025 election.”

Except Pardo doesn’t want there to be a 2025 election.

The commissioner’s second proposal would move city elections from odd to even years, to coincide with the national and state and county elections. That would effectively cancel the 2025 city election and reschedule them to 2026. The stated goal, same as other municipalities that have made the change, is to save money — about $1 million in this case — and increase voter participation. Turnout at municipal elections hovers in the low double digits. The June 3 special election in District 4 barely got 11%. While elections in odd years see a 65% to 70% turnout.

But in Coral Gables, where the commission recently moved the election from April of odd years to November of even years — for the same reasons, savings and turnout — the commission voted to shorten their terms by five months. They did not extend them.

Read related: Coral Gables changes city elections to November, cuts terms by 5 months

Moving the city of Miami’s election to 2026 would “prevent legal challenges potentially arising from having a term limited candidate win a seat at the same time as the lifetime term limit ballot initiative passes,” Pardo’s press release reads.

But there is no guarantee that the lifetime term limits would pass and already Carollo and Mayor Francis Suarez have formed a political action committee to fight a yes vote.

The change in election year is something the commission can and intends to do without going to a voter referendum for the public’s approval — and would have already happened should the public reject the term limits.

Maybe these two things should be on separate ballots.

They could take it to the people. But they don’t have to. Because, deep down, they don’t care what you think.

The city of Miami commission meets at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall. The meeting can also be viewed on the city’s website. Click here for the full agenda. It’s a lot.

  Damian Pardo, Joe Carollo, term limits