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 12 months, including Mayor Francis Suarez (who worked behind the scenes to make this happen) and Commissioner Joe Carollo, who were both termed out this year and has been threatening to run for mayor. Elections for mayor and two commission seats scheduled for Nov. 3 could be moved to Nov. 4, 2026, if the ordinance passes on second reading later this month.
Maybe.
Ladra expects a bunch of lawsuits. Not just from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who said in an opinion issued last week that any such change would first need to go to a public for approval. Candidates who have already been campaigning this year — including former Commissioner Ken Russell, former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez and perennial candidate Michael Hepburn — might also take the city to court over this. Is the city disenfranchising voters?
Carollo, who has been threatening to run for mayor this year, voted against it. So did Commissioner Miguel Gabela, who got into it with Carollo later in the meeting on the Bayfront Park Management Trust (more on that later).
Read related: Miami commissioners Damian Pardo and Ralph Rosado have private lunch
Commissioner Damian Pardo, who sponsored the measure (and had a very good day), Ralph Rosado, who was elected earlier this month to fill the seat vacated by the late Manolo Reyes., and Chairwoman Christine King, after she talked for several minutes against the measure, voted in favor. King said she was just moving it along to second reading. That means that people need to reach out to her before June 26 and convince her to switch her vote and remove her support for this power grab.
Rosado was the swing vote, as everyone expected. But he swung the other way, voting opposite of his benefactor, Commissioner Carollo, who ran and funded Rosado’s campaign, pouring hundreds of thousands into it from his political action committee.
So much for the Reyes legacy that Rosado promised to continue. Manolo would never have voted to give himself an extra year.
Rosado was also the swing vote on the lifetime term limits (again, against Carollo’s “no” vote) that are absolutely part of the election year change, no matter how many times Pardo denies it on the dais. He did tell Ladra earlier that one was “instructive” to the other. What does that mean? Basically, that the election year change — perhaps a positive change for increased turnout that other cities are also making — was only proposed right now to make the lifetime term limits stick. Current term limits allow term-limited electeds to run again after a break from office. If voters pass lifetime term limits in November — which would prohibit former electeds who served two terms from running for the same seat — it would make a mess if they also elected former Commissioner Frank Carollo, who has filed to run in District 3 and brother Joe to the mayor’s seat.
Read related: Miami commission to talk term limits, election date, DDA, Watson Island…
The change in election year will avoid, allegedly, any legal challenges that may come from having lifetime term limits on the same ballot as former or current electeds that would suddenly become ineligible because of that amendment. Even if the change in election year practically guarantees a legal challenge in its own right. It’s a ‘means justifies the ends’ kind of thing.
People spoke both in favor and against the change, citing “dynasty” politics that have reigned in Miami for decades.
Some speakers said that it was worth the “sacrifice” of an extra year of Joe to “get rid of him” forever. His threat to run for mayor is the fear driving most people who support the move is that Carollo would run for mayor this year and win among the current clown car of candidates. While Ladra believes that’s not as much a done deal as they think, it is not “worth the risk,” they say, of another four or eight years of Carollos — because former Commissioner Frank Carollo is running again in District 3.
Among the supporters, was journalist Michael Putney, an Aventura resident who endorsed Pardo and also posted a video for him in favor of the “common sense” change. “Eight years is enough,” he said, citing what he said was “pathetic turnout.”
Joe Carollo said it should be called the Carollo amendment because it targeted him and his brother. “You know very well that you can’t find a candidate who can beat Frank,” Carollo said. “That’s why you want to knock him out.”
Pardo, who lobbied hard for the change, invited other “advocates” to come to the meeting and has even provided them with talking points for both the election year change and the lifetime term limits. So if the public comments sound similar and rehearsed, that’s why. His political action committee paid for a poll that he says shows widespread support. But it was his own PAC doing the poll, not an independent party.
Read related: Miami lifetime term limits, election year change intertwined, like bait & switch
Pardo posted videos on social media, including a clip from a Telemundo interview with former Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, basically giving both items on the agenda a thumbs up, and another video of iconic restauranteur Monty Trainer, who must be 120 years old, supporting both measures as well.
But every single comment on that Instagram post is against the change. “This is quite crazy,” says one. “This is so wrong,” says another. “Shameful. Should be sent to the voters. You keep pushing this like you are giving us a choice,” wrote Donald G.
“Moving the elections is all well and good if it’s approved by residents in a referendum. Elected officials voting to give themselves more time in office is not democracy,” said someone under the handle MannyFernandez04.
But Ladra likes Jessica Johnson‘s (at doubleagentjj) comment the best: “Damian, the pesky thing about the democratic process is: it’s tedious and due process matters above all. You seem to be falling into a power grab trap. How many authoritarian dictators said they were dictating in the name of democracy and upholding democracy? All of them.”
There were some public speakers Tuesday who said it was just not worth another year of Carollo and Suarez and that they would support the move another time, after Carollo and Suarez are already termed out. Pardo’s sponsored sister legislation to adopt lifetime term limits — which would make anyone who served two terms as mayor or two terms as commissioner ineligible for that same seat ever again — would be retroactive, which is something that was already challenged in Miami Beach and upheld by the courts. So it would still count against Carollo in the future.
Fernand Amandi, a Democrat strategist who lives in District 2 and has otherwise supported Pardo’s items, said it was “indefensible,” and that “this sacred decision” had to be made by voters.
“I find myself in the unfamiliar position today where I wholeheartedly agree with Governor DeSantis and Attorney General Uthmeier, and even Commissioner Joe Carollo,” Amandi said, and it did sound weird. Amandi said he would likely vote for Pardo again for another four years. “But not nine years.”
Carollo joked about it. “My wife’s gonna think you have a man crush on me,” he quipped.
Activist Denise Galvez Turros, a public relations specialist and former candidate who has filed to run again — in the same seat as Frank Carollo — asked the commission and Pardo to trust the voters to reject the Carollos. And if they don’t?
“So be it.”
She said that she knew, from walking her district, that people did not want to cancel the election.
“I trust the people of this city,” Galvez Turros told Ladra before the meeting. “They’re awake, immured and ready to speak through their vote this November.
“We don’t need backroom deals,” she said. “We need election. We need democracy.”
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… 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 on “aggressive panhandling,” eight discussion items, 15 planning and zoning items and 15 items under “board and committees” that are mostly appointments that never get made.
Take out the board appointments and that’s still a whopping 74 items.
Some of these are pretty important and expected to draw a large crowd of opponents, usually, or supporters, rarely, in what’s going to be a spillover turnout. Bring a folding chair. The commission is slated to vote on the proposals by Commissioner Damian Pardo to take lifetime term limits to the voters and change the election year to 2026, extending everyone’s terms by a year. Both these things are expected to have dozens of speakers and lengthy back and forth on the dais.
Commissioner Joe Carollo, who is known for drawing things out and loving the sound of his own voice, will bloviate for hours.
Read related: Miami lifetime term limits, election year change intertwined, like bait & switch
Commissioner Miguel Gabela has a number of interesting items on the agenda, like the termination of the existing agreement for the audit of the Bayfront Park Management Trust — which was chaired by Carollo, who is accused of misusing the its funds — and the authorization for the Trust to contract with its own external and independent auditor to conduct a forensic audit. And he wants his colleagues to approve the Trust’s $30 million budget.
He also wants the city manager to take “any and all steps necessary” to enter into an interlocal agreement with Miami-Dade or another local governmental entity to refer all “non-criminal complaints” regarding violations of the city code made against sitting elected officials. This is, on paper, in order to avoid any appearance of bias, impartiality, and perceived or real conflicts of interest. But it’s also probably a reaction to Carollo presenting photographs of Gabela’s home at the last commission meeting and questioning if he has violated zoning laws against the number of boats he can have tied to or number of cars he can have parked on his property.
But the best Gabela measure is a resolution to issue a subpoena to William Ortiz, Carollo’s chief of staff, to answer questions about his role in the said “investigation” of Gabela’s use of his properties. The city charter allows the commission to issue subpoenas to witnesses “for the purposes of investigating official acts and conduct of a city official.” Isn’t that what he wants the county to do?
A controversial item on a 287g agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for city police officers to be deputized and conduct immigration enforcement, “may be deferred,” as it said on the online agenda Monday evening. It sorta has to be deferred now that they said it “may be deferred.” Which is good. Because the 80-some items that are still on the table are going to take the meeting into the wee hours of the morning.
Read related: Miami could join 250 Florida cities with 287g contract to help ICE vs immigrants
There should be a rule against this. Oh, wait. Ladra thinks there is.
According to the city’s municipal code, in Sec. 2-33, the “total number of items that may be scheduled on a regular city commission agenda shall not exceed 60 items,” and “all matters on the consent agenda shall count as one item.”
Is that why they have this meeting identified as a “special meeting?” To get out of that? There’s nothing special about it. It is the same meeting that they cancelled or rescheduled from June 12, because Commissioner Christine King‘s father died and she had to travel for the funeral. So why is it now a “special meeting”?
Ladra expects a lot to be deferred when the agenda is set, before public comments, which means that people who go to speak on a particular item may not be able to speak, and get sent home or back to work after making the time to be there. This happens way too often in the city of Miami — people have complained already at several meetings — and needs to be addressed as an issue.
But that’s probably not gonna happen Tuesday. Because there are other time-suck items that may not be deferred, which include:

A personal appearance by someone at the Miami Downtown Development Authority to “inform the commission and the public about their mission and the work they do.” So a promotional ad for the DDA at a time when some residents are calling for the end of a special tax on residents that funds it — and the budget may grow from $13 million to $21 million next year (!) — or to put it on the November ballot for the public to decide. There’s also a resolution sponsored by Pardo to accept $1.2 million from the DDA to spend on increased policing within its boundaries.
A resolution approving a proposal from Motorola Solutions, after a competitive process, to provide portable smart radios along with related “enablement” and training for $30 million over the next seven years.
A resolution, sponsored by King, authorizing the city manager to execute a no-bid contract for a 99-year lease of city property at 1199 NW 62nd Street to Yaeger Plaza Partners for the development of an affordable renting housing project. It is proposed to have 135 units — studios, one bedroom and two bedroom units — for individuals and families whose income is greater than 22% of Annual Median Income (AMI) but no greater than 80%. There would also be a ground floor of retail and a clinic to provide affordable primary health care for low and moderate income individuals. Last October, the city’s Housing and Commercial Loan Committee approved awarding $3 million in Miami Forever bond funds for the development of the project.
A resolution, sponsored by Carollo, to transfer $2.4 million of Community Development Block Grant funds earmarked for economic development in District 3 in previous years to the Department of Real Estate and Asset Management to purchase six parcels, with a combined market value of almost $8.5 million, according to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser. Where is the city going to get the other $6 million? Oh, wait, actually it’s another $12 million because the city is proposing to pay $14.5 million in total for all the properties, at Southwest 8th Street and 9th Avenue, are owned by Auyantepuy Investments, which is represented by attorney Barry Simons and has a Doral address that is the same address, and same suite number, for Garam Global Solutions, formed May 19 by Gabriel Rodriguez and Alejandro Machado. Auyán-tepui, which is phonetically practically identical, is the most visited and one of the largest tepuis, or grouping of tabletop mountains or “mesas,” in the Guiana Highlands. In Venezuela.
The transfer, sponsored by Gabela, of $586,000 in CDBG funds allocated in 2020-2021 (why is that still around?) from the housing and community development department to parks and recreation for improvements at Charlie Delucca Park in District 1.
A resolution authorizing the city manager to negotiate the sale of 5.5 acres of city-owned land on Watson Island, next to the Jungle Island theme park, to Ecoresiliency Miami for a cumulative total of at least $135 million and the development of condos, commercial spaces and a public waterfront park. That includes $15 million to the city for affordable housing projects. For this to move forward, it will require a four/fifths vote Tuesday. The final lease agreement would have to be approved by a public referendum vote.
A resolution authorizing, by a four/fifths vote, the five year extension of a concessionaire contract with Eventstar Structures for the provision of tent structures at Miami Marine Stadium Park.
A resolution authorizing the city manager to “expeditiously request” the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) consider proposed traffic flow modifications to 22 locations in the residential neighborhoods of District 1 to ease cut-through traffic and speeding during morning and afternoon rush hour — and exempt the required balloting process for property owners.
A resolution, sponsored by Carollo, authorizing the city manager to “expeditiously request” the Miami-Dade DTPW consider traffic flow modifications at 26 locations in the residential Silver Bluff neighborhood, where a bunch of illegal street closures were ordered re-opened by a judge in 2023 after Miami-Dade sued the city. Again, the move would “waive the required resident concurrence and exempt the balloting process in order to expeditiously proceed with the design and construction of traffic calming devices.”
Not to be left behind, Commissioner King has sponsored an item also authorizing the city manager to “expeditiously request” the Miami-Dade DTPW consider traffic flow modifications at 10 locations in District 5. She also wants to skip the required resident concurrence and exempt the balloting process. Why ask?

There are also some complicated planning and zoning matters having to do with changes in zoning and land use, appeals of denials and at least one amendment to the Miami 21 code having to do with attainable housing and density.
Ladra is tired just reading the agenda.
Take your vitamins. Drink cuban coffee. Bring a snack. The commission meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive. It can also be seen live on the city’s website.
The post Miami commission to talk term limits, election date, DDA, Watson Island… appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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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 — separately and individually, he said — on the way to the grand opening of the newly-renovated Manolo Reyes Park, which was West End Park before it was renamed to honor the late commissioner, who died in April.
“It was nothing planned. It was totally spontaneous,” said Pardo, who had to be prodded to remember that he even met with Rosado, even though it was four days earlier, the day after Rosado was sworn in at City Hall. “Wednesday? No.” At Pollo Tropical, Ladra asked. “Oh, yes, yes, yes,” he said. It almost seems like he almost got caught lying — same as Rosado during the campaign.
Read related: Ralph Rosado and Joe Carollo beat Jose Regalado in Miami D4 special election
Pardo told Political Cortadito that he was already at the popular fast food restaurant when Rosado walked in. And he invited the new commissioner to join him. Guess it was a bonding opportunity!

“We all just had a quick something and went to the park.”
The park ceremony was to start at 2 p.m. and the lunch was just about 1 p.m. so they talked for almost an hour.  What about? “Nothing to do with any city business, that’s for sure,” Pardo said. “We talked about the park, “it’s hot outside,” “what are you eating?”
Really? It wasn’t plainly obvious what everyone was eating?
They talked about the ceremony they were about to attend. “How long does it take to get done and when can we leave?” That kind of thing, he said.
Still, Commissioner Joe Carollo is going to be hurt when he learns that Rosado, who he helped get elected by pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars from his political action committee into the campaign, le pego los tarros. Carollo doesn’t have a heart to break, but he’s got more ego to make up for it.
And Rosado basically cheated on him with Pardo, who is one of Carollo’s enemies on the dais. Hey, at least it wasn’t Miguel Gabela. That would lead to divorce.
Read related: Miami Commission honors the late Manolo Reyes with park, honorary title
But the real issue here is what they talked about, of course. Because discussing anything on the agenda or that could be voted upon by the commission is a no-no. It’s a violation of Florida’s Government in the Sunshine laws, which provide that all electeds announce their meetings and allow the public to watch and listen if they want to. They’re not supposed to have a private lunch. It looks messy, even if it is just by chance.
For all of Pardo’s talk about small talk, there’s no way to know what they really discussed. And from the photos taken as they were leaving, it looks like it could have been business.
Pardo could have been making his case for the proposals this week to change the election date to 2026 and put lifetime term limits on the ballot. They could have been swapping votes. “You vote for my lifetime term limits and I’ll vote for the street closures in Silver Bluff.”
That’s a Carollo item but it looks like Rosado doesn’t have any items on the agenda for his first meeting and he’s generally considered a yes vote on the street closures pushed by Beba Sardiñas Mann, who was at his election watch party Tuesday.
Again, why invite another commissioner to your table? Why allow even the perception of something shady? Say hi and let him be on his way.
Perhaps they didn’t think anybody who knew them would see them at a Pollo Tropical.
Read related: Miami lifetime term limits, election year change intertwined, like bait & switch
They weren’t the only ones there. Pardo’s chief of staff Anthony Balzebre and his sergeant at arms — an armed police officer who apparently was securing the parking lot as they walked out — were also at the lunch. So, they are witnesses.
This is something that the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust can easily figure out with subpoenas to those two staffers. Ask them what was discussed. Trust, but verify.
It’s especially important because of the timing. Tuesday’s commission meeting has a lot of things on the table. Ladra can’t wait to see how Rosado votes on the lifetime term limits and the election year change and how Pardo votes on the street closures.
The post Miami commissioners Damian Pardo and Ralph Rosado have private lunch appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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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.
The post Miami lifetime term limits, election year change intertwined, like bait & switch appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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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 a really good job at the city’s building department at the request of Reyes’ family to follow his own family’s footsteps into public office.
Which means that Carollo will now get his third vote for the majority and will wield that baton with the same penchant for level-headed justice and service to others that he always has shown. Okay, stop laughing. Because it is not funny that it will be the exact opposite — political retaliation and personal benefit all the way.
Read related: Miami District 4 race is a referendum on Joe Carollo and his abuse of power
The election wasn’t even close, really. Rosado got 55% of the vote to Regalado’s 45%. With less than 11.5% of the 46,500 eligible voters in District 4, Rosado (or, better said, Carollo) won across the board — absentee or vote-by-mail ballots, early voting and Election Day votes, though by a larger margin with the ABs.
The negative tone of a relentless campaign against Regalado and his family waged by Carollo in mailers, TV ads and on the radio — could have turned people off and suppressed turnout, which was also dampened by the rain on Election Day.

Carollo likely spent hundreds of thousands of dollars from his Miami First political action committee to get Rosado elected. We won’t know how much until July, because PACs only have to report quarterly not every month. But some longtime political observers have said it could be up to or more than $1 million.
Regalado raised and spent more transparent money from his campaign, with almost $191,000 compared to $79,500 raised by Rosado, reported through May 29, according to the latest campaign finance reports.
Rosado reported raising absolutely nothing in one recent report. Because he didn’t have to raise money. Carollo was pouring money from his PAC into Rosado’s campaign, mostly attacking Regalado and his family, which includes his father, former Miami Mayor and Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomas Regalado, sister Raquel Regalado a Miami-Dade Commission and former Miami-Dade School Board member, and brother Tomas N. “Tommy” Regalado, a journalist who ran for the commission seat in District 3 in 2017 and lost.
They weren’t just bashed on the dynasty thing, que ya cae mal. They were called communists and drug dealers and professional campaigners, which is funny because that’s exactly what Carollo is. Crazy Joe, who has a history as a wife beater, also got personal on his daily morning radio show, attacking Raquel Regalado’s son, who despite having autism is a data processor and works, like a lot of autistic individuals, and Tomas Regalado’s supposed romantic dalliances. It was very ugly.
This 43-day election cycle made way for one of the nastiest Miami campaigns Ladra has seen. And that’s saying a lot.
Read related: Miami’s District 4 candidate Ralph Rosado is backed, helped by Joe Carollo
Rosado tried to distance himself from Carollo and has told everyone that he is going to prove he is independent, even though it appears he owes his victory to Crazy Joe, who was at the newly-elected commissioner’s watch party at El Atlacatl, a Salvadoran restaurant on Calle Ocho.
So was former City Attorney Victoria “Tricky Vicky” Mendez, Rosado’s BFF, who was fired last year after several controversies — including her family’s involvement in basically stealing homes from elderly residents and flipping them for huge profits.
So was Beba Sardiñas Mann, the president of the Crazy Joe Pollo Carollo Fan Club, who said she had an unbiased “forum” for candidates (it was really an ambush), and who will now be able to get her illegal street closures in Silver Bluff, the ones that were forcibly removed by the county after a court fight in 2023 (more on that later).
Also there: Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez, who was the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami, Miami-Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez, Brickell Homeowners Association President Ernesto Cuesta, Downtown Neighbors Association President James Torres, who has been accused of aligning with Carollo against Pardo, who was also there along with Commission Chairwoman Christine King.
Commissioner Miguel Gabela, who actively helped Regalado during the campaign, was also there. But he didn’t look as happy as Pardo did.
While there were promises of being congenial and working with all the commissioners, Carollo already lashed out at Gabela on Univision 23 Miami, and Ladra feels Mike will be on the losing side of the vote for the near future.
Rosado will have his first chance to show his supposed independence next week at the June 12 commission meeting, which promises to be a doozy after the last commission meeting ended abruptly in chaos when Carollo and Gabela went after each other verbally. But not with the lifetime term limits ballot question which is on the agenda. That’s a ruse (more on that later).
There are other things to watch where he is going to be Carollo’s puppet pocket swing vote, like the street closures at 22 locations in Silver Bluff, which is also on this Tuesday’s agenda.
Other items on the agenda include the sale and development of condos and a waterfront park on Watson Island, a no-bid concession agreement for Miami Marine Stadium and a presentation by the Miami Downtown Development Authority, which has come under fire recently for some of the six figure checks they give to billion dollar brands and which some residents want to abolish, trying to justify its existence.
Read related: Effort to dissolve Miami DDA cites ‘bloated’ salaries, redundancy, UFC gift
The term limits, which is proposed by Commissioner Damian Pardo, would prohibit anyone who has served the maximum terms as commissioner or mayor to run for that seat again in the future. Right now, an elected can skip a term or two and run again, like former Commissioner Frank Carollo, Crazy Joe’s bro, is doing this year in District 3.
If voters pass the lifetime limits, which seems easy enough, it could stop Carollo from running for mayor, as he has threatened to do this year, because he already served the maximum terms. There’s also a controversial proposal coming to move the election to even years, extending current terms by a year, which is also on the agenda, just not this agenda for next week (more on that later). This is being proposed under the guise of avoiding a legal challenge if either of the Carollos are elected this year at the same time the charter amendment on lifetime term limits are approved.
Carollo and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who also supported Rosado, have both come out against the lifetime term limits. Suarez would also be barred from running for mayor or for commissioner, since he served the maximum terms in both posts.
Rosado has publicly said that he generally likes the idea of the lifetime term limits. But he has also waffled on it and said he wants to hear the debate from his colleagues — as if they haven’t talked about it enough. More likely, he will support the watered down version that King has floated about forcing electeds to wait out two terms instead of just one before running again.
Because he knows that his buddies Carollo and Suarez — another unlikely pair of strange political bedfellows — are already raising money to fight it and push a no vote (more on that next).
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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 Jungle/Watson Island transaction, controversial amendments to the construction noise mitigation ordinance and the appeal of a historic preservation board decision that declassified the historic designation for part of Miami First Presbyterian Church to make way for an 80-story residential high rise.
Pace yourselves. Ladra expects there to be hours of public comment.
The noise waiver ordinance, alone, is expected to draw a crowd. It has not been significantly changed since the 1980s, said Commissioner Damian Pardo, who is sponsoring the amendment, which would expand the hours of permitted construction operations and make other changes to the construction noise mitigation process that critics have said are beneficial to developers.
Pardo said the amendments are “resident-led” and add protections.
“Our noise ordinance update tackles illegal and excessive noise in our communities. This initiative puts noise waivers under a magnifying glass — ensuring that activities requiring them meet higher standards of transparency and accountability,” the commissioner posted on Instagram.
“It’s about identifying bad actors early, protecting our neighborhoods, and making sure our communities remain places where people can live and thrive in peace,” Pardo said. “And while there are those people using dog whistles to build their profile, political ambitions or readership, we encourage residents to contact us, work with us productively and provide their feedback in order to create policies that serve our residents.”
There are increased fees for violations, a tougher process for applicants and an easier process for city staff to revoke a waiver or permit, he said. But critics worry that it also allows staff, not the city manager, to provide a waiver or a permit and that repeat violators will be let off the hook.
“And the kicker? Pardo claims this came from residents — yet most neighborhoods oppose it,” said DNA Vice Chair James Torres, a onetime D2 commission candidate. “The DNA wasn’t consulted, and he ghosted reporters when pressed for answers. Community quality of life is on the line.”
Pardo should withdraw this and concentrate on passing his very important referendum for the November election, which would ask voters if they want to extend term limits, creating “lifetime” limits for electeds who have already served two terms in that same position. He has said it is not to target his colleague on the dais, Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, a two-time former mayor who has threatened to run again, though he hasn’t filed. But it would affect Carollo’s possible aspirations.
Read related: Voters in Miami may get to strengthen term limits and ban political retreads
In fact, it could change the dynamics on the commission for years to come, blocking people like former commissioners Frank Carollo, Willy Gort, Keon Hardemon and Marc Sarnoff from running for the same office again. Frank Carollo has already filed to run for commission in District 3, where he served twice before.
In a city like Miami, where recycling is usually about campaigns and not the environment, this is huge.
The other proposed ballot question for a proposed charter amendment that would prohibit the redrawing of City Commission districts with the intent to favor or disfavor a candidate or incumbent, establish a Citizens’ Redistricting Committee to draw districts after each Census and when required by law and provide a process for the naming of such a committee and getting its proposals to the city commission.

The commission Tuesday basically has to instruct City Attorney George Wysong to come back with the ballot language for the November election because this public referendum was part of the settlement agreement that the city reached last May after several residents and organizations sued in 2022 over the last time the districts were redrawn, saying that the districts were gerrymandered to favor partisan incumbents. Which it was.
But the item still should produce some interesting discussion — or bloviating from a particular commissioner (read: Carollo).
Several people from the public will likely speak to support the appeal of the declassification of the historic designation given to Miami First Presbyterian Church, which hopes to sell the back lot to developers who want to build an 80-story high-rise. There is a lot of opposition and the president of the Brickell Homeowners Association president wrote the commissioners to support the appeal (more on that later).
The items on the CRAs are interesting because there are three of them and two that seemingly compete. A resolution to expand the Omni CRA into Allapattah, sponsored by Commissioner Miguel Gabela, may be withdrawn, and probably will be if another resolution to accept and approve a “finding of necessity” to establish Allapattah’s very own CRA is passed first. That needs assessment states the areas to be “slum and blighted” and establishes the need for an Allapattah CRA with the prosed boundaries of SR 112/Airport Expressway to the north, I-95 and NW 7th Avenue to the east, the Miami River to the south, and NW 19th Avenue to the west.
Read related: Compromise may be reached at Miami commission on Omni/Allapattah CRAs
Then maybe the long-awaited Omni CRA life extension — needed to complete several projects in the pipeline and held hostage over the Allapattah situation for months — will finally pass. It is also on the long agenda, sponsored by Pardo, again.
Ladra hopes that this is the last time these two communities are pit against each other. At least on this.
The item on the Watson Island property seems pretty important, too. It would authorize the city manager to sell 5.4 acres of city-owned property near Parrot Jungle Island to developers for $135 million to develop residential and commercial uses, “and to return the balance of the property to the city for use as a new public waterfront park to be constructed by the developer.”
Also on the agenda is a memorandum of understanding with the management organization of The Underline’s “investment, operations, programming, maintenance, and management,” which would also authorize the city manager to spend up to $8.7 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year from the general fund, and a gazillion other things that seem pretty important.
It seems almost certain that several things will be withdrawn or deferred early on, which happens with some frequency and often leaves speakers in limbo after they’ve made plans to be at City Hall for a particular item.
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