Miami-Dade budget has ‘ambassador’ payments for 19 ex-county commissioners next year

The plan to hire former Miami-Dade commissioners as “county ambassadors” could cost $8 million over 15 years, according to budget documents released Friday, provided every eligible ex-office holder opts to accept the $25,000 annual stipend.

A 30-year spending plan lists possible payments to past, present and even future members of the 13-seat commission, offering the first look at potential costs from the program quietly inserted in Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s budget proposal that’s up for a final vote on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Former Miami-Dade commissioners could earn $25,000 a year under new ‘ambassador’ program

As first reported by the Miami Herald last week, the ambassador program would let the sitting board chair hire an unlimited number of former commissioners as paid representatives of Miami-Dade.

A proposed budget ordinance says duties would include attending ribbon cuttings and leading the Pledge of Allegiance at regular commission meetings. The plan is separate from a different budget change that would double compensation for sitting commissioners to $138,000 a year.

While the $25,000 cap on ambassador pay is publicly known, the new documents are the first to show how much Miami-Dade might spend hiring its ex-commissioner corps.

The documents also reveal the original intent of the program: create a stipend for all former commissioners, including five leaving office in November due to term limits.

The spreadsheet listing potential payouts carries the title: “Retired BCC Members Expense Allowance.”

Levine Cava’s budget office said the document came from County Commission staff as part of the submission establishing expenses for the ambassador program. It’s budgeted at $475,000 for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, with payments listed for 19 ex-commissioners, including five term-limited members leaving office in November.

Some people on the payout list would likely decline the checks. Jimmy Morales, now earning $300,000 as Levine Cava’s top deputy, is listed as receiving $200,000 through 2030 for an eight-year stint on the board that ended in 2004.

Alex Penelas says no thanks

Alex Penelas, a commissioner in the 1990s before becoming mayor, called the proposal “a bad idea” and said Friday afternoon he has helped county officials “over the years never expecting any form of compensation and will continue doing so without the need for this budget item.”

The budget forecast reveals a payment restriction that didn’t make it into the final language crafted by county lawyers and Levine Cava’s budget staff. Under the spreadsheet, commissioners would receive yearly payments to match their time on the commission.

That limit causes payments to rise and fall each year in the forecast, as veteran former commissioners hit their limits and new ones become eligible after leaving office. The forecast makes no predictions on how long commissioners might live, or who would decline payments.

The forecast includes sitting commissioners who wouldn’t get paid until they finish a second term in 2028, and unnamed successors whose payments would begin more than a decade from now.

The potential Penelas payout came to $150,000 through 2028, mirroring his six years on the board. Javier Souto, an 83-year-old leaving his District 10 seat in November after 30 years on the commission, is listed as receiving $750,000 total through 2052, when he would be 113.

Proposed rules bar payments to commissioners removed from office, so Natacha Sejas, recalled by voters in 2011, is listed as receiving nothing in the forecast. Same with deceased former commissioners.

Proposed rules also bar former commissioners holding office from working as ambassadors, meaning zero payouts for Levine Cava and her predecessor, U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Miami.

Another rule bars payments to commissioners facing criminal charges while in office, unless they’re later cleared.

One sitting commissioner, Joe Martinez, is facing prosecution for allegedly accepting cash in exchange for legislation. Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Sept. 7 he plans to suspend Martinez over the commissioner’s felony arrests.

The forecast has Martinez leaving office in 2024 and then receiving yearly $25,000 payments through 2046.