Miami City Commission votes for Miguel Gabela’s home to be drawn back into his district
The Miami City Commission voted Thursday to re-include newly elected Commissioner Miguel Gabela’s family home back into his district following a rare veto from Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who invalidated an earlier vote from December on the grounds that Gabela personally benefited from it, creating an “appearance of impropriety.”
This time around, Gabela recused himself from voting on the matter. That recusal landed a day after Jose Arrojo, executive director of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, recommended to the Ethics Commission that it issue a formal opinion stating that a vote by Gabela to override the mayor’s veto would violate the voting conflict provision in the county’s ethics ordinance. (The Ethics Commission deferred the matter.)
The City Commission passed the resolution 3-1 on Thursday, with Commissioner Joe Carollo voting against it. Gabela’s home had been within his District 1 boundaries for decades before the city changed its voting map last year.
During Thursday’s meeting, Suarez spoke briefly, reiterating his opinion that Gabela’s December vote “clearly violated” a law that went into effect in July that prevents sitting elected officials from redrawing district boundaries to favor themselves. The commission did not override Suarez’s veto. Instead, it passed a new resolution, sponsored by Commissioner Manolo Reyes, to shift the district boundaries.
The redistricting issue is the subject of three ongoing cases in state and federal court. In a few weeks, the city is slated to go to trial in a federal court case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which accused the city of adopting an unconstitutional and racially gerrymandered map in 2022.
It is unclear how the city’s vote Thursday will affect that case. City Attorney Victoria Mendez suggested that the commission defer the item, saying it could be “problematic” to change the district before the trial.
.jpg)