Miami mayor proposes voting map changes, strong-mayor government, independent auditor
Amid a flurry of financial scandals and an ongoing federal lawsuit that threatens to overturn the city’s voting map, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on Tuesday announced a proposal for an independent auditor to ensure elected officials are free of conflicts, re-upped the possibility of increasing the mayor’s powers and suggested the city could eliminate voting districts altogether.
“No government is perfect,” the mayor said during his annual State of the City address Tuesday morning. “But our record is strong and historic. And whenever we can improve and innovate, we must and we will.”
Suarez announced a series of proposals that he plans to “advance or support” through the city’s up-and-coming Charter Review Committee, recommendations that could eventually land on the ballot.
The mayor said he would support increasing the number of voting districts in the city from five to seven, either by redrawing the maps or by making the commissioners at-large, meaning they would be chosen by all city voters and serve the whole city rather than a particular area.
He also proposed moving election dates to even-numbered years to increase voter participation and floated the idea of hiring an independent auditor to review officials’ financial disclosures for potential conflicts of interest to “help avoid appearances of impropriety.”
“Public office is a public trust,” Suarez said.
READ MORE: Miami mayor pushed for no-bid city contract benefiting his private employer’s partner
He also re-upped a proposal to make Miami’s mayor the city’s top administrator, with control over the municipal government’s day-to-day operations. He has pushed for a “strong mayor” form of government since his time as a commissioner, with his most recent attempt in 2018 failing when voters resoundingly rejected the referendum.
Whether Suarez’s proposals will gain traction among the commissioners remains to be seen.
Recently elected City Commissioner Damian Pardo, who ran on a platform of reform, told the Miami Herald he was “very happy” that Suarez “was embracing the kind of change that several of us on the commission have been moving forward.”
Pardo said the host of reforms are better discussed as a package by the forthcoming Charter Review Committee, rather than one-by-one. Among the items that piqued Pardo’s interest: stronger rules around elected officials’ outside employment.
“We’ve talked about guardrails,” Pardo said. “That’s exactly the kind of thing we need to have in the city of Miami.”
Pardo referenced a story the Herald published Tuesday morning about how Suarez last year pushed for a no-bid city contract that would have benefited his private employer’s partner, saying the mayor’s situation is “exactly what we’re trying to prevent in the future.” Suarez has not responded to the Herald’s requests for comment on the matter, and he declined to answer Herald reporters’ questions at Tuesday’s event.
READ MORE: After touting transparency, Miami mayor declines to discuss side jobs, alleged conflicts
Homelessness, housing and crime in Miami
Aside from his ideas for reform, the mayor’s speech focused on two major areas: reducing crime and reducing homelessness.
At the City Commission’s next meeting on Feb. 8, Suarez said commissioners will discuss how to “expand the existing capacity to serve more homeless individuals.” He noted that homelessness both in Miami and nationwide is tied to a “broader mental health crisis.”
Suarez said that in 2023, the city moved 104 unsheltered homeless people into a shelter, decreasing the unsheltered population from 640 people to 536. He added that the region’s “unprecedented investment boom” has contributed to a housing shortage and that the city will need to increase its housing supply to reduce homelessness.
Suarez also touted 2023 crime statistics, saying the city last year recorded the lowest per-capita number of homicides since it started tracking them in 1947.
“2023 will go down in history as the safest year in the city of Miami,” Police Chief Manny Morales said in a prerecorded video played at Tuesday’s event.
This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 6:09 PM.
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