Miami commissioners try to resurrect pensions for elected officials — again
Two Miami city commissioners are trying to resurrect a policy that would guarantee the city’s elected officials thousands of dollars a month for the rest of their lives, five years after the last effort to bring back publicly funded pensions failed.
The commission is slated to vote on a proposal to revive a program that was frozen in 2009 during the financial crisis that enshrined five- to six-figure annual payments for city commissioners after they leave office. The proposed ordinance, sponsored by Commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela and Christine King, would revive the Elected Officers’ Retirement Trust.
The City Commission was scheduled to vote on the item Thursday, but the meeting was postponed after Mayor Francis Suarez declared a state of emergency Wednesday night because of heavy rains and flooding.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Gabela said he wants to bring pensions back “out of principle” because commissioners who voted to end the program in 2009 had pensions lined up.
“That’s a hypocrisy. That’s not morally right. ... Either it’s all of us, or it’s none of us,” Gabela said. He added that he doesn’t personally need a pension from the city in order to retire and that he’s not acting out of self-interest in trying to bring them back. However, he said Miami city commissioners — who are part-time — work long hours and should be compensated accordingly.
“Yeah, OK, there’s a lot of perks,” Gabela said of being an elected official. “But if you’re gonna do it right, it’s a full-time job.”
King, who is chairwoman of the commission, agreed that being a Miami commissioner is not part-time work, “irrespective of what the job description purports.”
“We devote ourselves to serving our constituents and community with little to no time for traditional careers,” King said in a statement. “I am a co-sponsor on the proposal because I believe it is fair for Commissioners to receive a pension as part of their compensation package. In doing so candidates who are not independently wealthy with a passion to serve are not excluded from one of the most rewarding roles imaginable.”
READ MORE: Miami commissioners might restore the publicly funded pensions they lost a decade ago
Commissioners would become eligible for a pension after serving seven years in office. Under the proposal, the pension payments would begin once the elected official is no longer in office, either at age 55 after they have served 10 years in office or at age 60 if they have served less than 10 years in office. Their pension would be equal to one-half of their compensation, with annual incremental increases until the payment amount is equal to 100% of what their compensation was as a commissioner.
According to an analysis that was completed this month, the city’s elected officials would get the following pension amount based on their current compensation and years served in office:
- Mayor Francis Suarez: $10,371 per month, or $124,452 per year
- District 1 Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela: $4,813 per month, or $57,756 per year
- District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo: $4,813 per month, or $57,756 per year
- District 3 Commissioner Joe Carollo: $8,750 per month, or $105,000 per year
- District 4 Commissioner Manolo Reyes: $5,688 per month, or $68,256 per year
- District 5 Commissioner Christine King: $4,813 per month, or $57,756 per year
Carollo, who was first elected to the City Commission in 1979 and served two terms as mayor until 2001, was already receiving a pension from the city. Once Carollo returned to elected office in 2017, his payments were suspended until the end of his current term, according to the analysis.
According to the analysis, the following former Miami elected officials currently receive a pension from the city in the following amounts:
Manny Diaz: $6,875 per month, or $82,500 per year
Angel Gonzalez: $4,794 per month, or $57,528 per year
Wilfredo “Willy” Gort: $8,488 per month, or $101,856 per year
Tomás Regalado: $7,046, or $84,552 per year
Joe Sanchez: $6,283, or $75,396 per year
Marc Sarnoff: $5,039, or $60,468 per year
Michelle Spence-Jones: $10,601, or $127,212 per year
As the Herald reported in 2022, Spence-Jones collects the largest pension of any elected official in the city’s retirement system.
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