Miami elected officials’ pension plan is dead after commission upholds mayor’s veto
A controversial proposal by Miami city commissioners to give themselves lifetime pensions is officially dead after the City Commission upheld a veto from Mayor Francis Suarez during a meeting Thursday.
The City Commission did not attempt to override the veto, which would have required a four-fifths vote.
The veto concludes a week-long saga that angered residents, including some who called last week’s vote “unconscionable” and “a slap in the face of every hardworking taxpaying citizen” on Thursday.
Speaking at the meeting, Suarez said he would have earned approximately $6.3 million over the course of his lifetime from the pension program. His office conducted the calculation with the assumption that the mayor would live to be 92, his spokeswoman said, while also factoring in the numbers of years he’s been an elected official, as well as the 3% annual cost-of-living increase that would have come with the pension.
“I never ran with an expectation of getting a pension, nor did I desire to have one,” Suarez said. “And I just want to thank my wife and God for the opportunity to prove conclusively to the residents of the city of Miami that my commitment to being a public official is to serve them and not myself.”
The City Commission approved pensions in a 3-2 vote last week. Commissioners Christine King and Miguel Angel Gabela co-sponsored the legislation, and Commissioner Joe Carollo also voted in favor. Commissioners Manolo Reyes and Damian Pardo voted no, although Pardo said that he would personally opt into the pension program during last week’s vote. His preference had been to send the question to voters in a ballot referendum; that idea was shot down by King, who cited “mean and miserable” residents, whom she referred to as “M&Ms,” as a reason not to seek voter approval.
Despite being a co-sponsor, Gabela walked back his support two days after the vote. He told the Miami Herald he would ask his colleagues to reconsider the vote, repeal the legislation and send the question to voters. Suarez vetoed the vote six days later.
In Suarez’s veto message, he wrote that “based on recent comments made in the press, there does not currently appear to be a clear consensus on the Commission that the elected officials’ pension passed on October 15th should move forward in its present form.”
“The lack of agreement alone provides sufficient basis to veto the measure,” Suarez added.
This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 5:32 PM.
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