Miami invites Florida DOGE officials to help find ‘waste and fraud’ in the city
Miami officials want the new Florida State Department of Government Efficiency task force to help root out fraud and government misspending in the city.
On Thursday, the City Commission unanimously approved a proposal from Commissioner Joe Carollo to invite officials from the state agency, called Florida DOGE for short, “to the city of Miami [to] look for government waste and fraud.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the creation of the Florida DOGE task force in February, mimicking the name of the Elon Musk-affiliated federal agency, in order to “further eliminate waste within state government, save taxpayers money, and ensure accountability in Florida.”
One of the Florida agency’s stated goals is to “look into local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available county and municipal spending records to expose bloat within local governance.”
Larry Spring, the city’s chief financial officer, said Thursday that the city had already received a request from Florida DOGE asking whether the city had met the criteria for a “financial emergency” from 2018 to the present. Spring said the city responded to the state earlier this month confirming that it has not met the criteria for a financial emergency.
Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela asked Spring if that meant the city was in “good financial health.”
“I’m not gonna use the word ‘good financial health,’” Spring responded. “We affirmed what they asked us.”
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Carollo, who in recent years has faced lawsuits that have cost the city millions in legal fees, said his proposal goes beyond what Spring was describing.
“This is additional sets of eyes so that we can truly live on that word that is thrown [around] so often: transparency,” Carollo said.
Commissioner Christine King ultimately supported the proposal Thursday but expressed some caution.
“When I got elected, staff would say, ‘Well, this is the way it’s been done for the past 20 years.’ Well, what you did 20 years ago should not still be relevant 20 years later,” King said. “So I support efficiencies, I support reviewing our processes. But again, I will not support a broad stroke of getting rid of whole departments.”
Resident Brenda Maribel Betancourt, who is running for Miami’s District 3 in November, said the proposal was a way for the commissioners to show residents that they’re “doing the right thing” with public funds.
Betancourt added that it would be “a good way to make sure that every single dollar” that comes into the city is “actually invested in the best interests for the residents.”
But resident Katrina Morris expressed concern.
“We need a certain number of employees, and we need a certain number of procedures to function as a government, in my opinion,” she said, adding that she worries about “applying software mentality to people.”
“Consider the residents, consider the employees, consider the health of our functioning democracy,” Morris added.
Carollo was short on details of how the DOGE review would unfold. Reached for comment after the meeting, he said he had not yet consulted with state officials about the matter. Asked if he had a timeline in mind for DOGE officials to begin a review in the city, Carollo responded: “Yeah, yesterday.”
Carollo said he’s recently learned about “millions” of dollars “that we’re throwing out the door” and spending like “drunken sailors.” Carollo said he was especially concerned about the city’s Building Department.
In a separate vote on Thursday, the city took another step toward increased transparency. The commission approved a proposal from Gabela to require the city attorney to disclose to the commission when legal fees for outside counsel in civil court cases have reached $250,000.
“There needs to be a threshold,” Gabela said, “because this is government, you know, taxpayer money that we are spending.”
The commission voted 3-1 to approve Gabela’s proposal. Carollo was the dissenting vote.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM.
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