City of Doral proposes budget amendment as vice mayor pushes to eliminate council stipends
Doral’s Financial Department is proposing an amendment to the city’s budget at Wednesday’s meeting, just three months after its approval, that would shift funds within the city council and the city manager’s office, but wouldn’t increase overall spending.
Mayor Christi Fraga, who has majority support on the council, supports the changes, but Vice Mayor Maureen Porras, an opponent of the mayor, is pushing to eliminate stipends for council members.
In November, residents approved an amendment to increase the salaries of four of the five council members, leaving the mayor’s salary unchanged. The new compensation was set at 30% less than the mayor’s current salary, with a cap on all future increases for both mayoral and council-member pay.
Before the amendment’s approval, council members earned $18,611 annually, while the mayor’s salary was $77,587. For the 2025 budget, these amounts were increased to $19,355 for council members and $80,690 for the mayor, reflecting a 3% cost-of-living adjustment. Additionally, each of the five council members received a monthly stipend of $2,500, totaling $30,000 annually per council member, the stipend that Porras is seeking to eliminate. Under the new charter amendment, council members’ salaries would increase to $56,483, in addition to the stipend.
The Finance Department is seeking to adjust the city’s $138 million budget following the increase in council members’ salaries. The adjustments also include the reconfiguration of the third floor of City Hall, which houses the council, and the offices of Public Affairs, Procurement and Asset Management, Human Resources, Finance, Law Department, and City Manager.
Additionally, the budget includes the reopening of a position within the mayor’s office that was eliminated in October, when Fraga was in the minority on the council, as well as funding for two new positions. This shift comes after the mayor regained majority support on the council following the election of Councilwoman Nicole Reinoso in the December runoff election.
The office of the mayor and the council would see their budget increase by $396,060, from the current $1.5 million to $1.9 million. The adjustments include the council members’ compensation and health coverage, as well as the restoration of the Communications and Protocol Coordinator, a position that was eliminated in October as Porras proposed when she was the swing vote on the council.
The amended budget also proposes funds for two new positions— Constituent Services Coordinator and the Hispanic Outreach Coordinator— along with funding for mayoral office travel and supplies.
The city manager’s office budget would increase by $41,880, from the current $1.2 million to $1.3 million to restore a clerical position, which has been vacant since its creation in 2023. To accommodate the changes, the general government budget will be reduced, meaning there would be no overall budget increase.
Porras told the Miami Herald that the amendments are a waste of taxpayer dollars.
“While I am proposing to reduce spending by cutting $150,000 from the City Council’s budget, the mayor is seeking to increase her office’s budget by approximately $250,000 to fund three new positions,” Porras said. “I strongly oppose the use of public funds for this purpose.”
Fraga said that the city is reallocating $150,000 that was previously approved for the Doral Contemporary Art Museum, which she believes will not benefit taxpayers. She also said that in reality two new positions are being added, while a third had been defunded in October for political reasons. Fraga said that the reinstated position, along with the two new roles, are intended to better serve the community.
Fraga said that her office receives more than 100 emails daily, some requiring coordination with Miami-Dade County, among other government entities. “I am not adding positions to my office,” she said. “ This is for the council office.”
Porras, along with Councilwoman Digna Cabral, supported the proposed amendment to increase council member salaries, but in a memo calling for the elimination of the stipend, she said she is aiming to be “fiscally responsible and avoid unnecessary compensation.” She added that eliminating the additional compensation will uphold the spirit and intent of voters who approved the salary increase for the council.
Asked about Porras’ proposal, Fraga said she has always supported maintaining a fiscally responsible approach for the benefit of the community. She emphasized the importance of carefully analyzing the issue to ensure it does not negatively impact any council member. Fraga said she uses her stipend to assist the community, including helping those in need, as well as covering expenses for meeting lunches.
Reinoso expressed concern over Porras’s consistency on spending. “This is the same person who proposed an item to increase the salaries of the chief of staff and appointed someone to the Charter Review Commission with the task of raising council members’ salaries,” she told the Herald.
Reinoso, who served on the Charter Review Commission before being elected to the council, voted against the charter amendment. At the time, she remarked that “such a dramatic salary increase without a change in responsibilities is unusual.”
Porras’ proposal comes a year after the council approved, with her support, a salary increase for the legislative analysts of the four council members, aligning it with the chief of staff’s pay. This change also included a title adjustment to standardize the roles. The current salary range for this position is between $72,000 and $104,000.
Councilman Rafael Pineyro, who opposed the salary increases, said Porras’s proposal needs to be considered. “It is something that makes sense”, he said, without making clear if he will support it.
Pineyro also highlighted that the budget, which was approved 3-2 with Porras, Cabral and former Vice Mayor Oscar Puig-Corve in the majority, failed to prioritize critical areas such as hiring new police officers. He emphasized his support for any future amendments aimed at enhancing public safety in the city.
Porras said that some of the proposed changes grant the mayor powers and authority not authorized by the city charter, effectively undermining the city manager’s authority. Fraga dismissed the concerns, saying Porras can file a complaint with the City Inspector General, a new office that will replace the Office of Charter Enforcement.
The inspector general’s job is to identify efficiencies, detect, investigate and prevent fraud, waste, mismanagement, misconduct and abuse of power in the city.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
