They set out to gather enough signatures to recall Hialeah’s mayor. They fell short.
A pair of Hialeah activists campaigning to recall Mayor Carlos Hernández did not collect enough signatures to trigger a recall election.
Fernando Godo, an unsuccessful candidate who spearheaded the recall effort, and fellow campaigner Eduardo Macaya fell short of the required 5,175 signatures by fewer than 300 signatures. Coming up short with 4,900 signatures, their deadline to submit the signed petition was Monday.
Attorney Lorenzo Palomares, the attorney representing the recall campaign, confirmed that the pair did not have enough signatures to submit the petitions. He told the Miami Herald his clients are considering their options moving forward.
If the recall campaign had collected enough signatures, they would have needed to be validated by the Miami-Dade Election Department. If enough signatures were verified, Hernández would have had five days to decide if he wanted to resign or make voters decide in a recall election.
Godo had accused Hernández of “abuse of power and mismanagement.” Earlier this year, county officials confirmed that Hialeah had “bypassed” county limits on sewage flows for years by granting 98 businesses temporary business licenses it should not have, which prompted the county to propose a $75,000 fine for the city.
Hernández had characterized the recall effort as “cheap political clowning.”
