Despite request by NAACP, Miami Mayor Suarez declines veto of new voting map
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez declined to veto a new voting map, solidifying the redrawn district boundaries over the objections of the local NAACP and some Coconut Grove residents.
Days after a majority of Miami’s commissioners approved the new voting map in a 3-2 vote, the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP sent Suarez a letter asking him to veto the map.
The city clerk confirmed that Suarez had neither signed the redistricting legislation nor vetoed it by the 10-day deadline, which was Sunday. By taking no action, Suarez allowed the new voting map to remain in effect.
The mayor’s office said the plan that passed was the most politically viable option.
“After carefully reviewing the map, considering the concerns raised by some residents and stakeholders, and communicating with other city leaders and the city’s redistricting consultant, Mayor Suarez concluded this was the only product that could pass the commission,” a statement from Suarez’s office said on Monday.
Coconut Grove residents advocated to keep their neighborhood from being split into multiple districts. Some expressed concerns about moving more than 100 Black households from District 2 into District 4, a move that critics argued would dilute the Black community’s political power. Others opposed moving a swath of the north Grove called Natoma Manors from District 2 into District 3.
District 3 Commissioner Joe Carollo, who rents a house in his district, has owned a home in the Natoma Manors area in District 2 for about two decades.
A memo to Suarez, authored by attorney and redistricting consultant Miguel De Grandy, defended the redrawn map. De Grandy wrote that the movement of Black residents under the approved plan is less than a separate proposal endorsed by the NAACP that would have shifted 271 Black residents from District 2 in another part of the Grove to District 3.
“The mayor asked for and received a comprehensive analysis from the city’s consultant regarding all of the issues raised by the various stakeholders and felt the consultant’s analysis comprehensively answered many of the concerns addressed,” the statement from Suarez’s office said.
Miami-Dade NAACP branch President Danielle Pierre on Tuesday said Miami’s commissioners have disregarded the concerns of voters.
“In the ten days that were still on the table to reconsider and veto the maps, we expected Mayor Suarez to at least acknowledge our concerns, use his political power and stand with the people urging him to keep Coconut Grove together,” Pierre said. “Coconut Grove, a community already stressed by the effects of gentrification, should be preserved, strengthened and kept together — not weakened politically by any means. This isn’t over. We will continue to fight forward to protect our vote.”
Suarez’s decision came at a politically delicate moment for the mayor. Commissioners on April 28 are expected to consider leasing the city’s only publicly owned golf course to be developed into a commercial complex and soccer stadium for the Major League Soccer franchise Inter Miami. The plan, which Suarez backs, can only proceed if four of five commissioners approve.
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 1:56 PM.
