Miami Lakes vote

On May 17 the voters of Miami Lakes approved all ten proposed amendments to the Town Charter and they did so by wide margins in an election that exceeded turnout expectations.

The results were a clear rejection of attempts by a secretive, special interest funded group to mislead the residents and an approval for changes geared at making government more transparent and accountable.

Contrary to some allegations, none of the approved changes weaken the power of the mayor because it was never proposed to take power away.

Instead, the approved amendments require our officials to be elected by a majority of voters, establish more input for the selection of town manager and town attorney, and make technical changes to keep our town’s constitution consistent with previous changes.

It was a pleasure serving as the non-voting council representative on the Charter Revision Commission where I witnessed fellow residents spend many hours researching, studying, and discussing these amendments.

I thank them and the town staff for their service.

This story was originally published May 22, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Miami Lakes vote."