Miami Mayor Suarez vetoes changes to voting map, citing ‘appearance of impropriety’
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has vetoed a resolution, taking action that could derail an effort by District 1 Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela to live in a single-family home he owns that was within his district’s boundaries before the voting map changed this year.
After living in an investment property he owns to run for office, Gabela’s been in a protracted battle with the city over whether he’s eligible to hold office based on where he lives.
Suarez said in order to address an “appearance of impropriety” for Gabela, the commissioner should recuse himself from any such vote that could benefit him, including one that would allow him to move back into his home.
Suarez’s veto also comes on the heels of a week filled with questions over his outside work following a Miami Herald investigation.
READ MORE: Herald investigation on absentee mayor
Issued on Christmas Eve, the memo points to a new state law, which went into effect July 1, that prevents sitting elected officials from redrawing district boundaries to favor themselves.
“Districts may not be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a candidate for member of the governing body or an incumbent member of the governing body based on the candidate’s or incumbent’s residential address,” the new law states.
Under a court order stemming from a separate redistricting lawsuit, Miami commissioners approved redrawn district boundaries that excluded Gabela’s home. The change could have prevented Gabela, who had been running against then-Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, from being on the ballot for the November election.
Gabela has said in August he moved into the upstairs unit of a duplex he owns inside the redrawn district boundaries. After a court battle, Gabela’s candidacy was confirmed by a Circuit Court judge and three-judge appellate panel.
Díaz de la Portilla, who faces bribery and money laundering charges, lost his reelection bid to Gabela. Díaz de la Portilla is suing Gabela, accusing him of living outside the district during the campaign.
In Gabela’s first full meeting as a commissioner on Dec. 14, he sponsored a resolution to change the boundaries and move his longtime home back into District 1.
The resolution passed 3-1, with Gabela, City Commission Chairwoman Christine King and Commissioner Damian Pardo in the majority. Commissioner Manolo Reyes was absent from the meeting.
Commissioner Joe Carollo was the lone no vote, citing a recently enacted state law regarding elected officials and redistricting. “That vote was illegal,” Carollo said after the meeting.
On the last day Suarez could have issued a veto, he took action. In an accompanying memo, Suarez wrote, “There have been recent claims of corruption and calls for strict adherence to the law.” He added, “In accordance with my oath to uphold the law and to ensure its continued strict interpretation, I hereby submit this veto.”
His action comes after the Herald published “Shakedown City,” a recent investigation into his connections to the government of Saudi Arabia, the nature of his overseas travel and potential conflicts of interest between his public work as mayor and his private work as an attorney for an international law firm.
SEE MORE of the Herald’s investigation
“He waits for the last day, Christmas Eve, when he had 10 days to look at this,” said Gabela, in an interview Sunday. “I’m just dumbfounded that apparently this concerns him, but the other stuff that’s going on in the city, that’s not important.”
Suarez can veto the five-member commission’s legislation, but the commission can override his veto with a four-fifths vote.
On Sunday, Reyes said he wanted to get legal opinions from outside the city before taking any additional action. He’s requested input from The Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics & Public Trust, and he’s asked City Attorney Victoria Mendez to seek an opinion from Attorney General Ashley Moody.
“Until then, I couldn’t make a comment or take any action,” he said.
Gabela noted the irony of the staunch opposition from Carollo, who in March 2022 voted for a redistricting plan that moved a home he owns in northern Coconut Grove into the district he represents. The change allowed Carollo to move from a Little Havana rental home back into the Grove property he’s owned for two decades.
The state law referenced by Carollo and Suarez was not in effect at that time.
