As candidates like Michael Hepburn have been laying the groundwork to run for local office in the city of Miami, but now, the city commissioners decided to move elections a full year. In a 3-2 vote, commissioners changed the bylaws to push the vote back. Although they claim to have done so for budget reasons and to curb low voter participation, others claim it is in an effort to undermine potential new leadership.
The glaring issue is that these elected and term limited officials granted themselves more time in office without the explicit permission of their constituents. Commissioners Christine King, Ralph Rosado, and Damian Pardo voted in support of extending their terms.
In a commission meeting, Hepburn spoke out against the reasons the city cited. He began his comment with “I love my city.” A declarative statement before he began his impassioned speech. “We have a civic empowerment gap…people do not know what they are voting for,” said Hepburn. Before he was able to finish his speech, a commissioner told him to wrap up his comments and in a swift moment, security personnel pushed the mic down away from Hepburn’s mouth, and pushed him out of the room.
In an exclusive interview with Janey Tate, Hepburn announced his intentions to sue the city if Mayor Suarez does not veto the ordinance first. Hepburn believes this act is a violation of residents’ 15th amendment. He also announced a recall campaign against the sponsor of the ordinance Commissioner Damian Pardo. In 30 days, he has to collect signatures from 5% of residents in District Two to initiate the recall process.
In response to the City of Miami’s ordinance, James Uthmeier, Florida attorney general, released a letter addressing the City of Miami via X. In a quite frank message the AG stated:
“I caution you that the action contemplated by the City of Miami in the Legal Opinion to move the date of its municipal elections or to change the terms of office for elected officials without a vote of the electors violates the County Charter and provisions of the 1885 Constitution, incorporated by Article VIII, section 6 of the 1968 Constitution. The State will not tolerate such an unconstitutional deviation.”
Many people are concerned about the rising fascist undertones in American politics. Hepburn even noted that if “regular residents do not stand up to sue the city in order to ask for a remedy from a judge to stop this then it’s pretty much it’s gone, this train has left the building in a sense.” If local elected officials can extend their time in office without the consent of the people, who else can?
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