On the heels of the court ruling last this week that the Miami election year change was unconstitutional because, well they skipped the pesky part about asking voters, Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro has doubled down on her push to revisit the city commission decision in May to move their municipal election date the same way.
She has asked City Attorney Cristina Suarez to draft a repeal ordinance to reset the election to April of odd years, a resolution for the city to repeal its vote to join any lawsuit against the state on this issue and a resolution for a referendum and suggested ballot language, because, well she doesn’t want to leave that to the spin the city administration might put on it.
She also asked City Clerk Billy Urquia to call a special meeting so the city commission can (1) “reevaluate our election rescheduling in light of the court’s ruling,” (2) discuss “corrective measures” to return to the April 2027 schedule or place the matter before voters in a binding referendum and (3) “protect the city from avoidable legal exposure.”
Read related: Judge calls Miami election change unconstitutional; is Coral Gables next?
Within an hour, Urquia told her it’s not gonna happen. Only the mayor or the city manager can call a special meeting on their own. Castro’s request needed an okay from at least two more commissioners and Urquia said he couldn’t get them. Certainly the solid LAL faction — Mayor Vince Lago and Commissioners Rhonda Anderson and Richard Lara — weren’t gonna make themselves available.
“There’s already an item on the August 26 regular city commission agenda,” the city clerk told Political Cortadito. “There wasn’t a need for a special meeting.”
Castro, who was elected against Lago’s wishes in 2023, called it “a dereliction of duty,” and a blatant FU to the voters.
“Despite a clear and binding appellate court ruling that moving elections without voter approval is unconstitutional, Commissioners Lago, Anderson, and Lara have chosen to bury their heads in the sand, again,” Castro said. “They not only passed an illegal ordinance in May, stripping voters of their voice, but now they’ve refused to even hold a meeting to discuss fixing it.
“I warned that what they were doing violated the Florida Constitution and the County Charter. Now, the courts have confirmed it and they still refuse to act,” she said. “Their refusal to call a meeting is not just a dereliction of duty, it’s an assault on the rule of law. They are gambling with our democracy to protect their own political maneuvering.”
Ya think?
A little background for the newcomers: In May — at a special meeting called by Lago right after the runoff election won by Lara — the Gables commission voted 3–2 to end nearly 100 years of April elections and align city races with state and federal ones, starting in November 2026. Castro and Commissioner Ariel Fernandez were the no votes. From the beginning, they have said the decision belongs to the voters. The change was pitched by LALalalala as a way to boost voter turnout and save money, a trend that is happening across the state. But it also cut current term lengths by five months and, more importantly, skipped the part where voters are supposed to have a say.
Castro asked for an opinion from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier — who provided an opinion to Miami City Commissioner Miguel Gabela saying the change without the voters’ will was unconstitutional — and was literally censured by her own colleagues for it. Because she calls them out for dodging voters — again and again — they can’t miss an opportunity to try to embarrass or shame her. Remember Lago’s behavior at Carnaval de Barranquilla in April? That’s just one of the times that he has publicly belittled and bullied her.
Now, Castro has the courts backing her up. Not only did Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr rule that the city’s move was unconstitutional — a violation of both the city and the Miami-Dade County Home Rule charters — but the Florida Third District Court of Appeals upheld that decision in a 27-page “body-slam” opinion that said an ordinance is not a tweak of the code.
“It is, in truth, a charter amendment dressed in lesser clothes — fragrant in title but thorned with consequence,” the opinion reads.
The same likely applies to Coral Gables. The city charter states that “elections were to be held on the second Tuesday in April in odd numbered years.” Plain language. April. Odd-numbered years. The city also falls under the county’s Home Rule charter, which says electeds can’t willy nilly change the charter, or the timing of elections specifically, without voter approval. Doesn’t matter if it adds time or subtracts. The law is the law.
Read related: Third DCA strikes down Miami election change; November ballot is on
Suarez, the city attorney, has said that the Gables is granted the power to move the election without going to a vote with a state law. But four judges now have said that the city and county charters trump that state statute.
Meanwhile, the public? Split.
According to a recent online poll by the new, resurrected Coral Gables Gazette, 51% of the readers like the move for its efficiency and turnout bump. Only 48% of the 1,179 respondents said ‘hell no’ to the idea of cutting voters out of the process. This from a publication that L’Ego says is biased against him. But their poll suggests the readers want what he’s selling. Maybe not overwhelmingly, but by a slim majority, which is all the mayor would need in a public referendum.
So what now?
Well, the city’s next election is still set for November 2026. But it’s not over yet. Castro has hired renown election attorney JC Planas — a former state rep that should be our elections supervisor but lost in November to Alina Garcia — and is pressing on.
In an opinion Friday, Planas says the court’s ruling is correct.
“It is evident the move was unlawful,” he wrote Friday to Castro, in an opinion she said she paid out of her own pocket. “The Coral Gables City Charter is clear in its subservience on multiple issues to the Miami-Dade County Charter. Your Charter specifically states in its foreword: “Consequently, while the City has broad home rule powers, it is constrained or pre-empted in certain areas by the Dade County Home Rule Amendment and the Dade County Home Rule Charter that was adopted pursuant to such Amendment.”
In other words: The city’s own charter admits it is answerable to the county charter. Especially since the Gables charter has no language to authorize other forms of charter amendments, it must comply with the county charter requirement of a referendum.
The May ordinance to move the election was “an unconstitutional amendment,” Planas said, adding that there has never been a charter amendment in the Gables without going to referendum first.
“This is specifically because such amendments were prohibited by the Miami-Dade County Home Rule Charter,” Planas wrote in his opinion. “While the City of Miami tried to get around this issue by NOT amending their Charter when changing their election date, the Third District Court of Appeal quoted Shakespear and stated that regardless of what Miami called the change, their change of election dates was still an unconstitutional Charter Amendment.
Read related: Coral Gables commissioner Melissa Castro challenges election date change
“In the case of Coral Gables, they blatantly amended their City Charter through an ordinance in violation of the County Charter and the Florida Constitution,” Planas continued. “As the City of Coral Gables is now in blatant violation of the Miami-Dade Charter and the Florida Constitution, it MUST immediately repeal the ordinance.
“Should the City refuse to do so, it can be subject to costly litigation by its residents who were denied the ability to vote on such a change. Such litigation would also involve Miami-Dade County that has historically fought to protect the integrity of its Charter, including in the most recent Gonzalez matter,” he said, referring former Miami City Manager and Miami mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez, who sued the city to get the election back on in November.
So, repeal, referendum or lawsuit — this isn’t going away. Too bad for L’Ego and his echo chamber that Commissioner Castro is not the type to sit down and shut up, like they want her to.
“While they hide behind power, I will stand with the people. Coral Gables deserves better and I intend to deliver it.”
Let’s see if voters get the last word. Or if the other commissioners finally look up from their same ol’ talking points long enough to read the charter and the court rulings.
Help keep a light shining on the shenanigans of our local politicians and government officials. Make a contribution to Political Cortadito today and support independent, grassroots, watchdog media. Thank you.
The post Coral Gables: Melissa Castro shut down again on election change challenge appeared first on Political Cortadito.
Read MorePolitical Cortadito
