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Retaking a seat after a special election

City of Miami Proposal

The fifth proposal reads like this:

Shall Section 12 of the City of Miami Charter be amended to provide that a candidate elected in a special election for the purpose of filling a vacancy in the Office of Mayor or City Commission shall serve for the remainder of that unexpired term, effective November 7, 2017, and allow elected officials who are absolved from allegations of misconduct to immediately resume their position for the remainder of the unexpired term?

This amendment has two parts to it.

  1. When a City of Miami official leaves office in the middle of a term because of allegations of misconduct, there is usually a special election to fill the empty seat. The amendment would allow for the person who fills the seat to finish out the unexpired term, but guarantees nothing more than that.
  2. If the person who leaves office because of allegations of misconduct is cleared of wrongdoing, this amendment sets them up to get their seat back. If someone has since filled that seat in a special election, that person has to make way for the original office holder.

If you vote yes on this proposal, a person who gets a seat in a special election because of a vacancy gets that seat only for the remainder of the unexpired term. If the person who left office because they were accused of wrongdoing ends up being cleared of allegations, they get that seat back.

If you vote no, there will still be a special election to fill the seat (that’s already City procedure), but the person who vacates the seat doesn’t get it back if he or she is cleared of any allegations.