Let the public vote on all charter review task force proposals

A vital belated review of Miami-Dade’s equivalent of a constitution that began last July may be headed next week for county commission action on which proposals voters can act on. Citizens should get to vote on them all.

I say that not because I agree with every one or because the list offers the most vital changes. I dislike some county charter review task force choices and had wanted others on the menu.

But the fact remains that the task force carefully reviewed a broad swath of charter provisions during 15 meetings, each of which Miami Today reported; listened to experts; and chose what it says we should change. That follows the procedure the charter itself requires. Commissioners should give us each item to vote up or down for change.

Refusing voters the discretion to act on each item would poorly serve the democratic process by saying commissioners know more than we do and have the right to keep us from voting on proposals that their own 13 appointees to the review team plus two other members sought.

Unfortunately, in the past commissioners have barred a citizen vote on anything they disagree with. They didn’t trust the voters.

Charter reviews are infrequent, due every five years. But the last one was in 2017, because commissioners hesitated to let the public weigh in on details of how the county must function.

We’re not talking about revolutionary proposals.

The one that might cause most debate would let commissioners serve three four-year terms rather than today’s limit of two terms. The review team recommended voting on this in 2028 rather than this year to minimize benefits to current commissioners.

Another proposal would set up a salary review commission to determine the pay levels of county commissioners, who now receive a disgraceful $6,000 a year for what is really full-time work.

Every other county commissioner in Florida is paid on a scale based on population that in Miami-Dade would equal $127,320 per year. That was too great a jump for the task force to take from the $6,000 set in 1957, so it opted for a salary review commission’s future choice rather than the proper $127,320, perhaps on the theory that nobody in his right mind would recommend keeping the $6,000 level after more than 70 years.

Another proposal would make commissioners who are appointed to fill vacancies ineligible to run for the seat in the next election. This shows a spirit of fairness, because an appointment creates an incumbent who gains a huge advantage in an election by receiving a political free ride into office.

The review team also recommended allowing the county commission to act on a prospective resignation that would sync up with other elections and setting minimum standards for municipal qualifying dates.

Another proposal would set up a boundary commission to evaluate proposed annexations and incorporations to municipalities every three years.

The others mostly clean up charter language. That’s it.

Is there any reason other than mistrust of the public that the voters should not get to approve or reject these proposed changes – an opportunity they haven’t had for nine years?

An opportunity that the charter task force avoided was to ask voters to subdivide the county into a true two-tier system as the makers of the charter in 1957 expected by splitting the entire county into cities. That would allow county hall to focus on countywide issues and municipalities to focus on strictly local matters.

Miami Today has been raising that two-tier issue for years to get county hall to focus on big issues without local detours. By avoiding this choice, however, the charter task force at least was in tune with state efforts to cut property taxes that could make it impossible for smaller communities throughout the state to continue to exist.

Also bypassed was separating the role of mayor as the county’s formal leader from the administrative tasks that see commissioners order Mayor Daniella Levine Cava about. In past years the mayor’s elected job was separate from an appointed professional manager who reported to both the mayor and commission. Those separate roles should be reinstated.

Clearly, a task force appointed primarily by 13 commissioners wasn’t likely to tackle how many commissioners Miami-Dade really needs and whether they should be elected solely by district or come from districts but be elected by countywide votes. In the past, nine commissioners chosen from districts by all county voters seemed to be less parochial.

Finally, the task force said nothing about whether commissioners should stay involved in county purchasing. That’s an administrative job. Including the commission in purchases yields major campaign donations while creating obvious conflicts of interest.

Other than tepid action on commission salaries, Miami Today’s longstanding charter review wish list wasn’t included in what is heading to commissioners. But recommendations the task force did make should not be ignored. Commissioners should put those proposals on the ballot for voters. For real systemic changes, we’ll have to await the next task force in five years.

Meanwhile, thank 15 citizens, including two elected state officials and four local mayors, for their considerable service to taxpayers. We should be able to vote thoughtfully on everything they recommend.