The Miami City Commission will try again Thursday to shift the city’s election calendar from odd to even years, with a new proposal on the table – one that treats the mayor’s term of office the same as those for commissioners.
Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo has proposed new legislation that would shorten everyone’s term of office – one time, by a year – to accomplish the shift, for city officials elected in 2031 and 2033.
That represents a new approach for Pardo, who previously had sought to change the city’s election cycle by granting all five commissioners a one-time bonus year in office.
That plan was complicated by the election of Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins in December, however. Higgins promised voters that she would give up one year of her four-year term to accomplish the shift.
The City Commission agenda for Thursday includes all three proposals – Pardo’s plus-one for commissioners, the mayor’s minus-one proposal for herself, and Pardo’s new proposal combining the two and adopting the mayor’s minus-one approach.
Whatever the commission decides, the election shift will have to be approved by Miami voters, perhaps in August during the next election.
