With salaries and benefits consuming 77% of Miami’s budget, payroll systems track every dollar paid — including overtime and bonuses — but city officials declined to provide a full accounting of what employees actually earn.
Politics
Tension and relations between policies and their advocates.
Elections, Referendums. Campaigns and Candidates.
Pardo Responds to Question about Fate of City Hall
The fate of the Pan Am seaplane terminal at Dinner Key has been a topic of concern for Grove residents since late last month when the Miami Herald published a story saying the City of Miami planned to move City Hall to Freedom Park in 2028. (The Spotlight published a[Read More…]
Cost of Miami’s Election Fiasco Could Double
The cost of last year’s election fiasco for Miami taxpayers may double this week, if the Miami City Commission agrees to pay $150,000 in legal fees incurred by former mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez. Gonzalez went to court last year to prevent the city from moving the 2025 general election to[Read More…]
Tree Overhaul Returns as Quiet Changes Take Root
New internal permitting policies are in, the longtime tree protection chief is out, and the city is gearing up for another round with residents to rewrite its tree laws.
City Proposes Pay-to-Play Building Bonuses Near Bike Trails
A pair of zoning changes set for review this week would let developers build higher and denser near bike and pedestrian “greenways” like the Commodore Trail and the Underline in exchange for cash payments or other “public benefits.”
Inside City Hall: Miami’s Pay Raise Machine
With salaries and benefits consuming most of the city’s budget, a tangle of automatic and discretionary increases is quietly pushing costs higher year after year.
Miami Spent $150K on Long-Shot Election Appeal
All of the city’s outside legal fees last summer and fall came after a judge blocked the city’s attempt to delay the 2025 election — including more than $60,000 tied to a rarely granted rehearing widely seen as a legal Hail Mary.
The Stronger Miami Petition Drive Meets its Goal
The local organizers behind the petition drive announced this week that they had collected more than enough signatures to place a series of proposed political reforms before voters on the ballot this year.
City to Vote on Shifting Housing Density From Affordable Projects
The proposal would expand an existing program that allows developers to sell and transfer development rights from affordable housing developments to market-rate and luxury projects – even if no affordable units are added at those locations.
A Tallahassee Vacancy Leaves the Grove Without a Voice
Frustrated by the governor’s failure to call a special election to fill an empty seat in House District 113, one candidate has turned his backyard tiki hut into a “constituent” office to meet with district voters, including those in the North Grove.
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Recent News
A Village Remembered: Two Grove Neighbors Say Goodbye
Attorney Tucker Gibbs and stonemason Josh Billing –
Residents Question City Oversight of Construction Closures in the Grove
A new complaint tied to a high-profile Coconut Grove
Neighbors Oppose New School Fence Cover in Center Grove
A new dark blue fence cover installed along Oak Avenue
The WELL Traffic Study Clears Key Threshold — But Only Barely
A Miami-Dade traffic review found that automobile
Residents Get First Look at Old Smokey Class Action
In the first community meeting since the Old Smokey
Design Plans for Kirk Munroe Park Near Finish Line
The design team at work planning proposed improvements
Commission to Consider New Waiver for Events at The Hangar
The City of Miami will consider lifting the annual
City to Consider Reducing High-Density Setbacks Near Single-Family Homes
A proposal aimed at making it easier to build on