Miami Commission Keeping it Special
The special election for District 1 and District 5 will be Jan. 12
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 4:45 PM EST, Wed, Nov 25, 2009
Corruption allegations have cost Miami taxpayers again.
The City Commission announced Wednesday that they will have a special election to fill the seat left by Angel Gonzalez, who resigned after he pleaded guilty to improperly using his position.
The city is spending $200,000 in taxpayer dollars to hold the election, which is no small change for a city that struggled to balance this year's budget and is laying off employees.
The city has already announced the special election would be needed to fill the seat of ex-District 5 Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, who was suspended by Gov. Charlie Crist after being arrested on corruption charges. Spence-Jones has already said she plans on running despite her legal problems.
The election is Jan. 12.
"The truth of the matter is, this is a democracy,'' Commissioner Frank Carollo said. "We should let the people decide.''
New Mayor Tomas Regalado and his commission could have saved the taxpayers a few dollars by appointing a Gonzalez successor.
Newly-elected Commissioner Francis Suarez was sworn in Wednesday, just in time to give the commission enough votes to appoint someone, but they still opted for the special route.
First Published: Nov 25, 2009 4:22 PM EST
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