With just days to go in the struggle over who should run the lucrative parking garages and parking slots in the city of Miami, questions arose Wednesday if people really know what they're voting for.
NBC Miami obtained a Parking Authority document where their legal experts conclude that the ballot measure is misleading because it translates the English noun "control" into Spanish as "La supervision," not the far more accurate "el control."
The authority's experts say the defective ballot is misleading to both Spanish and certain bilingual voters.
Florida law requires that the substance of a ballot measure shall be printed in clear and unambiguous language. And the Authority's lawyers state the Spanish translation creates the exactly type of confusion the Florida courts are required to prevent.
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"The mayor is going out and telling people that they just want to manage and supervise parking, but really what this is about is they want to control the assets of parking,” said Parking Authority board member Tom Jelke.
The memo shows what Parking Authority lawyers believe is trouble with the ballot is just the latest shot fired in the battle to convince voters to see it their way November 2nd.
The Parking Authority says it has done an outstanding job expanding parking operations, with new innovative technology, and turned millions over to the city every year .
The mayor and commission say the parking should be run by them -- elected officials directly responsible to voters.
“I think the city attorney was aware there was a mix up in the year 2000 and she was very careful," said Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado. "We are very, very confident that this ballot is the right ballot."
The Elections Department said that the ballot goes through an approval process that was done weeks ago. The Parking Authority would now have to go to court to stop the measure from being voted on, an unlikely option, especially since throwers have already cast ballots.
The authority insists voters shouldn't be mislead into believing the city wants to just supervise them, but clearly know the city would be in complete control if the measure passes.
