Special Election for Spence-Jones' Seat
Gov. Charlie Crist forces the new mayor to hold a $200,000 election
Michelle Spence-Jones
We hope you still have your voter registration card out because Miami wants voters to head back to the polls in the next 50 days.
Newly-elected Mayor Tomas Regalado announced Tuesday that the city will hold a special election to fill the of Michelle Spence-Jones, who will be busy fighting corruption charges for the foreseeable future. The special election will come at a hefty cost to taxpayers.
Try $200,000 on for size. Gov. Charlie Crist refused to step in and make an appointment to the seat, which forced Regalado's hand in the matter. Crist suspended Spence-Jones after she was arrested last week.
But the election party doesn't solve all of the City Commission's problems because there is still the matter of filling Angel Gonzalez's seat after he resigned on Friday.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty Monday to corruption charges for his role in Job Gate, which netted his daughter a $47,000 job to stay at home and do absolutely nothing.
Miami voters will also choose Regalado's replacement from District 4 today between Francis Suarez and Manolo Reyes.
Posted Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 - 2:38 PM EST
