Sponsors of the charter amendment items Miami Beach voters will see on their Nov. 3 ballots. Left: Commissioner Victor Diaz. Right: Commissioner Jonah Wolfson. File photos By Richard M. Brooks

Ballot Bewilderment
Miami Beach Voters Faced With Confusing Ballot Questions

By Lee Molloy

Although many observers predict a paltry turnout Nov. 3, Miami Beach voters who do go to the polls on election day will not only be asked to vote for the mayor and three commissioners, but also on four charter amendments that have been put on the ballot by the city commission.

However, voters without law degrees who face the ballot questions for the first time could find themselves unsure of exactly what it is they are being asked to make a decision on — and more importantly, the consequences of those decisions.

“In general, ballot questions are a little bit complex to understand,” said Commissioner Jerry Libbin, whose name will appear on the ballot as he seeks re-election to his Group 1 seat. “I think that they are sometimes more difficult than we would like them to be.”

Libbin’s fellow commissioners, Deede Weithorn and Victor Diaz, echo this sentiment. Mayor Matti Bower disagrees. “I think the language is clear,” Bower told The Lead. “However, those residents who have not followed some of these issues may not understand the context or implications.”

The issue with the intelligibility of the questions comes down in part to the strict legal restrictions that must be followed when drafting ballot questions, which include limiting the number of words that can be used to frame each question to 75.

Weithorn thinks that the complex way that the questions are communicated “is why I think a lot of people vote ‘No,’” on important issues, she said. “Because, they don’t understand the question.”

Diaz, who sponsored three of the four questions on the ballot, believes that, in the future, the city should hold voter education drives to make sure that the public understands the issues.

Although Commissioner Jonah Wolfson, who sponsored the remaining question on the ballot, thinks the questions “should be comprehensible to everyone, and not just lawyers.” He believes it is the responsibility of the commissioner that proposed the question to ensure the public fully understands what they are being asked to vote on.

Group 2 candidate Sherry Roberts adds the problem isn’t only a local one.

“Didn’t our lawmakers in Washington say that it would not matter if they read the health care bill from cover to cover because they would not understand it?” Roberts said. “This is not just a Miami Beach problem.”

Question 1: Ethics in Government

The first question on the ballot is, relatively, the most straightforward. It proposes that the “Citizen’s Bill of Rights” in the Miami Beach Charter should be amended so that city officials and employees are all bound by the same standard of ethics as the elected officials. And, if they fail to live up to those standards, they can be penalized.

“The employees act on behalf of the elected officials, especially the aides to the commissioners and the mayor,” Group 3 candidate Alex Fernandez said. “So, it is good to reinforce that they be held to the same standards that the elected officials are.”

Commissioner Victor Diaz, who sponsored the ballot question, explained to The Lead that the idea was to create “a broad sweeping right to public ethics.” Diaz likened the proposal to the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law.

“It could become a vehicle — for citizens who feel that if there is unethical behavior going on — to use the charter to address things that the city commission may not have addressed through legislation,” Diaz said.

With the exception of Bower and Group 2 Candidate Jorge Exposito, both of whom wished to refrain from recommending to citizens how to vote on the issues, all the commissioners and candidates that expressed an opinion to The Lead recommended a ‘Yes’ vote on the issue of stricter ethics for city staff.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Weithorn said.

Question 2: Public Street Ends

Currently, there is no restriction in the city charter that prevents the commission from selling off public property by a majority vote. Commissioner Diaz proposed the item that would mandate, in the case of streets that border, and allow the public direct access to the ocean, bay, public golf course or other land designated for government use, the commission would not be able to sell the land at the end of the street to private interests without a unanimous vote by the commission or a voter referendum. This would prevent condo developments or other businesses from gating the public out of some of the most popular parts of Miami Beach, and it could help stop the kind of disputes about public right of way that have been taking place over access to the Baywalk, Diaz reasons.

However, there are two proposed exceptions to the rule. The first would be that the commission could vote to give away up to 10 percent of the width of a street-end if it “advances a significant public purpose.” A qualifying purpose would not be “for a hotel to build more rooms,” Diaz said, “however could be to create a public plaza, for example.”

The second would be to allow for “underground utility easements.”

“I inserted that language in there,” Weithorn said, “because I don’t want to have to convince my colleagues to give FPL an easement.”

Most politicians are again recommending a ‘Yes’ vote on this question, but a skeptical Libbin thinks it may sometimes be to the City’s advantage to have the option to do something with street-ends.

“It makes me nervous that [the vote] has to be unanimous. I would prefer it to be” a six out of seven vote, Libbin said.

Question 3: Greater Restrictions on the Disposal of City Owned Property

The purpose of this proposal, sponsored by Wolfson is to require that the commission cannot approve the sale, exchange or even the lease for more than ten years, of city-owned property (that is not specifically covered elsewhere in the city charter) without a six out of seven vote by the commission.

“I think that the city public property belongs to the residents, it is their asset,” Wolfson told The Lead. “And, I think that it should be very difficult for a city commissioner to dispose of that property for any reason.”

Although Group 3 candidate Michael Gongora recommends a ‘Yes’ vote, he does so with some hesitation. “My only concern is that by doing this, two of seven members of the commission could prevent a conveyance, sale or long term lease, that five out of seven of the commission believed was in the best interests of Miami Beach,” Gongora said.

Libbin, on the other hand, offers insight into the pragmatism of the commission.

“The interesting thing about that is, oftentimes we go around that requirement,” Libbin said. When leasing land, he explained, the commission could always “offer a five year lease with a five year renewal.”

Loopholes aside, the bottom line with question 3 is that a ‘Yes’ vote, “makes it harder for the city to sell, exchange, lease or give its property away,” Bower said.

Question 4: Parking Spaces Allocated to the New World Symphony (NWS)

The final ballot question is “about making a promise and keeping it,” Diaz said.

The history of this issue goes back to 2004, when the City entered into the arrangement with the NWS regarding the building of its new theater and multi-story parking garage. The garage was required because the theater is being built on the site of two former city parking lots, losing parking spaces for the city.

Because of the City’s Zoning laws, the NWS is required, in addition to a parking garage to replace what was lost, provide at least another 175 parking spaces within 1,200 feet of the new building. So, the NWS made a deal to provide the 175 spaces at a new project being constructed at 420 Lincoln Road. However, that project was delayed so the City agreed to allow the NWS to use 175 spaces in the 17th Street parking garage for five years, or until the spaces at 420 Lincoln Road become available.

At the end of the five years, if the 420 project is not finished, the NWS will have to either find another location for the 175 spaces, ask the City to extend the five-year agreement, or request a waiver to let them off the hook from providing the spaces at all. With the law as it stands, these options could be approved by a simple majority vote of the commission.

One voice among current candidates is recommending the public vote ‘No’ on this question. Mayoral candidate Laura Levey thinks the commission should be empowered to do what they think is “for the greater good of the community,” Levey said. “The New World Symphony will bring worldwide tourism to our city and much needed tourism dollars.”

However, most politicians say NWS shouldn’t be given a pass.

“Let’s not let a future commission waive the [responsibility] of the New World Symphony to have to build those parking spaces,” Libbin told The Lead.

To stave off the potential problem, Diaz proposed the ballot item, which will require that only the public can decide, by referendum, if the NWS can get a waiver.

“Every parking space that was being taken away from public use was going to be restored by the parking garage,” Diaz said. “This says ‘keep your promise or go to the voters.’”

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