Following two days of backlash that included public rebukes from the former city manager and the incoming speaker of the Florida House, Miami City Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela now wants to rescind this week’s controversial vote where commissioners approved lifetime pensions for themselves.
“Let’s undo what we did last Tuesday,” Gabela told the Miami Herald on Thursday.
Gabela, who was the co-sponsor on the pension proposal, said he will ask his fellow commissioners to revisit the vote at the upcoming Oct. 24 City Commission meeting. He said he will then call for a repeal of the pension approval and ask his colleagues to send the question to a ballot referendum instead, letting the voters decide whether elected officials should get a pension.
“If they’re not willing to send it to voters, it dies right there,” Gabela said. “I’m done with the pension.”
A spokesperson for Commissioner Christine King, who co-sponsored the legislation with Gabela, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gabela described King as the “author” of the proposal in the interview.
The commission approved pensions for elected officials in a 3-2 vote on Tuesday, with Gabela, King and Commissioner Joe Carollo voting in favor. Commissioners Manolo Reyes and Damian Pardo voted against the proposal. Pardo had wanted to send the question to voters, but because his colleagues approved it in spite of that request, he said he planned to opt into the pension program and receive a pension himself.
The City Commission can reconsider the vote if three out of five commissioners agree to do so.
Gabela said he’s received backlash since Tuesday’s vote. That included a heated exchange Wednesday on Spanish-language radio station Actualidad 1040 AM. During the segment, the hosts played back a recent clip where Gabela said the pension item was dead. Host Roberto Rodriguez Tejera then accused Gabela of lying to the public, while Gabela said he had a right to change his mind.
Speaking to the Herald on Thursday, Gabela said: “I am not gonna be the fall guy here.”
This is a breaking news story that will be updated.
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