Citizen groups in Miami want to fundamentally change the city’s government — by giving residents more representation.
A team of community groups called “Stronger Miami” is circulating a petition to change Miami’s city charter by citizens’ initiative. Coalition members include representatives from One Grove Alliance and the voting rights group Engage Miami.
Among their goals: Expand the number of city commission districts — something resident groups pushed for in recent years — from five to nine.
“Right now the city of Miami has only five Commission districts in a city that has almost half a million people. So there is a drive to change the charter, to move from five districts to nine districts,” said Rebecca Pelham, executive director of Engage Miami and a member of the Stronger Miami steering committee.
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The city of Miami has five commissioners who represent a population of about 456,000 people. By comparison, the neighboring city of Miami Beach has six commissioners and a population of about 80,000.
“Raising the number of commissioners means they will be better equipped to advocate for the unique needs of their communities,” the coalition said in a statement.
Stronger Miami also wants to add stricter redistricting standards and change city elections from odd years to even years to match midterm and presidential elections.
“In odd year elections, turnout is super, super low. If we just timed it with even years, those elections are already happening and people are already voting, so it's a lot more efficient, but more importantly, it makes it easier for everyone to participate in these elections,” Pelham said.
Petitioners are trying to collect more than 26,000 signatures to get a charter change on the ballot.
More information on the petition can be found at Stronger Miami’s website.
