MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — There is an ongoing effort to recall Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. There was a temporary obstacle, but the commission cleared it.
Alina Garcia, the county’s supervisor of elections, announced on Facebook that the county clerk could not accept a recent recall petition.
In a statement “regarding the efforts to recall the County Mayor,” Garcia wrote she was grateful that Miami-Dade Commissioner Anthony Rodriguez, the commission’s chairman, added the issue to Tuesday’s commission meeting.
“We are hopeful this will finally resolve the issue so voters can fully exercise their rights without interruption,” Garcia wrote.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver G. Gilbert, III, sponsored a resolution “to clarify that the supervisor of elections is authorized to perform certain functions ... relating to initiative, referendum, and recall petitions.”
The commission voted unanimously in support of the resolution to address the technicality.
Attorney Ricci Carabeo, of the VPP Law Firm, submitted the petition, according to Barby Rodriguez, the chief of staff of the Clerk of Court and Comptroller of Miami-Dade County Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
Alex Otaola, a former Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate and the host of “Hola Ota-Ola,” which has about 475,000 subscribers on YouTube, has said voters need to recall Levine Cava.
“Otaola, an individual rejected by 88-percent of Miami-Dade voters last August, is now trying to coordinate a deeply flawed and miscalculated political effort at a time when Democrats are experiencing real excitement and momentum,” Christian Ulvert, a senior political advisor to local Democrats, said in a statement.
During his latest “Hola Ota-Ola” episode, published in Spanish on Monday on the “Cubanos Por El Mundo” channel, Otaola criticized Levine Cava for having welcomed Afghan refugees to Miami-Dade.
The commentary follows a fatal shooting in Washington, D.C., involving an Afghan gunman and President Donald Trump’s efforts to curtail immigration. Otaola also said Levine-Cava wants Eileen Higgins, a Miami mayoral candidate, to be elected.
“Vote responsibly,” Otaola said, and asked his followers to vote for Higgins’s opponent, Emilio T. Gonzalez, a former city manager and a Republican.
Otaola, a Republican, described Higgins and Levine-Cava, both registered Democrats, as “globalists” and “socialists.”
In his statement, Ulvert also said Levine Cava was a popular leader because she leads with vision, integrity, and a commitment to delivering results.
“We are confident that this sham effort will be seen by voters as a political stunt led by a failed perennial candidate who was resoundingly defeated last summer,” Ulvert said. “Miami-Dade voters have deep love and respect” for Levine Cava.
Local 10 News Assignment Planner Abby Lawing contributed to this report.
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