Current:Home > ContactGroup seeking to recall Florida city’s mayor says it has enough signatures to advance -ProgressCapital
Group seeking to recall Florida city’s mayor says it has enough signatures to advance
View
Date:2025-04-14 19:46:15
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — A group seeking to recall the mayor of a suburban Miami city says it has enough signatures to move toward its ultimate goal — a special election and new leadership.
Members of the End the Corruption political committee on Friday dropped off 1,719 signatures supporting an effort to recall Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago to the city clerk’s office, the Miami Herald reported. They need 1,650 verified signatures or 5% of the city’s approximately 33,000 registered voters in the most recent municipal election to advance to the next stage, the city clerk’s office said.
A preliminary count of the signatures was conducted Friday night, and those signatures will now go to the county Elections Department for verification, the newspaper reported.
“How do I feel? Very relieved, very grateful,” End the Corruption chairwoman Maria Cruz said Friday afternoon at City Hall of the recall effort so far.
Cruz was joined by attorney David Winker, who is the registered agent for the political committee. He noted that Lago was reelected without opposition last year.
“And I think that this is residents kind of clapping back a little bit saying, like, no, we’re unhappy with the direction that the city is going,” Winker said. “I think that this is evidence of that.”
If the Elections Department verifies that the group gathered enough signatures, it will have another 60 days to collect more signatures — this time from 15% of the city’s registered voters, or about 4,950 people. If the group meets that threshold, the recall could go to a special election
In a statement released on Instagram late Friday, Lago said the recall effort “is being pursued by special interests who want to control the future of our city.”
“These pay-to-play interests are falsely portraying the recall as a resident-driven process, but the reality is far from that,” he added.
The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Downtown Miami.
City spokeswoman Martha Pantin said law enforcement is investigating the canvassing effort, though she did not provide more details. Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Lissette Valdes-Valle confirmed in an email that the office is “looking at it” with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Winker said he had not been notified of an investigation.
“No one affiliated with the recall has received any inquiry from law enforcement,” Winker said. He added: “I welcome any investigation because everything about the recall is being done in full compliance with the law.”
.End the Corruption began collecting signatures in mid-March when it launched the recall effort accusing Lago of “misfeasance and malfeasance” in part because of his business ties with Miami-based real estate developer Rishi Kapoor, who’s accused of an alleged $93 million real estate investment fraud scheme.
veryGood! (36969)
Related
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Forests Are Worth More Than Their Carbon, a New Paper Argues
- Swiss LGBTQ+ rights groups hail 60-day sentence for polemicist who called journalist a ‘fat lesbian’
- Judge blocks Wisconsin school district policy allowing students to choose their pronouns
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Sofía Vergara's Suncare-First Beauty Line Is Toty Everything You Need to Embrace Your Belleza
- Who is Laphonza Butler, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's choice to replace Feinstein in the Senate?
- Montana inmates with mental illness languish in jail awaiting treatment before trial
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- John Legend Doppelgänger Has The Voice Judges Doing a Double Take After His Moving Performance
Ranking
- Tropical weather brings record rainfall. Experts share how to stay safe in floods.
- 'Eve' author says medicine often ignores female bodies. 'We've been guinea pigs'
- Taiwan issues rain and strong wind alerts for Typhoon Koinu that’s approaching the island
- When is the next Powerball drawing? Jackpot soars over $1 billion, game's fourth-largest ever
- Beware of giant spiders: Thousands of tarantulas to emerge in 3 states for mating season
- Nobels season resumes with Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarding the prize in physics
- Charlotte Sena update: What we know about the 9-year-old missing in New York
- Rep. Matt Gaetz moves to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker
Recommendation
Paris Olympics live updates: Quincy Hall wins 400m thriller; USA women's hoops in action
13 Halloween-Inspired Outfits That Are Just as Spooky and Stylish as Costumes
'Sober October' is here. With more non-alcoholic options, it's easy to observe. Here's how.
Making cities 'spongy' could help fight flooding — by steering the water underground
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
Matt Gaetz teases effort to oust Kevin McCarthy, accuses him of making secret side deal with Biden
Missing 9-Year-Old Girl Charlotte Sena Found After Suspected Campground Abduction
Missing California swimmer reportedly attacked by shark, say officials