Doral council rolls back local restriction on family permit processing, reverting to Miami-Dade ethics code

The City Council voted on Feb. 12 to remove a 2022 local code provision that placed additional restrictions on transactions involving family members of elected officials, charter officers, legislative aides and department heads and to rely instead on Miami-Dade County’s Code of Ethics (section 2-11.1).

The city attorney explained the local provision was broader and less prescriptive than the Miami-Dade ethics code and argued it could unduly prevent family members from simple activities such as applying for permits. The attorney said reverting to county ethics rules ‘‘does not’’ permit family members to contract with the city and that the county code already prescribes conflict-of-interest limits and definitions of immediate family.

Vice Mayor Maureen Porras said she opposed removing the local restriction, saying it was ‘‘bad public policy’’ that could open the door to corruption and would complicate transparency, particularly when paired with proposed changes elsewhere to the manager’s spending authority. Porras said she would not support the item for those reasons.

Councilman Rafael Pinedo moved the ordinance and Councilwoman Nicole Reynoso seconded. The roll call recorded Councilman Pinedo and Councilwoman Reynoso voting yes, Vice Mayor Porras voting no and Mayor Kristy Fraga voting yes; the motion passed, removing the local code section and reverting governance of these conflicts to Miami-Dade County section 2-11.1.

On the record the city attorney said the local provision’s main impact had been to prevent family members from processing permits and that Miami-Dade’s code is more prescriptive and therefore preferable to retain necessary conflict-of-interest controls without the broader local restriction.