Miami-Dade charter review task force adopts placement and wording changes for constitutional officers

Task Force Chairman Dennis Kerbel and members voted to adopt a package of charter edits that preserve a broad prohibition on abolishing, impairing or transferring the powers of county constitutional officers and to move forward with related ballot language.

The change instructs that the charter reflect the limits placed by Amendment 10 and other provisions of the Florida Constitution and state law on county actions affecting constitutional officers. Oren Rosenthal, general counsel for the Supervisor of Elections of Miami‑Dade County, told the task force the earlier task force vote adopted language prohibiting the county from "abolishing, impairing, or transferring the jurisdiction, responsibilities, powers, or duties of the county constitutional officers set forth in the Florida constitution and general law, except as permitted therein." He recommended that prohibition be retained in section 9.01 rather than only appearing as a limitation inside the list of affirmative powers in section 1.01(a).

Why it matters: The edits decide where in the charter the limits on the Board of County Commissioners are stated and how prominent that prohibition is. Task force members debated whether restating the prohibition in more than one section made the charter clearer to readers or merely repetitive. The county attorney said the drafting choice was intended to avoid needless repetition but confirmed a scrivener's fix — the insertion of the word "transfer" into 1.01(a)(19) — would be made.

At the meeting the task force approved the package as read, including the insertion of "transfer" and other agreed clarifications. The motion to adopt the amendments was made on the record by Mister Reichenberg; the motion was seconded and the task force voted in favor (voice vote; no roll-call tally provided).

The county attorney told members that 1.01(a)(19) captures…