Can city workers run for office? North Miami will change rules after attorney blunder

Three government employees have resigned and a fourth has withdrawn her candidacy for Miami commission after North Miami’s city attorney realized late last month that the city code does not allow North Miami employees to run for public office.

On Wednesday, the North Miami city council voted, 5-0, in favor of amending a city ordinance to allow employees to run for office in other jurisdictions but to require them to resign once they’re elected. The measure must be approved again at the commission’s next meeting before it becomes law.

“Our code should not preclude somebody from running for office,” Councilman Scott Galvin said. “I would like to see this measure pass to allow greater participation in American democracy.”

Galvin and Vice Mayor Alix Desulme said they would prefer for the amendment to go further by allowing city employees to keep their jobs even while serving in elected office outside North Miami. But they compromised after their three colleagues — Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime and Councilwomen Mary Estimé-Irvin and Carol Keys — said they disagreed.

“I see a tremendous conflict if any of our employees are also elected in another city,” Keys said, noting that some city employees are tasked with bringing business into the city and could struggle with dual loyalties once they are elected elsewhere. “Who are they going to represent? You’ve got a conflict.”

City Attorney Jeff Cazeau erroneously told multiple city employees over the past year that there was nothing precluding them from running for office while keeping their jobs, nor from continuing to work for the city if and when they were elected.

On Nov. 19, hours after a local blogger alerted city officials to a clause in the city’s civil service rules that says most employees must resign once they’re elected, Daniela Jean and Linda Julien resigned under pressure from the city.

Jean, who worked in North Miami’s risk management department, was elected last month as a commissioner in neighboring North Miami Beach. Julien, the economic development manager for North Miami, was elected to the Miami Gardens city council.

On Nov. 22, the Miami Herald inquired about a city ordinance that says employees can’t work for the city if they are candidates for public office, even before they’re elected. In a memo the next day, Cazeau said he wasn’t previously aware of the ordinance, which takes precedence over the civil service rules.

Earlier this week, Kassandra Timothe, a spokeswoman for the city who had been on unpaid leave after filing to run for North Miami City Council next May, resigned from her position. She told the Herald it was her decision, but Cazeau’s Nov. 24 memo said Timothe “cannot continue in her position at the city.”

In August, Timothe had asked Cazeau whether North Miami employees can run for North Miami City Council. Cazeau incorrectly told her there were no rules prohibiting it, according to his Nov. 24 memo. He did say that, in his opinion, she would need to resign if she were elected to the city council next year.

The proposed amendment approved Wednesday would require city employees to take an unpaid leave of absence once they file to run for office in North Miami, and to resign after they are sworn into office.

“I think if you’re running within the city, you need to resign or take a leave of absence immediately,” Desulme said.

Miami commission candidate withdraws to save job

Another North Miami employee, Stephanie Thomas, withdrew as a candidate for Miami city commission this week in order to keep her job in community planning and development.

The move came after Cazeau’s memo suggested Thomas was violating North Miami laws by seeking to fill a seat vacated by Keon Hardemon, a newly elected Miami-Dade County commissioner.

On Monday, an attorney for Thomas, Michael Pizzi, wrote a letter to Cazeau saying Thomas believes the ordinance doesn’t apply to her because it was passed in 2013, after she began working for the city. Pizzi’s letter also argues the ordinance violates Florida’s resign-to-run law and constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection.

“It’s her hope that the legislation that is amended will preserve her right to run in the city of Miami at some future time,” Pizzi told the Herald.

Pizzi, a former mayor in Miami Lakes and city attorney in Medley, said he believes the proposed change in North Miami — which would allow employees to run for office but have them resign once they’re elected — could still be legally problematic.

He pointed out that people like lobbyists and outside counsel attorneys frequently serve in non-elected roles on behalf of multiple cities at once, and are allowed to do so.

“You are singling out and taking away the right of people” to hold elected office, Pizzi said.

At Wednesday’s council meeting, Cazeau said he found that several other cities in Miami-Dade County impose some restrictions on employees running for office or serving in elected office, including Miami, Miami Beach, Doral and Hialeah.

Miami Beach and Opa-locka have language in their codes that mirrors the current language in North Miami, though it refers specifically to classified employees — a category that includes most city workers, with the exception of high-ranking roles like city council members and department heads.

At the county level, Miami-Dade voters approved a charter amendment in 2018 that lifted a rule requiring county employees to take leaves of absence while running for office and to quit if they win. The change, which passed with 56% approval, narrowed the existing rule to only cover Miami-Dade employees running for county office.

Under Florida’s resign-to-run law, elected or appointed officers can’t run for another office if the two terms would overlap. In cities, that applies to officials with the authority to “exercise municipal power” — typically meaning elected officials, not the broad range of civil servants covered by North Miami’s ordinance.

City may eliminate law about campaign donations

The section of North Miami’s code that addresses city employees running for office also includes this clause: “No person holding a position in the service of the city shall make any contribution to the campaign funds of any political party or any candidate for public office.”

Some city officials say they interpret that as a blanket ban on city employees donating to any political campaigns, an unusual restriction for a municipality and one that North Miami doesn’t appear to enforce.

The same section also bars city employees from taking part in “the management, affairs or political campaign of any political party.”

The language notes that the restrictions don’t prohibit the “exercise of [an employee’s] rights as a citizen to express his opinion and to cast his vote.” It’s not clear whether that means employees can donate or get involved in campaigns outside work hours, as government employers typically allow.

Regardless, the city council voted unanimously Wednesday to strike down that language. It will require a second vote to be removed from the code.