MIAMI – In a development that appears to be another setback for the effort to recall Commissioner Joe Carollo, a circuit judge on Friday said he would grant the commissioner’s request for an injunction to stop recall petitions from being counted.
The announcement by Circuit Judge Alan Fine affirmed an earlier ruling on Sept. 17, when Fine concluded that the petitions collected by recall proponents were submitted after a legal deadline, according to Benedict Kuehne, one of Carollo’s attorneys.
Recall proponents alleged that Carollo had engaged in abuses of power, leading the Take Back Our City Political Committee to circulate petitions to oust the commissioner. The petitions accused Carollo of harassing a Little Havana business owner in violation of the City Charter as well as using taxpayer-supported events in support of a political ally.
Under current law, all the signatures supporting the recall need to be turned in to the Miami clerk within 30 days of supporters obtaining the first signature. Electronic copies of the signatures were sent to the city clerk’s office on a Saturday night – one day before the deadline – but the originals didn’t arrive until the following Monday.
Fine directed attorneys to prepare an order for the judge’s consideration, Kuehne said in an email sent to the Florida Record.
“The order is required to include findings that the electronic delivery of the petitions was illegal and came too late, even after the recall committee ignored the city of Miami clerk’s offer to be open to receive the petitions on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020,” Kuehne said.
During the status conference hearing on Friday, Fine said he would keep the recall petitions in the court’s possession through Dec. 1. At that point, Fine will direct the clerk to deliver the signatures to the supervisor of elections, with the instruction that the supervisor not move forward on the recall action, according to Kuehne.
“Judge Fine’s rulings, once issued in writing, end the unsuccessful recall effort,” Kuehne’s statement said. “Commissioner Carollo, elected in November 2017, will complete his four-year term of office in November 2021.”
An attorney for the recall movement, J.C. Planas, however, said previously that the committee would appeal Fine’s order to the Third District Court of Appeal once the order is available in writing.