Early voting starts Monday. Coral Gables voters decide park sales, a four-year mayor's term, candidate residency and a $300,000 bidding limit. What each would change.
Coral Gables voters will decide four changes to the City Charter on the Nov. 3 ballot. Early voting starts Monday.
The questions would:
- require a 60% citywide vote before the city sells a park or golf course
- give the mayor a four-year term, starting in 2028
- tighten the one-year residency rule for candidates
- raise the cost of public works jobs that must go out for formal bids, from $25,000 to $300,000
The City Commission voted 5-0 on July 7 to put each question on the ballot. Mayor Vince Lago sponsored all four. Each one passes with a simple majority of the votes cast on it, and takes effect once the results are certified.
The wording below is from the four signed resolutions. Your own ballot may differ slightly, because the resolutions let the city attorney adjust the text for printing.
The four questions at a glance
| Ballot title | Today | If voters say yes |
|---|---|---|
| Increasing the value of public work projects that require formal solicitations | Formal bids over $25,000 | Formal bids over $300,000, adjusted under state law |
| Residency immediately preceding qualifying period | One year in the city before the election | One continuous year in the city before qualifying ends |
| Four-year term of office for city mayor | Two-year term | Four-year term from the 2028 election |
| Sale of certain city-owned property | No citywide vote required | 60% citywide vote to sell, swap or long-lease a park |
The order matches the county’s sample ballot (PDF).
Bidding limit for public works
The charter says city public works contracts over $25,000 must go to the lowest responsive bidder after public advertising. The question would raise that to $300,000.
The higher figure would also move with Florida law. State statute 255.20 sets $300,000 as the point where formal bidding is required. It adjusts that figure by a construction cost index measured from Jan. 1, 2009.
The Charter Review Committee recommended the change “following input from City staff on the rising costs of public work projects,” according to Resolution 2026-190 (PDF). The commission would keep its power to reject all bids and advertise again.
Residency rule for candidates
Today a candidate for mayor or commissioner must have lived in Coral Gables for at least one year before the election. The city attorney has long read that as the year immediately before Election Day.
The question asks whether candidates must instead have lived in the city continuously for at least one year immediately before the end of the qualifying period. That is the window in which candidates file their papers with the city clerk. The Charter Review Committee recommended the change, according to Resolution 2026-191 (PDF).
A four-year term for mayor
Commissioners already serve four-year terms. The mayor serves two. The question asks whether the mayor’s term should become four years, starting with the November 2028 election.
The eight-year limit on consecutive service as mayor would not change. The resolution notes that the current mayor, if re-elected this November, will reach that limit and could not run in 2028. Lago is one of three candidates for mayor on this year’s ballot.
Voters have changed their minds on this before, according to Resolution 2026-192 (PDF):
- 2005: voters approved a four-year term starting in 2007, with 52% of the vote.
- 2009: voters went back to a two-year term starting in 2011, with 50.63%.
A citywide vote before selling a park
The longest question on the ballot reads:
“Shall the City Charter be amended to require that the sale, exchange, conveyance, or lease of ten (10) years or longer of any City-owned property used as a park, recreational facility, golf course, or open park space as of November 3, 2026, or later acquired for such use, be approved by sixty percent (60%) of the City’s voters in a city-wide special election?”
The new charter section would count option periods and renewal terms toward the 10 years. It would cover land the city owns for those uses on Nov. 3 and any it buys for them later. If voters approve, the commission would follow with an ordinance setting out more detail, according to Resolution 2026-200 (PDF).
Note the two different thresholds. This question itself needs a simple majority on Nov. 3. Once in the charter, any future sale would need 60%.
What else is on the city ballot
Three candidates are running for mayor (Group I): Laureano Cancio, Jackson Rip Holmes and Vince Lago. Melissa Castro and Nestor Menendez are running in Group IV. Gonzalo Sanabria and Dominique “Nikki” Whiting are running in Group V. The commission has appointed a canvassing board (PDF) for a runoff on Tuesday, Dec. 1, if one is needed.
These are the second set of charter questions this year. In a mail-only special election on April 21, voters approved six of eight questions, including moving city elections to November.
What it means for you
- Early voting runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, Monday, Oct. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 1. The Coral Gables Branch Library, 3443 Segovia St., is a site, and any Miami-Dade voter can use any of the county’s 28 sites.
- Mail ballots must be requested by 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, and must arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day. An April mail ballot does not carry over.
- Read your own sample ballot through the county’s voter information lookup before you go. The city questions sit near the end.
- Questions about the city election go to the City Clerk’s office. Registration and polling place questions go to the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections, 305-499-8683.
Dates, sites and ID rules are on our Coral Gables voting page. For parks covered by the property question, see parks and trails. We do not endorse candidates or positions.
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