3 September 18-24, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ MIAMI UNMARK YOUR CALENDARS PRICEY PLAN TO MOVE ELECTION DATES IS OFFICIALLY DEAD. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON A controversial move to change Miami’s municipal election dates came to an abrupt halt earlier this month after com- missioners failed to gather a quorum to conduct the special meeting and vote on the matter. Commissioner Damian Pardo spear- headed the campaign to move the date to co- incide with federal midterm elections in an effort to save about $1 million per election and boost voter participation. On Friday, Sep- tember 5, commissioners were set to vote on whether to add the measure to Miami voters’ November ballots after an appeals court in August ruled commissioners can’t change the election date without voter approval, as they attempted to do in June. The initial move was unpopular, with many residents voicing strong opposition to allowing those in office to add another year to their terms. It also drew an immediate lawsuit from may- oral candidate and former city manager Emilio Gonzalez in late June. Multiple judges ruled in Gonzalez’s favor, causing Miami commission- ers to rack up a bill of more than $115,000 for outside attorneys to work on the matter, accord- ing to public information requests. After the court’s ruling, Pardo urged com- missioners to put the issue before voters, pro- posing they decide on shifting the election cycle beginning in 2032 instead of this year. But only two commissioners showed up to Fri- day’s meeting, falling short of the three-person quorum needed to begin city meetings, Pardo said in a written statement to New Times. Commissioners Joe Carollo, Miguel Gabela, and Christine King were absent. “We’re disappointed that two voter refer- endums could not be heard today due to a lack of quorum,” Pardo said in the statement. “The special meeting was scheduled to ad- vance two items to the ballot: moving City of Miami elections to even-numbered years and advancing the Miami Marine Stadium item.” The stadium has been in disrepair since Hurricane Andrew damaged it in 1992. City records indicate that commissioners were set to decide on whether to place a ballot ques- tion concerning the proposed stadium oper- ating agreement. “Both were drafted ballot questions so res- idents, not commissioners, would make the final decision, but for those resolutions to move forward, a commission vote was re- quired,” Pardo said in the statement. September 5 marked the last day for com- missioners to put additional items on Novem- ber ballots, according to Pardo’s office. | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Three commissioners failed to show up to Friday’s meeting, effectively killing Commissioner Damian Pardo’s efforts to add an item to November ballots. Photo by Owen Byrne via Flickr ▼ MAGIC CITY CLOSING COSTS MIAMI METRO RANKS AS TOP HOMEBUYER MARKET IN U.S. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON W ith nearly ten months’ worth of housing inventory clogging the area market, South Florida appears to be heading into fall 2025 with the strongest homebuyer’s market in the nation, according to Realtor.com. The news comes as seven of the top 50 U.S. metros have shifted toward strong buyer’s mar- kets. (To determine how strong an area’s hous- ing market is for buyers, Realtor.com estimates how long it would take to sell an area’s inventory based on the pace of recent and ongoing sales.) Miami beat out Austin, Orlando, New York City, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Riverside, Califor- nia, which round out the seven metros with the strongest buyer’s markets. For the first summer since Realtor started tracking housing market in- ventory in 2009, the national housing market reached a five-month supply of unsold homes, according to the website’s August housing trends report, which is based on June statistics. The outlet ranked Miami, with about 9.7 months of inventory, as the strongest buyer’s market in the nation. (Translation: It would take nearly ten months to sell all the homes listed for sale in Miami.) The median list price for a home in Miami was $510,000, down 4.7 percent from 2024, while inventory rose 35 percent over the same period. On average, homes have lan- guished on the market 15 days longer this year. Miami’s homebuyer-friendliness is not new to this summer; dating back to October 2023, the metro has had more than six months’ supply on the market.But some local real estate agents say Miami’s market is more complicated than top-line numbers. While certain areas may offer buyers more negotiating power, “It’s more accurate to say the market is moving toward balance, which is healthy after the post-COVID surge,” Miami real estate agent Ana Bozovic told Realtor.com. The Miami market has “very different reali- ties” depending on the cost and type of home sought, Bozovic elaborated. “To get leverage in negotiations, a buyer needs to recognize this and to be very well versed in the dynamics of the segment they are investing in.” Additionally, while buyers tend to gain nego- tiating leverage when sales are slow, sellers often respond by delisting properties that linger. Miami homeowners did precisely that this summer at more than twice the rate of other U.S. markets. Heading into the fall market, Bozovic sug- gested that buyers bear in mind that “Miami is not a monolith” and that they should expect varying market conditions depending on what they seek. “Single-family homes under $500K are es- sentially extinct, so buyers in that category have little to no leverage,” she noted. “By contrast, buyers in the sub-$500K condo segment may find more negotiating room, in part because new condo reserve requirements have increased supply. Know your segment.” [email protected] ▼ TALLAHASSEE SUN’S OUT, GUNS OUT STATE APPEALS COURT RULES FLORIDA OPEN CARRY BAN UNCONSTITUTIONAL. BY MITCH PERRY T wo days after Gov. Ron DeSantis once again called on the Florida legisla- ture to allow the open carrying of fire- arms, a three-judge panel of the Florida First District Court of Appeal ruled on September 10 that the law banning open carry is unconstitu- tional. “No historical tradition supports Florida’s Open Carry Ban,” Judge Stephanie Ray wrote in the opinion, joined by judges Lori Rowe and M. Kemmerly Thomas. “To the contrary, history confirms that the right to bear arms in public necessarily in- cludes the right to do so openly. That is not to say that open carry is absolute or immune from reasonable regulation. But what the State may not do is extinguish the right altogether for ordinary, law-abiding, adult citizens.” Florida is one of just a handful of states that ban open carry, and the only conservative- leaning one. That has an- gered Second Amendment en- thusiasts, who have become frustrated that the GOP-led legislature has refused to repeal the law, which was passed in 1987. The case was brought by Stan McDaniels, a Republican candidate for Escambia County Commission, who was arrested in downtown Pensacola on July 4, 2022, with a loaded hand- gun tucked into his pants using an inside-the- waistband holster. According to a police report, McDaniels was waving at vehicles with one hand with a copy of the U.S. Constitution in the other hand when law enforcement officers arrested him. At the time, McDaniels was reported to have been cooperative, saying that he wanted to take his case to the Supreme Court. Before trial, he moved to dismiss the charge and to have the open carry ban declared unconstitu- tional under the Second Amendment. Following a hearing, the trial court denied his motion but certified the question to the First District. McDaniels was convicted as charged and sentenced to probation and com- munity service. The court stayed his sentence pending his appeal. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier posted on social media that his office “fully supports the Court’s decision.” “This is a big win for the Second Amend- ment rights of Floridians,” he said. “As we’ve all witnessed over the last few days, our God- given right to self-defense is indispensable.” “The Republican Party of Florida stands firm in defending our constitutional rights, “WHAT THE STATE MAY NOT DO IS EXTINGUISH THE RIGHT ALTOGETHER FOR ORDINARY, LAW-ABIDING, ADULT CITIZENS.” Miami beat out Austin, Orlando, New York City, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Riverside, California, to rank as the nation’s strongest homebuyer’s market, according to Realtor.com. Photo by Jesse James/Flickr >> p5
