Political career
Miami City Commission
In 1979, Carollo was elected to the City of Miami commission at the age of 24.[6] He quickly gained a reputation for making enemies, and in 1982, the police chief Kenneth Harms sent a memo accusing Carollo of seeking political favors for Sheik Mohammed Al-Fassi, bribing the police, seeking career favors for his friends on the police force, and enforcing these demands by withholding budget funds for the police.[7]
During the mayoral election in 1983 between Maurice Ferré and Xavier Suarez, Carollo was set to endorse Ferré at a public event with the incumbent mayor. Ferré had endorsed Carollo five years earlier for his city commission seat. Instead, at the event, Carollo accused Ferré, who was Puerto Rican, of being anti-Cuban, and lambasted Ferré. Ferré won the election but this event remains a fixture in Carollo’s career in Miami politics.[8]
In 1986, as a city commissioner, Joe Carollo attacked a plan to develop Watson Island as funded by communists. The plan was backed by several conservative leaders, such as former U. S. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, conservative anti-Castro lobbyist Jorge Mas Canosa, and the Democratic then-mayor Xavier Suarez.[8]
In 1987, at a fundraiser for his mayoral re-election campaign, Suarez said of Carollo "He's really kind of an embarrassment to those people who really are fighting communism and giving their lives and their talents and their time and their money, and in the halls of the U.S. Congress, and in South America and Africa they sometimes give their lives. In fact I think he's an all-around embarrassment."[9]
Carollo lost his Miami City Commission seat by a wide margin to Victor De Yurre in 1987.[10]
Return to Miami City Commission and first mayorship (1996–1997)
Eight years later, in 1995, Joe Carollo beat Victor De Yurre to retake the same seat on the Miami City Commission he lost to De Yurre.[11]
One year later, Carollo won a special election to replace Stephen P. Clark, who died of cancer, as mayor of City of Miami.[12]
Not long after taking office, several city commissioners were arrested in a bribery sting and it came to light that the City of Miami was $68 million in debt.[13] Carollo brought in Merritt Stierheim as interim city manager to create a recovery plan. While the city faced scrutiny from Governor Lawton Chiles, reduced bond ratings from Moody, and calls to dissolve the city government, Stierheim’s plan was approved by the city commission.[14]
In 1997, with the first Strong-mayor system in the City of Miami’s history at stake, Carollo lost his re-election campaign in a runoff election to Xavier Suarez. Although Carollo alleged ballot fraud in the first voting round, Suarez took office.[15]
Voter fraud lawsuit
Carollo continued his lawsuit alleging ballot fraud in the first round of voting of the 1997 mayoral race. On March 5, 1998, Thomas S. Wilson Jr., a judge in the Florida circuit court voided the first round of the election writing "this scheme to defraud, literally and figuratively, stole the ballot from the hands of every honest voter in the city of Miami."[16]
A Miami Herald investigation of the mayoral race found that campaign workers for Xavier Suarez and city commissioner Humberto Hernandez were registering voters where they didn't live, punched absentee ballots for voters without permission, casting ballots for voters who did not vote, and signed absentee ballots as witnesses that they did not witness, including for dead people.[17]
On March 13, 1998, Joe Carollo was sworn in as Miami mayor after the 3rd District Court of Appeals threw out 5,100 fraudulent absentee ballots.[18]
Second mayorship (1998–2001)
Carollo's second mayorship was marked from the beginning with struggles with the City Commission. After City Commissioner Humberto Hernandez was removed from his office by Governor Lawton Chiles, Carollo fired the City Manager Jose Garcia-Pedroza, who had been appointed by his predecessor, Mayor Xavier Suarez. The City Commission voted to reinstate Garcia-Pedroza and Carollo fired him again, a back-and-forth that led to Garcia-Pedroza being fired three times before asking the City Commission to let his dismissal stand.[19]
Miami Circle
Main page: Miami Circle
Real estate developer Michael Baumann tore down an existing apartment building in the summer of 1998 and after being pushed to do a required archaeological survey, discovered an ancient 2,000 year old, 38-foot-wide circle beneath the soil at the mouth of the Miami River. Carollo and the developer first attempted to move the site away from its historical location.[20] Carollo opposed preserving the site as it stood because of the possibility of significant tax revenue from Baumann's planned apartment building. However, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas took up the cause of preserving the site after pressure from Native American groups, schoolchildren, archaeologists, the Smithsonian Institution, as well as international scrutiny.[21]
Voter referendum
On Election Day, November 3, 1999, Miami voters voted to change their system of government to a Strong-mayor model. As a result, city manager Donald Warshaw was fired and Carollo was forced to run for re-election the following March, effectively cutting his term in half.[22] After the election, Carollo sued to overturn the results of the election, arguing that it constitutes an illegal recall vote.[23]
The results of the election found defenders with City Commissioners Arthur Teele, Tomás Regalado, and Joe Sanchez, whose attorneys asked the Florida Supreme Court to intervene so they could begin to plan and advertise the March election.[24] When the Florida Supreme Court refused to intervene, Carollo successfully defended his seat against the election results.[25]
Elián González affair
Main page: Elián González
In November 1999, Elián González and his mother, along with other Cuban migrants, left Cuba for the United States. While at sea, their boat failed, and most of the passengers, including González's mother, died. González and two other survivors were rescued at sea by fishermen.[26] After arriving, González's family in Miami sued to retain custody of Elián while his father in Cuba, Juan Miguel González Quintana in Cuba, demanded that Elián be returned to Cuba.[27]
The cause to keep Elián González in the United States was taken up by Miami's Cuban community. On March 29, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas held a press conference where he announced that the county police department would not assist federal police in removing Elián González from Little Havana.[28]
At that point Joe Carollo began a media blitz where he appeared on television more than 50 times, including Rivera Live, Nightline, Hannity, and frequent visits to Miami-area Spanish-language talk radio station Radio Mambi.[28]
Carollo's media appearances garnered local and national derision. He accused Juan Miguel González of child abuse.[29] In the days leading up to the April 21st federal raid, City Manager Donald Warshaw wrote memos saying that Carollo was attempting to direct the police to defend the González's home.[30] After Elián was taken by federal agents and reunited with his father, Carollo was one of the first to say that photos of Elián with his father were faked, and said that any supporters of Elián in Little Havana with guns were agents of Fidel Castro.[28]
Carollo fired City Manager Donald Warshaw, who did not support Carollo's actions in the Elián González affair. Subsequently, City of Miami Police Chief William O'Brien resigned.[28] The shakeup caused Miami City Hall was inundated by bananas, referring to Carollo's leadership as a "banana republic", with boxes of bananas being delivered and drivers throwing bananas at the building.[31]
Failed reelection bid
Facing a field of nine opponents and the pressure of a public domestic violence scandal, Carollo failed to make the runoff in the November 2001 election for mayor. He was defeated by former Miami mayor Maurice Ferré and eventual winner Manny Diaz (Florida politician).[32]
Doral city manager (2013-2014)
After the resignation of Doral City Manager Yvonne Soler-McKinley, Joe Carollo was appointed January 2013 as city manager without a search being held for a new manager by Mayor Luigi Boria and the Doral City Council by unanimous vote.[33] Interim City Manager Merrett R. Stierheim, who had been brought in to lead the search, called the appointment "a terrible decision."[34]
Fifteen months later, in April 2014, Carollo was fired by the City Council in a 3-2 vote, as according to Vice Mayor Christi Fraga, Carollo "has now escalated to nonsense, untrue allegations, insubordination, intimidation, and bullying by our manager." Carollo had accused several members of the council of taking bribes for votes and predicted his firing in an earlier press conference. The city council members who voted to remove him said that he was creating a toxic work environment leading to high turnover in city staff.[35]
Carollo sued the mayor and city council members on first amendment grounds and Florida whistleblower protections. In 2017, Carollo and the city of Doral settled, and Carollo was reinstated as city manager so he could resign.[36]
Miami City Commission (2017-present)
November 21, 2017, Joe Carollo defeated Alfie Leon in a runoff election to take the district 3 seat on the Miami city commission. The seat was papal held by his brother, Frank Carollo, who was term limited.[37]
Replacing Viernes Culturales
Viernes Culturales (Cultural Fridays) is a festival in the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami held on the last Friday of the month run by a nonprofit made up of area business-owners and community members. In 2018, Carollo applied for permits on the same space and time that would have held Viernes Culturales in a move to force the festival to shut down. Carollo said that he felt the existing event had become "a flea market." One of the Viernes Culturales nonprofit board members, William "Bill" Fuller, said that the actions were taken to attack him personally.[38]
Ouster of police chief
In March 2021, Mayor Francis Suarez announced that he had recruited and hired Houston police chief Art Acevedo. Acevedo said he would "not tolerate mediocrity at the Miami Police Department", and would make reforms to improve the department.[39] Acevedo quickly began to follow through with high profile firings of police officers starting in June 2021, which brought controversy to his position, and criticism from the Miami City Commission.[40]
Although Art Acevedo won praise from the Cuban community of Miami for standing with them during rallies to support the 2021 Cuban protests, the relationship soured when, in a statement to staff, he referred to a "Cuban mafia" that controlled the Miami Police Department. Carollo criticized him for the statement, calling it "unbelievable," and pointed out that Fidel Castro used the same language to denigrate Cubans in Miami. Carollo expressed disbelief that Acevedo, himself Cuban, could be unaware of that history.[41]
During a September 2021 hearing on the future of Acevedo as police chief, commissioners aired grievances against Acevedo, including his "Cuban mafia" comments, the firings of popular officers, and the hiring process by the mayor. Carollo brought in a video of Acevedo impersonating Elvis for a fundraiser. Carollo then proceeded to freeze the video and bring attention to Acevedo's crotch, stating "Do you find it acceptable for your police chief to go out in public with pants like that, with his mid-section and pants so tight?"[42]
Art Acevedo was fired by the city manager in October 2021. At the swearing in of his replacement, Manny Morales, Carollo played the theme from the film The Godfather, referencing the "Cuban mafia" statement.[43]
Actions against homeless
In October 2021, Carollo sponsored an ordinance criminalizing tent encampments in the city of Miami. Critics said that the ordinance would criminalize being homeless. Carollo and his supporters say that homelessness is a choice, with Carollo himself saying that the homeless are "people that are out there because they want to be out there."[44]
As a result of this action, the city of Miami was sued by the ACLU of Florida in federal court alleging that the city was destroying the property of residents. The plaintiffs in the case reported city workers destroying personal belongings such as clothing, family photos, identification documents, and an urn containing one plaintiff's mother's ashes.[45]
Carollo also pushed a plan to build an encampment on Virginia Key to keep homeless people. The plan drew sharp criticism from many sectors of Miami, including the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, advocates for the homeless, area historians, environmentalists, and nearby residents.[46] After vocal disagreement from the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, which manages the beach due to its history as a Black beach during the Jim Crow era, the city commission took over the board.[47]
