Hialeah councilman Calvo officially resigns. What’s going to happen with his seat?
Hialeah councilman Bryan Calvo has officially announced his resignation from the city council, less than three years after he was elected, to run for Miami-Dade County tax collector.
This will be the first time a tax collector will be elected, following a constitutional referendum in Florida approved in 2018.
Calvo will compete for the Republican nomination against at least one opponent, Dariel Fernández. If Calvo wins the party primary in August, he will face the Democratic candidate in November.
Calvo, who took over Hialeah city council seat six at the age of 23, becoming the youngest councilman in the city, said at the May 14 council meeting that his resignation will be effective on Nov. 1. The announcement led to confusion within the City of Hialeah as to what can be done to fill his vacancy - a special election or an appointment. While Calvo said he hoped his early resignation would allow for a special election, elected officials expressed uncertainty about whether that was possible.
“It is my sincerest hope that the Mayor and the City Council members allow the residents of Hialeah to choose who they want to represent them, as opposed to appointing a hand-picked temporary successor,” said the councilman, whose term ends in November 2025, in a statement.
Mayor Esteban Bovo Jr. said he did not believe an election could be held this year.
“If the councilman wanted to help the people, he had to resign effective immediately so that there is no doubt,” said Bovo. The mayor said that because Calvo was staying in his position until November, it is unclear if a special election could be held. “Although I am not a lawyer, I believe that the election cannot be called.”
Calvo and Bovo have frequently been at odds. Both took office in November 2021, and their rivalry culminated in a lawsuit the councilman filed after Bovo thwarted an effort to investigate the 911 emergency department. The suit was dismissed.
Before the announcement, sources in the city said that several names were being considered for the appointment of an interim councilman including the Mayor´s deputy chief of staff, Carlos San José.
‘Not something that is done overnight’
Other city officials in Hialeah also expressed confusion about whether a special election could be held. The assistant city attorney, Alexander Magrisso, said he did not know what the procedure is, saying that the legal department would have to meet with the City Clerk, which calls for local elections. Meanwhile, City Clerk Marbelys Fatjo said she had to speak with the city attorney.
“At the moment we do not know whether it is possible to hold an election or not,” Fatjo said after the council meeting concluded.
The City Clerk explained that for there to be an election there must be a resolution approved by the council, while the electoral authority of Miami-Dade must authorize Hialeah to hold an election.
“It is not something that is done overnight,” Fatjo said.
The Hialeah Charter says that if a seat on the city council becomes permanently vacant by reason of death, resignation, recall, court order or other lawful action, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment requiring a vote of at least four council members within 30 days of the vacancy.
But, if the city council does not fill the vacancy within the prescribed 30 days, a special election shall be held at the earliest time permitted by law.
The deadlines for the November election in Miami-Dade would give Hialeah until July 26 to add the special election to the ballot.
The last time a Hialeah councilman resigned from office was in 2022, when Oscar De La Rosa, Bovo’s stepson, vacated the seat he was elected to in 2019, once his stepfather assumed the mayorship of the city.
At that time, Vivian Casals-Muñoz, who had previously been a councilwoman, was appointed to fill that vacancy.
