Miami mayor vetoes commissioners' vote for lifetime pension

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on Wednesday vetoed a controversial vote by the city commissioners that would give them lifetime pensions.

Last Tuesday's 3-2 vote revived a pension program that ended in 2009 during the financial crisis. The mayor's veto reverses this decision.

Under the program, commissioners and the city's mayor would become eligible for a pension after serving seven years in office.

"In this intervening veto period, the City Attorney advised me that if I signed the legislation and took the pension, it would create a vested right that could not be undone by any subsequent commission action or reconsideration," Suarez wrote in his veto message. "This would have guaranteed me a benefit of over four million dollars. As I approach 16 years of public service, I never expected or sought such a benefit, and I do not believe it is fair for the hardworking, taxpaying residents of this city to bear it."

The proposal was brought forward by Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela, who argued that the commissioner's job is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and that the pensions are fair.

The city commission still has the power to override the mayor's veto with a four-fifths vote.