Miami Dade County has taken a step toward a recall election against Mayor Daniella Levine Cava after the county clerk approved a petition seeking her removal and the Supervisor of Elections certified the voter rolls. Beyond the politics, the move puts years of climate and infrastructure work under fresh scrutiny.
Organizers now have 120 days to collect signatures from 4% of the county’s 1.64 million registered voters to trigger a recall vote. In response, Levine Cava called the campaign “frivolous and politically motivated” and said she will keep focusing on a “future-ready Miami Dade that is safer, more affordable, and more resilient“.
Critics say daily life tells a different story. Organizer Mercy Perez points to bigger potholes, recurring floods, problems at Miami International Airport, crowded animal shelters and teachers who need more support and sums it up as “very sad what is going on in Miami”.
Flooding and sea level rise pressures
For residents who wade through water after a heavy storm or dodge cratered streets on the way to work, those complaints feel concrete. Yet they also sit on top of a slower-moving crisis, as Miami Dade is already experiencing sea level rise and projections show waters climbing another 10 to 17 inches by 2040 compared with the year 2000.
Climate strategy and resilience upgrades
Under Levine Cava, the county has rolled out a Sea Level Rise Strategy and a Climate Action Strategy that aim for cuts in carbon pollution and net-zero emissions by mid-century while hardening infrastructure through projects such as Adaptation Action Areas, raised roads and upgraded pumps.
One flagship effort, Connect 2 Protect, plans to shift more than 100,000 homes from septic tanks to sewer service in order to keep sewage out of yards, canals and Biscayne Bay as groundwater rises, while Miami International Airport moves ahead with electrical upgrades, zero-emissions equipment and planned solar panels to cut emissions at a key travel hub.
What the recall could mean for long term adaptation
That is why the recall battle, whatever its outcome, carries environmental weight. Resilience projects run on decades while recall timelines and election cycles run on months and years.
For people watching their insurance bills jump or mopping up one more flood in the garage, the question is not only who sits in the mayor’s office. It is whether Miami Dade can keep a steady course on climate adaptation even as politics heats up.
The official statement was published by CBS Miami.
