In Miami Beach’s local elections in November 2021, voters were asked if they wanted an ordinance to roll back the last call from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. across the city (with exceptions set by the city commission). Proponents argued that the non-binding ballot – known colloquially as the “2 o’clock ban” – would reduce crime in the community’s South Beach entertainment district. It was accepted with a whopping 57 percent.
The discussion of the subject matter of the election dominated much of the election cycle and often became bitter attacks on both sides. Now that it has been adopted, the Commission has a duty to put the initiative into action and each of the six Commissioners has announced their support for a version of a 2am rollback.
On Wednesday evening, Mayor Dan Gelber, a vocal supporter of the rollback during his 2021 re-election campaign, convened a special meeting to discuss the upcoming regulation. City legal staff drafted a handful of options for commissioners to consider, from a major 5-2am last call reset for all facilities across the city, to a less stringent approach to those already in operation would become a grandfather.
However, over the course of the three-hour meeting, it became clear that there was no consensus among Commissioners on how to proceed and there was widespread disagreement about which companies (if any) should be exempted. The newly elected Group 1 Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez even used part of her time to suggest going back to the drawing board and changing the ban from 2 a.m. to another hour instead.
“Here I would be open to: 3 in the morning across the board, no exceptions, because that’s clear to everyone,” said Rosen Gonzalez. “Or maybe 3:30 am, because between 2:00 am and 5:00 am you kind of hit 3:30 am and do that across the board, and it’s a start and send a message.”
Legally, the 2am rollback time was out of the question as it had passed in the November vote: the commissioners had to work within the proposed options. But Rosen Gonzalez’s remarks also caught the eye because she had unequivocally supported the 2 a.m. ban during her election campaign.
“Voters support a 2am rollback,” said Gonzalez in a video she posted on her campaign’s Facebook page on November 5th. “Me too.”
Two months later, Gonzalez suggested a final call at 3 or 3:30 a.m.
“In this last election there was a poll on the ballot, in which the voters were simply asked whether they want to reset the consumption times to 2 a.m. throughout the city, with the exceptions that we provide,” said Gelber, calling for a compromise between the commissioners. “And I think we are here today in this particular meeting to find out how we can stimulate the will of the voters who have told us to do this.”
Gonzalez declined any exceptions, referring to a scenario where about 140 companies would be exempted from resetting their last call times. That option would exclude virtually all oceanfront hotels, fully closed restaurants, bars, and dance halls in select areas on Washington Avenue, 71st Street, and the Collins Park neighborhood, north of South Beach, according to a planning protocol made available to the commission.
“I respect the voters, I know we need a change,” said Gonzalez. “I want us to do something that makes a change but doesn’t create the scenario in which we are sued.”
Group 5 commissioner Ricky Arriola, who spoke out against the 2am ban during the election cycle, said at the meeting that commissioners would need to consider recourse should it roll back the party image of Ocean Drive around failed to fix the watch, including incidents like a last August, a 21-year-old Colorado tourist was shot dead in an arbitrary attack in broad daylight by a man who claimed he had tripped over mushrooms.
In the end, Gelber directed city officials to begin drafting an ordinance, although it is unclear what it would contain as the commissioners could not agree on any of the specific exemptions. Gelber added that he wanted the item to be voted on as early as next month. In order to be adopted, the regulation needs the support of four of the six members of the commission.
The New Times tried to reach Gonzalez by phone but did not get an immediate answer.
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