Editing Miami Shores, Florida (section)

==Government==

===Form of government===
The village operates under a [[council-manager]] system. It has a city council of five members, who are elected at-large. The Village Charter provides that the two individuals receiving the highest number of votes are elected to four-year terms. The individual(s) receiving the next highest number of votes is elected to a two-year term. The position of mayor is selected by the council at its inaugural meeting. Historically, the individual receiving the highest number of votes is selected to serve as the mayor and holds this position for two years of the four-year term. At the conclusion of his or her term as mayor, the individual retains a seat on the council as a "regular" council member for the next two years. Elections are held every two years, with either two or three seats being open at each election in the ordinary course of events.

Each council member is a voting member of the council, with the mayor serving as the chair. The council is responsible for enacting most village laws, approving capital expenditures, and hiring the village manager. There are also a number of administrative boards, such as planning & zoning, code enforcement, and personnel appeals, that manage various aspects of the village government.

The village manager is the chief executive officer in charge of managing the day-to-day functions of the village. The village maintains its own police department, but fire services are supplied by the county, with [[Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department]] Station No. 38 located in the village.

===Regulation of vegetable gardens===
In 2013, two residents, a married couple named Hermine Ricketts and Tom Carroll, were cited by the village under a code provision that prohibited [[vegetable garden]]s in front yards. The majority of the couple's front yard was planted with various vegetables, and had been in place for 17 years. The garden, which regularly received compliments from neighbors, supplied about 80% of the couple's meals. And although the garden had existed for 17 years, the city could produce no record of a single complaint. Nonetheless, just weeks after amending its ordinances "for clarity," the Miami Shores Code Enforcement Board ordered the couple to destroy the garden or face recurring fines of $50 per day.

The [[Institute for Justice]] filed a suit on their behalf, claiming that the "backyard only" rule was arbitrary and violated the couple's property rights under the Florida Constitution.<ref>[http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/19/3764120/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of.html Life, liberty and the pursuit of vegetables], Miami Herald, November 19, 2013.</ref><ref>[http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/11/19/miami-shores-sues-village-over-veggies/ Miami Shores Sues Village Over Veggies], ''CBS Miami'', November 19, 2013.</ref> The story garnered national attention. On August 25, 2016, Judge Monica Gordo granted the village's [[summary judgment]] motion, finding that, "the prohibition of vegetable gardens except in backyards is [[rational basis review|rationally related]] to Miami Shores' legitimate interest in promoting and maintaining aesthetics," and that the rule therefore "passes constitutional scrutiny."

The ruling subsequently was upheld by the [[Florida Third District Court of Appeal]], which stated, "Following the ineluctable conclusion that the Village ordinance does not restrict a fundamental right or suspect class, [two cases previously discussed] control the analysis in this case. The ordinance is constitutional. We agree with the trial court's parting observation that the appellants 'still have a remedy. They can petition the Village Council to change the ordinance. They can also support candidates for Council who agree with their view that the ordinance should be repealed.'" The city defended the ruling, saying that "without any arbiter of taste, residents could get stuck living next to a polka-dot house with pigs taking mud baths by the garage and an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile on the swale."<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-shores/article189273944.html|title=Do not eat your veggies — if they are grown in your front yard, Miami Shores says|last=By|website=miamiherald}}</ref>

Although the case gathered local and national news attention,<ref name="auto"/> the Supreme Court of Florida declined to hear the case.

In the spring of 2019 representatives from the Florida Senate and House of Representatives passed legislation to protect private property rights and override local ordinances and allow vegetable gardens to be grown and cared for by property owners within any location on their property. The current Florida governor signed the legislature on June 24, 2019, creating Florida Statute 604.71. The new ordinance became effective July 1, 2019.

The preamble to Florida Statute 604.71 reads:

"An Act Relating to Vegetable Gardens: Providing legislative intent: Prohibiting local governments from regulating vegetable gardens on residential properties except as otherwise provided by law; specifying that such regulations are void and unenforceable; specifying exceptions; providing applicability; defining the term 'vegetable garden'; providing and effective date".
 
=== Alleged racial discrimination in seatbelt ticketing ===
Following the January 2016 report "Racial Disparities in Florida Safety Belt Law Enforcement", published by the [[ACLU]] (which did not mention Miami Shores), local CBS-affiliate station WFOR-TV gathered additional statistics from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. One sentence in the report noted that "in Miami Shores, there were 261 seat belt citations issued with 186 [(71%)] going to blacks."<ref>[http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/01/26/aclu-blacks-ticketed-for-seat-belts-twice-rate-of-whites-in-florida/ ACLU: Blacks Ticketed for Seat Belts Twice Rate of Whites in Florida] CBS4 January 26, 2016</ref> The report did not discuss whether any of the drivers were initially stopped for other violations. It also failed to note the area's large African American population. At the time, the population of Miami Shores was roughly 24% African American, as compared to 18.9% for Miami-Dade County and 16.31% for Florida as a whole. More significantly, though, the neighborhoods surrounding Miami Shores have large African American majorities. For example, [[North Miami]]'s population is roughly six times that of Miami Shores, 58.9% being African American (i.e., the African American population of North Miami is more than three times the total population of Miami Shores). Other nearby neighborhoods include [[Little Haiti]] (64.9% African American), [[West Little River, Florida|West Little River]] (57.2% African American), [[Gladeview, Florida|Gladeview]] (76.98% African American), and [[Westview, Florida|Westview]] (75.6% African American).