A proposed charter amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot in Hollywood was wrongly worded, forcing city officials to not count any votes on the measure.
Instead, the city will adopt the ordinance to allow city residents to decide on the sale or lease of some city-owned properties until it can be placed on the ballot again in November 2026 for voters to approve or reject it.
The inaccurate language of Charter Amendment 6 prompted City Attorney Doug Gonzales to resign. Gonzales had held the position for seven years.
City officials that the amendment language 鈥渙n the ballot is incorrect and does not meet the intent of the Charter Review Committee.鈥�
The city鈥檚 charter review committee had passed an ordinance that said that for specific city-owned sites to be sold or leased for 50 or more years they must be approved by a majority of voters. Those sites include parks, golf courses, historic property and property east of the Intracoastal Waterway. Leases from 20 to 50 years would still require five of seven commissioners to approve. That ordinance would have required a majority of voters to approve for it to take effect.
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On the official ballot, Charter Amendment 6 read completely differently 鈥� instead saying that a 鈥測es鈥� vote would the 鈥渞emove referendum option鈥� for properties sold and that properties leased in excess of 50 years would still require commission approval.
"The vital information was left off, and it changed the meaning and the intent of the city charter review committee," Hollywood spokesperson Joann Hussey told CBS News Miami.
鈥淟anguage should have indicated 鈥榬equiring the approval by a majority vote of the city鈥檚 electors,'鈥� wrote city officials, who said that the ordinance will be adopted 鈥渁s if it was already passed by voters.鈥�
It will then remain in effect until it can be 鈥渞econsidered by voters during the next general election scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026.鈥�
