<\/p>\n
Interim Mayor Jacqueline Garcia-Roves speaks during a city budget council meeting at Hialeah City Hall on Monday, September 15, 2025, in Hialeah, Fla.<\/p>\n
D.A. Varela<\/p>\n
dvarela@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Reality Check<\/a> is a Herald series holding those in power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at tips@miamiherald.com.<\/a><\/p>\n Hialeah\u2019s interim mayor, who has been unable to get approval from the city council for financial relief for struggling residents, is now moving ahead with a Christmas bonus for the city\u2019s employees.<\/p>\n In a memorandum dated Nov. 18, Interim Mayor Jacqueline Garcia-Roves announced that her office is awarding the bonuses \u201cin appreciation\u201d of employees\u2019 \u201chard work, dedication and commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the memo, every city employee, including part-time workers, will receive a $1,000 bonus. Her office told the Miami Herald that elected officials, council employees who are contractors and outsourced cleaning and security staff are excluded. The incentive is scheduled to be paid in December, according to an email from Human Resources Director Elsa Jaramillo-Velez, once it has been processed by the city finance department.<\/p>\n That amounts to approximately 1,492 budgeted employees, representing nearly $1.5 million in expenditures. Garcia-Roves\u2019 office told the Herald the money is coming from the city\u2019s surplus funds.<\/p>\n During the recent election cycle, the city had campaigned for a $200 relief payment for homeowners, but the plan ultimately failed in the council<\/a> just two weeks after the election \u2014 after both Garcia-Roves and Councilman Jesus Tundidor, who were running for mayor, lost. Now, with the transition of power underway, the mayor is moving forward with a $1,000 Christmas bonus for city employees, spending taxpayer money before the new mayor-elect, Bryan Calvo<\/a>, is set to be sworn in on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n READ MORE: After election loss, Hialeah\u2019s interim mayor blocks access for Mayor-elect Bryan Calvo<\/a><\/p>\n Is the bonus legal?<\/p>\n According to a former longtime Hialeah city attorney, the mayor does not have the authority to give out the bonuses.<\/p>\n William Grodnick, who served as Hialeah\u2019s city attorney from 1998 to 2014, said the mayor does not have the authority to issue a bonus of that size without council approval. Hialeah has an expenditure-approval threshold for the mayor of $25,000. Anything over that must be approved by the council.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should go to the council because the amount is way over $25,000,\u201d Grodnick said. \u201cIt\u2019s doubly suspicious. In the past, Christmas bonuses were either customary or part of collective bargaining with labor unions, and we discontinued them for 25 years. And then suddenly you come up with the Christmas bonus again. You didn\u2019t negotiate with unions, and you also didn\u2019t go to the City Council? It\u2019s suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n Former longtime Mayor Raul Martinez said that under his administration bonuses were issued only as part of union contract agreements in place of percentage salary increases, and not unilaterally without council approval.<\/p>\n A legal interpretation of Hialeah\u2019s City Charter spending limitation, issued on Oct. 7 by current City Attorney Rafael Suarez-Rivas, addressed whether the $25,000 threshold applies to the value of a single transaction or to cumulative spending.<\/p>\n It is \u201ca reasonable and clear interpretation of the City Council expenditure approval requirements for amounts exceeding $25,000 is that it applies to any purchase order, contract, or requisition from a vendor that is known or reasonably, foreseeably known to exceed $25,000. In such cases, City Council approval is legally mandated for any such expenditure.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Garcia-Roves\u2019s office argues that the limitation does not apply to the Christmas bonuses, since the payments are not being made to a vendor. Her office asserts that, under Hialeah\u2019s strong-mayor form of government, the administration does not need City Council approval to issue the bonuses independently. The Herald reached out to the City Attorney\u2019s office for clarification but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n Grodnick rejects Garcia-Roves\u2019 interpretation.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a lie,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery single expenditure in the city of Hialeah of that nature has to go to the city council for approval…. If it\u2019s beyond $25,000 you need to go to the City Council. If you\u2019re changing a policy that has a million-and-a-half-dollar implication, you need to go to the City Council to get approval.\u201d<\/p>\n The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 9, the same day as the runoff election for two council seats. That meeting will also be the last City Council session for Garcia-Roves as interim mayor and for Tundidor on the council, as both resigned effective Jan. 12 to run for mayor.<\/p>\n Mayor-elect Calvo issued a statement to the Herald about the bonunes, saying that city employees \u201care hard-working and very deserving of this bonus, especially during the holidays. However, things have to be done correctly and properly noticed, budgeted and accounted for.\u201d<\/p>\n Grodnick also raised concerns that the payments could violate state rules governing public employee compensation.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not allowed to give a non-merit bonus in the state of Florida,\u201d Grodnick said. \u201cThe amount is so high that some employees may be getting 20% or 30% of their salary. It\u2019s not just a little holiday incentive \u2014 it sounds like a big, fat, illegal bonus, which you\u2019re not supposed to do. It\u2019s one thing to give out a $100 Christmas bonus\u2026 but $1,000?\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 3:08 PM.<\/p>\n Follow More of Our Reporting on Reality Check<\/p>\n Newly elected Mayor Bryan Calvo, former councilman, listens as Interim Mayor Jackie Garcia-Roves speaks during a Hialeah mayoral debate at Univision 23 (WLTV) in Doral on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, ahead of the November 4 elections. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n