Joe Carollo

Carollo's term ended when he resigned on December 10, 2025.

Replacing Viernes Culturales

Viernes Culturales (Cultural Fridays) is a festival in the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami held on the last Friday of the month run by a nonprofit made up of area business-owners and community members. In 2018, Carollo applied for permits on the same space and time that would have held Viernes Culturales in a move to force the festival to shut down. Carollo said that he felt the existing event had become "a flea market." One of the Viernes Culturales nonprofit board members, William "Bill" Fuller, said that the actions were taken to attack him personally.

Ouster of police chief

In March 2021, Mayor Francis Suarez announced that he had recruited and hired Houston police chief Art Acevedo. Acevedo said he would "not tolerate mediocrity at the Miami Police Department", and would make reforms to improve the department. Acevedo quickly began to follow through with high profile firings of police officers starting in June 2021, which brought controversy to his position, and criticism from the Miami City Commission.

Although Art Acevedo won praise from the Cuban community of Miami for standing with them during rallies to support the 2021 Cuban protests, the relationship soured when, in a statement to staff, he referred to a "Cuban mafia" that controlled the Miami Police Department. Carollo criticized him for the statement, calling it "unbelievable," and pointed out that Fidel Castro used the same language to denigrate Cubans in Miami. Carollo expressed disbelief that Acevedo, himself Cuban, could be unaware of that history.

Acevedo accused Carollo (as well as fellow commissioners Alex Díaz de la Portilla and Manolo Reyes) of repeatedly interfering with the affairs of the police department. Carollo ultimately led an effort to oust Acevedo. During a September 2021 hearing on the future of Acevedo as police chief, commissioners aired grievances against Acevedo, including his "Cuban mafia" comments, the firings of popular officers, and the hiring process by the mayor. Carollo brought in a video of Acevedo impersonating Elvis for a fundraiser. Carollo then proceeded to freeze the video and bring attention to Acevedo's crotch, stating "Do you find it acceptable for your police chief to go out in public with pants like that, with his mid-section and pants so tight?"

Art Acevedo was fired by the city manager in October 2021. At the swearing in of his replacement, Manny Morales, Carollo played the theme from the film The Godfather, referencing the "Cuban mafia" statement.

Homelessness ordinances

In October 2021, Carollo sponsored an ordinance criminalizing tent encampments in the city of Miami. Critics said that the ordinance would criminalize being homeless. Carollo and his supporters say that homelessness is a choice, with Carollo himself saying that the homeless are "people that are out there because they want to be out there."

As a result of this action, the city of Miami was sued by the ACLU of Florida in federal court alleging that the city was destroying the property of residents. The plaintiffs in the case reported city workers destroying personal belongings such as clothing, family photos, identification documents, and an urn containing one plaintiff's mother's ashes.

Carollo also pushed a plan to build an encampment on Virginia Key to keep homeless people. The plan drew sharp criticism from many sectors of Miami, including the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, advocates for the homeless, area historians, environmentalists, and nearby residents. After vocal disagreement from the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, which manages the beach due to its history as a Black beach during the Jim Crow era, the city commission took over the board.

2024–23 first amendment lawsuit against Carollo

While serving as a commissioner, Carollo was sued by two businessmen for actions he took as commissioner that they felt violated their First Amendment rights. They claimed Carollo "weaponized" the code enforcement department against them and their businesses as a result of them supporting one of his political opponents. Carollo claims he exercised his powers as commissioner properly. In June 2023, a jury found Carollo liable for $15.9 million in compensatory damages and an additional $47.6 million in punitive damages. Carollo says he plans to appeal.

November 2023 a Federal court ordered the city of Miami to garnish his wages to pay the $63.5 million judgment against him. In January 2024 a Federal court approved a writ of execution for US Marshals to begin seizing $63.5 million in assets.

Other matters

In 2023, filmmaker Billy Corben accused Carollo of using "an anti-Semitic dog foghorn" (meaning a non-subtle dog whistle) when Carollo teased him repeatedly using his Jewish birth name instead of his professional name during a tense committee meeting.

2025 mayoral campaign

On September 20, 2025, Carollo announced that he would be running for mayor in the 2025 election. He promised that he intended for the effort to be his final campaign for public office. Lifetime term limits ratified by voters in a referendum conducingly with the election's first round helped make this pledge more likely to be realized, as Carollo is now barred from being elected to Miami city office.

In the lead-up to the election's first round, Carollo was considered one of the six leading candidates in the thirteen-candidate field. Despite being one of the later candidates to file their candidacy (launching his campaign near the last available opportunity to do so), by October he had fundraised more money than any other candidate, with his campaign and political committee raising $712,781 during the third quarter of 2025.

During his campaign, Carollo named housing affordability as the city's most pressing concern, and has also cited public safety and the provision of tutoring to school aged children as key priorities he would have if elected to again serve as mayor. During the incident, of his daughters had placed a 911 call during the incident, in which she urged urging the emergency operator "help, my dad is hurting my mom! Please come now, please!" while a woman's screams could be heard in the background. After his marriage to Mari ended, Carollo later remarried to his current wife, Marjorie.