Joseph Xavier Carollo (born March 12,1955) is a Cuban-American politician who served as mayor of Miami from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2001.[3] Following his loss in the 2001 mayoral election,he served as Doral,Florida city manager from January 2013 until his firing in April 2014;[4] he was reinstated in June 2017,then immediately resigned.[5] He successfully ran for election to the Miami city commission in 2017.[6]
Carollo's combative and erratic behavior in his political career earned him the name "Crazy Joe" from award-winning Miami Herald journalist and author Carl Hiaasen. The Miami New Times similarly called him "Loco Joe."
In 1979,Carollo,who was then a police officer,was reprimanded for putting Ku Klux Klan cartoon pamphlets in the locker of a fellow Black officer.[9][10]
First tenure on the Miami City Commission (1979–87)
In 1977,at the age of 22,Carollo ran unsuccessfully for the Miami City Commission,[8][11] challenging Thedore Gibson. In his campaign,he positioned himself as vehemently anti-communist and spoke of his desire to represent the city's rising Cuban population.[11] He regularly appeared on Spanish-language radio,calling himself "Jose" in those appearances. He lost this campaign,but learned enough to have more success two year later.[8]
In 1979,Carollo was elected to the Miami City Commission at the age of 24,[12] He was the youngest member that had ever been elected to the commission.[13][11] defeating Demetrio Perez Jr.[11] It became clear from the start of his tenure on the City Commission,that Carollo was independent of other politicians in the city and willing to be combative with them. In his first meeting as a commissioner,he voted six time against Mayor Maurice Ferré's preferred positions.[8] Carollo quickly gained a reputation for making enemies,[14] frequently battling with others in Miami government.[13] He and the city's police chief,Kennth Harms,fought with each other,with Carollo publicly accusing him of harboring agents of the Fidel Castro government of Cuba within the ranks of the city's police department.[8] In 1982,Harms sent a memo accusing Carollo of seeking political favors for Sheik Mohammed Al-Fassi,bribing the police,seeking career favors for his friends on the police force,and enforcing these demands by withholding budget funds for the police.[14] Carollo played a role in facilitating the appointment of Howard Gary as Miami's city manager. However,after Gary took office,Carollo fought with him relentlessly and played a role in pressuring the controversial firing of Gary (the city's first black city manager).[8] The ousting of Gary particularly angered black constituent's in Carollo's district.[11] Carollo's combative and erratic behavior in his political career earned him the name "Crazy Joe" from award-winning Miami Herald journalist and author Carl Hiaasen.[15] This name was popular among his critics.[8] The Miami New Times similarly called him "Loco Joe."[15]
During the mayoral election of 1983,between Ferréand Xavier Suarez,Carollo was poised to endorse Ferréat a public event with the incumbent mayor. Ferréhad endorsed Carollo five years earlier for his city commission seat. However,at the event,Carollo blindsided Ferré,lambasting him. Among accusations he made at the event was that Ferré(a Puerto Rican) was anti-Cuban. Ferréwon the election,but the event remained a memorable moment in Carollo's political career.[8][16]
In 1985,Carolllo served as vice mayor,a position held by one of the city's five commissioners which set the policy for the city manager to follow.[17]
Carollo frequently postured against communism. He blocked a Sister Cities convention from being hosted in the city,citing opposition to the fact that it would include delegates from communist nations.[8] In 1986,Carollo attacked a plan to build a major waterfront development on Watson Island by alleging it was funded by communists.[8][16] This was despite plan being backed by several conservative leaders,such as former U. S. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick,conservative anti-Castro lobbyist Jorge Mas Canosa,and then-mayor Xavier Suarez.[16] In support of this accusation,Carollo cited a revelation that one investor in the project had previous business in a communist country. Carollo's vocal opposition helped kill the planned development.[8]
In 1985,after mayor-elect Suarez had had success in electing a slate of candidates promising reform,Suarez promised that he would cooperate with the new mayor and his council allies rather than be combative with them. This promise,however,was not honored.[8] In 1987,Mayor Suarez (in a speech as a fundraiser for his mayoral re-election campaign) said of Carollo "He's really kind of an embarrassment to those people who really are fighting communism and giving their lives and their talents and their time and their money,and in the halls of the U.S. Congress,and in South America and Africa they sometimes give their lives. In fact I think he's an all-around embarrassment."[18]
Carollo faced an investigation into allegations that he pressured city contractors to do business with his private security firm. He was never prosecuted,however. He was also accused of giving a key to the city to a wealthy middle eastern businessman in an effort to receive a contract from the businessman for his security firm.[8]
Re-election defeat in 1987,and unsuccessful 1987 and 1993 pursuits of office
After serving two terms on the commission,Carollo lost re-election in 1987. He was defeated by lawyer Victor De Yurre,losing by a broad margin.[13][19] For much of the next eight years,Carollo was considered to be in "political exile",and was regarded by numerous political pundits to be a "has been".[20] Carollo worked in the private sector,including owning and operating restaurants.[7]
Carollo first unsuccessfully sought to regain office in 1989.[8] In 1993,Carollo made two unsuccessful efforts to regain politcal office.[20] He first sought a newly-created seat on the Miami–Dade County Commission,but was defeated by former mayor Ferré. During the campaign,Corollo accused Ferréof impropriety,falsely purporting that documents Carollo provided to reporters evidenced that Ferréhad been indicted by a grand jury for violation of election law. Later in 1993,Carollo unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Miami City Commission. Pundits noted that he had campaigned with a far less combative attitude than he had exhibited in his earlier tenure on the commission,but that memory of his first tenure persisted in voters' minds. Six others ran for the seat,including Willy Gort[8] (who won).
Second tenure on the Miami City Commission (1995–96)
Eight years after being unseated,in 1995,Joe Carollo beat De Yurre to retake his seat on the Miami City Commission.[13][21] De Yurre had faced controversies during his own two terms,including various federal investigations into possible financial crimes.[22]
Mayoralties
Between 1996 and 2001,Carollo served two stints as mayor of Miami. As with his earlier time on the city commission,he was considered a polarizing figure while mayor.[23]
Less than one year after rejoining the City Commission,Carollo won a special election to replace Stephen P. Clark,who had died of cancer,as mayor of City of Miami.[13][24] The campaign for mayor,triggered by Clark's death,was short and attracted no other major names. Despite being a controversial figure in the city's politics,Corollo was widely regarded as an all-but-certain winner prior to vote due to the lack of any substantial challenger and Carollo's heavy name recognition. Carollo received nearly 76% of the vote,with the runner-up receiving nearly 11%.[13]
Not long after the start of Carollo's first mayoralty,the city's politics was shaken after several city commissioners and others were arrested in Operation Greenpalm,an FBI-led bribery sting during which it came to light that the City of Miami was $68 million in debt.[7][25] Among those indicted and removed from office by the sting was a key political adversary of Carollo's:City Manager Cesar Odio. Others indicted include Miller Dawkins. Separately from this,Commissioner Humberto Hernandez –another adversary of Carollo's–was ousted after an FBI investigation led to his indictment for money laundering.[7]
The revelations of the Project Greenpalm probe left Carollo with a $70 million government budget shortfall to address.[7] Carollo brought in Merritt Stierheim as interim city manager to create a recovery plan. While the city faced scrutiny from Governor Lawton Chiles,reduced bond ratings from Moody,and calls to dissolve the city government,Stierheim’s plan was approved by the city commission.[26] In December 1993,Governor Lawton Chiles established a five-member financial oversight board to oversee the implementation of the city's recovery plan,a move that Carollo strongly supported. However,after the board's creation,Carollo and the board regularly fought over measures recommended by the board.[7] In 2001,the Miami Herald praised Carollo's work as mayor towards remedying a crisis the city government had faced in its finances.[23]
Other challenges that Carollo addressed included working to persuade the Miami Heat team against leaving the city,negotiating with the team and County Mayor Alex Penelas over the deal for the team's new arena.[7][11] Carollo also faced the challenge of repairing the city's image of corruption.[7]
In 1997,with a referendum to potentially adopt a strong-mayor system also on the ballot,Carollo lost re-election to[Xavier Suarez in a runoff election Although Carollo alleged ballot fraud in the first voting round,Suarez took office.[27]
Carollo continued his lawsuit alleging ballot fraud in the first round of voting of the 1997 mayoral race. On March 5,1998,Thomas S. Wilson Jr.,a judge in the Florida circuit court voided the first round of the election writing "this scheme to defraud,literally and figuratively,stole the ballot from the hands of every honest voter in the city of Miami."[28]
A Miami Herald investigation of the mayoral race found that campaign workers for Xavier Suarez and city commissioner Humberto Hernandez were registering voters where they didn't live,punched absentee ballots for voters without permission,casting ballots for voters who did not vote,and signed absentee ballots as witnesses that they did not witness,including for dead people.[29]
Second mayoralty (1998–2001)
On March 13,1998,Joe Carollo was sworn in as Miami mayor after the 3rd District Court of Appeals threw out 5,100 fraudulent absentee ballots.[30]
Carollo's second mayorship was marked from the beginning with struggles with the City Commission. After City Commissioner Humberto Hernandez was removed from his office by Governor Lawton Chiles,Carollo fired the City Manager Jose Garcia-Pedroza,who had been appointed by his predecessor,Mayor Xavier Suarez. The City Commission voted to reinstate Garcia-Pedroza and Carollo fired him again,a back-and-forth that led to Garcia-Pedroza being fired three times before asking the City Commission to let his dismissal stand.[31]
Real estate developer Michael Baumann tore down an existing apartment building in the summer of 1998 and after being pushed to do a required archaeological survey,discovered an ancient 2,000 year old,38-foot-wide circle beneath the soil at the mouth of the Miami River. Carollo and the developer first attempted to move the site away from its historical location.[32] Carollo opposed preserving the site as it stood because of the possibility of significant tax revenue from Baumann's planned apartment building. However,Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas took up the cause of preserving the site after pressure from Native American groups,schoolchildren,archaeologists,the Smithsonian Institution,as well as international scrutiny.[33]
1999 strong mayoralty referendum
On Election Day,November 3,1999,Miami voters voted to change their system of government to a strong-mayor model. As a result,city manager Donald Warshaw was fired and Carollo was forced to run for re-election the following March,effectively cutting his term in half.[34] After the election,Carollo sued to overturn the results of the election,arguing that it constitutes an illegal recall vote.[35]
The results of the election found defenders with City Commissioners Arthur Teele,Tomás Regalado,and Joe Sanchez,whose attorneys asked the Florida Supreme Court to intervene so they could begin to plan and advertise the March election.[36] When the Florida Supreme Court refused to intervene,Carollo successfully defended his seat against the election results.[37]
In November 1999,Elián González and his mother,along with other Cuban migrants,left Cuba for the United States. While at sea,their boat failed,and most of the passengers,including González's mother,died. González and two other survivors were rescued at sea by fishermen.[38] After arriving,González's family in Miami sued to retain custody of Elián while his father in Cuba,Juan Miguel González Quintana in Cuba,demanded that Elián be returned to Cuba.[39]
The cause to keep Elián González in the United States was taken up by Miami's Cuban community. On March 29,Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas held a press conference where he announced that the county police department would not assist federal police in removing Elián González from Little Havana.[40]
At that point Joe Carollo began a media blitz where he appeared on television more than 50 times,including on Rivera Live,Nightline,Hannity. During this media blitz,he also made frequent appearances on Miami-area Spanish-language talk radio station Radio Mambi.[40] Carollo's media appearances garnered local and national derision. He accused Juan Miguel González of child abuse.[41] In the days leading up to the April 21st federal raid,City Manager Donald Warshaw wrote memos saying that Carollo was attempting to direct the police to defend the González's home.[42] After Elián was taken by federal agents and reunited with his father,Carollo was one of the first to say that photos of Elián with his father were faked,and said that any supporters of Elián in Little Havana with guns were agents of Fidel Castro.[40]
Carollo fired City Manager Donald Warshaw,who had not supported Carollo's actions in reglation to the Elián González affair. Subsequently,City of Miami Police Chief William O'Brien resigned.[40] Those protesting this shakeup directed massive loads of banana to Miami City Hall,in reference to negative characterization likening Carollo's leadership to that of a "banana republic". Boxes of bananas were delivered and drivers,and protesters also threw bananas at the building.[43]
Facing a field of nine opponents and the pressure of a public domestic violence scandal,Carollo failed to make the runoff in the November 2001 election for mayor. He was defeated by former Miami mayor Maurice Ferré and eventual winner Manny Diaz.[44]
Doral city manager (2013–14)
After the resignation of Doral City Manager Yvonne Soler-McKinley,Carollo was appointed 3 as city manager without a search being held for a new manager. He was nominated by Mayor Luigi Boria,and was confirmed by the Doral City Council by unanimous vote on January 9,2013.[23][45]Interim City Manager Merrett R. Stierheim,who had originally been brought in to lead a search,called the appointment "a terrible decision."[46]
After several months,Carollo and Mayor Boria came into disagreement,with Carollo publicly criticizing Boria in late 2013 over concerns about a real estate project on land owned by Boria's own children. This precipitated a feud between the two. Boria twice attempted to pass motions through the City Council that would fire Carollo. The first attempt failed,but the second attempt succeeded.[47] Fifteen months after he was appointed,Carollo was fired by the City Council in a 3-2 vote on April 21,2014.[47][48] According to Vice Mayor Christi Fraga,the firing was motivated by Carollo "[having] escalated to nonsense,untrue allegations,insubordination,intimidation,and bullying by our manager." Carollo had accused several members of the council of taking bribes for votes and predicted his firing in an earlier press conference. The city council members who voted to remove him said that he was creating a toxic work environment leading to high turnover in city staff.[48] Carollo sued the mayor and city council members on first amendment grounds and Florida whistleblower protections. In 2017,Carollo and the city of Doral settled the lawsuit,and as part of the settlement terms Carollo was reinstated as city manager so he could resign. Carollo was reinstated on June 21,2016,and submitted his formal resignation hours later.[49]
Third tenure on the Miami City Commission (2017-present)
November 21,2017,Joe Carollo defeated Alfie Leon in a runoff election to take the district 3 seat on the Miami city commission. The seat was presently held by his brother,Frank Carollo,who was term limited.[50] The district represents the neighborhoods and communities of Little Havana,East Shenadoah,West Brickell,as well as parts of Silver Bluff and The Roads.[51]
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.[52]
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.[53] 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.[54]
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.[55]
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?"[56]
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.[57]
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."[58]
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.[59]
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.[60] 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.[61]
Civil lawsuit
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.[62][63] 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.[64][65]
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.[66]
On September 20,2025,Carollo announced that he would be running for mayor in the 2025 election.[67] He has promised that he intends for it to be his final campaign for public office.[68] He is considered one of the six leading candidates in the thirteen-candidate field.[69] 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.[70]
In his campaign,Carollo has 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.[69]
Personal life
In the years between his first and second tenures on the Miami City Commission,Carollo married and had two daughters with his wife,Maria. Carollo also has a son[8][7]
On February 8,2001,Carollo was arrested on charges of domestic violence. He was accused of throwing a terra cotta pot at his then-wife,leaving a golf-ball-sized welt on her head.[71] The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office eventually dropped domestic violence charges against Carollo after he agreed to attend anger-management courses.[72][73]
1 2 "MIAMI'S TOP BANANA HAS SPLIT A COMMUNITY". Orlando Sentinel. May 7, 2000. Retrieved September 22, 2025. At 18, he became the youngest police officer in the state, resigning from the Metro-Dade Police Department after being reprimanded for placing a Ku Klux Klan cartoon in a black officer's locker. ... Breaking with the Young Democrats, Carollo jumped to George Wallace's presidential campaign in 1976. He was attracted, he has said, by the late Alabama governor's populist message of smaller government, not his segregationist views.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dorschner, John (September 8, 1996). "The Explosive Mayor of Miami". The Miami Herald. pp.9A.
Dorschner, John (September 8, 1996). "The Explosive Mayor of Miami". The Miami Herald. pp.9A. Retrieved October 30, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
1 2 Cavanaugh, Joanne (July 24, 1996). "Carollo: From Political Exile To The New Mayor of Miami". The Miami Herald (final edition, late sports). pp.1 and 14A.:
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