The lesson of Ed Pastor

Wherever you land on the recent dust up on full display at the Miami Town Council meetings, it might be worth noting that every person who has ever sat on the Miami Town Council does so because they love this town. That's never been the differentiator. Holding a seat is a job that requires knowing how to get things done inside the rules that govern a town.

Gil Madrid was removed as mayor by a 4-2 council vote after months of conflict on the dais. Council members backing the removal pointed to runaway meetings, favoritism during public comment, and repeated disregard for the town attorney's advice on open meeting law — the guardrails that keep a small town out of legal trouble. Madrid himself acknowledged losing his temper and called the job a steep learning curve.

That didn't erase his support. Plenty of residents like the "get 'er done, damn the rules" style — it reads as passion, as somebody who won't be pushed around. To his friends, it's endearing.

But endearing isn't effective. Being disagreeable from the dais — berating staff, constituents, or fellow councilmembers on camera — is the one thing an official can't afford, because it burns the relationships a small town runs on and invites the legal exposure Miami is now sorting through.

Strip away personalities and Madrid's supporters and detractors want the same town: no empty storefronts, fewer potholes, a place for kids to play, a police department with working air conditioning, safe water, real flood control. That's common ground. The question was never who loves Miami more;  it's who can move the town toward those goals without setting it on fire.

Miami has produced real leadership before. Ed Pastor attended school here before a long career representing Arizona in Congress. He clashed with colleagues over policy and procedure — that's the job. But he never torched relationships or ignored the institutions he served. That's the bar: not enthusiasm for Miami, but the discipline to disagree well and still get the work done.

November will seat a new council, and early signs suggest it will lean toward the same "get 'er done" instincts that just cost Madrid his gavel. That's fine — Miami doesn't need less passion. What it needs is council members who can channel that passion inside the rules, the way Pastor did, instead of outside them. We'll be watching to see which one shows up.