Effort to Recall Teele

Months into Art Teele's second term on the City of Miami commission, activists in District 5, led by Irby McKnight, began collecting signatures to recall Teele. By November 2002, activists collected over 5,000 signatures - enough to begin the recall process. However, by the end of February 2003, McKnight and the rest of the outraged constituents abandoned the recall effort. They felt if the recall went to a vote, Teele had more than enough supporters, especially from the religious community, to retain his seat. McKnight and fellow citizens believe their recall effort was the catalyst for the scrutiny of Teele's District 5 commission seat.

Below are the original flyers handed out as well as signatures.

Art Teele: City of Miami District 5 Commissioner in Pictures

From left: Johnny Winton, Art Teele, Mayor Manny Diaz, Tomas Regalado & Joe Sanchez

Art Teele and wife Stephanie Teele

Teele's County Commission Reign

Art Teele begin his career in South Florida politics upon beating his mentor Barbara Carey-Shuler for the Dade County District 3 commission seat in September 1990. Teele won by six percent.

September 5, 1990 (The Miami Herald)

In a $215,000 campaign, Teele retained his county seat in March of 1993 beating seven opponents. Teele said, "he would look out for projects to benefit Dade as a whole but intends to take special interest in revitalizing the neighborhoods in his district."

March 17, 1993 (The Miami Herald)