For Miami Lakes, 2016 will be remembered as a busy and challenging year for the small town with two elections, possible city charter changes, crafting out a laborious budget and fighting the mayor’s lawsuit to reimburse his attorneys who successfully defended him during his federal bribery trial.
One of Mayor Michael Pizzi’s lawsuits has been dragging on for a year, straining the town’s spending plan and could put the town’s economic future in peril if the court decides Miami Lakes must pay $2.5 million in legal costs from his 2014 public corruption trial.
The mayor’s lawsuits have epitomized the frustration of taxpayers and council members, who reluctantly agreed to settle his reinstatement litigation for about $460,000 to eschew additional legal costs.
But they refuse to pay his lawyers nearly $3 million for his action that led to his arrest and indictment on bribery and kickback charges which include his time as Medley’s town attorney.
“This is a tough pill to swallow but I have to put my emotions aside if the attorneys tell you this is the right thing to do,” said Council member and mayoral candidate Ceasar Mestre when lawmakers agreed to settle for the $460,000 during a special meeting in December.
Councilmember Nelson Rodriguez, who’s up for reelection in November, echoed similar sentiments.
“I am reluctant to vote for it,” he said “But my decision is strictly a cost-saving measure.”
Pizzi contended his lawsuits weren’t against the town but to force the issue that Miami Lakes seeks the money from its insurance carrier. His attorneys originally asked for $750,000 for his reinstatement case but settled for the $460,000.
“It’s time to stop the bleeding and do the best we can to move forward,” he said during the special meeting.
Miami Lakes is incurring additional attorney fees’ in its own litigation against its insurance carrier, which refused to reimburse the $460,000 to the town and cover the expenses for Pizzi’s criminal trial.
Esther Colon, a Town Council candidate, told council members during a meeting in April that she discovered, through a public records request, Miami Lakes has so far spent about $2 million in attorneys’ fees for fighting the mayor’s reinstatement and criminal lawsuits and the insurance carrier litigation.
In the latest round of their legal fight against Pizzi and his lawyers, council members this month approved Town Attorney Raul Gastesi’s request for an additional $100,000 in court costs to prepare for the mayor’s deposition despite an offer for an abatement by the mayor’s lead attorney, Ed Shohat.
At the May 3 regular meeting, Shohat verbally agreed to 3-6 month abatement while the town resumes its legal fight against the insurance company, but Gastesi and lawmakers wanted the accord in writing before deciding not to spend the $100,000 for the upcoming deposition.
“We will give you what you need as long as you document you are pressing the insurance company,” Shohat said.
Shohat said the mayor’s legal team has been accused of piling up the legal costs for Miami Lakes.
“Don’t blame this on the mayor’s legal team, the $100,000 is money you don’t need to spend,” he said.
Nevertheless, Gastesi asked lawmakers for the money until the abatement, which he said was previously rejected by Pizzi’s legal team on several occasions, is in writing and signed by all parties involved in the litigation.
“I questioned the timing of the abatement when they knew I was going to ask the council for the money for the mayor’s deposition,” Gastesi said. “Unless we can get an abatement, we must defend ourselves.”
The mayor’s pending lawsuit and Miami Lakes’ expenses to fight the litigation and the insurance carrier come at a time when the town is preparing for budget season for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
Last year, Miami Lakes had to scale back on some services after setting aside the $460,000 for Pizzi’s reinstatement lawsuit, which prevented the town from adding two police officers, lacked $20,000 to underwrite the senior adult classes and expenses to operate a full-fledged dog park, Town Manager Alex Rey said last year.
Miami Lakes also lacked funding for the Par 3 golf course, which was donated by The Graham Companies to convert to a passive park, couldn’t increase the budgets for the town’s committees, and no money was budgeted for this year’s Black Olive Tree Removal program.
“We couldn’t find the money this year,” Rey said. “But the tree trimming program is at the same level for next year and the tree planting is at a reduced level.”
Police services are the town’s biggest expenditure capped at $7.2 million but the amount is expected to increase due to pay hikes and an increase in law enforcement compensation and pension benefits.
Public safety has been a top priority for residents since incorporation, adding more police officers on the streets to keep the crime rate at an all-time low.
The town is also seeking funding to control the excessive flooding following torrential downpours on commercial and residential properties after Florida Governor Rick Scott vetoed $400,000 for Miami Lakes’ West Lakes Drainage Improvements project.
Pizzi’s corruption trial and his two lawsuits against the town may have led to several critical proposed town charter changes made by the Miami Lakes Charter Revision Commission to shake up the government and change the course of November’s municipal election.
On May 17, through a mail-in ballot election, registered voters were asked to bring back a run-off election if any candidate can muster at least 51 percent of the votes, and strip the mayor of his power to pick the town manager and the town attorney and give the responsibility to the entire Town Council with public input.
If residents approve the run-off election, it would take effect in November’s municipal election in which 13 candidates are running for mayor and three council seats that are up for grabs.