In an overwhelming show of support for a change in leadership, Miami Lakes has a new mayor, as voters elected Councilmember Manny Cid over incumbent Michael Pizzi in a run-off election which drew a relatively large turnout for a special election, but ended an era for a man who sat on the Town Council since incorporation.
Cid collected 77 percent (4,951 votes) to Pizzi’s 23 percent (1,477 votes), a 3-1 majority, in the November 29 run-off election.
Cid, 33, becomes the third elected mayor in Miami Lakes’ 16-year history.
Cid, along with Councilmembers Nelson Rodriguez and Tony Lama, and Councilmember-elect Luis Collazo, will be sworn into office to serve their four-year terms before the start of the December 6 Town Council meeting.
Cid, co-owner of an adult daycare, collected 46 percent of the vote in the November 8 election but was forced into a run-off because neither candidate collected 51 percent to win outright.
Pizzi, 53, garnered 31 percent and former mayor Wayne Slaton 23 percent.
Cid, who defeated then-incumbent Mary Collins in 2012, opted not to run for his old seat and instead ran for mayor since his support base suggested residents were seeking a change in leadership.
Cid ran on a platform of lowering taxes, securing Miami Lakes its own zip code to lower auto insurance premiums, eliminate wasteful speeding and adding more police officers and fire rescue units.
With a much added boost, Rodriguez, Lama and Collazo, Councilmembers Ceasar Mestre and Tim Daubert, and Slaton all endorsed Cid for mayor.
Pizzi lost his first-ever election dating back to the now defunct Miami Lakes Community Council in the 1990s.
He was the first council member to be elected in 2001 when he ran unopposed, and he was reelected in 2002 and 2006.
Pizzi, an attorney and polarizing political figure, ran for mayor in 2008 and won reelection in 2012, but his second term was interrupted by federal bribery charges and he was subsequently suspended from office while he awaited trial.
He was acquitted of all charges in 2014 but Florida’s Governor Rick Scott refused to reinstate him. Pizzi sued him in the Florida Supreme Court to lift his suspension.
Pizzi later sued Miami Lakes in the lower courts to get his old job back in 2015.
Despite filing another lawsuit against the town to pay his attorneys’ fees during his corruption trial and reinstatement cases, Pizzi decided to run for reelection.
He touted his leadership of accomplishments including opening up N.W. 87 Avenue to alleviate traffic congestion, building a stand alone government center, youth center for children and kids with special needs, and lower property taxes.
But his $2.5 million lawsuit against the town for his lawyers’ fees and constant bickering with council members since his return signaled the end for Pizzi, as residents were seeking a new town executive.
The town settled his reinstatement lawsuit for about $460,000. Miami Lakes and Pizzi’s attorneys agreed to abate the second lawsuit for six months to give the town an opportunity to seek litigation against the insurance carrier for refusing the cover the mayor’s legal bills.
The abatement ended last month.
Perhaps the final straw was a campaign mailer by Miami Lakes Voters for Excellence in Government which circulated accusing Cid of accepting illegal campaign contributions from Ernesto Perez, founder of the now defunct and beleaguered Dade Medical College.
According to The Miami Herald, Perez pled guilty to making illegal campaign contributions which were received Cid. Cid denied the claim.
Pizzi also had his named smeared during the election season, when a political group called Leadership for Florida’s Future circulated a mailer saying Miami Lakes has spent over $260,000 in legal fees to fight Pizzi’s lawsuits.
“Don’t forget these are legal bills Michael Pizzi racked up in an attempt to stay out of jail after he was caught on tape by the FBI for taking a cash bribe inside a closet at city hall,” the mailer stated.