Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Friday he's likely to defer naming a commissioner to one of Miami's two vacant seats -- potentially sending the city into further tumult and bringing a costly election.

The governor said he was ``not currently'' planning to appoint a replacement city commissioner and that the commission would have to choose replacements.

``I think that's going to be the result,'' said Crist, who left the door slightly ajar, adding that his decision wasn't ``finalized yet.''

City Manager Pete Hernandez is desperately trying to avoid a likely low-turnout election that would cost the financially-strapped city over $500,000.

Friday's scramble was the culmination of a day that saw Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones turn herself in to authorities, charged with one count of grand theft, and be suspended by the governor.

Also Friday, Commissioner Angel Gonzalez announced his resignation, effective Monday, after a plea deal with prosecutors to a misdemeanor count of exploiting his public position.

That left Miami with only two of its five commission seats filled. A third seat is needed for a quorum.

Once the third commissioner is in place, the board would have the majority necessary to appoint two others until the next general election, which would be August.

The problem: The commissioner elected for Flagami's District 4 -- there's a runoff Tuesday -- can't legally take his seat until Nov. 25.

That's two days too late under the city charter. The charter says if there is no appointment within 10 days of a commissioner leaving office, it's up to the courts to call for an election.

But even that option was being questioned.

New Commission Chairman Marc Sarnoff had another suggestion: call an emergency meeting before Gonzalez's resignation takes effect, giving Miami the three commissioners needed.

``Though I don't know if he'd be willing to,'' Sarnoff said.

Mayor Tomás Regalado and Crist have met twice this week, but haven't been able to reach accord on how the to fill the seats. By day's end, the consensus seemed to be to wait for Crist to make a final decision on Monday.

As the city tried to fill the empty seats at City Hall, Regalado dropped another potential bombshell: He said he'd asked the FBI to look into possible kickbacks in the city's troubled Capital Improvements department.

Regalado said he called in city auditor Victor Igwe and the two handed over a number of past contracts to new FBI boss John Gillies to study.

``I asked him to look at the city very carefully. He requested historical information on problems, and we have sent that information to him,'' Regalado offered. Gillies was out of town and couldn't be reached Friday.

In 2007, Capital Improvements was rocked by the arrest of more than a dozen employees accused of taking part in ``The Firm'' -- a criminal enterprise that ran a private design and planning business for outside clients on city time. The charges included racketeering, theft and fraud.

Miami Herald Staff Writers Beth Reinhard and Michael Vasquez contributed to this report.

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