Miami-Dade mayor forces out top deputy, port director over fuel depot mess

Miami-Dade’s mayor is forcing out both her top deputy and the PortMiami director as her administration faces a costly and messy real estate deal to prevent the port’s fuel depot from being lost to a luxury condo development.

Jimmy Morales, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s longest-serving deputy after her election in 2020, resigned abruptly Wednesday, citing friction over the county’s pending purchase of the privately owned fuel depot on Fisher Island that the port relies on to keep cargo and cruise ships running.

When the depot on the island next to PortMiami came up for sale in 2024, the county didn’t buy it — allowing a development partnership to scoop it up for $180 million and then announce plans to close the fuel operation and build condos instead. Now, the county is reportedly close to a deal to buy the site from the developer for a cost of $400 million — some of it to be paid over 20 years — and the premium has brought national attention and local scorn to Levine Cava for the situation.

The departures of Morales and PortMiami Director Hydi Webb were first reported Thursday morning by the Political Cortadito blog.

In a resignation email provided to the Miami Herald, Morales describes the pending deal as a friction point with the mayor, even though both appear to back the purchase.

“I acknowledge that you and I have a difference of opinion with respect to the purchase and sale transaction of the fuel facility on Fisher Island,” Morales wrote in the email. Morales said the mayor had asked him and port leadership to negotiate a deal to keep fuel flowing at the port without damaging port finances. “I firmly believe that the proposed agreement that we have reached with the current owners of the fuel facility accomplishes those goals.”

The email by Morales does not describe the difference of opinion, but it suggests the framework of the pending deal has been known to the mayor throughout the negotiations. That would raise the question of why Morales is being forced out now, rather than when the fuel depot matter first surfaced.

Morales said the county did offer to purchase the property in 2024, but Miami-Dade didn’t pursue a deal once that initial bid was declined. That left the administration scrambling to play catch-up once the private deal closed and the new owners announced fuel operations would end. “We shouldn’t be here this late,” Morales told commissioners last fall.

The issue with the fuel depot first became public last fall when county commissioners authorized the administration to pursue an eminent domain claim against the property, which could result in a court forcing developers to sell to the county at a price set by a judge.

But after learning of the planned sale to the county that would keep the depot intact, Fisher Island residents sued. The situation has now gotten national media attention, including a report from the Wall Street Journal on the reported $400 million county purchase. The flap has also brought harsh criticism from prominent people in Miami, including former Democratic congressman Joe Garcia.

While the port is county owned, it does not receive tax dollars. Any funds to purchase the depot would come from fees generated by cargo and cruise ships.

In a memo released Thursday morning, Levine Cava did not mention the fuel depot mess in announcing the immediate departures of Morales and Webb. She said Webb’s deputy director, Frederick Wong, would take over as interim director.

With the departure of Morales, who oversaw PortMiami, Miami International Airport and other county agencies, Levine Cava is promoting a top deputy to serve as the No. 2 in her administration. Roy Coley, whose current title is chief of utilities and regulatory services, will now serve as Levine Cava’s first deputy mayor. That will give Coley oversight of most of the agencies Morales oversaw, including transit, the port and airport.

Levine Cava is also giving administrative duties to her chief of staff, Christopher Hudtwalcker. He will be overseeing two agencies that were under Morales’ portfolio: Library and Cultural Affairs.

This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 11:43 AM.