Investigation says mayor doesn’t live in North Miami Beach. Will he have to vacate job?
Weeks after two North Miami Beach city commissioners requested an investigation into Mayor Anthony DeFillipo’s residency, an outside law firm said it has determined that he lives in another city and should vacate the office.
DeFillipo’s lawyer said the mayor is not stepping down. “Anthony DeFillipo remains the lawfully elected Mayor, lives in the City and has vacated nothing,” attorney Michael Pizzi wrote in an email to commissioners, the city attorney, city manager and city clerk.
Hans Ottinot, the city attorney, had said in an email to city officials that he agreed with the conclusion that the mayor lived elsewhere and that an “automatic vacancy” has been created. Pizzi wrote that the city attorney has no jurisdiction to remove an elected official.
The investigation said DeFillipo lived in Davie — about 17 miles north of North Miami Beach.
According to the city charter, if any North Miami Beach elected official changes their residence to outside the city limits, their seat on the council shall be automatically vacated and forfeited.
The 42-page memorandum detailing the investigation also concluded that while living in Davie, DeFillipo violated Florida voting law by casting a ballot in North Miami Beach’s recent elections. The memo was written by Luis Suarez, a partner of the law firm Heise Suarez Melville in Coral Gables.
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“According to an investigation by Countywide Investigations, surveillance of the neighborhood entrance to the Second Davie Home shows that DeFillipo routinely entered the gated community at night and left in the morning,” Suarez wrote in the memo. “This investigation showed DeFillipo’s name is registered in the access box to the Second Davie Home.”
In an email to DeFillipo, commissioners and other city officials, Ottinot said he agreed with Suarez’s opinion, adding that it “is consistent with the precedent established in the Frantz Pierre case as discussed in the legal opinion.” In 2018, Pierre only attended one meeting over the course of a nine-month period while he was in office due to a medical condition, the Miami Herald previously reported. An outside law firm determined he was required by the city charter to attend at least one meeting every four months.
“It is my recommendation, as recommended in the Pierre matter, that a Special City Commission meeting be held to discuss how the vacancy will be filled,” Ottinot wrote.
DeFillipo’s response
Pizzi called the comparisons to Pierre “ridiculous” as he was a commissioner who failed to attend meetings for more than 120 days and did not dispute it. During a Dec. 20 city commission meeting, DeFillipo stated that the allegations concerning his residency were false, and Pizzi called them a “politically motivated smear campaign.”
In a separate email to Ottinot, Pizzi wrote that his duty as city attorney does not authorize him to “opine on the residency of elected officials.”
Pizzi also said it was a conflict of interest for Ottinot to weigh in because DeFillipo had sought to end his services as city attorney. “In any event, we are confident that your firm will not get involved in this matter because it is beyond your duties and because there would be a clear conflict of interest … since Mayor DeFillipo has publicly expressed a desire to terminate your firm’s agreement as city attorney your firm would have an irreconcilable conflict of interest in having any involvement in this matter,” Pizzi wrote in the email. “Whomever is raising these quite frankly non-issues should not be involving your firm.”
DeFillipo called for Ottinot’s resignation at the Dec. 20 meeting. A vote on removing Ottinot was not taken because there wasn’t a quorum after two commissioners left the dais before the vote was held.
READ MORE: Does North Miami Beach mayor live in another city? Ethics complaint filed
Residency questions
The memo comes more than three weeks after two commissioners — McKenzie Fleurimond and Michael Joseph — asked Ottinot to investigate DeFillipo’s residency. “I believe the legal opinion is clear and thorough as to the automatic vacancy of the seat and what the rest of the commission should do,” Fleurimond said in an emailed statement to the Herald.
“The remaining 6 commissioners should have a meeting to discuss the findings of the opinion and act according to its findings,” he said. “Although there is a vacancy; I believe any rebuttals by Mr. DeFillipo should be considered by the courts.“
A resident filed a complaint on Dec. 17 with the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust alleging DeFillipo purchased a home in Davie for $1.2 million cash. The Ethics Commission has not ruled on the complaint.
The investigation memo said DeFillipo did not live in North Miami Beach for a full year and he did not follow the residency requirements listed in the city charter.
“An elected official in North Miami Beach must remain a bona fide resident throughout their term of office,” Commissioner and Vice-Mayor Joseph wrote in an emailed statement to the Herald. “I expect to discuss this matter with my colleagues at a designated meeting where we will decide the best course of action to take for our city.”
While North Miami Beach’s city charter automatically requires an elected official living outside the city limits to vacate their position, the memo suggests that the city invite DeFillipo to a meeting to provide information under oath.
If it is determined DeFillipo cast a ballot for the recent North Miami Beach election while having a legal residency in Davie, he may be in violation of Florida’s election laws, the memo states. He could face charges and removal from office by the governor.
This story was originally published January 14, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
