City Hall melts down as North Miami Beach mayor denies he moved out of the city
North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo strenuously denies that he has moved into a newly purchased home in the Broward County suburbs, but accusations that he no longer lives in the city he was elected to represent are leading to gridlock and uncertainty at City Hall.
On Tuesday, for instance, the first City Commission meeting of the year ended before it began after DeFillipo tried to run the gathering despite an outside law firm’s findings this month that he has been quietly living in a home he purchased last July in the Town of Davie. Several commissioners protested the mayor’s presence by skipping the gathering, noting that the city attorney has since opined that DeFillipo vacated his seat by violating requirements that North Miami Beach’s mayor live within city limits.
DeFillipo, who is challenging the findings, showed up to the meeting anyway, and brought his personal attorney with him.
But the absences of three commissioners blocked DeFillipo and the city’s other three commissioners from holding the meeting, due to city “quorum” rules that require the presence of five of seven elected officials to conduct city business. Instead, the evening devolved into a back and forth between DeFillipo and City Attorney Hans Ottinot, who walked out of the proceedings after the embattled mayor shouted over his attempts to speak.
Residency concerns: Investigation says mayor doesn’t live in North Miami Beach. Will he have to vacate job?
“This meeting is not legal,” Ottinot said before leaving the commission chambers.
From the dais, DeFillipo again insisted that he does indeed live in North Miami Beach, where he continues to own a two-bedroom condo. “This circus, these things that have been done to me are really, really wrong,” he said to a crowd of residents who showed up for the meeting.
It was the second time since the city’s November election that a meeting has been stopped due to the lack of a quorum amid controversy over DeFillipo’s residency. At a Dec. 20 meeting, during a debate over the legitimacy of the mayor’s continued service, Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond walked off the dais, effectively ending the meeting as DeFillipo called for Ottinot’s resignation.
The dysfunction — notable even in a city that has dealt in recent years with public corruption arrests and infighting — could continue.
Fleurimond and Commissioners Daniela Jean and Michael Joseph were not in attendance Tuesday night. Jean did not respond to a request for comment from the Miami Herald. But Fleurimond and Joseph told the Miami Herald that they were in the building and chose not to attend the meeting after learning that DeFillipo would not leave.
“In an abundance of caution and to avoid inflaming the situation, I decided not to stay for the commission meeting,” Joseph wrote in a text message to a Miami Herald reporter. “As Vice-Mayor, I cannot let fraud coverups continue to interfere with the business of the city, and I will be working with the city attorney, city manager and law enforcement on how to proceed.”
Fleurimond said he is asking the state attorney general and Gov. Ron DeSantis to help resolve the issue. “We need a higher agency to step in if the mayor refuses to abide by legal opinion and the charter,” he told the Herald.
As to whether he would attend future meetings where DeFillipo presides, Fleurimond said he is taking the legal advice of the city attorney. “I hope that the matter will be resolved before our next meeting.”
Filling the vacancy
According to the city charter, any North Miami Beach elected official who changes their residence to outside the city limits automatically vacates and forfeits their seat on the commission. Commissioners may fill the seat once it is vacated, pending an election for the unexpired term.
Heise Suarez Melville, the law firm hired by the city to review DeFillipo’s residency, recommended a special meeting be called to allow for due process, keeping with a precedent set by the city when former Commissioner Frantz Pierre was removed 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, and an outside law firm determined he was required by the city charter to attend at least one meeting every four months.
Ottinot reiterated at the meeting that he will follow what the law firm recommended.
Conducting Taxpayers’ Business
The city’s requirement that five of seven elected officials attend meetings has created controversy for years, with different commissioners at times skipping meetings or walking off the dais to prevent votes.
On Tuesday, DeFillipo’s attorney Michael Pizzi asked the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court for an emergency injunction allowing the city to conduct business with a simple majority as opposed to a quorum. This would allow the city commission to conduct business with the four commissioners, rather than waiting on a fifth.
“Your city has been virtually shut down by these circumstances,” Pizzi said at Tuesday night’s meeting. The commission was expected to discuss making it an ethics violation to leave the city commission meetings. The council was also expected to hear from attorneys and developers regarding a 32-story mixed-use development that would include 400 apartment units at 2261 NE 164th Street.
At City Hall, several residents voiced their frustration with the hold-up of city business. Longtime North Miami Beach resident Sandra Douglas noted that upgrades to the city’s Washington Park have been delayed.
“It’s back on the agenda again, and you still can’t vote on it, or anything,” Douglas said during public comment. “So that puts us back on the back burner. Even further on the back burner, I think we [are] in Canada by now.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 3:27 PM.
