Embattled North Miami Beach mayor acknowledges he took a seat on Davie homeowners board
North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo, who is fending off accusations that he actually lives elsewhere, had at one point sat on the board of a homeowners association in Davie where he owns property that is at the center of the dispute.
DeFillipo, through his attorney, confirmed that he sat on the board of the Sierra Ranches Community Association, which is the homeowners association for the $1.2 million property he bought last July in the Town of Davie.
His attorney said the mayor has since resigned from the HOA board, but he did not specify when DeFillipo left.
“He was on the board to make sure the developer completed the project. He is not on the board anymore,” attorney Michael Pizzi told the Miami Herald.
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DeFillipo’s stint on the homeowners board could offer his opponents another argument to suggest he lived in the Davie house.
The mayor, who makes his living in real estate, says he continues to live in North Miami Beach, where he owns a condo. But following an investigation by an outside law firm, City Attorney Hans Ottinot opined that DeFillipo’s activity at the Davie house shows he in fact moved into the home, violating a requirement that North Miami Beach elected officials live within city limits and triggering his automatic removal from office.
Pizzi confirmed that DeFillipo sat on the homeowners board after a Davie resident sent the Herald a Nov. 29 email from Miami Management purportedly announcing DeFillipo as HOA president, weeks after North Miami Beach held its elections for three commission seats. The Herald could not independently verify the authenticity of the email.
Miami Management, the contracted management company for the homeowners association, has not responded to emails and requests for comment. Phone calls to two other residents identified in the email as members of the board were not returned.
Pizzi said it’s fairly common for property owners to serve as HOA board members and not technically reside in the development. He added that the mayor sits on the HOA board for the North Miami Beach condos where he lives.
Commission impasse
Concerns about DeFillipo’s residency first arose last year after someone filed an ethics complaint alleging he was violating the city’s residency requirement, and came to a head this month after Ottinot opined that DeFillipo lived outside North Miami Beach and as a result had vacated his position.
The drama has led to gridlock at City Hall, with DeFillipo refusing to leave office. Meanwhile, several elected officials skipped Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, blocking DeFillipo from conducting city business by preventing him from establishing a quorum with the presence of five of seven elected officials.
For now, it’s unclear how and when the situation will be resolved.
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At a City Commission workshop Thursday, DeFillipo and commissioners Jay Chernoff, Phyllis Smith and Fortuna Smukler roundly criticized Ottinot for his handling of the residency concerns. Commissioners McKenzie Fleurimond, Daniela Jean and Michael Joseph were not present.
“Do we have to go to court to get our city functioning again?” Smith asked. “What are you going to do to help us?” DeFillipo criticized Ottinot for choosing to pursue a legal opinion rather than directly asking him about his residency. “You never came to me, not once,” DeFillipo said.
Though Ottinot admitted Thursday he did not have the authority to remove the mayor, he said he could issue an opinion consistent with the law and determined DeFillipo indeed vacated his seat.
But the commissioners urged Ottinot to file a lawsuit challenging DeFillipo’s residency and let the courts decide.
Pizzi has filed a lawsuit asking a Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge to allow the city to govern with a simple majority rather than a five-person quorum as required by the city charter. A hearing on the matter will be held Jan. 31.
On Friday evening, according to court documents emailed to commissioners by Ottinot, the city filed a counterclaim requesting that a judge block DeFillipo from representing himself as the city’s mayor and rule that the City Commission can indeed hold a hearing in which DeFillipo has to prove his residency.
The city is being represented by Heise Suarez Melville, the law firm hired by the city to review DeFillipo’s residency.
“DeFillipo does not currently hold the office of mayor, but is actively holding himself out as mayor and purporting to conduct City business in that capacity,” read the lawsuit. It also alleges DeFillipo is attempting to schedule special meetings to terminate Ottinot as retaliation for purporting the mayor’s vacancy.
The city is also asking that DeFillipo’s attempt to hold meetings with a simple majority be denied.
Who decides residency?
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.
But it may not be that simple.
Elections attorney Juan-Carlos Planas said there are other factors to consider when assessing an elected official’s residency, including the address on their driver’s license, their voter registration and the home on which they take their homestead exemption.
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“You have a due-process right to keep your seat and if they deny you due process to be able to defend yourself, then you have an issue,” said Planas, who has represented clients in residency issues.
Former North Miami Beach City Attorney Jose Smith agreed.
Smith, who opined in 2018 that Commissioner Frantz Pierre had missed too many meetings to continue serving, said that while his legal opinion on Pierre was accepted by the City Commission, Pierre ultimately had a chance to fight it.
Pierre sued to keep his position, and at one point was temporarily reinstated — only to be indicted on charges that he shook down a strip club operator. Pierre was then suspended by then-Gov. Rick Scott. Pierre pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges in 2020.
“Ultimately, he’s got to be heard,” Smith said of DeFillipo. “Somebody’s got to give him the ability to defend himself.”
Who is running the city?
Whether DeFillipo should still be considered mayor depends on who you ask on the commission.
Until a judge says otherwise, DeFillipo is still mayor, said Smukler. “I’m not going to follow an opinion,” she said.
Smukler said the controversy hasn’t hit crisis level yet, “but if this continues ... then it becomes an issue.”
At Thursday’s meeting, Ottinot said the city manager has not indicated the turmoil over DeFillipo’s job is affecting the city government’s ability to function.
Joseph said he is relying on prior precedent set by the city in the Frantz Pierre case. “Like Mr. Pierre, Mr. DeFillipo’s only recourse is through the courts, not by hijacking the dais and holding hostage the people’s business,” Joseph told the Herald in a text message.
This story was originally published January 21, 2023 at 12:35 PM.
