North Miami Beach city attorney resigns amid tensions over mayor’s residency
North Miami Beach City Attorney Hans Ottinot resigned Thursday evening following months of tensions with the commission after raising questions about the mayor’s residency.
Ottinot submitted his resignation after attending a workshop discussing agenda items for the next commission meeting held by members of the city commission.
“While the end of our tenure in the City of North Miami Beach has been marred by unfair political attacks because of our adherence to the law, we nevertheless believe that our services as below contributed to the progress in the city,” Ottinot wrote in a four-page letter before touting his accomplishments with the city.
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His resignation goes into effect 5 p.m. Friday, following a months-long tug-of-war among commissioners regarding Mayor Anthony DeFillipo’s residency. Ottinot had hired an outside firm to investigate allegations that DeFillipo lived in the town of Davie.
DeFillipo has repeatedly said he has a permanent residence in North Miami Beach.
Ottinot said in his letter he followed the law and city precedent when investigating DeFillipo.
Three of the commissioners had refused to attend commission meetings while DeFillipo presided over them. Because of that, the commission has not met with a full quorum since October. A Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge ordered the three commissioners to attend the next meeting on March 21.
Michael Pizzi, the attorney representing DeFillipo, said his client was “pleasantly surprised” that Ottinot resigned. DeFillipo had previously sought to fire Ottinot.
“It is our hope that this is the beginning of a healing process where the city commission can finally meet after the several month hiatus and start to concentrate on the people’s business,” Pizzi said.
