During a heated and politically-charged meeting, Miami Commissioners voted Thursday not to immediately fire embattled City Attorney Victoria M茅ndez but only to extend her contract to give them more time find a permanent replacement.
The suggestion not to terminate M茅ndez immediate came from Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who said he didn't want her unceremoniously fired after two decades of service to the city.
"People who have been in the city for 20 years deserve certain deference," Reyes said from the dais. "I agree there is bad blood and we have to start fresh and new."
Reyes' resolution to delay terminating the city attorney passed by a narrow 3-2 vote. She will stay on the job until June.
Reyes, along with Commissioners Joe Carollo and Commissioner Christine King voted in the majority. Newly elected commissioners Miguel Gabela and Damian Pardo voted against it.
The push to fire M茅ndez came primarily from Gabela, who sponsored the agenda item to terminate her. He wanted M茅ndez removed sooner from the top post.
Gabela said Thursday that he could not trust M茅ndez and does not feel she was fairly representing him as a city commissioner, citing a lawsuit the city had filed against him claiming he did not qualify as a candidate. The city pursued the case even after Gabela was elected and sitting on the dais, and a court affirmed Gabela's candidacy.
READ MORE: The disputed signature at the centre of a lawsuit against Miami's city attorney
The two got into a heated argument during Thursday's meeting, in which M茅ndez said Gabela was trying to fire her for "doing [her] job."
During the public comment period, several speakers came to support the call for M茅ndez's termination, including local documentarian, Billy Corben.
"The reason why I've lasted over ten and a half years is because of my integrity," M茅ndez responded in a heated exchange with Corben.
Calls for M茅ndez's ouster from outside City Hall came on the heels of numerous scandals involving the city attorney, her family and her legal advice to City of Miami leaders.
Last March, SA国际传谋 reported on decades worth of questionable real estate transactions between M茅ndez's husband, Carlos Morales, and the nonprofit Guardianship Program of Dade County.
The nonprofit鈥檚 purpose is to care for people, often elderly people with mental illnesses, who have been declared 鈥渋ncapacitated鈥� by a court and have no one else to take care of them. As one means of raising funds for an incapacitated person鈥檚 care, the Guardianship Program can sell the person鈥檚 property, including their home, with a judge's permission.
SA国际传谋 found that Morales, in large part through his company, Express Homes, would buy incapacitated people鈥檚 homes from the Guardianship Program for cheap before quickly reselling them for major profits, sometimes only weeks or even days later.
M茅ndez's mother, Margarita M茅ndez, also had her own company that was involved in the same pattern of buying and selling Guardianship homes. M茅ndez herself served as served as president of that company in 2011, and was listed as vice-president from 2012 to 2019. The company, Gallego Homes, was dissolved after SA国际传谋's reporting.
The City Attorney also came under fire after Commissioner Joe Carollo was hit with a $63.5 million civil verdict in federal court last summer. Little Havana businessmen William Fuller and Martin Pinilla successfully sued Carollo for using city power to harass the pair's businesses with code inspections and police raids because he had a political vendetta against them. As part of the trial, former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez testified that M茅ndez gave him a list of Fuller's properties to inspect and research on behalf of Carollo.
M茅ndez also caught heat when it was revealed that Miami taxpayers were footing the bill for Carollo's attorneys fees in the lawsuit 鈥� fees that had run up to close to . M茅ndez asserted that Carollo as a public official was entitled to legal representation at the public's expense, although federal appellate courts opined that Carollo's alleged actions went of his duties as a City Commissioner.
More recently, the City of Miami had to hold an emergency budget meeting because of a precarious position they were placed in owing to legal advice from M茅ndez that contradicted state government guidance.
The state required the city to have a unanimous five-member commission vote to approve the budget at the tax rate they had set, but they only had four votes after the arrest and suspension of former Commissioner Alex D铆az de la Portilla for alleged money laundering and official misconduct. M茅ndez issued a legal opinion that the city could still pass the budget with only four votes, but that turned out to be incorrect.
The commission had to meet on Dec. 11 to reapprove the budget to avoid the shortfall, and the newly elected commissioners pushed through a $25 million budget cut 鈥� but not without taking jabs at M茅ndez.
鈥淩espectfully, I have asked for your resignation,鈥� Gabela told M茅ndez said at the December meeting. 鈥淏ecause every time something happens in the city of Miami 鈥� there鈥檚 a hurricane 鈥� you seem to be caught right smack in the middle of that hurricane.鈥�
M茅ndez has worked in the city since 2004, and has held the position of City Attorney since she was first appointed in 2013 after her former boss stepped down. She is paid a salary of about $300,000.
This was the second attempt to unseat M茅ndez in her 13-year career as Miami City Attorney.
Former Commissioner Ken Russell for allegedly withholding public records from him relating to a controversial real estate deal. In an opinion column for the Miami Herald in 2016, Russell wrote that he had lost trust for M茅ndez and her method of defending the city.
Russell's effort died as he failed to gain support from his fellow commissioners. Speaking today, Russell said he stands by his words from eight years ago.
"The City Attorney should have been fired seven years ago, and there are plenty more reasons to fire her now," Russell told SA国际传谋. "The bottom line is whether the current City Commission wants an attorney to protect their personal interests and wrongdoing, or if they want an advocate for the city that gives sound legal advice on which they can legislate and make good decisions."
Commissioner Joe Carollo apologized to M茅ndez for her removal, albeit delayed.
"Madam City Attorney, I am sorry for this that has happened to you now. You don鈥檛 deserve this at all. But God has a mysterious way of working sometimes," Carollo said.
The city will now create a committee to immediately seek out candidates and ultimately select a replacement for M茅ndez by the end of the five-month period. M茅ndez will continue in her role during the "transition" period.
