It’s on! Mano a mano. Or shall we say mayor a mayor?
The Miami Lakes Town Council voted unanimously Friday to 
hire an attorney to defend the town and Mayor Wayne Slaton from the litigation filed by former, suspended, acquitted mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi, who says the seat is rightfully his and is suing to get it back.
Quick background for those of you who’ve been sleeping under the limestone: Pizzi was suspended from office following his high profile arrest in 2013 on federal bribery charges that didn’t stick. Pizzi, or rather his legal dream team, won acquittal in federal court (read: the feds lost) and then won a Supreme Court decision that forced Gov. Rick Scott to revoke the suspension. Now Muscles thinks he ought to be automatically made mayor again — even though the guv stopped short of reinstatement.
There wasn’t a huge outpouring of residents urging the council to vote against fighting Pizzi’s effort, as an email blast suggested there should be. Although there were quite a few that said this would be a waste of their tax dollars. George Demming seemed to threaten to remember at the ballot box if they did. “I like all you guys,” he said, “and that will be over if it isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”
Read related story: Email urges Miami Lakes residents to ‘stop’ Slaton
But there were also some residents who said the town simply had no choice but to hire an 
attorney to keep Slaton, who was elected in a special election after Pizzi’s arrest and suspension.
“The people who went out to vote need to be respected,” said Nancy Simon. “Do I want to spend taxpayer dollars. No, I do not. But residents have to defend themselves. Make no mistake, this lawsuit is against us all.”
Another woman asked Pizzi, who was sitting in the audience, why he didn’t run in that special election, like former Commissioner Michelle Spence Jones did. Then maybe he’d have a claim to it. Ladra thinks he knew he’d lose in the aftermath of that arrest. She asked him to step aside and run in 2017 if he felt he had the will of the people still, after having been caught taking money in the closet at City Hall.
“Stop embarrassing us,. It was you who brought the circus to our town,” she said, calling him a dictator. “If Michael Pizzi can hire big price attorneys to firhg criminal charges then I deserve the same.”
A couple of Pizzi’s attorney’s spoke. “This is a no contest situation in a court of law,” said Ed Shohat, apparently urging the council to just lie down and not fight back. “You cannot and will not win this battle.”
Read related story: Miami Lakes: Pizzi speaks and Slaton digs in his heels
But Town Attorney Raul Gastessi, who was also a campaign consultant for Slaton, said that the charter is not silent. He said it clearly states that Slaton was elected permanent replacement mayor. And he said that the Florida Supreme Court upheld that when it did not force the governor to reinstate Pizzi.
“If they had asked for the suspension to e lifted and not just the revocation, we’d probably be done my now,” Gastessi said.
The council seems to believe they have a case.
“His problem is with the governor. It’s not with the people of Miami Lakes. It’s not this council,” said Councilman Frank Mingo, adding that he had no choice but to approve the hiring of attorneys to represent the mayor and the town.
Councilman Ceasar Mestre, a one-time Pizzi ally, concurred. “This isn’t fun for any of us,” he said, adding that the expense may cause them to shift monies from capital improvements and beautification efforts.
“Unwillingly, we are probably going to have to put some of those projects on hold,” he said.
The measure passed unanimously after Vice Mayor Manny Cid assured the audience that they would negotiate a “reduced rates” fee. “This should not be construed as a blank check,” he said.
One thing is certain: If the town doesn’t pay a little now to fight Pizzi’s efforts to come back to power, they will pay a lot later if he wins. Pizzi has indicated he will go after the town to reimburse all the legal expenses he’s had, even though he couldn’t give Ladra a ballpark figure.
And if the town still loses, even after hiring an attorney. Well then, the only winners are the lawyers.
Miami Lakes will defend mayor against Michael Pizzi added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →