Filiberto resigns Palm Bay City Council seat nearly a week after arrest
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Ending a week of questions over the political future of Palm Bay City Council member Peter Filiberto after his arrest on a felony drug charge, the 34-year-old tendered his resignation Friday afternoon.
In a short, typed missive on Palm Bay letterhead, Filiberto wrote "I hereby resign as a Councilmember for the city of Palm Bay effective immediately."
The letter was dated Feb. 17, nearly a week after Filiberto was arrested and charged with a DUI and felony cocaine possession and a day after his fellow members of the Council unanimously called to request his suspension by the governor.
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Mayor Rob Medina and the other members of the City Council met Thursday for a regular meeting that Filiberto did not attend. They said they had hoped Filiberto would have resigned of his own volition before calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to suspend him. Under Florida law, only the governor has the power to remove locally elected officials from office.
Filiberto was arrested Feb. 11 and charged with possession of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony, after Palm Bay police pulled him over on his motorcycle and arrested him during a traffic stop. At the police department's booking center, police found 10.6 grams of cocaine packed away in his shoe and sock, according to an arrest affidavit.
Palm Bay will have special election to replace Filiberto
Now that Filiberto no longer holds his seat, Palm Bay's elected City Council will be tasked with appointing a replacement until a special election can be held. Only a day before his resignation, the Council held its first meeting with Filiberto's chair empty but the chamber full of residents voicing their concerns. This was not the first time Palm Bay found itself embroiled in a political scandal.Many called for action, saying that Filiberto's arrest was a stain on a city struggling to clean up its image. Others said they hoped there would be leniency and a chance at redemption for Filiberto.
Ultimately the City Council voted unanimously in favor of formally asking the governor to remove Filiberto. A second proposal, by Palm Bay Mayor Rob Medina, called for some form of voluntary drug testing for members of Council. With only four members present to vote, the proposal failed in a 2-2 vote.
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What happened the night Peter Filiberto was arrested?
Beyond illegal substances, Filiberto also faces charges of reckless driving, no motorcycle endorsement on driver’s license, refusal to submit breath test, and driving with a suspended license.
The ignominious end of Filiberto's career began when Palm Bay police spotted him riding his motorcycle near Huckleberry and Lipscomb streets. According to an arrest affidavit, Filiberto sped away from officers before falling over during an attempted U-turn. Cops smelled alcohol on Filiberto's breath before taking him into custody. Only later did they find the felony amount of cocaine, police said.
After being charged and booked, Filiberto has faced calls from all corners of Palm Bay politics to resign, especially as the city has attempted to reinvent its image due to years of ongoing corruption, culminating in the 2019 arrests of former Deputy City Manager Dave Isnardi and his associate Jose Aguiar.
Both Aguiar and Isnardi took plea deals after Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents reported that the two had attempted to blackmail two city councilmen in hopes of swaying them in favor of zoning changes the pair had sought for a scrap metal business and other projects that would have financially benefited them.
Filiberto succeeded Jeff Bailey, who resigned in August 2021 to take an out-of-state job, as Palm Bay's Seat 5 council member. The March special election cost the city $253,628, according to the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections. The four-year term on the city council pays $12,351 a year.
Filiberto's civic responsibilities have not been constrained to Palm Bay. In his professional life, Filiberto works as a federal contractor with the Department of Veteran Affairs, but he also serves on the Brevard County Planning and Zoning Board/Local Planning Agency, a position that will likely be stripped from him this coming week.
Brevard County Commission Vice Chair Kristine Zonka has put an item on the Feb. 21 commission agenda to remove Filiberto from the board. He had been one of Zonka's nominees, and his current term began on Jan. 1, 2022.
Tyler Vazquez is the Brevard County and North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Peter Filiberto resigns from Palm Bay Council nearly week after arrest
