Miami Commissioner asks judge to wait until after election to hear ‘shake down’ lawsuit

Miami Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla has asked a judge to postpone proceedings in a lawsuit alleging that he attempted to “shake down” the operator of a city marina, arguing that the case ought to be paused until after voters decide this November whether to give him four more years in office.

The commissioner, who is running to retain his seat representing District 1, responded for the first time on Saturday to the lawsuit by lobbyist and former state lawmaker Manuel Prieguez, who says Díaz de la Portilla tried to squeeze his client during a contentious battle over a lucrative contract to operate and redevelop the city-owned Rickenbacker Marina. In a court filing, the commissioner’s lawyer called the lawsuit politically motivated.

“This is a libelous lawsuit by a disgruntled and dishonest lobbyist who didn’t get his way at City Hall,” Díaz de la Portilla said in a written statement.

In his lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Prieguez accused Díaz de la Portilla, former Miami Commissioner Humberto “Bert” Hernandez, and attorney and real estate agent Anibal Duarte-Viera of pressuring him and the marina’s longtime operator in 2020 to add Duarte-Viera as a partner on the marina project in exchange for the commissioner’s vote.

Ultimately, Prieguez says, he and the marina operator, Aabad Melwani, rejected the overtures, and the commissioner then supported a competitor’s bid.

Díaz de la Portilla and Hernandez deny the allegations. Duarte-Viera has declined to comment.

Melwani, who continues to run the marina, has said he had nothing to do with the lawsuit and declined to answer questions regarding the accusations. Prieguez no longer works as a lobbyist for Melwani.

Read more: Miami commissioner sued for alleged “shakedown” of Rickenbacker Marina’s operator

For days following the filing of Prieguez’s lawsuit, Díaz de la Portilla did not respond to questions posed directly to him and his staff by Herald reporters.

He declined again to speak to reporters Saturday during and after a public hearing on the city’s annual budget, during which he announced that he planned that afternoon to eat Flanigan’s ribs and watch the University of Miami Hurricanes’ football game. After the hearing concluded, however, staffers told the Miami Herald the commissioner was busy working on the budget and could not grant an interview.

Hours after the budget hearing adjourned, Díaz de la Portilla texted a reporter his statement and shared a court filing that criticizes Prieguez and his lawsuit. Without offering backup, the motion casts Prieguez, a former friend and political ally of the commissioner, as a “failed and ill-regarded lobbyist with a reputation for lying, misleading elected officials and the public, and falsely guaranteeing results.”

With the motion, Díaz de la Portilla’s attorney, Benedict Kuehne, sought to pause the legal proceedings until after the results of the Nov. 7 election are certified. Kuehne argued that Prieguez’s lawsuit is a political attack designed to create a public spectacle and use the courts to influence the upcoming election while drumming up support for one of Díaz de la Portilla’s challengers.

Prieguez, who is supporting auto parts retailer Miguel Gabela in the District 1 election, has acknowledged that he timed the filing of his lawsuit to hurt the commissioner’s reelection bid. But he denied working on Gabela’s campaign. And on Saturday, he said he stood by the lawsuit, which he signed himself, signifying that the complaint is a statement made under oath.

“I stand by every single solitary word that is in there because I was a victim of a crime and this is what happened,” Prieguez said.

In his statement to the Herald, the commissioner noted that when he voted in 2020 against Melwani’s bid, he threw his support to a team recommended by Miami’s city manager for the award. The effort to redevelop the marina, like others before it, eventually fell apart.

“Contrary to engaging in sordid and behind-the-scenes schemes utilized by a desperate lying lobbyist, I have always conducted the City’s business in the sunshine, endeavoring to advance the interests of the City and its residents,” Díaz de la Portilla said.

In the motion, Díaz de la Portilla also states he should be shielded from the lawsuit under a legal principle that grants elected officials immunity in civil litigation from being liable for their conduct as lawmakers.

Court records do not show filings on behalf of the other defendants in the case, Hernandez and Duarte-Viera, as of Saturday evening.