Miami mayor considering a lawsuit after city attorney says his veto was invalid

On Nochebuena, Miami city officials weren’t quite ready to get into the holiday spirit.

City attorney Victoria Mendez issued an opinion Tuesday afternoon saying Mayor Francis Suarez lacked the power to veto a recent commission vote. In response, the mayor said he’s considering legal action.

“It’s an infringement on the executive power of the mayor,” Suarez told the Miami Herald. “That’s unconstitutional.”

The dispute relates to the mayor’s attempt Monday to veto a unanimous vote by the commission that directed the city’s auditor general to investigate accusations against City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who narrowly avoided being removed from office earlier this month.

Suarez argued that it was improper for the commission, which raised the accusations, to empower the auditor to launch an investigation. The auditor cannot be truly independent, Suarez said, because the commission controls the auditor’s budget and staffing.

Less than 24 hours after the veto, Mendez released a four-page interpretation of city code in response to a request from Commissioner Manolo Reyes. The mayor, Mendez said, can’t veto the commission’s resolution because it is a directive, rather than a piece of legislation.

“Executive” or “administrative” decisions “are not included in the list of decisions which are subject to veto by the Mayor,” Mendez wrote.

Mendez cited language in the city charter that says the mayor can veto “any legislative, quasi-judicial, zoning, master plan or land use decision” by the City Commission.

That list “implies the exclusion of any other decisions from mayoral veto,” including directives, Mendez wrote.

Suarez blasted Mendez’s legal opinion, suggesting that she, like the auditor general, is biased because the commission controls the city attorney’s hiring and firing.

He said he would be fine with an “independent” investigation by the county ethics commission or the state attorney’s office, but not by the city auditor.

“She bends over backwards to satisfy the commission,” Suarez said of Mendez, adding that hundreds of resolutions have crossed his desk but his veto power hasn’t been challenged until now. “Now, all of a sudden, I can’t veto one. It’s difficult to comprehend,” he said.

The commission can override mayoral vetoes with a four-fifths vote.

Suarez said he was concerned to find out Tuesday that the city clerk had removed an item from the commission’s Jan. 9 agenda on whether to uphold or override the veto. After learning the item had been removed, Suarez said, he told Mendez he believes he needs outside counsel.

“That option is definitely on the table,” Suarez said of filing a lawsuit. “To now infringe on executive power, it really puts me in a very bad position. I feel a responsibility to protect the charter of the city of Miami.”

Mendez didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

After the commission passed its Dec. 12 resolution directing the investigation into Gonzalez, the city clerk presented Suarez with an option to either sign or veto the resolution, according to paperwork Suarez showed the Herald.

The city charter says each ordinance and resolution passed by the commission “shall contain a place for noting mayoral approval or veto, if applicable.”

Reyes, the commissioner who sought Mendez’s opinion, said he respects her decision and believes the mayor’s suggestion that the auditor is biased is “totally absurd.”

“It is an independent auditor,” Reyes said. “That person cannot lie or be in favor of the commission.”

He added that the commission didn’t ask the auditor “to prove anything,” but rather “to investigate and give us a report one way or the other.”

At the Dec. 12 meeting, Commissioner Joe Carollo unexpectedly laid out accusations against Gonzalez, producing images and permitting records to suggest the city manager might have falsified a land survey while applying for a permit.

Carollo, a frequent critic of the manager, also theorized that Gonzalez used his position to fast-track his permit through necessary approvals across multiple city departments.

Gonzalez, who was not present because he was with his wife, who is ill, told the Herald he would respond to the accusation at the appropriate time.

Carollo and Reyes both used the discussion as a springboard to share their complaints about Gonzalez’s management style, saying he delegates responsibility too much and isn’t responsive to questions from elected officials.

Suarez defended Gonzalez during the hearing, saying he should at least be present to defend himself. Commissioners Ken Russell and Keon Hardemon said they were concerned about the allegations but thought it was inappropriate to proceed without Gonzalez present.

Four votes were required to fire Gonzalez. Newly elected Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla joined Carollo and Reyes in voting to dismiss the manager, but Russell and Hardemon voted against.

All five voted voted to send the permitting allegations to the auditor general.

Miami Herald staff writer Joey Flechas contributed to this report.