Vita lawyer looks to nullify West Palm Beach mayor votes on Sunset Lounge management agreement
West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James' vote to terminate negotiations with the group hoping to manage the Sunset Lounge violated a court order to negotiate in good faith, the group's lawyer has argued in court documents.
F. Malcolm Cunningham, the attorney representing Vita Lounge LLC in its quest to manage the Sunset, filed a request with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court to nullify James' vote, which he said was cast in defiance of the city charter.
Cunningham argues that, unless it's to break a tie, the charter bars James from voting on issues before the City Commission or the board of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, which spent $20 million to buy and rebuild the Sunset as part of its mission to revitalize distressed parts of the city.
James has said Cunningham's interpretation of the charter is incorrect. The mayor has long opposed Vita's bid to manage the Sunset, arguing that the group does not have a strong enough financial foundation to be entrusted to manage the facility.
The legal wrangling between Vita and the CRA has delayed the re-opening of the Sunset, once the cultural hub of the city's largely Black Northwest community. Some supporters of Vita's bid fear James is determined to prevent the group from managing the Sunset despite a previous court judgement requiring the CRA to negotiate in good faith with Vita on a management agreement.
During a June 10 meeting of the CRA board, which is comprised of James and City Commission members, James voted against a motion to continue management negotiations between the CRA and Vita. When that motion failed, he then made one to discontinue negotiations with Vita, which also failed, further clouding the future of the Sunset.
Cunningham has asked the court to nullify James' votes, declare that James is not a voting member of the CRA board, award Vita the cost of legal fees incurred in seeking to nullify James' vote and "reserve upon and consider at a future date the City and the CRA's contempt of Court in otherwise failing to negotiate in good faith since the issuance of the Judgement."
Cunningham said Circuit Court Judge Carolyn Bell, who has overseen the legal disputes between Vita and the CRA, has set a hearing date on his latest motion for August 26. The CRA, which has not responded to Cunningham's most recent ruling, has largely been unsuccessful in its legal fight againt Vita.
Bell ruled that the city improperly disqualified Vita in 2022 after it won a bid to negotiate a management agreement to oversee the Sunset. The judge ordered the CRA to negotiate with Vita, and she later ordered the CRA to pay Vita's legal fees, a ruling James has vowed to appeal.
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Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Vita lawyer asks court to nullify Sunset votes of West Palm mayor
