Former Miami city manager Emilio Gonzalez may not have won his recent mayoral bid, but he did win a lawsuit that kept elected officials from getting an extra year in office. And as of today, he's been awarded a $150,000 settlement by city leaders.
At a city meeting Thursday, commissioners approved without discussion a settlement with Gonzalez pertaining to the city's appeal of his court victory on city elections.
Last year, the city commission voted to shift elections from odd years to even years in an effort to increase voter turnout by aligning city voting with federal elections. In effect, however, the shift would also give sitting city commissioners and then-mayor Francis Suarez an additional year in office without an election. Critics took umbrage with this effort especially because the commission attempted to do this without voter approval by ballot referendum.
Gonzalez, who was a frontrunner in 2025's city mayor race, sued Miami, claiming the legislation was unconstitutional. Gonzalez won — the city appealed, and lost again. The election was allowed to occur in 2025, and Eileen Higgins took the mayor's seat in a decisive victory.
READ MORE: City of Miami spent $150K on long-shot election appeal
Thursday's approval of the $150,000 settlement with Gonzalez adds to the already outsized bill the city paid for this lawsuit. As reported by WLRN news partner the Coconut Grove Spotlight, the city paid about $150,000 in its own legal fees to outside law firm Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton — bringing the total amount spent on the appeal to at least $300,000 in taxpayer dollars.
The city regularly contracts with outside law firms to assist its internal legal department in lawsuits. Those outside contracts constitute an additional hourly charge above and beyond what the city legal department employees are paid.
Gonzalez told WLRN the city did "the right thing" by approving the settlement, but said the case should never have happened in the first place.
"This whole journey was inexcusable and unnecessary. Unfortunately, the taxpayers have to foot the bill," he said.
Miami Freedom Park
A number of legislative items pertaining to Miami's Freedom Park passed Thursday without discussion.
Commissioners approved two "easements" or property right allowances for Florida Power and Light (FPL) to perform construction at Miami Freedom Park, site of the Nu Stadium and Inter Miami soccer.
The first will allow FPL to move power lines near the Romero Britto-themed Grapeland Water Park.
The second grants FPL the ability to construct electrical equipment to support a lift station on the north end of Freedom Park. A lift station is a type of sewage station that pumps sewage from lower elevations to higher elevation pipes. A spokesperson for FPL told WLRN the utility company is not operating the lift station, but requesting access to provide power to the site.
Sporting event activities have already begun at the Nu Stadium as of last weekend, but construction of the building is still ongoing. As WLRN previously reported, parking lots and landscaping at the stadium are still unfinished, and certain sections of the building are cordoned off pending additional construction.
READ MORE: A Nu start, but not a perfect one for Inter Miami
Finally, the city has begun the process of allocating new funds toward the construction of a new city administration building at Miami Freedom Park.
As part of its contract with the soccer stadium owners, the City of Miami required land be put aside for a new admin building to replace the government's current headquarters along the Miami River. Newly passed legislation directs the City Manager to allocate funds from the sale of the Miami Riverside Center exclusively for the construction of the new administration building.
The city entered into an agreement with developer Adler Group, doing business as Lancelot Miami River LLC, to rent the Miami Riverside Center for $3,620,000 per year. Lancelot has the option to purchase the property outright for no less than $58,600,000 under the city's agreement. The money, either rent or purchase price, must now go exclusively toward the new City of Miami government building in Miami Freedom Park.
The new building will include office space for city departments as well as a new city hall space to replace the current historic chambers in Coconut Grove.
