Miami commission postpones vote on 6-figure Carollo pension settlement

MIAMI — The Miami City Commission postponed a vote Thursday on a proposed $770,000 pension lawsuit settlement with Joe Carollo, a two-time mayor and three-time commissioner.

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The commission agenda included an item that would authorize “the Trustee of the Elected Officers’ Retirement Trust and/or the city’s Excess Benefits Plan” to pay Carollo, who left office as a commissioner having lost multiple appeals to have a $63.5 million civil rights lawsuit verdict against him tossed. His legal battle ended after leaving office, with the U.S. Supreme Court denying his final appeal.

But before commissioners had a chance to vote on the item, the attorney representing the two Little Havana businessmen who won that suit in 2023, filed an emergency motion.

Attorney Jeff Gutchess, in the Wednesday filing, told the court the final judgement of $63 million that a federal civil jury awarded “remains unsatisfied” before enumerating “grounds for garnishment.”

In that case, a federal civil jury found Carollo liable for violating the First Amendment rights of William Fuller and Martin Pinilla.

“The filings allege that the proposed payment stems from a decades-old lawsuit filed by Carollo against the city concerning pension-related legislative changes and that the settlement is expected to be funded from the City’s general revenues rather than from any protected pension trust or retirement account,” Gutchess told Local 10 News in a statement, “What is deeply troubling is that, even after the jury’s findings and the Court’s judgment, the City of Miami continues to aid and abet the very individual found liable for weaponizing government power against private citizens.

“Rather than protecting taxpayers and restoring public trust, the City is now poised to transfer substantial public funds to the perpetrator of that misconduct while the judgment against him remains unpaid.“

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Local 10 news extended an opportunity to the offices of the mayor, city commissioners and city attorney, as well as the city’s spokesperson, and the City’s spokesperson Thursday morning, but did not hear back from any of them at time of publication.

The $770,000 payment, the proposed resolution stated, would kick-in “upon thirty days from the date on which the Miami City Commission approves the settlement agreement…of any and all claims and demands by him, including all claims for attorneys’ fees, against the City of Miami, and any of its departments, elected officials, agents, officers, or employees and dismissal with prejudice of the case of Joe Carollo vs. City of Miami,” which is pending.

Local 10 News was at City Hall when a decision was made to defer the item to June 11th.

After the decision to defer, Gutchess told Local 10 News, “Carollo still appears to wield extraordinary influence over the machinery of city government, including its legal department,” adding, “today’s cancellation of the vote only raises more serious questions about what has been happening behind closed doors at City Hall over the past several months.

“Based on the information we have uncovered, it appears that the City Attorney’s Office, working in coordination with Commissioner Carollo and his private counsel, has been attempting to structure and characterize this payment in a manner designed to shield it from lawful collection efforts tied to the outstanding federal judgment. The conduct we are seeing suggests very little has changed inside the City of Miami.“

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