Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla following his arrest on corruption charges.
Diaz de la Portilla was arrested Thursday on multiple charges including bribery and money laundering. A co-defendant, attorney and lobbyist William Riley Jr., was also arrested.
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In a statement Friday evening, DeSantis announced the suspension of Diaz de La Portilla through an executive order.
"It is in the best interests of the residents of the City of Miami, and the citizens of the State of Florida, that Alejandro Diaz de la Portilla be immediately suspended from the public office which he now holds," DeSantis' order reads.
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In a statement Friday after the suspension was announced, the City of Miami said the city commission needs to meet by Monday, September 25, to decide if a temporary appointment will be named to serve the rest of the District 1 commission term prior to the November 7 general election.
"The city commission is a legislative and policy-making body. A temporary vacancy on the commission does not affect the administrative functions of the city nor its services to residents of District 1 which will continue without disruption," the statement read.
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At the core of the corruption charges is a $10 million sports complex on public property for a public school.
According to an arrest affidavit released Friday, Diaz de la Portilla pushed for the athletic facility in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash and other expenses.
The sports complex built by Centner Academy was proposed by Diaz de la Portilla and received unanimous approval.
The affidavit said Riley conspired with Diaz de la Portilla to funnel $245,000 from a couple who owns Centner Academy into two political committees "secretly controlled" by Diaz de la Portilla.
The affidavit doesn't allege that the owners of the academy, David and Lelia Centner, did anything wrong.
Leila and David Centner addressed the matter in a message to their school community Friday.
"Please know that at this time the prosecutor has asked us not to comment. With that being said, we want to assure all of you that we are not being accused of any wrongful acts nor have we done anything wrong," the statement read. "We wish we could share more freely, we imagine matters will clarify in the coming weeks."
Riley is accused of steering the money from the couple and cutting multiple checks as Centner Academy was negotiating the sports complex at Biscayne Park.
According to the affidavit, Riley also billed the couple for campaign events and Diaz de la Portilla's hotel stays at the East Miami Hotel in Brickell.
After his release from jail Thursday night, Diaz de la Portilla repeatedly said he did nothing wrong.
"This is a work of fiction by this prosecutor, this is a Democrat state attorney from Broward County who's targeting a Republican commissioner from Miami, the same thing that's happening to President Trump at the national level with four different false prosecutions is happening to me in Miami at the local level, we're seeing it on the national level and now we're seeing it on a local level. There's nothing true about this complaint," he said. "Not an ounce of truth in those allegations."
Diaz de la Portilla has served as commissioner for District One, representing Flagami, Allapattah, and parts of Little Havana, since 2020.
He was previously elected to the State of Florida House of Representatives in 1994 and served six years until being elected to the State of Florida Senate in 2000. He was a member of the Florida Senate until 2010.
He said he'd seek re-election and is determined to win.
"The people of that community, the people of my district, they know me as a state senator, a state representative, a commissioner and they trust me, they know I'm honest, I'm direct and I say the truth," he said. "There's no truth whatsoever to any of these allegations."
