A Miami-Dade County judge ordered the city of North Miami Beach Commission to reinstate Commissioner Michael Joseph Tuesday.
Earlier this Spring, the commission voted 3 to 1 to remove Joseph after a very public political grudge match with suspended Mayor Anthony DeFillipo.
Circuit Court Judge Peter Lopez wrote "Commissioner Joseph shall be obligated and entitled to all the duties and obligations of the office until further notice," along with stopping city efforts to hold a special election to replace Joseph.
"Commissioner Joseph looks forward to resuming his service on behalf of the citizens of the city of North Miami Beach and is grateful to the court for its time and attention to this matter of significant concern,” Joseph’s attorney Max Eichenblatt wrote NBC6.
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In a statement, Joseph called the judge's ruling "vindication."
“Judge Lopez’s ruling, as well as the arrest of Mr. DeFillipo based on evidence that he had moved out of the city, is vindication despite months of lies and manipulation of people’s fears and prejudice to support continued corruption in our city,” Joseph said. “The mayor’s supporters, who went out of their way to block investigations, fire staff, and prevent the courts and law enforcement from reviewing allegations, have a lot of explaining to do."
A fellow commissioner and now acting mayor Jay Chernoff filed a lawsuit earlier this year against Joseph, accusing him of missing 120 days of meetings in a row in violation of the city charter. Judge Lopez ruled Joseph did not miss 120 days in a row and the city charter does not give the commission the power to remove its own members.
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“There is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits by Commissioner Joseph,” Judge Lopez wrote.
Commissioner Chernoff has not yet provided a comment to NBC6, writing he was waiting for more information from his attorney.
Judge Lopez reinstated Joseph for several reasons, according to his order. First, the commission did not have a quorum on May 16th when they removed him, only having four voting members after one did not attend and two others were had conflicts of interest. Five members are needed for commission votes according to the city charter.
Joseph is a key figure in a political battle engulfing the small city of North Miami Beach for months. In late May, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office arrested then-Mayor Anthony DeFillipo and charged him with three felonies for voting three times in 2022 from a house he sold in 2021. DeFillipo pleaded not guilty to the charges and is awaiting trial. He was later suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis and is waiting for the Florida Senate to remove or reinstate him.
Commissioner Joseph was one of three city commissioners boycotting commission meetings, arguing DeFillipo lived in Davie with his family and not in North Miami Beach as required by the city charter.
Joseph and his legal team have argued he did not miss 120 days because the first meeting he missed was in December. His opponents argue the clock started after the last meeting he attended in October. Joseph did attend the March meeting after a Miami-Dade County court ordered all the commissioners to attend.
The fight among the seven-members of the city commission has consumed the city for more than half a year and at times delayed crucial city business. The next meeting is scheduled for June 20th and commissioners need to set the date for a special election for the seat recently held by DeFillipo.
