MIAMI – As plaintiffs in a racial gerrymandering lawsuit try to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, there was a new legal twist Monday in the ongoing saga over the fairness — or, as some argue, lack thereof — of Miami’s city commission district map.
Miguel Angel Gabela, a challenger to incumbent District 1 Commissioner Alex Diaz de La Portilla in the upcoming November election, filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County court Monday, claiming his home of two decades was surgically removed from a map proposed and passed by the commission on June 14.
That map was purportedly designed to correct issues of “unconstitutional racial gerrymandering” that a federal judge identified in the original map.
That same judge found that the city’s new map largely kept the original map’s “unconstitutional” boundaries intact and continued to split neighborhoods. He ordered a new one drawn by the plaintiffs put in place.
The lightly-modified map, however, is now set to be used in the November election after a federal appeals court granted the city’s motion for a stay.
Original (left) and city’s modified (right) maps:
One minor change in the map is sparking new litigation, claiming the city violated multiple state and local laws in passing the updated boundaries.
Gabela said the city’s new map purposely moved his longtime home at 1701 NW South River Drive into District 3. He brought up the change at the June 14 meeting.
“If you look at that map, you will see that I am the only one on that corner of the northeast, uh, the intersection, I am on the northeast of the intersection right next to the 17th Avenue bridge,” he told commissioners. “There’s no other house there, that’s my house right there.”
Gabela’s home:
Former (left) and updated (right) district boundaries, with Gabela’s home highlighted in red:
Gabela’s home sits alongside the small Lawrence Canal in Miami’s Grapeland Heights neighborhood, which separates his residence from Sewell Park.
While the original District 3 was bounded to the north by the Dolphin Expressway, the new map juts slightly northward to include Gabela’s home — and the Lawrence Canal became the new boundary between Districts 1 and 3.
Gabela’s home is now in District 3, while Sewell Park, just feet away, remained in District 1.
District 3 is represented by Commissioner Joe Carollo, who’s not up for re-election until 2025.
“This is so blatantly disrespectful and so blatantly, you know, in-your-face...corruption, of taking out another candidate three months before an election,” Gabela said. “We’ve been running this campaign since February.”
Gabela’s lawsuit accuses the city of violating a new state statute that prohibits municipal districts “drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a candidate for member of the governing body or an incumbent member of the governing body based on the candidate’s or incumbent’s residential address.”
It also accuses the city of violating its code, the county’s Bill of Rights and Florida’s Sunshine Law by failing to provide adequate notice of the meeting to adopt the new map.
“The failure to notice the redistricting resolution and post online the redistricting map in advance of the special meeting deprived the public of the opportunity to understand how the redistricting resolution and map would impact them,” the lawsuit states.
“The meeting notice itself said ‘no public comment,’ that was intended, and it worked, to dampen people coming out,” attorney David Winker, who is representing Gabela, said in an interview with Local 10 News Monday.
It also says the city violated the state’s Sunshine Law and the state constitution by having its consultant, Miguel De Grandy, meet privately and individually with commissioners in order to “amalgamate” their input on a new map.
“Everyone who looks at this says ‘this stinks,’ right?, but this is next level,“ Winker said. “We’re allowing a commissioner, Commissioner Diaz De la Portilla, to choose his opponent, or in this case, get rid of his opponent by redrawing a district to carve out somebody who’s been in the district for over 20 years,”
Gabela and Winker are asking the court to issue a stay against the map, noting that the lawsuit focused on Mr. Gabela’s candidacy, rather than racial gerrymandering issues as claimed in the other lawsuit, and are asking that he be put back into his district.
“In our case we are focused on one issue: the harm it has done to a candidate who has been carved out of a district improperly,” Winker said. “If they can get away with this, can you imagine? Every election, ‘Let’s look at the maps, who is the leading opponent? Let’s redraw it,’ ‘Who is my opponent?’ you know, and just carve them out.”
In the meantime, Gabela said he will continue to knock on doors in District 1.
“The campaign continues,” Gabela said. “We will be there in November, OK?”
Local 10 News contacted Diaz de la Portilla and Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez seeking comment on the new lawsuit.
“The City is aware of the lawsuit and is reviewing the allegations. We will respond accordingly once we are properly served,” Mendez responded to Local 10.
Diaz de la Portilla sent the following statement:
“Living in the District a candidate seeks to represent provides a needed connection to the district and an understanding of how government can best serve the interests of those constituents. By admitting he is not a resident of the District, Gabela has rendered himself unqualified to represent District 1. Instead of fighting the City he supposedly wants to help govern, Gabela should help the City inform the voters of where the law requires them to vote. That would be an ideal example of public service, something I strive to do every day.”
Local 10 News asked Diaz de la Portilla’s office to clarify the reference to Gabela “admitting he is not a resident of the District.”
Read the full complaint: