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Parents ask Miami commission to revisit park project at center of Alex Diaz de la Portilla case

MIAMI ā€“ Public school parents showed up to Miami City Hall Thursday morning advocating for a plan for their students that prosecutors said was sidelined when ex-Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla began taking in tens of thousands of dollars from the owners of a private school.

But supporters of Centner Academy argued that a deal is a deal and they also showed up to be heard at the city commission meeting.

Diaz de la Portilla, whoā€™s facing felony charges alongside attorney and Centner lobbyist William Riley, is accused of sidelining a plan to expand public school iPrep Academy on the site of Biscayne Park, located 150 NE 19th St., in favor of a plan by David and Leila Centner to build a $10 million indoor athletic complex on the same land.

Diaz de la Portilla, whoā€™s called the charges ā€œa work of fiction,ā€ lost his bid for re-election while under indictment in 2023. The Centners were never charged and have maintained that they did nothing wrong.

Wearing pink shirts that said ā€œpublic land for public schools,ā€ iPrep parents came out chanting in their bid to revisit the vote.

ā€œWe were hoping to tell commissioners that we stand and supported the original proposed plan, the master plan, that included iPrep,ā€ parent Lina Carrera said.

Theyā€™ve also started a petition.

ā€œUndo this lease so that public land is thought of first and foremost for public good,ā€ parent Benji Power said.

Supporters of the Centners had shirts of their own: green ones, saying ā€œsupport Biscayne Park.ā€

ā€œAt its core this is a donation from our hearts,ā€ David Centner said. ā€œDonā€™t throw the baby out with the bathwater; this is a beautiful project.ā€

When Centner Academy students arenā€™t using the facility, David Centner said it will be open to public for ā€œfree or a small fee.ā€

Miami City Commissioner Manolo Reyes noted, ā€œmany people claim that the deal it was tainted because (of) Alex Diaz de la Portilla, but it did pass.ā€

Commissioners ended up deferring the related agenda item until the next meeting on March 14.

Both sides say a deferment is not a deterrent and expect to be back in force.

ā€œWe are going to fight until the right decision is made,ā€ Power said.

ā€œMaybe there is a way for all of us to work together,ā€ David Centner said.

Read the arrest warrant:


About the Author
Christina Vazquez headshot

Christina returned to Local 10 in 2019 as a reporter after covering Hurricane Dorian for the station. She is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist and previously earned an Emmy Award while at WPLG for her investigative consumer protection segment "Call Christina."

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