Hialeah councilman sues Bovo alleging systematic ‘abuse of power’ in the mayor’s office

Hialeah Councilman Bryan Calvo has accused Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo Jr. in a newly filed lawsuit of systematically abusing his power, a clear escalation in a years-long dispute between the two politicians.

The civil complaint, filed Monday in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County, alleges three fundamental aspects in which the mayor allegedly exceeded his authority:

▪ Interference with the councilman’s investigation and inquiry into the thousands of 911 calls that have gone unanswered in Hialeah.

Hialeah is charging Calvo $6,769 for public records related to the operation of the 911 call center, which he requested after el Nuevo Herald revealed deficiencies in the city’s emergency service.

The mayor later ruled out launching an investigation into the 911 call center despite acknowledging that Hialeah’s emergency service is below the national standard, and accused the councilman of having “embarked on a witch hunt,” according to a press release.

▪ Prohibiting the councilman from adding topics to the agenda of City Council meetings.

The lawsuit alleges that after “Hialeah’s 911 call center crisis” was exposed, Calvo sent an email to City Clerk Marbelys Fatjo, asking her to add an item to the agenda for the council meeting on Oct. 10.

However, Fatjo denied the request, asserting that a topic cannot be added without the consent of the mayor or the approval of four council members, the lawsuit states.

Later, the lawsuit states, then-Interim City Attorney Elsa I. Jaramillo-Velez told Calvo that he could not request that an item be added to the agenda of a council meeting “because it was not discussed with the mayor in advance.”

▪ Implementation of a policy that prohibits council members, including Calvo, from speaking to any department head or city employee, without first going through the mayor.

According to a memorandum from the mayor’s office dated Sept. 1, 2022, “any request of a member of our council to any city department head or administrator for assistance with an event or situation (including constituent needs) must be requested in writing to the Office of the Mayor.”

Calvo’s lawsuit asks for a judge to render the mayor’s policies invalid and issue a permanent injunction to block them.

“The goal of this lawsuit is to create government transparency for residents and councilors and other politicians in the future,” Calvo said.

The mayor, who learned of the lawsuit on Tuesday during a break in a City Council session, told el Nuevo Herald that he had “no comment” on the complaint.

“I am not going to play this political game,” said Bovo, who acts as Hialeah’s strong mayor, overseeing the government’s day-to-day operations.

Hialeah City Attorney Rafael Suárez Rivas also declined to comment.

One of Calvo’s lawyers, Brittany Quintana, told el Nuevo Herald that the mayor, the city attorney and the city clerk are wrongly interpreting the city’s code by preventing or limiting the councilman from carrying out investigations, presenting issues on the agenda and meeting with Hialeah managers.

“Calvo has received information and documents in the past. We don’t understand why the policy changes now. He could review public records without paying or hiding confidential information. What we want is to have access to that information,” Quintana said.

The councilman’s representative warned that for a government to work there must be different people investigating. “The Hialeah code is not written in a way in which the rules of the game can be changed at will. The system has protections, that is why the Sunshine law exists in chapter 119 on access to public information,” she argued.

City Hall Drama

The lawsuit is the latest confrontation between Calvo and Bovo, both of whom were elected in 2021. They have clashed publicly over various issues, including the creation of a redevelopment agency, the budget and increasing water service fees.

In a statement sent Wednesday to el Nuevo Herald by the mayor’s press officer, Gina Romero, she said that “the facts speak for themselves, the Mayor will not comment and the City will prove that this is a cheap political act.”

The lawsuit follows another legal complaint involving Hialeah politicians. Earlier this year, former Mayor Carlos Hernández was sued by relatives of Councilman Jesús Tundidor over a 2019 raid on his nightclub, Bellas Cabaret. According to the lawsuit, the raid occurred because Tunidor decided to run for office without Hernández’s approval.

Nor is Calvo’s lawsuit the first time a mayor and councilman have faced off in court over the division of power.

In the 1970s, Mayor Dale G. Bennett sued a group of councilman known as the Ferocious Five. The litigation was over legislation that Bennett believed had improperly curtailed his powers as mayor, according to stories published at the time by the Miami Herald.

One of the councilmen, Raúl Martínez, who would go on to beat Bennett to become mayor, said the councilmen also sued.

In Calvo’s case, José Smith, a special magistrate for the city of North Miami, warned after reading the Hialeah code that “Councilman Calvo should be allowed to have the ability to place items in the agenda. The mayor does not have the authority to prohibit it, particularly if the Council finds that it is reasonable and serves a legislative public purpose.”

“To suggest otherwise could potentially stop the Council from governing,” said Smith, who previously was a Miami Beach city commissioner, as well as the city attorney for the cities of Miami Beach and North Miami Beach.

Regarding Calvo’s public records request about the 911 call center, however, Smith believes that the code supports the mayor’s actions. “It is my legal opinion that the individual Council Members are not authorized to conduct investigations, unless a majority of the legislative body approves such investigation.”

Smith said the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust might be the better venue for Calvo’s claim.

“It’s easier, faster and less expensive,” he said, adding that judges do not like to get involved in power struggles.