Florida’s plan to donate a 2-acre site in Downtown Miami for President Donald Trump’s presidential library has hit a judicial snag.
Bisnow/Chloe Gallivan
The Dade County Courthouse at 73 W. Flagler St.
Judge Mavel Ruiz of Florida’s 11th Circuit Court issued the decision on Tuesday, ruling that Miami Dade College, which owned the site and voted to hand it over to the state in September, didn’t provide a reasonable public notice for the school board to vote and donate the land, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The halt comes after political activist Marvin Dunn filed a suit Oct. 6 claiming that the Miami Dade College board of trustees violated the state’s Sunshine Act, which requires reasonable public notice of government meetings.
“This is not an easy decision,” Mavel said Tuesday, The Associated Press reported. “This is not a case, at least for this court, rooted in politics.”
The 2.6-acre prime Miami site up for debate serves as an employee parking lot for Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus and has an estimated worth of $67M, the WSJ reported.
Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to offer up the parking lot to the left of Freedom Tower at 600 Biscayne Blvd.
The college voted on Sept. 23 to hand the state the land, which is adjacent to the historic Freedom Tower, a 14-story Spanish Revival building that was a resource center for Cubans seeking asylum in the U.S. between 1962 and 1974.
The meeting agenda said the board was considering conveying property to a state fund, without specifying which property and why. The public notice, released a week before the meeting, said the board would “discuss potential real estate transactions.”
The meeting also wasn’t livestreamed, like every other meeting this year, the AP reported.
After the transfer vote, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis offered up the parcel to serve as the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library. That move was unanimously approved Sept. 30 by a Florida Cabinet made up of Republicans DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson.
The judge said Miami Dade College has the option to put out a new public notice and hold another vote, but the college plans to appeal the ruling, the WSJ reported.
The suit names Miami Dade College, the district board of trustees of Miami Dade College and its members Michael Bileca, Roberto Alonso, Maria Bosque Blanco, Marcell Felipe, Ismare Monreal and Juan Segovia as defendants. Jose Felix Diaz, who is listed as a member on the Miami Dade College website, appears to be the only member not named in the suit.
“Stripped of all hyperbole, this litigation appears to be a vessel for Plaintiff to manifest his vehement displeasure with the policy decisions made by the Board and nothing more,” according to a response filed by defendants on Oct. 13.
There is still no shortage of Florida land for Trump to choose from.
His team has reportedly eyed Miami’s Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, which offered a 100-year lease at no cost.
State officials have cleared a path to Florida’s first presidential library after passing a law in April that blocks counties and municipalities from enacting or enforcing measures regarding presidential libraries unless authorized by federal law, according to Florida Politics.
“Having the Trump Presidential Library in Miami will be good for Florida, for the city, and for Miami Dade College,” DeSantis said in a statement after approving the transfer of the parcel last month. “No state has supported the President’s agenda more than the Free State of Florida, and I was proud to spearhead the successful effort to house this historic presidential library right here in his home state.”