Miami Lakes lawyer Michael A. Pizzi hit the lawsuit trifecta with another huge courthouse victory against the City of Opa-locka.

In 2016 and 2017, respectively, Mike “Pitbull” Pizzi filed a whistle-blower lawsuit behalf of former Budget Director Keith Carswell, and a second one on behalf of Former Finance Director Charmaine Parchment, both of whom were fired for publicly exposing that then-City Manager Yvette Harrell had taken funds from a “bond reserve set aside to pay investors in case Opa-locka failed to make its payments on the City Hall purchase,” as reported by the Miami Herald in Opa-locka targeted in new federal probe.  Both cases resulted in general settlement payouts to Carswell and Parchment.

In Hopeless in Opa-locka, we reported that former Commissioner Timothy Holmes hired hired Pizzi to sue the city on December 26, 2018 after his city issued vehicle was repossessed when “he was targeted by the new mayor as a form of payback” because Holmes “disrespected him” when they were both commissioners for the previous two years, according to the The Miami Times.  Mr. Holmes had already arranged to purchase the vehicle when he left office.   A month later, “a Miami-Dade judge ordered it to be returned to the 75-year-old immediately,” as reported by the Miami Herald.

In that same blog, we also mentioned that in 2017 Mr. Pizzi, along with his co-counsel, Benedict P. Kuehne and and David Reiner, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Opa-locka resident George Suarez and others against the city for overcharging residents for water and illegally using their deposits to fill budget gaps.

At an April 10, 2019 hearing, Circuit Court Judge Beatrice Butchko heard the Plaintiff’s Motion for Class Certification as well as the Defendant city’s Motion to Strike the Plaintiff’s request for a class action lawsuit.

According to the transcript of the hearing, Judge Butchko was really impressed with the Plaintiff’s star witness, Charmaine Parchment, the city’s former Finance Director who is now the controller for the City of Clearwater.

The Court’s first comments at the hearing acknowledged that Parchment “has very impressive educational background; she is a CPA and she has a Masters and an MBA. She also has a history dating back to, I believe, 2009 with the City of Opa-Locka where she rose through the ranks from being a branch grant writer for four years to the accounts department, promoted to assistant finance director, and then ultimately, the finance director for the City of Opa-Locka.”

If anyone knows where the proverbial bodies are buried, it’s Charmaine Parchment.

Judge Butchko opined, “I give great weight to Ms. Parchment’s testimony. I found her to be extremely professional both on direct and cross-examination, knowledgeable, and did not appear to hesitate during any of her testimony or equivocate.”

Damn shame Opa-locka city officials didn’t heed her warnings.

After listing by name all the individuals who appeared on behalf of the Plaintiff, recounting their testimonies, and finding each one to be credible, Judge Butchko concluded with, “That is a summary of the evidence that this court has considered and given great weight to.”  She then cited case law from a January 9, 2019 ruling in the Third District Court of Appeals case, Pinnacle Condominium vs. Richard Haney, and advised counsel that “it really outlines for the trial court what needs to be found in these types of [class action] hearings.”

Judge Butchko then concluded by stating that the Plaintiff has satisfied the burden of establishing the basis for a class action lawsuit.

The Judge also added, “I don’t know the prior experience in terms of amount of class actions that the plaintiff’s lawyers have participated in, but I do have prior experience with Mr. Kuehne in terms of his litigation abilities both in criminal court as well as in civil and I have no doubt that he can adequately represent the class members here.  Mr. Pizzi, as well, is someone who is very enthusiastic and I can’t imagine that he will not have the energy to proceed and represent this class. And from what I’ve the seen, the three lawyers appear to be very knowledgeable and not failed to answer any of the Court’s questions.  So I think that the class would be adequately represented not only by the class member or members, but also by counsel.”

And just like that, Judge Butchko granted the Plaintiff’s Motion for Class Certification and denied the Defendant’s Motion to Strike.

This ruling is a huge win for Pitbull Pizzi and his co-counsel, who toil endlessly to seek justice for their clients.

It’s an even bigger win for Opa-locka residents whose lives and wallets have been held hostage for years by the most corrupt and incompetent city officials running the worst water department in all of South Florida.

The Miami Times reported that the certification of this class action has “opened the floodgates for more than 30,000 customers to get their money back.”  Furthermore, “The city currently has about 16,000 water accounts. However, because of the class-action status, all water customers going as far back as 2013 can now join the lawsuit and seek damages.”

If you are one of those customers and wish to join the class action lawsuit, please contact the Law Office of Michael A. Pizzi at 305-906-2277.

“I am happy to achieve justice for the people,” Mike “Pitbull” Pizzi told VotersOpinion.  “The taxpayers have been abused and ripped off for many years by Opa Locka’s water billing system.  Now the city needs to pay up.  The damages could be well over 30 or 40 million dollars.”

Stephanie