Just over a week after Republican Rep. Fabián Basabe called for his ouster, Bay Harbor Islands has fired Joe Geller as its Town Attorney.
The Town Council voted 6-1 to remove Geller, who has held the job since 2021, and replace him with another lawyer from his firm, Greenspoon Marder.
The action followed Basabe’s written request to Town Manager Lindsley Noel to place items on the Council’s Wednesday agenda effectuating the replacement of Geller and his firm.
Noel didn’t include the items, but the Council voted on the matter anyway after Basabe appeared in person to demand it.
Basabe accused Geller, a Democrat and former state lawmaker who has served as a Miami-Dade School Board member since November, of treating his Town Attorney role like a “side project,” missing meetings, sleeping on the job and “leaving behind work for others to complete.”
He cited a “long list of pending items” Geller hadn’t handled promptly, from resolutions and ordinances to lease renewals, easements, infrastructure agreements and public records requests.
“Every delay costs us all time, money and momentum,” he said. “Removing him will allow someone to fully serve this town and also give him the opportunity to do his School Board job properly, which is what our children deserve.”
Geller is on a preapproved vacation in Italy and couldn’t attend the meeting. Council members Josh Fuller and Molly Diallo, the latter of whom cast the sole “no” vote, argued the matter should wait until he returned and the complaints could be vetted.
Council member Teri D’Amico, who initiated the vote, said Geller had been informed a vote might happen and should have attended remotely.
“Mr. Geller has to know about his … inability to complete his work,” she said, adding that town staff have complained about him.
In a Tuesday phone interview with Florida Politics, Geller called Basabe’s accusations thinly veiled political attacks. He said he has endorsed every Democratic opponent Basabe has faced since 2022, including current rival Lucia Báez-Geller.
He also rejected claims that his School Board duties conflicted with his town role or that he has a serious legislative backlog.
“(Basabe) doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Geller said. “There’s always stuff, and not everything is answered immediately because it takes time.”
But several Council members echoed Basabe’s concerns. Eric Rappaport referenced a three-page list interim Town Clerk and Deputy Town Manager Eveyln Herbello compiled of Geller’s purportedly unfinished work, including at least one dating back to 2023.
“I can’t understand why we have two years’ worth of stuff that hasn’t gotten done,” he said. “Painting this as purely political, that’s hogwash.”
Vice Mayor Stephanie Bruder said she assumed Geller would quit as Town Attorney after winning the School Board seat “because I can’t imagine how you can do (those) two things (sufficiently at the same time).”
She said he often seems disengaged during meetings and cited an unresolved $2.4 million payment in transferred development rights from last year.
“We’re waiting on a lot of money,” she said.
Robert Yaffe questioned Herbello’s list, noting one item regarding the demolition of a house on East Broadview Drive that was completed “years ago.” But he acknowledged frustration over Geller’s delays, calling it “sort of funny” that the Council had recently voted unanimously to raise Greenspoon Marder’s monthly fee from $15,000 to $17,250.
Greenspoon Marder partner Ahmand Johnson, serving as Town Attorney on Wednesday, confirmed that the firm could still represent Bay Harbor Islands with a different attorney in place.
He defended Geller, saying remote attendance could be burdensome and suggesting Basabe’s motives were political.
“I would wonder how many other municipalities in Mr. Basabe’s district he has gotten this granular with,” he said. “That number of municipalities probably correlates to the number of political enemies he has.”
Johnson conceded there’s been “an underperformance issue” Greenspoon Marder has been addressing, but argued the Council’s recent pay hike signaled general satisfaction with the firm’s work.
“It does appear to be more about politics than anything else,” he said.
Mayor Isaac Salver said he supported the raise to motivate the firm to “move things along,” but agreed the matter of Geller’s employment was “absolutely political,” though not as Johnson framed it.
“Our sitting Attorney right now has pretty much supported every opponent that our sitting Representative has and will have, openly and loudly,” Salver said. “The perfect Town Attorney would be … perfectly neutral.”
Fuller and Yaffe initially opposed the firing until they could confirm it wouldn’t breach the town’s agreement with Greenspoon Marder. After doing so, both switched “yes.”
Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones, whose district overlaps with Basabe’s, spoke after Basabe but declined to weigh in on Geller’s performance.
“I honestly have not followed what he does here at the city, so it would not be fair for me to weigh in on the situation,” he said before highlighting $1 million in state appropriations he and Basabe secured for the town this year.
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