BURSTA lawsuit filed Monday alleges that Miami Dade College violated Florida law in gifting land in downtown Miami for President Trump’s library.
The suit, filed by historian Dr. Marvin Dunn in the 11th Judicial Court of Florida and obtained by The Hill, says the board of the community college violated Florida’s Government in the Sunshine Law. The law, enacted in 1967, requires that public boards or commission meetings must be open to the public, provide reasonable notice of such meetings and include recorded minutes.
On Sept. 23, the Miami Dade College District Board of Trustees voted to gift 2.6 acres of real estate in Miami to the state of Florida. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the state cabinet then voted to transfer the land, located next to the city’s Freedom Tower, to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation. The land was valued at over $67 million by a Miami-Dade County property appraisal, the lawsuit states.
The Hill has reached out to Miami Dade College and the governor’s office for comment.
The lawsuit alleges that the board of trustees violated the Sunshine Law by providing an “inadequate” notice of the meeting. Prior to meeting, the board said it would “discuss potential real estate transactions.”
“This action does not have to do with whether the District Board of Trustees made a wise decision. It is not brought to lodge a political protest. Rather, it deals with the fact that, in making its decision, the District Board of Trustees unquestionably violated,” the Sunshine Law, the lawsuit states.
Dunn, 85, is a former professor at Florida International University in Miami and a longtime civil rights advocate. On Oct. 1, he sent a letter to Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, urging her to investigate the land transfer.
“This is an egregious abuse of public trust. Miami’s public lands should not be used as political gifts, particularly when done in secrecy and in violation of the law designed to ensure transparency,” Dunn said.
Richard Brodsky, Dunn's attorney, told The Hill on Tuesday that Dunn filed the lawsuit because the board's decision "hurts the students and because it was done in violation" of the Government in the Sunshine Law. A poll of Miami-Dade residents conducted by political research firm Bendixen & Amandi found that 74 percent of respondents — including 59 percent of Republicans — believe the land should remain with the college, according to the Miami Herald.
Former Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padrón told WLRN last month the land transfer is "very difficult to understand."
“It's just frankly unimaginable that this decision was made without any real discussion of the consequences of what that will do to the college," Padrón added.