A Miami-Dade judge has ordered lawyer and former Rep. J.C. Planas to pay $5,675 to former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora for legal expenses he incurred fighting a “frivolous” ethics complaint.
Judge Michael Barket concurred with a county ethics panel’s decision that Planas wrongly petitioned it for action over gifts Góngora accepted during the city’s 2023 Mayor’s race.
The panel determined since Góngora didn’t qualify for the race until later that he wasn’t obligated to report the gifts, and said Planas should have known that.
Planas, whose appeal of that decision is ongoing, plans to appeal Barket’s decision too.
– Jesse Scheckner, Florida Politics