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Complaint
Complaint
DANIEL SAMARIA,
Plaintiff,
vs.
Defendants.
_________________________________/
INTRODUCTION
This lawsuit is a case where a hard-working man of the people, Biscayne Park Village
Commissioner Samaria, who was duly elected to that position in a grass roots campaign, based his
In an unprecedented and outrageous series of illegal actions, the then Village Manager, the
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Village Attorney, the Mayor and her political allies engaged in a conspiracy to have Village
Commissioner Samaria removed from office. They used their color of title to conspire with others,
including Commissioner Samaria’s bank and mortgage company to try and expedite a foreclosure
on his residence so that he would lose his legal residency to serve the Village of Biscayne Park in
Defendants pursued their illegal actions deliberately with the knowledge that Plaintiff was
being treated for cancer, and engaged in acts unprecedented in the annals of federal and state
emotional damages on him while he was about to undergo life-saving surgery and at risk to his
home.
exclusive of prejudgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, for which this Court has jurisdiction.
2. This Court has jurisdiction over the Defendants and venue is appropriate in this
County because each defendant is situated or resides in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and because
this County is where the causes of action accrued and the wrongful acts took place.
Commissioner of the Village of Biscayne Park, Florida, a municipality enacted under the laws of
4. Defendant, Truppman, is the former Mayor for the Village of Biscayne Park.
5. Defendant, Manners, is the former Village Manager for the Village of Biscayne
Park.
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Park.
BACKGROUND ALLEGATIONS
7. At all times material, Plaintiff Samaria made it clear that he was not part of the
Biscayne Park Mayor’s close circle of political allies, and that he was going to be an honest Village
Commissioner of Biscayne Park. He raised concerns about the competency and integrity of the
Sardella (“Johnson-Sardella”) all ran together as a political block and were elected in November,
2016.
9. One month later, Truppman was designated the Mayor under the Village Charter.
10. Truppman, Tudor and Johnson-Sardella worked together to create a toxic work
environment towards the former Village Manager which led to her resignation after just six (6)
months. Truppman herself submitted an application for the Village Manager’s position, but it was
summarily rejected due to her having no municipal government or related work experience. Tracy
Truppman then attempted to amend the Charter to funnel more power and control away from the
Manager and to the Mayor’s position. This attempt failed to gain majority support from both the
community and commission. The other two commissioners elected along with Truppman were
subservient to her wishes. Truppman then seized this opportunity to conduct herself in the role of
Manners to do the bidding of herself and other allies on the Village Commission.
12. Manners had virtually no municipal government experience and allowed his
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Charter.
13. On or about March 2019, an investigation was opened by the Miami-Dade Ethics
Commission centering on alleged abuses of power and other misconduct from Truppman and the
Village Commission. Some months later, the State Attorney’s Office also opened a similar
investigation.
14. Truppman then orchestrated the appointment of Rebecca Rodriguez (who also
lacked municipal government experience and had only been practicing law for six years).
15. Legal fees were then needlessly increased, with large blocks of time and taxpayer
money committed to personal billing entries with Truppman which was historically unusual with
all previous Mayors and Village Attorneys. This increased billing led to a promotion of Rodriguez
16. After being elected to the Village Commission, Samaria began to question the legal
billings from Rodriguez, as well as the competency of Manners for not reviewing or questioning
17. Commissioner Samaria challenged the alleged improper actions of the Mayor,
18. During 2019, knowing that Samaria was diagnosed with cancer and had begun
cancer treatments, Defendants began communicating with his bank and mortgage company to
assist in getting them to expedite a foreclosure on his home in order to assist them in fabricating a
claim that Samaria was no longer a resident and thus was disqualified to serve as Village
Commissioner.
19. Late in 2019, Truppman allies, Commissioners Betsy Wise and Johnson-Sardella,
both resigned from the Commission before their terms were up, forcing a special election. This
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action removed Truppman’s majority hold and control over the Commission.
20. On January 3, 2020, a letter was sent to Plaintiff from Rodriguez. The thrust of this
letter was to question Samaria’s resident status dating back to 2018 and to potentially use this as a
21. On January 7, 2020, two new Village Commissioners were elected to complete the
terms from Truppman’s departed allies, who like Samaria were critics of Truppman.
22. On January 9, 2020, Village attorney Rodriguez filed a case on behalf of the Village
23. Truppman did not attend the January Commission meeting, and instructed to cancel
the meeting and refuse to swear the two new Commissioners into office. They were later sworn in
24. On January 30, 2020, the lawsuit Rodriguez issued against Samaria was dismissed
by the judge stating it was “not ripe.” Due to her failure to remove Samaria from office, Truppman
herself resigned just hours before the scheduled February Commission meeting.
25. The exorbitant legal billings of Rodriguez showed an inordinate amount of the
26. At this point, Truppman, Manners, and Rodriguez realized that the jig was up and
27. Getting rid of Samaria would deprive the newly-elected Village Commission of the
votes needed to fire Manners and Rodriguez, and also to prevent the Mayor from further abusing
her power.
28. Despite the fact that the Village Charter of Biscayne Park requires a vote of the
Commission to initiate investigations and lawsuits, Truppman, Manners, and Rodriguez engaged
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in a conspiracy to orchestrate Samaria’s ouster.
29. In addition to violating the Village Charter, the Mayor, Manners, and Rodriguez
orchestrated violations of the Florida Sunshine Law, Chapter 119 and Florida Public Records Act,
by facilitating private communications and secret meetings, all in an effort to illegally use tax
30. During 2019, the Defendants began interfering in Samaria’s relationship with his
31. Among other things, the Mayor, her allies on the Village Commission, Manners,
and Rodriguez illegally used tax payer dollars to investigate Samaria and file frivolous lawsuits
falsely alleging that he was no longer a resident of the Village and seeking to oust him.
32. They also improperly used the police power of the Village to investigate his
residency and engage in a campaign to publicly slander him and destroy his reputation with these
33. Defendants secretively rushed to court in order to obtain a Court Order removing
Samaria from the Village Commission for the purpose of regaining control over the Village
government.
34. All conditions precedent have been met, waived or otherwise excused.
35. Plaintiff is entitled to his reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to the
Village Charter and the Village Code and pursuant to the applicable law.
36. The Plaintiff’s attorneys have incurred attorneys’ fees and costs and are entitled to
COUNT I
CIVIL CONSPIRACY
(AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS)
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37. Plaintiff adopts and re-alleges Paragraphs 1 through 36 above as if fully set forth
herein.
38. The Defendants acting under color of title got together to violate the Village
Charter, the Village Code, the Florida Sunshine and Public Records Act, as well as engaging in
39. These improper and illegal acts were done in concert with the express purpose of
committing the act of improperly removing a duly elected official from public office to preserve
40. As a direct and proximate result of their actions, the Plaintiff suffered damages.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands damages against the Defendants, and any other relief
the Court deems just and proper including an award of attorneys’ fees and costs.
COUNT II
41. Plaintiff adopts and re-alleges Paragraphs 1 through 40 above as if fully set forth
herein.
43. Said defendants’ conduct was intended to inflict harm on the Plaintiff.
44. As a result of each aforesaid Defendant’s outrageous conduct, the Plaintiff has
45. At all times material, each of said Defendants acted in bad faith, with malicious
purpose and in a manner exhibiting wanton and reckless disregard of Plaintiff’s human rights,
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46. Such conduct was so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go
beyond all possible bounds of decency and to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a
civilized community.
47. As a direct and proximate result of said acts, as alleged herein, the Plaintiff suffered
injury, which resulted in the pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of capacity for enjoyment of
life, inconvenience, care and treatment, loss of earnings, and loss of the ability to earn money in
the future. The losses are either permanent or continuing in nature and Plaintiff will suffer said
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands damages against the Defendants, and any other relief
the Court deems just and proper including an award of attorneys’ fees and costs.
Respectfully submitted,
and
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Attorneys for Plaintiff
6625 Miami Lakes Drive East, Suite 365
Miami Lakes, Florida 33014
Telephone: (305) 828-4744
Facsímile: (305) 828-4718
Email: [email protected]