Tensions inside West Park City Hall boiled over during a Wednesday night commission meeting, when three commissioners walked out mid-session, leaving the dais without a quorum after arguing openly on camera. Now two of them have taken the fight to Broward County circuit court, asking a judge to force Mayor Felicia Brunson and top city officials to let elected commissioners speak, make motions, and vote on the business in front of them.
The lawsuit, filed September 1, was brought by Commissioners Katrina Touchstone and Cristina Eveillard against Mayor Brunson, City Manager W. Ajibola Balogun, and City Attorney Burnadette Norris-Weeks, according to CBS News Miami. It follows the voluntary dismissal of Touchstone's original August 2025 complaint, a procedural move that allowed additional commissioners to join as co-plaintiffs and represent a broader bloc on the five-seat body. The station's report also captured the Wednesday walkout that left West Park without enough commissioners present to conduct official business.
A Dispute Rooted in a Blocked Investigation
The underlying conflict traces back to a May 2025 commission meeting, when a majority of commissioners tried to hire outside legal counsel to investigate city spending and the city manager's performance. Commissioners claim Mayor Brunson blocked that effort by declaring the meeting adjourned before their votes were officially recorded, according to Florida Bulldog. The commissioners further allege the city clerk failed to record valid votes taken after the mayor abruptly left the dais, a claim central to their broader argument that executive officials have systematically sidelined the legislative body.
Representing the plaintiff commissioners is Miami Lakes attorney Michael Pizzi, who is arguing before a Broward County circuit judge that city officials are violating the West Park municipal charter by denying elected representatives their right to place items on agendas, make motions, and vote on municipal business. Pizzi was originally chosen by the commission majority in 2025 to conduct an independent investigation into city management, the same probe that commissioners say the mayor's abrupt adjournments were designed to head off.
Mayor Brunson Points to Stalled Development
Mayor Brunson has publicly defended her handling of meetings, contending that frequent commissioner disruptions and requests to reorder agendas are stalling critical commercial development, pending construction projects, and youth programming in the city. She maintains that commissioners are pushing personal agenda items ahead of scheduled municipal business, according to the same CBS News Miami account of the dispute.
This is not the first time the fight over meeting control has landed in court. In an earlier version of the lawsuit filed in August 2025, Touchstone asked a Broward County judge to appoint a neutral judicial referee to attend and preside over commission meetings to prevent abrupt adjournments, per WPLG Local 10. Asking a court to supervise legislative sessions directly is considered a rare remedy in Florida municipal law.
Months of Public Clashes Preceded the Lawsuit
The legal filing caps months of increasingly public friction. In December 2025, commissioners held a press conference outside City Hall and clashed with Mayor Brunson inside her administrative office over agenda controls, WPLG Local 10 reported at the time. Both sides acknowledged then that disputes over meeting procedure had already been simmering for more than a year.
West Park's internal power struggle is not the only legal fight facing city officials. In January 2026, the city was hit with a federal First Amendment lawsuit from local gentlemen's club The Playhouse, which is challenging zoning ordinance changes that restrict adult entertainment businesses along West Hallandale Beach Boulevard, according to the Florida Record. That complaint alleges the city unconstitutionally targeted adult entertainment establishments through zoning amortization.
Financial Records at the Heart of the Rift
Beyond the fight over agendas and votes, dissenting commissioners have repeatedly demanded up to 10 years of municipal expenditure records and independent financial audits covering city contract awards and grant administration, Touchstone said in a public statement. Reform-minded commissioners argue those disclosures are necessary to evaluate how the city has handled public money, a demand that has become entangled with the broader dispute over who controls what gets voted on.
West Park, incorporated in 2005 as Broward County's 31st municipality out of unincorporated communities including Carver Ranches, operates under a commission-administrator structure with a five-member panel: a mayor, vice mayor, and three commissioners. The city reached a local milestone in November 2024 when four female officials were sworn in to lead it. Hoodline previously reported on Touchstone's original complaint against Brunson, Balogun, and the city clerk over the same meeting-adjournment disputes now central to this refiled case.
The allegations of corruption and charter violations remain pending before Broward County judges and have not been legally proven. For now, West Park residents are left watching a city government where basic questions of who gets to speak, vote, and set the agenda are being fought out not on the dais, but in court.
