Earlier this month, when Miami-Dade Commissioners named a street after real estate developer José Milton, they brushed aside the fact that Milton’s company had been previously accused in court of racial discrimination, saying the allegations had been settled decades ago.
Milton had donated money to county parks and other charitable causes since the days of the allegations, commissioners said.
“He was a great man, helped this community…Sometimes we’ve got to be very cautious as to what happened in the past,” said Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, who co-sponsored the name change.
But on Monday, Milton real estate companies were again sued for racial discrimination at the same North Miami Beach apartment complex named in previous lawsuits. And that has prompted the only black commissioner to support the street naming to reconsider his vote.