Former Miami-Dade School Board member Lubby Navarro in jail on public corruption charges
Miami Herald | By David Goodhue and Charles Rabin | January 11, 2024
Former Miami-Dade School Board member Lubby Navarro was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly using her district-issued credit card to rack up personal expenses of $100,000 over several years, according to several sources with knowledge of the arrest.
Navarro resigned from the board in late December 2022, a day before a new Florida law prohibiting elected officials from working as lobbyists went into effect. Navarro is a registered lobbyist for the South Broward Hospital District, which includes Memorial Healthcare System hospitals in Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Miramar and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood.
Navarro, 49, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center Thursday morning on one count of organized fraud of $50,000 or more, one count of organized fraud of between $20,000 and $100,000 and two counts of grand theft, according to jail records. Bond on two of the charges is $2,500 each. Bond is pending on the other two charges.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Rundle is expected to offer more details at a 2:30 p.m. press conference at her downtown office.
Navarro earned upwards of $220,000 working for Memorial in 2022. School Board members earn $46,773, according to the Miami-Dade Elections Department. Thursday, the South Broward Hospital District released a statement saying it hoped to gather more information from the state attorney as it becomes available. It didn’t comment on Navarro’s employment status.
“Our commitment to maintaining the highest standard of integrity remains unwavering as we determine the facts of the matter. All future actions will be taken in the best interest of the communities we serve,” the hospital district’s statement said.
The lengthy investigation was coordinated by the Miami-Dade Inspector General’s Office and the public corruption unit at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
RESIGNS FROM BOARD OVER LOBBYIST JOB
Navarro was elected to vice chair of the School Board in November 2022, a month before she resigned. She was elected in a 5-4 vote, with Miami-Dade School Board Chair Maria Teresa Rojas voting for her, along with Monica Colluci, Daniel Espino and Roberto Alonso. The three had either been endorsed or appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Navarro voted for herself.
Navarro was appointed to the School Board in 2015 by former Republican Gov. Rick Scott. She was later elected in 2016 and 2020, representing the board’s District 7 seat.
Last January, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Maria Bosque-Blaco, 48, a guidance counselor at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, to replace her.. Bosque-Blanco also sits on the Miami-Dade College board.
Navarro was one of the more conservative voices on the School Board, even before the board shifted to the right over the past few years with DeSantis appointees or elected board members endorsed by DeSantis.
In August 2021, Navarro was the only “no” vote on a student mask mandate ahead of the 2021-2022 school year as COVID-19 was surging in Miami-Dade and Florida during the delta wave. The mandate was in defiance of a DeSantis order forbidding districts from mandating masks without giving parents a choice to opt their children out.
During the discussion of the mandate, Navarro said, “My constituents of District 7 never elected me to violate state law.”
Miami Herald staff reporter Michelle Marchante contributed to this story.
