Drew Wilson
A lawsuit one degree of separation from Hialeah Councilman and mayoral candidate Jesus Tundidor has already drained hundreds of thousands of dollars from city coffers, and the bills keep coming.
Invoices obtained by Florida Politics show the city government has run up a $500,000 tab defending itself in a lawsuit filed by Tundidor’s relatives (Tundidor et al. v. Hernandez and City of Hialeah). Wydler Law, a firm that typically handles personal injury cases, is on the receiving end.
Hundreds of hours have been billed on research and discovery, much of it resembling on-the-job training for a legal team some believe is ill-suited for the task at hand.
With billable hours already well into the triple digits, Hialeah officials — including one of Tundidor’s top rivals in the Mayor race — are openly questioning whether a different firm could have handled the job more efficiently, and at far lower expense to Hialeah taxpayers already burdened by rising cost of living.
“It’s not just that this is a huge waste of taxpayer money, but you would think that for the amount of money spent the city would have at least retained a top-notch firm,” said mayoral candidate and Tundidor’s fellow Councilmember, Bryan Calvo.
The Tundidor family’s lawsuit, filed in 2023, stems from a July 2019 raid on Bellas Cabaret, a Hialeah strip club owned by relatives of the Councilman. The suit alleges that the raid, ordered by then-Mayor Carlos Hernández, was political retaliation for the Tundidors backing an unsanctioned Council run.
The allegations also highlight years of friction between Hernández and Tundidor. Court filings say Hernández repeatedly pressured him not to run for city office, even threatening family businesses. Tundidor ran anyway, winning his first Council term in 2019. He has since been re-elected.
Still, as the yearslong saga storms on, the Tundidor family is piling on further entanglements with the municipal government Jesus Tundidor hopes to lead in a handful of months. Voters will decide on a Mayor Nov. 5; a runoff will be held Dec. 9, if necessary.
The most recent cloud: Weeks ago, it was revealed that Tundidor’s mother was on the city payroll, drawing accusations of nepotism. Now, with Tundidor on the mayoral campaign trail, the legal bills only deepen questions about where family interests end and public business begins.
For residents staring down a potential double-digit hike to their water bill and ballooning costs for everyday necessities and housing, the message is hard to miss: This private dispute with City Hall is becoming everyone’s problem.
