Talk about kicking a man when he’s down.

First, former Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi loses his re-election just a couple of weeks ago, getting an abysmal 23% against newly elected Mayor Manny Cid. Then, boom, a Miami-Dade court tells him Wednesday that the town is not on the hook for $2.5 million in legal fees incurred during his 2013 federal bribery trial.

Pizzi had been arrested in a bogus grant sting set up by the FBI targetting local electeds. He and former Sweetwater Mayor Manny “Maraña” Maroño were charged after undercover agents caught them accepting bribes in cash and campaign contributions in exchange for getting bogus grant requests passed through their own and other cities.

While Pizzi was found not guilty, Maroño entered a plea deal and got a 37-month sentence. Guess he didn’t have the million dollar lawyers.

Read related story: Spies, lies and video tape: Manny Maroño’s ‘charisma’

After Pizzi got off, he had to sue the state to get his suspension by Gov. Rick Scott lifted and then had to sue the town of Miami Lakes to get his job back. But, in August of last year, he still sued his beloved town for the $2.5 million bill from his legal dream team.  He had up to eight attorneys at once — like he was O.J. Simpson or something. Guess you get what you pay for, because his acquittal is nothing short of miraculous, considering he had been recorded taking cash from a lobbyist/informant in an office closet.

Ladra always suspected that the price had been artificially inflated, jacked up so that Pizzi could have a piece of the pie.  

Maybe Judge Antonio Marin smelled something too and said nana-nina. He cited precedents that established that “for public officials to be entitled to representation at public expense, the litigation must (1) arise out of or in connection with the performance of their official duties and (2) serve a public purpose.”

The city’s legal argument focused on the public purpose part and the judge bought it.

Read related story: Michael Pizzi sues Miami Lakes for $3.2 million in legal fees

But wait just one minute. Because while Pizzi certainly wasn’t serving a public purpose — he was only looking out for himself — you can’t argue that the litigation wasn’t a public purpose, if by litigation they mean Pizzi’s prosecution.

Look, Ladra doesn’t want the town of Miami Lakes, or the taxpayers, to pay this bogus bill. But it’s pretty certain that Pizzi couldn’t have been indicted for bribery in a bogus federal grant scheme if he wasn’t acting in his official capacity as mayor and performing his public duties. Or pretending to. It was the very elected office that federal prosecutors said he used to get those $6,000 in bribes. He wouldn’t have been bribed if he wasn’t the mayor.

The court granted Pizzi — or his multiple attorneys, probably — 20 days to file an amendment to the complaint. And I suspect it will go a lot like that.

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Miami Lakes Councilman Manny Cid scored another young GOP VIP — possibly the Holy Grail of 305 GOP endorsements — when Sen. Marco Rubio recorded a robocall for his mayoral bid.

“The 2016 election cycle is about the future,” Rubio says after identifying himself. “Not only the future of our great nation but the future of many municipalities here in Florida. And one leader that represents the same vision as I have is Manny Cid.

“He is a true conservative leader who believes in cutting red tape and wasteful spending. He’s a proven reformer who will serve Miami Lakes residents well as their mayor.”

Cid is running against incumbent Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi and founding mayor Wayne Slaton.

Read related story: Young GOP VIPs back Manny Cid for Miami Lakes mayor

“Senator Rubio and I share similar values and visions for the future. Having him in my corner means a lot to our efforts to bring ew leadership to Miami Lakes,” said Cid, who worked as a legislative aid for former State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez when Rubio was House Speaker.

“I was fortunate to work on one of the 100 ideas for Florida’s future. These types of ideas and reforms have inspired me to promote transparency and accessibility at Town Hall,” Cid told Ladra.

And, of course, that he’s “honored to have his support.”

Pero, por supuesto! Here’s a one-time and future presidential hopeful, the guy who came in No. 3 this year, endorsing little Manny Cid in a municipal race with less than 20,000 registered voters. It’s such a coup that Cid uploaded the recording to YouTube. You know, for people who miss Marco’s call or don’t live in Miami Lakes and just like to hear his voice (don’t judge me). 

Rubio is running his own re-election campaign and has come out to endorse very few candidates. In fact, in addition to , Ladra can only remember him coming out publicly for one other Republican on the ballot: Donald Trump.

Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, Coral Gables Commissioner Vince Lago, North Miami Beach Councilman Anthony DeFillipo and Coral Springs Commissioner Dan Daley will headline a fundraiser Wednesday for Miami Lakes Councilman Manny Cid, who is running for mayor.

The event is titled “Young Professionals for Manny Cid,” and it includes the president of the Miami Young Republicans Jessica Fernandez, just back from a whirlwind tour as a media darling at the GOP convention in Cleveland. Fernandez, a political consultant, was campaign manager in 2008 for former Miami Lakes Councilman Nick Perdomo.

Also on the long list of hosts is:

• Armando Ibarra, Jessica’s husband and local political consultant and strategist and numbers crunchers who has worked for Suarez, Newt Gingrich in 2012, Karen Harrington for Congress and the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association.
• Jose Mallea, who has worked for Sen. Marco Rubio, Gingrich and, most recently, former Gov. Jeb Bush in his Right to Rise PAC.
• Kathy San Pedro, an AT&T lobbyist who worked on the campaigns of State Reps. Jeannette Nunez and Bryan Avila.
• Damon Roberson, a political consultant who worked for the Miami-Dade GOP as well as the campaigns of Florida CFO Jeff Attwater and Mitt Romney for president.
• TJ Villamil, former student body president at Univeristy of Florida and son of Tony Villamil, a former undersecretary of commerce under President George H.W. Bush.
• Eric Diaz-Padron, the son of former West Miami Mayor Carlos Diaz-Padron, and a Belen boy with political aspirations of his own.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, at Biscayne Bay Brewing Company, 8000 NW 25th St., in Doral.

Qualifying for the race started this week, but Cid has already filed paperwork with his campaign account information. So has former Mayor Wayne Slaton and Councilman Ceasar Mestre.

Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi is expected to qualify before the deadline on Aug. 3.

The election is Nov. 8.

Miami Lakes voters were in a giving mood this week, saying yes to and overwhelmingly passing every single one of the 10 charter amendments proposed to them — most of which take powers away from the mayor, making it a mostly ceremonial position.

They also made Mayor Michael Pizzi‘s re-election pretty much a pipe dream.

The most important of the amendments forces a runoff for the mayor’s or any council seat should nobody get 50 percent plus one vote in the first round. Pizzi faces at least three serious challengers in November. Two of them are Council Members Manny Cid and Ceasar Mestre and the other is founding Mayor Wayne Slaton, who Pizzi handily beat mano-a-mano in 2012. It is unlikely that the embattled incumbent, who was arrested on bribery charges since his last time on the ballot, would get 50% in that field.

Read related story: Miami Lakes: Manny Cid becomes #3 to file for mayor

He’d be forced into a runoff, most likely against Mestre or Cid, which means he could easily lose his seat. Ladra says there’s a good chance he doesn’t even run.

Pizzi did not return a call or email seeking his comment. But the other amendments that passed — with between 59 and 76 percent of the vote — are also aimed at his unique powers or duties.

That was the intent of the charter amendment committee. Chairman David “Doc” Bennett, the mayor’s longtime nemesis who has to be proud of himself, said it was bringing the town back in line with its original incorporation mission. The mayor is just one more vote in the Lakes, like each of the council members, Bennett said. There is no strong mayor form of government.

“It’s mostly a ceremonial position,” he told Ladra. The amendments were meant to clarify some areas where the ceremony apparently became too official.

Read related story: Miami Lakes charter changes aim at mayoral power

One amendment takes the appointment of the town manager and town attorney from the mayor’s purview and puts it in the council’s. Another gives the council the right to name the town lobbyist (used to be the mayor’s job). Any council member who can get three to agree can now call a special meeting, which was something only the mayor could do before. One amendment actually states that the town has a council-manager form of government.

They are so over the mayor in Miami Lakes that they had to put it in writing.

It might have something to do with the series of events set off after the August 2013 arrest of Pizzi on federal bribery charges. He was snared in the same sting that nabbed Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño for expediting what they knew were bogus grants in return for thousands in kickbacks. Maroño was sentenced to three years in prison. But Pizzi — or, rather, his quite expensive legal dream team of 17 attorneys — won an acquittal. This despite the testimony that he took a $3,000 bribe from a lobbyist inside an office closet.

After the trial, Pizzi had to sue to get back in office. The city fought his return, but eventually gave up after losing several legal fronts. Then he sued to recoup the legal costs of his criminal case and his civil lawsuit against the town. The whole affair is said to have cost the town about $1 million in legal fees. And Ladra doesn’t know if that includes his attorneys’ costs or not.

Read related story: Michael Pizzi wins Round 1 vs Miami Lakes for legal costs

But Pizzi’s winning streak ended Tuesday when voters rejected his call to vote no to all the amendments.

Pizzi did not return a call for comment. But Bennett said he was “weakened.”

“His base didn’t come out to vote for him. Or he couldn’t convince them,” he said.

True dat. Pizzi, or at least a PAC that we all suspect is Pizzi, had sent out a mailer urging voters to reject all the charter amendments.

But he was outdone by none other than former Florida Gov. and U.S. Senator Bob Graham, whose family helped found Miami Lakes. Yes, freaking Bob Graham weighed in on the tiny town’s amendments by sending his own mailer urging his neighbors to vote yes to all the amendments.

And he honed in on the runoff question.

“The majority vote amendment is by far the most important one to vote YES on because it stands for making sure that your vote COUNTS,” the Senator wrote on the mailer. The door hanger had a photo of him older than this one here. “Our mayor and town council should be comprised of individuals that the majority (over 50 percent) of the voters have chosen to represent our beautiful town of Miami Lakes.”

And that’s how freaking Bob Graham took out Muscles Pizzi.

Close to 19,000 voters in Miami Lakes will get a ballot in the mail in the next couple of days that could change the way the city governs for years to come.

Ten charter amendments — not one, not two, but 10 — are on the ballot that are due back by May 17.

It almost went to 12, but two other proposed amendments — one to go back to district seats rather than at large and a controversial measure to rotate the position of mayor among council members — were voted down by the town’s charter committee, realizing, we assume, that the people of the town should be the ones to elect the mayor.

Still, a good number of the amendments on the ballot — mailed out Wednesday by the Miami-Dade Elections Department — seemingly aim to diminish the mayor’s power.

One would put the appointment of the town manager and town attorney in the council’s lap, rather than the mayor’s. Right now, the council simply accepts or rejects the recommendation from the mayor, but cannot put forth a name of their own. Another takes away the mayor’s right to name the town lobbyist with all matters before the county. It would be up to the town manager or council to do so. Still another would give the power to call a special meeting to any four council members. Currently, the mayor alone can call a special meeting. And boy has he.

Do these measures stem from anti-Pizzi sentiment? Sure seems that way, right?

Some think the questions are the result of an embarrassing few years, starting with the August 2013 arrest of Pizzi on federal bribery charges. He was snared in the same sting that nabbed Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño for expediting what they knew were bogus grants in return for thousands in kickbacks. Maroño was sentenced to three years in prison. But Pizzi got acquitted, despite the testimony that he took a $3,000 bribe from a lobbyist inside an office closet.

After the trial, Pizzi had to sue to get back in office. The city fought his return, arguing that former Mayor Wayne Slaton had been legitimately elected by the voters after the arrest. But Ladra guesses that this held little water since Pizzi beat Slaton in 2014 with a whopping 68 percent of the vote. The whole affair may end up costing the city hundreds of thousands in legal fees.

Read related story: Wayne Slaton gives up; Michael Pizzi is Miami Lakes mayor

Oh, did Ladra mention that one charter change on the ballot would make the vice mayor the mayor in the event of the mayor leaving his seat and call for a special election if the vice mayor’s term is longer than that of the departing mayor?

Veteran town activist and former candidate David “Doc” Bennett, a longtime Pizzi critic, said the changes were in line with the founding vision for Miami Lakes.

“He’s one vote. He’s just another council member. He’s not a strong mayor,” Bennett said, adding that the mayor’s title was more of a ceremonial one. “He has tried desperately to turn it into a strong mayor form of government, but you still need four votes. Without four votes, nothing happens.

“All we’re doing is expanding the role of the council, not limiting the role or the power of the mayor,” he said. “Aside from ceremonial duties, he has no more power than the council members.”

Although there is actually a question on the ballot changing the form of government from mayor-council-manager to council-manager.

One question on the ballot that is not about the mayor’s power would change the way council members and the mayor are elected by requiring runoffs when the winner has less than 50 percent of the vote. Well, that one’s sort of a no-brainer.

“Someone could have a paper candidate and it could give the win to whoever gets 30-something percent,” Bennett said. “Now you neutralize that tactic.”

That hasn’t really been a problem in the Lakes. The last few election cycles have seen all head-to-head contests, with winners getting more than 50% of the vote anyway. In the last 10 years, only Councilman Ceasar Mestre won with less than 40%. That was in a four-way race in 2008.

But it certainly could affect the election this year, where there is a plethora of candidates running for both the mayor’s seat and the council seats.

The mayoral contest has at least three and presumably four (if Pizzi throws his hat in as expected).  Already, Councilmen Mestre and Manny Cid have filed paperwork to run, as has former Mayor Wayne Slaton.

Read related story: Miami Lakes: Manny Cid becomes No. 3 to run for mayor

But two of the council seats are bursting at the seams with three challengers to Councilman Tony Lama (Robin Brown-Beaman, Jose Nodal Jr., and Xiomara Pazos) and no fewer than six so far running for the open seat vacated by Cid (Cynthia Beyer, Esther Colon, Nayib Hassan, Wendy Milanes, Rosalina Nunez and Alejandro Sanchez).

Interesting that nobody has yet to file in the first seat, where incumbent Councilman Nelson Rodriguez is enjoying a free ride so far. Might that change before qualifying this summer?

Councilman Cid said he has long been in favor of runoff elections and he predicted a good turnout — or return on the mail-in ballots. But he wasn’t sure many of the other amendments would make it.

“Historically, Miami Lakers are very intelligent voters who look at each question. Last time, a large number of charter amendment items were voted down.”

Of course, he is running for that targeted mayor’s seat.

Ballots must be returned to the Miami-Dade Elections Department by May 17 and the town has provided an online guide to the ballot questions.