The lawsuit seeks to toss out more than 123,000 petition signatures calling for the strong-mayor referendum, which has been Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s top-priority issue.
It would give his office the power to hire and fire department heads and the county manager, as well as give him more control over contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
There has been considerable talk about holding a similar referendum in Pensacola. The mayor would be come the Chief Executive Officer of the city government, not the city manager.