“It’s in all probability the perfect concept I ever had,” Quintero says on his YouTube channel. “It’s in all probability the perfect concept anybody has ever had.”
Quintero trains circus acrobats behind his 1,311-square-foot house on an acre of unincorporated land close to North Miami. His home-based enterprise, Miami Flying Trapeze, incorporates a supersized rig that runs the size of Quintero’s three-bedroom home and consists of ladders, bars, security traces, and a web.
From the best angle within the neighborhood, you may see our bodies twirling and catapulting a couple of tales above the bottom on any given day.
The aerial artist — a stout, outspoken Florida native who has run eating places in Jacksonville and a automobile dealership in Doral — describes his trapeze rig as a sprawling, moveable swing set that he can dismantle in an hour and match right into a six-by-twelve-foot trailer.
The yard acrobatics had been operating easily till county code enforcement brokers zeroed in on the property, he says.
Since September 2022, Quintero and his spouse, Maria Briceno, have acquired a number of citations primarily based on the code enforcement division’s claims of illegal parking of a business car, failure to acquire a allow, and failure to acquire a certificates for a house occupation.
“My enterprise, my home-based enterprise that the State of Florida permits — the issues that I do on my personal property — are being denied to me,” Quintero advised the county fee final yr in protest.
The dispute has galvanized Quintero to take part within the First Amendment auditing group, whose contributors prod authorities officers on their information of constitutional rights whereas recording the general public interactions.
Quintero has additionally mounted a longshot run for Miami-Dade mayor — and although he insists it isn’t a sideshow, his motivations could sit someplace between real civic concern and counterstrike over the code enforcement dispute. (When discussing his political aspirations on social media, he writes, “Oy Vey! What am I doing?”)
“Because I nonetheless discovered inconsistencies within the authorities, particularly within the constitution, and I’m operating for mayor,” Quintero mentioned.
Quintero sued the county in May, alleging code enforcement officers infringed on his privateness rights and trespassed on his land.
“Plaintiffs presently wouldn’t have [peace] of thoughts or an expectation of privateness in their very own house,” the grievance, filed by his legal professional Michael Garcia, says.
The trapeze specialist claimed code enforcement violated a Florida regulation that prohibits police and authorities officers from utilizing aerial surveillance and not using a warrant. Though the regulation regulates using drones, Quintero is making an attempt to increase its software to satellite tv for pc imagery employed by the county to difficulty him code violations.
The case, which he describes on his YouTube channel as a “$15 million lawsuit,” was dismissed in August, with the decide writing that Quintero didn’t observe pre-suit authorized procedures earlier than bringing his claims to courtroom.
Quintero plans to refile the lawsuit and check how far the Florida drone statute can go.
Meanwhile, the yard acrobat, who says he studied physics and theology in school, is digging in his heels to clear the citations from his house.
Quintero tells New Times that in late August, he notched a win on the executive facet when he secured a dismissal on the quotation for failure to acquire a house occupation certificates. He continues to be dealing with citations associated to business car parking and allegedly unpermitted work on the property, in keeping with county information.
The battle to maintain his trapeze operation operating and stave off county scrutiny has put a pressure on his enterprise and household life, however Quintero will not be letting up.
“We’re in survivor mode proper now. And I’m coming at them with every thing,” he mentioned in a self-recorded monologue in April.
Backyard trapeze artist Miguel Quintero claims he is being harassed by Miami-Dade County code enforcement.
Court exhibit in Miguel Quintero lawsuit
The web site for his mayoral marketing campaign is up and operating, showcasing Quintero’s plan for “transparency and accountability” within the county workplace.
“I’ve seen Miguel flip common individuals into superheroes — common people become flying and flipping machines,” one supporter wrote, in keeping with the trapeze artist’s marketing campaign website. “It isn’t any simple job to persuade somebody to leap off a 30-foot platform into one other’s arms, but he does this every day.”
“If he can do all that by the circus, I can solely think about what he can do as a mayor,” the remark reads.