SOUTH MIAMI CITY CHARTER
14 AMENDED 2-14-12
ARTICLE II (Cont’d)
SECTION 9.
Investigations
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Charter, the Commission or its authorized representative or representatives may make investigation into the affairs of this City and the conduct of any City department, Board, Officer or Agency and for this purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony and require the production of evidence. Any person who fails to obey a lawful order issued in the exercise of these powers by the Commission shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
NO KIDDING?! This would be the same commission that seems to be proactive on so many other fronts, why haven't they moved forward with an investigation into this matter on their own rather than sit around and wait for the folks downtown at the Ethics Commission? Does this make any sense? What exactly is going on down in South Miami these days? According to the Miami New Times yesterday...
The leafy hamlet of South Miami has turned into a cesspool of political backbiting and allegations of unethical behavior by some of its officials.
YIKES! Of course, we know where those allegations of unethical behavior came from...
Now, here's another comment that one of our readers left for us the other day that got our attention...
I WAS WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS TELLERS I THOUGH THEY WERE FREE FROM ALL THIS CRAP BUT I GUESS NOT WOW THIS NEEDS TO GET SOLVE THEY NEED JUSTICE
This comment refers to the three tellers that were arrested for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Airways Auto Tag agency which happens to be owned by the City of South Miami's Police Chief's wife. Not much has happened over the last few months, which is to be expected as ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS IN THE CRIMINAL COURT SYSTEM DURING LATE SPRING AND SUMMER! Most lawyers and judges are out for the summer and if you have the misfortune of being stuck in the criminal justice system, well, YOU'RE FUCKED. Now despite the summer break, I have heard one unconfirmed rumor regarding this case, my sources tell me that the owner of the tag agency, Ileana Martinez de Castro, has offered to drop the charges against the three tellers if they simply write a letter of apology to her for their alleged thefts.
LOL! How do we go from accusing the three tellers of stealing tens of thousands of dollars and wanting to get them locked up to simply asking for a letter of apology and having the whole thing go away? WTF? While justice may not be swift, it'll come sooner or later, it's karma that you have to watch out for...
"This would be the same commission that seems to be proactive on so many other fronts, why haven't they moved forward with an investigation into this matter on their own rather than sit around and wait for the folks downtown at the Ethics Commission? "
ReplyDeleteWhy? Its simple. The Commission is scared of the Chief, his pet weasel Mirable and the mafiosi that stand behind them.
"It seems our new city attorney is getting all the on the job training he needs with the long line of pending and foreseeable lawsuits ahead on the horizon. At the last meeting during his remarks he said: 1. Balogun case is set to go to trial this summer. 2. Attorney John Dellagloria has apparently filed a law suit regarding the pension discrepancy he pleaded to the commission about several meetings ago. 3. Hole in the Wall Restaurant (recently denied an operational permit in a strip mall zoned for restaurants) is appealing that decision. 4. Cal Rosenbaum was recently denied the ability to sell his apartment building for an affordable elderly housing development although zoning allowed for that use. He has also secured counsel according to my sources.
ReplyDeleteAnd according to developer Brandon Lurie, the Red Sunset Merchant Association and South Miami Hometown Inc. have lawyered up as well." - What about Bob? - TRIAL BY FIRE? By Michael Miller
- http://www.communitynewspapers.com/south-miami/what-about-bob/
"Marcelina “Ada” Vierheilig sobbed as she talked about how the city of South Miami “stabbed” her in the back after 14 years of service as a janitor. “They couldn’t say that we didn’t do our jobs, so they used a technicality that they could have given us a simple warning for,” Vierheilig said.
ReplyDeleteOn June 7, South Miami Human Resources Director LaTasha Nickle filed a letter stating that the investigation that led to the dissolution of the department included surveillance video from March 12 through May 18. The evidence showed several janitors had a “practice of punching other employees’ timecards.”
On June 12, city commissioners authorized Mirabile to sign a retroactive month-to-month agreement with Able Business Services for $4,000 a month, as an emergency measure. Able Business Services offered work to some of the janitors, but the company did not offer healthcare benefits. The measure followed a short bidding process." - Janitors feel betrayed after city outsources their jobs By ANDREA TORRES atorres@MiamiHerald.com
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/06/v-fullstory/2884737/janitors-feel-betrayed-after-city.html#storylink=cpy
"Javier Rodriguez, president of the Grey Ghosts, claims Patrick Flood and Anthony Tolgyesi, the operators of South Miami United, violated the city's code of ethics and had a conflict of interest because both men sat on the city's parks and recreation board during the two and a half years they've had the franchise agreement to run the city's soccer program. "You can't sit on a city board and conduct business with the city," Rodriguez says.
ReplyDeleteRodriguez also accused Welsh of violating the Sunshine Law when the commissioner sent an email on June 10 to his colleagues advocating on behalf of South Miami United. "His actions call into question his ethics and the way business is handled in South Miami," Rodriguez adds." - Banana Republican South Miami Soccer Club Accuses City Officials of Unethical Practices- By Francisco Alvarado Tue., Jul. 10 2012 at 8:00 AM -
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/07/south_miami_soccer_club_accuse.php
- It is all True read the complaint here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/99675841/Verified-Petition
Miami-Dade the Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
ReplyDeleteReport Fraud online
http://www.miamidadeig.org/fraud.htm
In response to the public’s demand for clean government, the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners created the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The OIG is authorized to detect, investigate and prevent fraud, waste, mismanagement and abuse of power in county projects, programs or contracts.
The County Commissioners took great lengths to insure that the Inspector General can carry out these goals while autonomous, independent and insulated from political influences. It is one of a few OIGs in the country that has jurisdiction to investigate officials at any level, including elected officials. By Agreement, the OIG provides similar services to the Miami-Dade Public Schools District.
Our goal is to prevent misconduct and abuse, expose it publicly, and seek appropriate remedies to recover public monies. Above all, the OIG’s principal objective is to promote ethics, honesty and efficiency in government and to restore and promote the public’s trust in government.
Report Fraud online or call our 24-hour Fraud Hotline: (305) 579-2593
Office Telephone: (305) 375-1946
Fax: (305) 579-2656
Report Fraud online
http://www.miamidadeig.org/fraud.htm
South Miami Grey Ghosts Soccer Club, Inc., vs. City of South Miami
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12. A municipal charter is the constitution of a city and effectively limits the legislative power of a city in the same manner the state constitution limits the power of the Legislature. See Gontz v. Cooper City, 228 So.2d 913 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970); City of Miami Beach v. Fleetwood Hotel, Inc., 261 So.2d 801 (Fla. 1972)(municipal charter, like state constitution, is the paramount governing instrument of a municipality).
13. Adherence to the City Charter is mandatory, not discretionary, and must be considered in its totality where a statutory or charter provision direct the manner in which a specific act is to be done, it precludes the act from being done in a different manner. Alsop v. Pierce, 19 So.2d 799, 802 (Fla. 1944).
14. The City Charter mandates, in terms of “will,” that the Commission act by “written resolution” and by “ordinance” in matters of a franchise. See Article III, Section 6 of City Charter ¶6 above.
15. South Miami United (“SMU”) is a youth soccer club that has operated a league at South Miami Park for approximately two and a half (21⁄2) years.
16. About three (3) years ago, the CITY decided to enter into an agreement with SMU to run the soccer program at CITY facilities. There was no bid or RFP process, but SMU was selected based upon favoritism.
17. Given the duration of the agreement, some three (3) years, the agreement with SMU is a de facto franchise within the purview of Article VI Section 5 of the Charter addressing franchises. Article VI Section 5 of City Charter, ¶6 above.
18. The CITY has an Ethics Ordinance which prohibits anyone who sits on a City board from
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South Miami Grey Ghosts Soccer Club, Inc., vs. City of South Miami
ReplyDeleteVerified Petition
19. In violation of relevant Charter provisions and the CITY’s Code of Ethics, two of the principals of SMU, Patrick Flood 2 and Anthony Tolgyesi, 3 sat on the City of South Miami Parks and Recreation Board overseeing the soccer programs while also operating SMU, the de facto franchise.
20. Specifically, Flood and Tolgyesi sat on the City of South Miami Parks and Recreation Board overseeing the soccer programs while also operating SMU, during the approximate two and a half (21⁄2) years that SMU held an agreement with CITY to operate or manage the soccer program at CITY facilities.
21. Patrick Flood and Anthony Tolgyesi were within the prohibited class of individuals defined in the City Code of Ethics, until their resignation from the City Parks and Recreation Board in March 2012. This existing and ongoing violation went on for over two years (2) and was known by the CITY and all of its elected officials, who willfully allowed this violation to exist.
22. Both the individuals and CITY knew or should have known of the conflict.
23. At all material times, members of the City administration, including City Commissioners,
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2 Flood was a City of South Miami Parks and Recreation Board Member from the Fall 2007 through March 2012.
3 Anthony Tolgyesi of SMU, who sat on the board in direct violation of the charter, is an attorney and members of the Florida Bar and, thus, should have known his actions were a violation of the City’s Code of Ethics. Tolgyesi was a City of South Miami Parks and Recreation Board Member from 2008 to the present.
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South Miami Grey Ghosts Soccer Club, Inc., vs. City of South Miami
ReplyDeleteVerified Petition
knew of the violations that existed by having the leaders of SMU run the soccer program and also sit on the CITY’s Parks and Recreation Board, but consistent with the improper act and omission that give rise to this action, City administration and elected officials willfully allowed the violation to exist.
24. It was evident to the City administration that by granting any additional extension to SMU, it in effect created an agreement which blatantly falls within the definition of franchise and within the purview of Article VI, Section 5 of the City of South Miami’s Municipal Charter, relating to a franchise. Article VI Section 5 of City Charter, ¶6 above.
25. The City administration recognized that there was an issue with perpetuating the agreement with SMU and the de facto franchise granted to SMU without complying with the provisions of the City Charter. CITY, only then, commenced a competitive bid process in the form of an RFP for the Management of Soccer Programs at South Miami Park.
26. At all material times, elected officials knew of the existence of the “Cone of Silence” applicable to the RFP and that the intent and purpose of the “Cone of Silence” are to protect the process, assuring a fair and impartial decision making, selecting the most beneficial proposal to the CITY, and preserving the public trust.
27. The “Cone of Silence” prevents manipulation or corruption of the RFP and prevents that an award of an RFP proposal is done arbitrarily, capriciously, pre-textually, or based on personal favoritism.
28. The “Cone of Silence,” Florida’s Sunshine Law, and the Code of Ethics are intended to maintain transparency and equality to avoid any circumvention or manipulation of the bid,
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