The Miami Dade County Ethics Commission slams local politicians...

We received a press release from the Miami Dade Ethics Commission yesterday detailing several cases that they've brought against local politicians.  From the press release...

The Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust (COE) today found Probable Cause that North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre exploited his position from October of 2009 through January of 2012 by avoiding payment of rental fees at a municipal athletic field used by his soccer club. Mayor Pierre engaged in this activity even though a resolution was unanimously passed by the North Miami City Council in April 2010, which established policies for park rentals and limited fee waivers to certain qualified organizations for only one no-cost use per year. The complaint (C12-35) charged that Pierre’s group, the “North Miami Taxpayers Soccer Club,” used the fields more than 100 times without paying. Mayor Pierre objected to the accusation through his attorney, who argued the mayor was following proper protocol by utilizing the facility for “pick-up soccer games” and claimed the usage was consistent with “community service” activities of the city. The case will proceed to a public hearing.

It's about time someone brought some sort of an action against this character. Unfortunately local authorities have chosen to ignore Mr. Pierre's most egregious crimes and somehow latched onto this infraction. Oh well...

Also today, the Ethics Commission found Probable Cause that Miami City Commissioner Frank Carollo exploited his official position by calling the Miami police chief after being pulled over for a traffic violation in Coconut Grove this past August. The investigation shows that, after being pulled over, Carollo called the chief, who subsequently called the area commander, who then told dispatchers to have the officer call him. The officer let Carollo go with a warning. The determination found that Carollo may have used or intended to exploit his position to influence police officials, which is a violation of the Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance. Through his attorney, the Commissioner contended his phone call was intended to determine why several police vehicles and a city recycling truck were blocking the road. Carollo also claimed that he never asked for special treatment or expressed concern with the officer’s stop. Another part of the complaint (C 12-32) accused Commissioner Carollo of using his position to have trees planted in the swale near his home. Since the trees were part of a larger distribution through the district and did not solely benefit Carollo, No Probable Cause was found on that portion of the complaint by the Ethics Commission.

Get pulled over by the cops then call the chief to get you off.  Wouldn't there have been a better way to deal with this?  What a dick!  If I'm not mistaken, we can credit our friend Al Crespo for bringing about these complaints against Mr. Carollo. Nice work Al!

The COE also found Probable Cause on a complaint (C 12-41) against Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, accusing him of failing to properly disclose a gift. Sarnoff traveled to Brazil for activities associated with the Volvo Ocean Race at the stop prior to the race’s arrival in Miami last May. The Greater Miami Convention and Visitor’s Bureau reimbursed Sarnoff for all of his expenses. The COE disagreed with the Miami City Attorney who had opined to the commissioner that, because he was partaking in an official activity, he did not need to report the trip as a gift. During the investigation, it was learned that Volvo Ocean Race reimbursed Sarnoff for his wife’s roundtrip airfare. Prior opinions had determined that payment for a spouse’s expenses should be reported as a gift by an elected official. The Ethics Commission voted to issue one Letter of Instruction to the City Attorney clarifying when a business trip must be reported as a gift and another Letter of Instruction to Commissioner Sarnoff advising him to report reimbursement of his wife’s travel expenses as a gift to him.

That's it? Considering all the questionable behavior that Mr. Sarnoff has been involved in during his tenure as a City of Miami commissioner, this is all they could come up with? Regardless, once again, we can credit our friend Al Crespo for bringing this story to the public.

Having the Ethics Commission finding probable cause against these local politicians is all well and good but what's the point of all of this if all they're going to do is give them a slap on the wrist, a minor fine and then send them on their way?  In the instance of City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro and his pending ethics case, if he's found guilty of any of the charges brought against him, he automatically loses his job as per the City of South Miami code of ethics ordinance... 

Willful violation of this subsection shall constitute malfeasance in office and shall effect forfeiture of office or position.

So what remains to be seen is how the Chief's ethics case plays out, will he proceed to a full public hearing and risk getting found guilty of the charges filed against him or will cut a deal at the last minute pleading to a lesser charge and hope to keep his job?  Who knows, but no worries, before we get there, we have to get over to the ethics commission and discuss some of the chief's newest ethics violations, one of which definitely rises to the level of criminality.  Stay tuned...