An opinion from the Ethics Commission, definitely one for the WTF files...

So it looks like someone from over at the City of South Miami requested an opinion from the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission, considering that the opinion was regarding whether or not the city could continue doing business with one of their vendors after the vendor hired the police chief's son, it only stands to reason that the person asking for the opinion was none other than the chief himself, Orlando Martinez de Castro...

Let's take a look at the opinion issued by the ethics commission yesterday...

In response to a Request for Opinion (RQO 12-14), the Ethics Commission determined that the City of South Miami may continue to purchase police equipment from a company that employs the son of the Chief of Police.  Lou’s Police & Security Equipment has been a vendor with the city for more than two years and the purchasing contract was most recently approved on Oct. 1, 2012.  A month later, Christopher Martinez de Castro, son of Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro, was hired by Lou’s as Vice President of International Sales.  Because the son has no direct or indirect financial ownership in the company and will not be involved in the local contract, or profit from it, there is no prohibition from the police department continuing to do business with the firm.

Huh?  So let's get this straight, the City of South Miami does business with Lou's Police & Security Equipment and has done so for several years.  Most recently on October 1, 2012, the City of South Miami approved a purchasing contract with the vendor and then just a month later, the police chief's son gets hired by the vendor that was just awarded the purchasing contract as the "Vice President of International sales?"  While the chief's son may not be "involved in the local contract or profit from it" doesn't giving the chief's son a job after getting a contract from the city sound like a classic example of quid pro quo?  Honestly, WTF?

I don't know what's more surprising, the fact that the City's vendor hired the Chief's son or that all of a sudden the chief is concerned about getting opinions from the ethics commission!