The Miami city commission keeps one-upping itself.
On Monday, during a special and especially bizarre meeting to discuss (read: get rid of) the controversial new police chief, the commission voted to give itself subpoena powers and investigate, um, themselves, as well as how the chief was hired and actions taken by him since he came to Miami.
It came three days after Chief Art Acevedo wrote an 8-page memo in which he details improper and possibly illegal conduct by the Three Amigos, including interfering in police operations and internal affairs investigations, defunding positions to curtail reform and using the department as their own personal “enforcer” to retaliate against enemies.
Those allegations are why they held up the public comment for hours and spanked City Manager Art Noriega for hiring Acevedo from Houston without knowing much about him. Then they 4-0 to enact the section of the city charter that gives them subpoena power to to investigate any city officials, including themselves.
Chairman Ken Russell was absent, likely because he does’t want this stinky mess to junk up his senate run against Marco Rubio next year.
Know more: Chief Art Acevedo fights back, reports misconduct by Miami city electeds
Commissioner Joe Carollo, who called for the meeting and led what some have called a high tech lynching, kept acting like a tough guy. He read a long google search on Acevedo, with several stories from his time in California and Texas, where he led both the Houston and Austin police departments, and complaints of sexual harassment.
We even got visual aids as Carollo showed video of Acevedo “doing the cha cha cha” with a woman in a 20s flapper costume — freeze-framing where the chief is about to spank her with a patrol pad of tickets — and impersonating Elvis with a visible bulge in his pants.
“Do you think it’s acceptable for your police chief… that he would go out publicly with pants like that,” Carollo asked, “where his midsection is enhanced so tight?”
It wasn’t the “midsection” the commissioner was fixated on.
The videos were obviously from past fundraising events. They could be from the 80s or 90s, which is about when Carollo was arrested for throwing a coffee cup at his then wife. But this meeting was about the chief.
Know more: Miami Police chief under political fire for selfies, ‘Cuban mafia’ comment
“Mr. Acevedo thought he would get me and the others here to bow down so he can do whatever he wanted,” Carollo said, referring to the memo, adding that he wants to go through “information I have” on the chief. Carollo is famous for dossiers and “information I have.” Remember Doral?
“If we would be intimidated and back away from going forward with this meeting today,” he said, referring to Acevedo’s memo, “then he would have no accountability and he would do whatever he pleases in the city.
“We’re the elected officials here,” Carollo said, as if clarity was necessary. “We are not here, as Mr. Acevedo apparently thinks, to be a decoration on the wall and have to kneel down and agree to everything he wants.”
It was an embarrassing shitshow. Especially since there are serious, legitimate issues that could be raised. Acevedo was a defendant in a class-action lawsuit against against cities where DNA evidence in rape cases went untested for years. That’s something that Noriega should have known, but the way that Acevedo was suddenly ushered into the city is questionable. A selection committee was in the midst of interviewing and selecting applicants when Mayor Francis Suarez announced that Acevedo, who hadn’t applied was coming. The mayor was bringing him here. Thank you very much for your service, but go home. It’s done.
“Our review was thrown to the garbage after hours of volunteer work. This gentleman was not even on our list,” said Pedro Mora, a member of that selection committee who attended one of the meetings from out of the country via Zoom. “I did it because I care about the city.”
He blamed the city manager. “He should have done his job. All these allegations? He should have known about it. But our city manager doesn’t live in the city so he doesn’t give a crap,” Mora said.
This is why Commissioner Manolo Reyes wants a referendum that, if voters approve, would give the city a public process by which to hire new police and fire chiefs. But that won’t happen until next year, at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Acevedo — who didn’t go to commission chambers during the meeting but peeked from a window upstairs at one time — is still the city’s top cop, with a $315,000-a-year salary and fat benefits that bring the total package to $437,548.57. And, according to his memo, he is talking to the Department of Justice — which recently had oversight of the department due to police shootings of black men — about excessive use of force incidents (is this the reason for the low morale?) and to the FBI about corrupt politicians.
“He mentioned everybody but the KGB,” said Reyes, who claims to want an “independent” investigation by a “third party” which would be an ex FBI agent or someone hired by the city attorney to report to the commission.
But how independent is that, really?
Diaz de la Portilla said the allegations in the memo were “outright lies” and blasted the city manager for characterizing the issue as a problem between the chief and the commission.
“His conflict is with his own department. He is trying to reframe that to pretend it is political in nature,” DLP said. “I’ve never seen anybody make so many mistakes in such a short period of time. And he’s not even a politician. He thinks he is, but he’s not.
“He’s a square peg in a round hole in Miami and doesn’t even fit his own department,” Diaz de la Portilla said, referring to an FOP poll where a majority gave the chief a vote of no confidence. “His problem is with them, not with us. Our job is to protect them and to protect our department and protect our city.”
The Dean said Acevedo manipulates the press “to believe that he is a great reformer and he came to reform and get rid of the bad guys, the Cuban mafia.”
But isn’t that why they brought him in to begin with?
“I felt he was someone who could come from the outside and really affect some change because I think we all felt some change was necessary,” Noriega said, adding that his “style” or “approach… has created a lot of adversity for him with this elected body and certainly within the department.”
He hinted that no matter what, it’s unlikely that Acevedo can stay employed at the city after this fiasco (more on that later).
“The issuance of this memo speaks to the fact that we have certainly ventured into an area that is highly problematic… if anyone in the city is at conflict with our elected officials to the extend this has gotten.”
Know more: Miami Police online survey shows no confidence in ‘liar’ Chief Art Acevedo
Miami FOP President Tommy Reyes has said that is what his membership wants. He told the commission that practically half of the department (614 officers) said he should be fired or asked to resign.
But members of the Miami Community Police Benevolent Association, essentially a separate union for black officers, defended the chief and said he should be given time to change the culture.
“Our department has a history of allowing unjust behavior,” said Capt. Dana Carr, the group’s secretary. “Our department needs reform… If you’re following policy and procedure, you have nothing to worry about.”
Sgt. Stanley Jean-Poix, the group’s president, said he has brought diversity and changed the promotion system to be more inclusive.
“There was no chance for advancement if you weren’t in the clicks,” he said.
Activist Tomas Kennedy was kicked out of chambers after he tried to defend himself when he was called a professional agitator. He had come as a citizen to thank Acevedo for pointing out the crimes of the Three Amigos.
“You have turned this commission into an embarrassment. You are not public servants. You are an embarrassment to public office,” he said.
But that’s not new.
And it’s not over. Commissioners will continue the character assassination under the guise of a public meeting on Friday. Let’s see if Suarez attends.
Train wreck Miami city commission goes off rails on police Chief Acevedo added by Ladra on
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