Communications Director May Save Miami Beach's Face

8/11/2019 Communications Director May Save Miami Beach's Face

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MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

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August 21, 2014

Nannette Rodriquez Director of Communications CITY OF MIAMI BEACH

Subject: Specific Question No. 1 in re Code Compliance Performance

Ms. Rodriquez:

Thank you very much for asking me for a specific question in response to my plea for your sophisticated comments regarding my perspectives on the performance Code Compliance

Department, which was lately a Division of the Building Department.

I shall start at the top, with the administration of that department, which is supposedly

responsible for

the

behavior

that

members

of

the

community

have

been

wont

to

criticize

from

time to time, and not always negatively. Lest my specific question be taken out of context and curtly dismissed with an irrelevant answer, you shall find below a brief History of the Question. Since the Question is loaded, a Proposition that I do not endorse is given.

THE QUESTION

Why were the top two administrators of Code Compliance promoted to permanent and more powerful positions as heads of a new standalone department without any overall empirical evidence of improved performance in the field and considerable evidence to the contrary?

PROPOSITION

A political insider friendly to the previous administration has proposed that the director of the Code Compliance Department and his assistant are Untouchables regardless of the administration in power because the director is FBI and the assistant has something on everyone, therefore they will remain in their positions as long as they like regardless of the performance of their department in the field.

HISTORY OF THE QUESTION

The Police Department and the Building Department, of which Code Compliance was a division, have been the most scandalized city departments in recent history, so much so that the Building Department has been characterized as a racketeer influenced corrupt organization.

City Manager Jimmy Morales, a very nice guy and a political insider without city management experience who was appointed on April Fools Day 2013 to clean up the city after the most


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recent scandal broke, has bragged that he has fired scores of employees to that end, the great number of them lower echelon workers.

As for department heads, he did not fire the building director and his assistant; he simply placed a friend of his from the troubled Miami Building Department over them as director, and they instituted a successful phased permitting process to boom construction for big developers without a full, comprehensive permit, utilizing private inspectors, on the condition

that the city be held harmless for any damagesthe program is basically a confession of incompetence to handle the workload. There have been little or no empirical verifications of

overall improvement in the performance of that department that I am aware of.

Although the police chief and his deputy had done a remarkable job of responding to the cries for sorely needed reform in their department, they were resented for past behavior and

punished for their good behavior with dismissal or forced resignation. And now the unelected

political insider who actually runs the city by default has brought in outsiders to the police department, a celebrity chief, from Colorado, and the citys first black female deputy chief, from Texas.

Completely untouchable have been the heads of the Code Compliance Division of the Building Department. Most of the community had nothing but contempt for the performance of the division; clamors were repeatedly raised for reform to no avail. Robert Santos Alborna, a financial analyst and planner whose most extensive administrative experience appears to be

setting up an animal services department for the county, was transferred from the troubled Building Department by former city manager Jorge Gonzalez on November 1, 2010, to head the Compliance Division until a new director could be found. Shortly thereafter, on May 24, 2011, Mr. Gonzalez appointed him Director of Code Compliance based on his resume and alleged devotion to customer service.

Robert will continue to report to the Building Department's Assistant Director, proclaimed Mr. Gonzalez, who would soon be forced to resign in disgrace, but will work closely with my executive staff on issues that remain a priority for the City, and provide support in the review of

the City's code compliance processes when that is initiated.

Whether or not Mr. Santos Alborna deserved it, he became despised by several people intimate

with Compliance operations even before he became the subject of a fruitless F.B.I.

investigation. Even Commissioner Ed Tobin engaged in heated email exchanges with Mr. Gonzalez criticizing the performance of Code Compliance under Mr. Alborna.

We must ask why we have all this corruption, Mr. Tobin emailed Mr. Gonzalez on April 24, 2012. Corruption in this instance is a byproduct of the lack of oversight and accountability. The


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The City Commission, without any factual evidence of the changes alleged by Mr. Morales, or of any concrete improvements, rubberstamped the formation of the standalone department, which provides its director with more executive authority than a division head, and the appointment of Mr. Cardeno as its director.

Indeed, Commissioner Michael Grieco stated to the Miami Herald that the commission almost always blindly follows the recommendations of the city manager, a formula that is a virtual

prescription for dictatorship under an unelected official.

Commissioner Ed Tobin, his attitude apparently changed since the removal of Jorge Gonzalez

from office and his alliance with the reformist majority on the commission sponsored by

wealthy businessman Mayor Philip Levine, stated that Mr. Cardeno is a person of great integrity with an extensive law enforcement background. The City is lucky to have him and he

congratulated him. (Afteraction, January 15, 2014)

On April 28, 2014, eager for some factual basis for this profound restructuring, I asked City Clerk

Rafael Granado for any reports supplied to the City Commission supporting, with measureable i.e. objective evidence of improved performance of the Code Compliance Division, the City Manager's January 15 appointment of Hernan Cardeno as Director of the to be created Code Compliance Department. Attached you will find the Commission Memorandum supplied to me by Mr. Cardeno wherein Mr. Morales urges a resolution confirming his appointment of Mr. Cardeno. I see no reference therein to measurable empirical improvements of the Code

Compliance Division itself since Mr. Cardeno was appointed its commander about two years ago. I suppose that was given as an attachment to the Administrative Recommendation, or separately, and I would like to have a copy.

On April 29, 2014, the Mr. Granado informed me that The Office of the City Manager has notified us that there are no records responsive to your request.

Although Mssrs. Cardeno and Alborna have always been courteous and helpful to me personally, their service as administrators has been less than satisfactory, in my opinion , except in their ability to smooth ruffled feathers while not effectively improving customer service in the field.

However, I am only one person. Supporters are inclined to praise the new Code Compliance Department and its officers. That praise may or may not be due to the honeymoon effect, the fact that people, who are charmed by the charisma their high expectations have endowed their new set of leaders with, are disinclined to criticize their own judgment unless something goes

terribly wrong. Like Commissioner Tobin, I believe it will go wrong unless that attitude changes


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quickly; unlike him, my skepticism will not be diminished by a change of guard, handsome resumes, and the integrity of team players.

Therefore, since my observations of ineffective supervision and misconduct in the field are anecdotal, I asked high officials and the citys internal auditor to conduct a thorough audit of the records to compare the results with the results of the previous audits to see if there has been any improvement.

I was greeted with absolute silence. Need I ask why?

Sincerely,

David Arthur Walters


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Miami Dade Countys Miami Beach Senior Center, a lesson in negligence at Pennsylvania & Espanola: July 14. 2014

19 August 2014

Nannette Rodriquez, Director OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS City of Miami Beach

Subject: Adequate Staffing to Achieve Police Power Objectives

Dear Ms. Rodriquez:

Code Compliance Supervisor George Castell has frequently directed me to you for a sophisticated response to my opposition press questions as to why his department does not proactively enforce certain city codes instead of doing nothing about violations of those codes unless complaints are received from persons who dare to risk retaliation from the offenders and even code compliance officers themselves.


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At least sworn police officers, according to the brass, proactively enforce laws against crimes wherever observed, no matter how small, although we know of exceptions in our neighborhoods; for example the notorious illegal parking condoned by police and parking officials who park in no parking zones at the Las Olas Caf Drive In to refresh themselves as

cars are ticketed and towed a block away for the same violations.

Parking Department official entering Las Olas Caf Drive for lunch, ignoring parking violations on all four corners

Perhaps you will address this proposition: People tend to disobey laws when they are not enforced, or risk punishment when enforcement is random and minimal. To wit: IF enforcement is lax, THEN compliance will be inadequate.

I have taken exception to the notion that Code Compliance Department staffing is inadequate. I have seen compliance officers performing their duties well, but I have also observed and

documented them goofing off on the job.

I recently penned an expose of one officer ignoring multiple dog ordinance violations within plain view while he was sitting in his car on dog patrol. He reported to that he saw no violations, saw 17 dogs on leashes, strangely adding that he was moved to explain the dog ordinance to several owners.

Please take a look at the photograph, at the top of this letter, taken in front of the Senior Center at Pennsylvania Avenue and Espanola Way. The Senior Center is adjacent to the high school gymnasium and across the street from the elementary school. The premises were

overgrown, laden with rubbish, graffiti and unpermitted signs for several months.

Thankfully, all but the graffiti was cleaned up within the last two days. Perhaps someone complained, but the correction should not have been contingent on a complaint. In fact, as witnessed below, a compliance officer parked a few feet away should have walked around the property and cited the violations.


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and searched the restaurants there up to Washington Avenue, and saw no officer. The gentleman was still sitting in his car fingering his electronics when I photographed him at 8:25 PM. He saw me take his image, so I figured he might report the event to supervision. He left the area a minute or two later .

I asked Compliance Director Hernan Cardeno for a copy of any report or accounting of the activities of the officer around that time. I wanted to know when, where, and whom was contacted by the officer so I could verify the information with those persons.

The report Mr. Cardeno and I received was simply an unsigned inspection report listing restaurants, showing that all counted tables and chairs matched the numbers approved at each location. That simply could not be in respect to the restaurant that I had enjoyed for two hours while facing the plaza, sitting near the front door, with floor to ceiling windows all around: not single compliance officer appeared there or nearby.

And there were two cryptic emails alluding to Espanola yet without context.

From: Villar, Manny Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2014 8:00 PM To: Romero, Miguel

Subject: RE: Ok Finish and send to me and copy Castell. Thanks

From: Romero, Miguel Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2014 8:27 PM To: Villar, Manny Cc: Castell, George Subject: RE: Espanola way f.y.i Espanola way detail


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Broken Signage Ordinance Theory: Wherever signage and other minor laws are scoffed at due to nil or lax enforcement, it is likely that far more serious infractions can be found behind those signs.

PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES:

Unpermitted sign in front of Miami Beach Community Development office

Signs beside scandalized Miami Beach Community Development project


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Signs and graffiti existed for months at Russell Galbuts 800 First project

Owner scoffs at private inspector signage and graffiti ordinances as public inspector observes


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Typical scofflaws no signage permits, no license numbers

If only the public knew what was really going on behind this unpermitted sign without the required license number


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Scofflaws on all four corners at Las Olas Caf DriveIn as usual

Jorge Perez is a humungous developer, so he may scoff at reported signage and graffiti ordinances


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Scofflaws on all four corners, truck blocking Stop sign endangers public

The previous owner of Las Olas did not pay concurrency fees. The Commission honored him for his contributions.


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Cops own the streets, but should cite parking violations on all four corners


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Uzbek belly dancer Nadira Alleva scandalized a British diplomat. She must visit South Beach.

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Communications Director May Save Miami Beach's Face