Does Miami’s City Manager Have The Guts To Stand Up To Joe Carollo?

Is Joe Carollo crazy… or crazy like a fox?
Parties don’t trust their voters; voters don’t trust their parties
Grant Miller

We recently asked if City of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo was above the law.  It looks like we got our answer.

Joe’s been on a tear throughout the Magic City rooting out scofflaws who violate the City’s building code.  He’s been after Bill Fuller and the Ball & Chain tavern like Batman stalking the Joker. 

It turns out that Joe should have paid a little more attention to his Batcave. 

Fuller held a press conference in front of City Hall on Thursday with proof that Joe hadn’t bothered to pull any permits for the work done at his Coconut Grove house. 

When asked about it, Carollo’s office first hemmed and hawed.  Then Joe said he followed “state law”.  For a man who claims to know the City of Miami Building Code backward and forward, Carollo should know that’s not how  it works. 

His carport was built without any permits or inspections. And from the pictures, it looks flimsy enough to be a hazard in a hurricane, tropical storm, or even a blustery day.  And, against the City’s landscape ordinance, he chopped down protected trees. 

The revelations that Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo hasn’t ever pulled a permit for construction at his home has angered lots of citizens. Miami residents and property owners most of all because they don’t get to pick and choose which laws apply to them.

Joe the Lumberjack claims that he’s exempt from the City Code and followed the County Building Code (which is applicable in the unincorporated areas, not the City of Miami).

Only corrupt politicians get to pick the rules that apply to them, while demanding that the full brunt of the law be brought down on other who might have committed the same acts. 

Is Joe Carollo crazy… or crazy like a fox?
Joe Carollo

No other citizen, commercial property owner, or investor in Miami can do the same. Only the Corrupt Crusader. 

The ultimate judge of this comic book saga is Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who as it turns out, is a frequent target of Carollo’s ambush-style attacks.

The question is whether this 26-year veteran of the U.S. Army is steely enough to uphold the law or will he bow down to Carollo’s never-ending, paranoia-fueled assaults?

In truth, he’s no superhero, only a scared monkey tossing crap at his foes, using spurious allegations with absolutely no evidence to delegitimize any effort at accountability. He is shameless, relishing the fact that the poop often ends up on him.

He’s also shameless with the sense of honor of a goldfish, continuing to charge forward and bully and undermine any scrutiny of his Coconut Grove home, which has been shown to contain lots of illegal work.

Ball & Chain owner Bill Fuller has submitted the results of his private investigation into the violations at Carollo’s house to Commissioners and the top echelons of the City.

The public deserves not only answers, but also transparency. They need to know that inspectors and officials had full access to Carollo’s house. The only way to get that is by having the media join inspectors, so they can have first-hand knowledge of what happened.

Otherwise, Carollo will show that he is above the law and that he’s a swaggering dictator.

Community Newspapers has thousands of readers who live in the City of Miami, many of which have voiced their skepticism that Gonzalez has the courage to do what the law requires.

I call on Gonzalez to act swiftly. The more he delays the inspections, the more doubt will be sown in the hearts of citizens. I also call on the City Manager to invite the media to participate in the inspection, so that there can be no doubt whether Carollo broke the law. And, that Carollo’s consequences are in line with his total disregard for the law.

City Manager Emilio Gonzalez must show everyone that the City of Miami’s most bellicose vigilante is not above the law.

Read Grant’s previous stories on Joe Carollo below:


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10 COMMENTS

  1. Monty Hall played Let’s Make a Deal
    Joe Carollo and Emilio Gonzalez play Let’s Make Adele.

  2. Thanks Grant, keep the Heat On until this arrogant corrupt commissioner is brought to accountability. Miami Voters need to know to Vote Him Out.

  3. I don’t understand why your upset with the reporter, it’s the politicians and their illegal tactics that should have your blood boiling.

  4. Neither Gonzalez nor Carollo exemplify “good government practices” as we know Carollo’s flaws ad nauseum you should or perhaps you’re clearly aware Emilio Gonzalez is just an “invertebrate puppet” now serving Master Francis

  5. More local reporters need “cojones” like the ones you yield. Thank you for holding our local politicians accountable.

  6. Please cut the political crap already! – I am unsubscribing right away. I thought this was a community newspaper. You yourself have become the same bananian actor and at the same lowest level of those you criticize.

  7. Wow, that was pretty hard-hitting — but accurate. I’m pleasantly surprised that you were willing to publish that. There just may be hope.

  8. Hay Joe where you going with that gun in your hand.
    Joe has always been a fraud ball and chain is an assit to a community building a tourist destination as is Little Havana Thank you Bill & thanks to your reporting good buy Joe you’re done ✅

Comments are closed.