It was supposed to be something that would be handled quickly. But South Miami Mayor Phil Stoddard has a way of making everything a three-ring circus.
Just last month, it looked like the Commission on Ethics and the Public Trust case against Stoddard was about to be derailed. The agency’s Executive Director Jose Arojo reached out to Stephen Cody, the man who filed the complaint against Stoddard, to have little “chat.” To hear Cody describe it, it was more like a teenage-breakup speech.
Arojo seemed to say something like: we’ve had fun finding probable cause and all… But it’s over… Except now, it appears it’s not. Michael Murowski, the Advocate for the Ethics Commission, had taken the deposition of both Phil Stoddard and the city attorney.
Benedict Kuehne is back in the case again, at least until the winds change. He sent over a subpoena to the Ethics Commission so he could compel Cody to show up for his deposition. Although attendance has never been an issue – Cody has made himself available to provide his deposition since filing his complaint in January 2018.
Click here to see the official document.
The subpoena shows that both Kuehne and Stoddard are going on a scorched-earth pogrom. They not only want Cody to show up, they want to give him the equivalent of a forensic colposcopy. The subpoena asks Cody to bring 21 separate categories of documents.
Stoddard wants to see Cody’s IRS tax returns, his bank account statements, his social-media postings, all sources of income, and cancelled checks among other things, all without a stated time limit by which to gather up this material.
Cody told me he got his first job as a Publix bagboy in 1974. The subpoena is so broad, it asks for every tax return, meaning he’d have to reveal how many quarter tips he got in high school.
More telling, Stoddard and Kuehne are asking for all cell-phone records, e-mails, texts, and social-media between Cody and Florida Power & Light and its parent, New Era Energy.
Stoddard has created a conspiracy in his own mind that Cody is working for FPL, and is allegedly out to get him because he put solar panels on his roof and is going off the electrical grid.
That’s not all. Stoddard and Kuehne are also demanding to see his communications with former Mayor Horace Feliu, former Commissioner Valerie Newman, Bradley Cassel, and local gadfly Sharon McCain, and an additional 21 people and organizations.
They also want to see all communications between Cody and his lawyer, Rick Yabor. Ben Kuehne was, at one time, a well-respected attorney. He should know that attorney/client communications are privileged. Kuehne is obviously doing this to quell Stoddard’s growing paranoia.
Stoddard is beginning to act like Captain Queeg, portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny. He’s already muttering about a conspiracy. All he needs is start rolling a pair of steel balls in his hands and talking about strawberries.
Rather than give in to Stoddard and Kuehne’s demands, Advocate Murowski is taking a stand and has filed a motion for protective order. He doesn’t want to stop the deposition. Kuehne can ask all the questions he wants about the two times that Stoddard wouldn’t let Cody speak. He just doesn’t think Cody should have to come up with 45 years of tax and banking records.
After all, what Stoddard and Kuehne are doing sets a bad precedent. It would tell other whistleblowers that if they dare to step forward when their rights are violated, they better be prepared to be thrown onto a dissecting table and autopsied.
Without people feeling safe to report unethical public officials, there’s no need for an Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission needs to grant the protective order. Not to protect Cody, rather, to protect the process and its own mission.
It’s been a year and a half since Cody filed his complaint with the Ethics Commission, a group whose website claims that ethics complaints are handled within 30 days of finding probable cause. Too much time has gone by.
It’s time for the Ethics Commission to finish this.
Sadly, I along with many who initially voted for him, have witnessed an increasingly disturbing pattern of behavior from Mr. Stoddard. The constant need to control and quash the right of free speech by individuals with dissenting viewpoints and important information to share, was first evidenced by his required installation of a taxpayer funded audio-visual control console in front of his chair. Many voices were muted until, far too late, the commission woke up, and directed his enabling sycophant of a City Manager to remove the apparatus. Again, at the expense of the taxpayer.
Mr. Cody’s Ethics complaint was the catalyst that initiated the removal of the Public Remarks muting controls which Mr. Stoddard requested, and we thank him.
-The COE has a job to do and that is not to allow a complainant and victim (Mr. Cody) to be intimidated by the scare tactics employed by Stoddard and his expensive, taxpayer funded attorney.
No!
Brad,please come to public remarks tonight and ask Mayor Stoddard why you have been included on the list. Commission meeting is tonight at 7:00 pm. Anyone who has concerns should speak at public remarks.
Shame on the COE Director for attempting to abort due process! The case has been on the shelf for far too long, and it appeared that Mr. Cody would never get the fair hearing that he is entitled to. Shame on Stoddard and his attorney for resorting to extreme tactics with no regard for hurting innocent people who have a right to privacy. May Mr. Murawski prevail, and may justice finally prevail. Without due process and a fair and impartial hearing, we can kiss the Citizens Bill of Rights and the First Amendment to our Constitution goodbye forever. That’s how serious this case is. Many thanks to Grant Miller for keeping tabs on this case and keeping us informed as to this latest disgusting update. We would never get this in-depth report from our City Attorney. Sorry Mayor Stoddard. Protection of our Constitution is far more important than exempting you from due process.
Stoddard will resort to what he does best…blame his patsy and fall guy, “City Attorney,” Thomas Pepe. The COE will accept this coward’s explanation because it is the easy way out.
The big picture: an American citizen who came forward, representative of many who have had the same experience, will see his rights violated with impunity.
The most troubling part of this issue is the failure of the COE director to follow proper procedure. He apparently thinks he has the authority to not take action even though probable cause was found in the complaint. We have to be thankful that the COE Advocate is doing his job, knows the law, and will follow it. The Mayor is trying every trick possible because he knows that he violated the Citizen’s Bill of Rights and the 1st amendment right of Freedom of Speech. Let the process go forward, he’ll have his day in court as will Stephen Cody. God bless America !
This is obviously a way to instill a “chilling effect” on any whistleblower. I’ve known Steve since High School, and while we hardly agree politically, he is a good person. Bullying at its best!
Why is my name mixed up in this? I met Cody at City Hall, thought he was a nice guy. I still think he’s a nice guy.
Somebody give me a clue, why me?