Superman can’t use his x-ray vision to see through lead. In the comics, TV shows, and movies, the bad guys were always hiding money, jewels, and weapons behind big sheets of lead. The bad guys would be able to get away with it for a while, but you knew that by the final page or the closing credits that truth, justice, and the American Way would triumph.
We’ve got our own lead box here in South Miami. City Attorney Thomas Pepe and City Manager Steve Alexander called a closed-door meeting of the City Commission to tell them that Mayor Philip Stoddard had made a claim on the City’s policy with Chubb.
What went on at the secret meeting was not so secret. Back in August, the City Commission voted 3 to 1 (with Stoddard cooling his heels in the hallway) that the City would not be funding his defense.
That’s when Phil decided to make a claim on the Chubb policy which will require the City to pay the $75,000 deductible. Even though the last official act of the Commission was to say that the City wasn’t going to pay for the defense, in line with the City Code, Pepe told the Commissioners the City had to pay it anyway.
And even though the City’s Charter limits Steve Alexander from writing checks greater than $5,000, he is reported to have told the Commissioners he was going to write the $75,000 check anyway.
Stephen Cody, who made the complaint about Phil to the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics, filed a public records lawsuit against the City to get the transcript of the October 22nd meeting. It didn’t seem like a meeting about paying a deductible met the narrow exception in open meetings law. A trial was held and, at the end, Circuit Judge Spencer Eig told the parties that he would be writing an opinion.
When Eig finally issued his final judgment, it looked more like a high school hall pass. It was a single page. After a non-jury trial, a judge is supposed to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law. All Eig’s order basically said was “No” to Cody.
What it means is that the transcript will stay locked away until Cody’s Ethics Commission complaint is finally heard. Stoddard, still represented by Ben Kuehne, and the Ethics Commission Advocate had a status conference earlier this month.
The ethics trial is tentatively set for March 2019, with another status conference scheduled in January. Michael Murowski, the Ethics Commission Advocate, wants to take the depositions of both Stoddard and Pepe. Stoddard is insisting on taking Cody’s deposition.
Every time that Stoddard has bumped into me, he claims that FPL is paying Cody. When I asked Cody about it, he said, “I wish.”
Cody is the attorney who worked eight years without getting paid to bring single-member districts to the Miami-Dade County Commission and another three to have School Board members elected by districts. Nobody paid Cody during those suits. (Although both the County and the School Board had to pay his fees after he won.)
Maybe he’s motivated by those same altruistic feelings. Or maybe he just can’t stand Phil Stoddard. (I did once hear Cody say this about the Mayor: “To know him is to loathe him.”)
In the end, it doesn’t matter. Phil twice kept Cody from commenting on a case that ended up costing City taxpayers over $1.5 million for the wrongful firing of former Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro. The Ethics Commission voted to find probable cause that Phil violated the Citizens’ Bill of Rights to the County and City Charters by preventing Cody from speaking.
Phil, Pepe, and Alexander need to be reminded that, while Superman could not see through lead, he could rip open the lead box or punch through it with his bare hands.
The Ethics Commission will soon take up the case. The City Charter says that if Phil acted with intent, then he forfeits his office automatically. This story will play on until the final credits roll.
Transparency is coming to South Miami. The people will read the transcript in March. Then they will have the power to decide the fate of Stoddard, Pepe, and Alexander. That’s truth, justice, and the American Way.
Little wonder taxes have gone up in South Miami. Lawsuits paid by taxpayers coupled with wasteful government spending on “consulting fees”, exorbitant administrative salaries along with a declining downtown have all taken their toll. All typical of a banana republic.
If South Miami has to pay a $75,000 deductible in The Ethics Commission vs. Stoddard, who paid the deductible in Martinez de Castro vs. Stoddard and Lopez vs. Stoddard?
Jerry Johnson-> I live in Palmetto Bay. Send me a PM on Facebook and let’s see about grabbing a coffee soon.
Believe and respect Stephen Cody > perhaps we need Mr. Cody to focus his microscope on the Village of Palmetto Bay?
Since the good Mayor addressed the private eye:
Mr. Cody is a private citizen and doesn’t have to disclose zilch.
You sir are an elected official and we still don’t know who has paid your lawyer for this past year.
I sir have spent well over a decade rescuing kids, many from predators and all pro bono. So maybe, just maybe, Cody can afford me. I wish FPL was funding this, my Cody fee would quadruple.
You well know sir this investigation has nothing to do with politics. Publish the letter I sent you sir telling you why I am investigating you.
You have interesting friends sir.
What are you using your money for, Phil? To pay the deductible on a case where a kid got into distress at your house and you insisted that he be removed and you refused to call 911? That case will eventually proceed to trial and the truth will get out. What about your defense of the charge that you inappropriately had the police chief find out the young man’s name and telephone number while he was battling in the hospital for his life? You’re a weak mayor, in more ways than one. Your Charter prohibits you from giving any direction to any employee under the direction of the City Manager. That’s a removable offense. And yet, you told the Chief to get you the kid’s name and phone number and he did. He did it in an open criminal investigation. That one’s going to cost a lot to defend and you won’t be able to tap into the City treasury. Maybe the Chief will be able to get the City to pay for his defense. Arguably, that’s within his job description. But allowing minors to consume alcohol in your house doesn’t fall within the Charter’s description of your job as Mayor. Why am I doing this? I don’t like bullies, either those who burn coal or those who worship the sun. I supported the cost of two Voting Rights Act lawsuits against Miami-Dade County and the School Board. You? You’re a pimple on the ass of flea. Tic toc, Phil. Tic toc.
Grant, stop making up stuff about me. I have NEVER told you that FPL is paying Stephen Cody. I HAVE told you “Why don’t you find out WHO is paying Stephen Cody?” According to another blogger, Mr. Cody admitted to hiring a private investigator to pursue me. You don’t really believe Mr. Cody is using his own money for that, do you?