CHIEF EXPO: MEET YOUR $70,000 BABYSITTER

As reported by us this morning, City Manager Tony Crapp Jr. has hired former FBI agent Paul Philip to be Chief Miguel Exposito's babysitter, with a fancy title "Special Advisor on Public Safety."

The Miami Herald Mayor's Press Office confirmed the appointment, but conveniently left out the $70,000 in salary that City taxpayers will have to fork over to have Mr. Phillip try and keep Chief Exposito under control. 

This is the first time in memory that a Miami city manager makes such an unprecedented appointment.

We are also sure that added to his base salary, Mr. Phillip will receive the requisite phone and car "allowances" and other generous benefits that bureaucrats bestow on each other. 

Among his duties:

-Provide recommendations ... regarding ... oversight and management of the police department.
-Assess succession plan for all ranks.
-Evaluate all training.
-Assess morale.

We always thought this was the job for the Chief of Police.

Chief Exposito already makes $196,000 a year.

And now add $70,000+ to the equation.

All because Mayor Regalado can't or won't fire Expo.

TONY MAKES HIS MOVE

Local Spanish language blogger Nelson Horta reports exclusively that Tony Crapp Jr. has named former Miami FBI office director Paul Phillip to oversee the operations of the Miami Police Department.



Click here for Nelson Horta's article in Spanish.

Phillip's former roles in Government included a stint in former Miami Dade County Mayor Alex Penela's office where he led a special team to fight corruption and crime.

We all know how well that ended up.

If this is in fact the case and Mr. Phillip has been brought in to oversee the Chief of Police, it is the first time in city history where this has occurred where an overseer is brought in to reign the top law enforcement official in the city.

Developing...

MAYOR REGALADO'S INACTION ON EXPO JEOPARDIZES CITY

It's been over two weeks since the controversial City of Miami Commission meeting where Reverend Richard Dunn called for the Commission to remove Police Chief Miguel Exposito.

Since then, Chief Exposito has been the subject of several press articles questioning his credibility, including Chuck Rabin explaining away the Mayor's lies about the "predator" video and Dianne Fernandez telling us how scared cops are.

Today, the Miami Herald Mayor's Press Office yet again publishes more negative news on Chief Exposito, making public what everyone already knows, that the Chief and the State Attorney do not see eye-to-eye.

Lost in all this is the role, or lack thereof, of Mayor Tomas Regalado.

In his typical way, the Mayor is using others to do his dirty work.  First it was using Reverend Dunn as his errand house boy, and now it's using his friends in the press.

As Mayor Regalado demonstrated with Chief John Timoney, he knows exactly how to get rid of a police chief.

The Mayor is jeopardizing the safety of the city by not taking decisive action on this matter.

Already it is being rumored that heavy divisions exist within the City of Miami Police department, and we all know the saying about a house divided. 

Meanwhile, we already have six police shootings and violent crime continues to rise.

So why won't Tomas fire Expo?

Either the Mayor really has no balls, or Expo is holding something over the Mayor's head.

IT JUST GETS STRANGER BY THE MINUTE...

*** *** *** UPDATE *** *** ***

Rumors abound that the Miami Herald Mayor's Press Office will take the negative press on Chief Exposito even further.

Developing...

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Several days ago a very interesting post made its way to the Leo Affairs police blog website regarding Dianne Fernandez and a story she was allegedly preparing on City of Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito.

I have a friend that lives on Brickell Key, who told me that Channel 7 reporter Dianne Fernandez Is getting ready to blast our police department. It turns out that she is a friend and neighbor of Tommy Regalado, the Mayor's son. Their kids play together in the playground, and she and her husband frequently go out together with Tommy and his wife.

As a favor to Tommy, who has a vendetta against MPD, because the chief exposed his potential profitting from the proposed MPD reality show, Miami's Finest, She is digging up any dirt she can get on our department. My friend tells me they are even filming our guys out there in hopes of cathing them doing something wrong.

This is highly unethical when a reporter stoops this low for personal reasons. I know Channel 7 is tabloid news, but this goes beyond anything they've done before. She's not even an investigative reporter.

The news director at Channel 7 better get on the stick before this blows up in their face.

Like clockwork, we get a story from Channel 7 news today, "Officers make allegations against police chief," from none other than Dianne Fernandez herself.

The entire story is based on anonymous sources because the otherwise tough "predator" cops are too afraid to speak out against the Chief.

"Opponents of the chief have expressed fear because of their views concerning Exposito. "Just an atmosphere of fear. It's a gestapo type of atmosphere," one officer said. "The chief is trying so hard to stay there that he's doing things that shouldn't be done, and everybody on the force knows that."

"Officers are afraid. Absolutely I'm scared. I'm scared for my not safety, because they're not going to hurt me physically, but they can hurt my career," a second officer said. "I think it's corrupt from the top. Absolutely."

This is the same police department who trailed former Chief John Timoney, performing surveillance to catch him in the now infamous "Lexus Gate" but they are now too afraid to speak up against Chief Exposito.

Fernandez echoes the climate of fear created by Mayor Regalado:

Another police officer said, "There have been allegations that he's following members of the department who don't agree with what is happening right now."

The allegations were brought to light earlier in the month when City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said he was being followed. "I was concerned for me and my family," the mayor said.

Miami City Manager Tony Crapp, Jr. is currently reviewing the Exposito's controversial tenure as Miami's police chief. Crapp is the only person with the power to fire Exposito.

Perhaps  Ms. Fernandez should have asked Mayor Regalado why the fuck he hired Exposito in the first place!

Lost in all this is that Mayor Regalado's first official act in office was to fire John Timoney and replace him with Exposito.

The Mayor brought this upon himself and is now trying to act as though he had nothing to do with it, while a very complicit press let's him get away with it.

Bottom line:

Whether you are Team Tommy or Team Expo, this bullshit two-ring circus is driving the city to a halt.

And while our focus this week has been on the recall over at the County, it's time to start thinking about how a recall can fix the giant mess the City of Miami is in.

DO THEY DESERVE A PENSION?

Politicians and bureaucrats are the gift that keeps on giving.

Long after March 15th, when the fate of Mayor Carlos Alvarez and County Commissioner Natasha Seijas is decided, and long after a vote to eliminate the position of County Manager...

All three will stick taxpayers with a massive bill.

All three will potentially end up being "fired" from their jobs, Alvarez and Seijas through recall, and Burgess through a vote to eliminate his position.

Yet, all three will collect lifetime pensions that all of us will have to pay.

Also remember that both Alvarez and Burgess will collect six figure pensions for the rest of their lives.


So the question is:

If you are recalled or your position is eliminated, do you deserve a pension?

THE GREAT UNKNOWN...

Billionaire Norman Braman has successfully caused Mayor Carlos Alvarez to face a recall vote on March 15.

What Billionaire Norman Braman has not done is explain to voters what will happen if the Mayor is actually removed from office.

Today we get a hint from the (not to surprising) announcement that County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez is throwing his hat in the ring to be County mayor.

"[I]f an election is held and voters remove Alvarez, commissioners could choose to appoint a mayor for the remainder of Alvarez's term. Such a move would push back a county mayor election until November 2012."

Does anyone in their right mind think that Chairman Joe Martinez and the rest of the County Commissioners are not chomping at the bit to appoint someone to be "interim" mayor?

So who do you think the interim mayor will be?

MAYOR ALVAREZ: WHY IS GEORGE BURGESS STILL EMPLOYED?

"I will get back to you with an incredibly well written 'Cover-Your-Ass' memorandum Commissioner..."

Beginning with Miami for Change, and now with Take Back Miami, we have spent the last few years uncovering the otherwise covered underbelly of Miami-Dade politics.

If there is a single story, a single person, that captures everything that is wrong with Miami-Dade County politics, and why Miami-Dade residents should have no confidence in their government, that dubious distinction would go to Bureaucrat in Chief, County Manager George Burgess.

Burgess, who takes $422,000 a year in taxpayer salary, (incidentally MORE than President Barack Obama's $400,000 salary) continues to oversee the complete meltdown of Miami-Dade County government.

Some recent examples:

Federal audit blasts Miami-Date Transit for shoddy oversight.

A federal audit made public late Monday sharply criticizes Miami-Dade Transit for shoddy financial management and weak internal controls -- including improper accounting for bus fare boxes and a failure to document how federal grant money has been spent.

The audit comes two months after the Federal Transit Administration took the extraordinary step of suspending grant payments totaling about $182 million to the county-run transit agency.

Miami-Dade must repay $3.6 million in Housing and Urban Development funds.

In the latest sign of weak financial controls in Miami-Dade government, the county must pay back $3.6 million in federal grant funds received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after a federal audit found that county officials couldn't show the money was properly used.

The county's latest problems with HUD -- which administrators unveiled at a County Commission meeting Thursday -- come just two years after the federal agency returned control of the troubled Miami-Dade Housing Agency to county hands after 15 months under HUD supervision.

Work on Lyric Theater Halted by fraud probe. 

The county has spent $6.2 million to renovate the historic Lyric Theater, but its completion is on hold while prosecutors investigate alleged fraud by the project's construction manager.

The renovation of Overtown's historic Lyric Theater has been halted as Miami-Dade prosecutors investigate allegations that the project's construction manager pilfered hundreds of thousands of county dollars.

Individually, any one of these disasters would be enough to place any public official in some hot water, never mind the private sector where such a person would join the rank of the 13% County unemployed.

And yet, Burgess continues to survive, explaining away the mess.

“We’re well on our way to correcting things; it’s a work in progress.”

George, it's been a work in progress since the minute you took over the reigns at the County!

For this "work in progress," we the taxpayers shell out $422,000 to Mr.Burgess.

Granted, Mr. Burgess is no fool.  In his nearly three decades in County government, Burgess has surrounded himself with a cadre of acolytes, all richly rewarded in the six figures, who form a protective shield of bureaucracy around him.  In this tangled web, he with the most knowledge wins, and Burgess sure knows how to play the game.

And so, Miami-Dade County residents must continue to put up and pay for complete and total incompetence, while Burgess and his army of bureaucrats, with our money, laugh all the way to the bank. 

But there is one person who can stop all this, and he faces an election March 15.

So the question becomes:

Mayor Alvarez: why is George Burgess still employed?