Once again, the news out of Opa-locka is making jaws drop as the bizarre details of political greed, stupidity and unbelievable sense of entitlement are being exposed.

From the You Can’t Make This Up files comes the Miami Herald article, Opa-locka spent millions on parties, pet projects, bonuses; ignored warnings of financial collapse,  which reads like the outline of Carl Hiaasen’s next satire novel about South Florida.

The Herald article describes that as the city’s financial situation continued to deteriorate, the mayor, commissioners and administrators reacted by going on lavish spending sprees as if there was a money tree behind city hall.

“For the city’s 89th birthday last year, caterers rolled out canapés — costing thousands of dollars —followed by an elaborate cake shaped like the historic former City Hall. Local officials rented a white Belgian horse for $500 and a costumed sheik to greet guests. They spent $790 to hire a photographer and twice that amount for a band.

In Opa-locka, the money kept flowing.

While the city was fending off creditors threatening to sue for unpaid bills, officials spent hundreds of thousands on parties, travel and bonuses since 2012 — with few controls on how the tax dollars were spent, the Miami Herald found.

They doled out $300,000 in holiday bonuses for city employees, despite repeated warnings the city would have to lay off workers. They gave out raises that cost hundreds of thousands in additional expenses just in the past six months.”

One of the city’s biggest problem appears to be the mayor herself, Myra Taylor, whose lavish spending habits included a personal driver, two city-issued vehicles, and an office renovation costing “$26,000, including an etched glass door emblazoned with the city logo.”  There was literally no end to her squandering of taxpayer money.

“Using a city credit card, Mayor Myra Taylor charged airfare for family members to join her on trips across the country, while she was spending thousands on dinners and fruit baskets that she sent to supporters.

In a written statement, she addressed her travel costs, saying she has “the same rights and privileges” as any other mayor. “As a married woman and a female, I do not travel out of town alone and I am always accompanied by one of my sisters.” She “always” reimburses the city for their costs, she said.

However, there are no records to show she reimbursed the airfare and other costs for one sister to join Taylor on a trip to Washington, D.C., last year and another to accompany her to Alabama in 2013 for a conference. The combined amount: $1,029.”

Least surprising of all is the fact that this corruption took place under former city manager Kelvin Baker’s watch, whose stint began on July 3, 2012.

The Herald reported that only two months after Baker was hired, auditors warned of a looming deficit and “deteriorating conditions.”  Instead of reigning in the spending, city officials stepped it up even more.  In order to prop up an unsustainable fiscal situation, Kelvin Baker did what he does best … he pillaged reserve accounts in order to present a “balanced” budget to the commission.

“In other cases, the city spent money on ventures for which records are incomplete and, in some cases, non-existent. There is no way to trace all the spending, county auditors say.

For instance, the city spent hundreds of thousands on an elaborate digital display with cascading fountains on a busy corridor — more than $750,000 to promote Opa-locka. But it’s unclear how much of the money came from county transportation taxes and how much from the city’s own coffers.

To cover the shortfalls each year, city officials began engaging in a risky practice that would later get them in trouble: moving dollars from restricted funds. They transferred $2 million from a water fund in 2012, and the following year, it was nearly double.”

A year into Kelvin Baker’s (mis)management, Opa-locka suffered its first budget shortfall.  Instead of tightening the belt in response, city officials continued their wanton spending of taxpayer money, which included leased SUVs, air travel, hotel stays and expensive meals.

Not to be outdone, Baker got in on the action.

“Kelvin Baker, a former city manager who resigned last year, spent thousands on lunches, including staff meetings at Soyka in Miami, the Cheesecake Factory in Aventura, and Shula’s 2 in Miami Lakes. Last year, he traveled to Garcia’s Seafood Grille in Miami for a “sunshine meeting” with the mayor, he noted. The bill: $111.”

Mayor Taylor pooh-poohed the city’s money problems in public while she and other city officials stepped up the political schmoozing with parties, outlandish pay raises, more travel, and doling out expensive gifts to supporters on taxpayer dime.

In an attempt to stave off bankruptcy, the governor’s appointed oversight board led by deputized state inspector general, Merrett Stierheim, finally put the brakes on the free for all.  Mayor Taylor is not a happy camper.

As reported last month, Taylor was indignant that the board was taking away her city issued SUV and treating the her and her colleagues like children.  The board ignored her tantrum and then ordered the mayor and commission to also turn in their city credit cards.  In addition, city officials will “no longer get free gas from the city’s fuel depot.”

Oh, the horror!

While Mayor Myra Taylor’s audacious overspending is one of the main causes of Opa-locka’s downfall, she was certainly aided and abetted by other officials, including the former city manager Kelvin Baker.

Although Baker takes credit for balking at the $500.00 employee bonuses the Opa-locka commission doled out last Christmas, ironically he no problem giving lifetime health insurance to North Miami Beach department heads while he was that city’s manager.  His generosity with taxpayer money now costs NMB over $500,000.00 a year.

This is on top of the $2.3 million dollars that Martin King embezzled from the city’s coffers while under Kelvin Baker’s direct supervision.  King’s lifetime health insurance will come in handy when Marty finally gets out of the hoosegow in 2023.

Just saying.

Kelvin Baker is just your typical self-serving government gypsy, who travels from city to city, and hits the road as soon as some unholy mess is about to be exposed.  (More about that in a future blog.)

In Baker’s case, he has an uncanny habit of jumping ship right before the fiscal year budgets need to be approved.

In August of 2010, he deliberately caused the North Miami Beach mayor and council to fire him by accusing them of racism.  Days later, Baker’s employee Marty King was arrested for embezzlement.

In July of 2015, Baker resigned from his position as city manager of Opa-locka.  Two months later, his predecessor Steve Shiver went public about the city’s corruption and impending fiscal meltdown.

His most recent gig at Lauderdale Lakes ended abruptly last week after twelve short months at the helm when he tendered his resignation.

One can only imagine the fiscal destruction he’s caused that will come to light sooner or later.  The Lauderdale Lakes commissioners can’t say they weren’t warned.

Meanwhile, as the drama in Opa-locka continues to unfold, it will be interesting to see if Kelvin Baker finally gets the justice he so richly deserves.

Stephanie