Lauderdale Lakes commissioners are understandably nervous that their Financial Services Director, Susan Gooding-Liburd, might be doing a perp walk out of City Hall.
The Sun-Sentinel reported in Lauderdale Lakes finance director linked to Opa-locka controversy that she “is facing allegations that while working in Opa-Locka she violated city rules and used more than $1 million in customer utility deposits to balance the budget.”
Considering that the Miami Herald reported on Friday that, while serving as Opa-locka’s finance director, Susan Gooding-Liburd “ordered her staff to transfer the deposits into the city’s general fund,” there’s a pretty good chance that an indictment is in her future.
The big question, however, is just how loyal Gooding-Liburd will be to her long-time crony, Kelvin Baker, when the inevitable interrogation begins.
Baker, the former city manager of North Miami Beach, Opa-locka and Lauderdale Lakes, brought his sidekick with him each time he packed up his Traveling Circus and hit the road. He was fired from his first gig in 2010, spent three years in Opa-locka from 2012 to 2015, and just recently resigned from the Lakes after only one year. Susan Gooding-Liburd headed each city’s finance department as she followed him from job to job.
Despite her obvious allegiance to Kelvin Baker, does anyone doubt he’ll throw her under the bus to save his own skin? By telling the Sun Sentinel that he “knew nothing of money being taken out of [Opa-locka’s] utility deposits account,” he’s already attempting to absolve himself of any wrongdoing. “If I knew of any improper activities, I would have been the first to raise the alarm,” he said.
Yeah, right.
Even as incompetent as he is, there’s no way he was completely ignorant about Opa-locka’s finances during the three years he was city manager from 2012 to 2015.
And although he praised Gooding-Liburd for being a “true professional,” and exclaimed that “he would be shocked if the report turned out to be true,” make no mistake – Kelvin Baker’s only loyalty is to himself. If there’s any way he can avoid taking responsibility for the actions of one of his employees, he’d do in it a New York minute!
Just ask Marty King, who was arrested in February of 2011 and is currently serving a twelve year prison sentence for “numerous counts of money laundering and grand theft” perpetrated under Baker’s watch in North Miami Beach.
Despite the fact that Baker was his direct supervisor while King was embezzling money, he denied all knowledge of his own employee’s actions.
He’s doing the same exact thing now with his protégé, Susan Gooding-Liburd.
And just like he did with Marty King, chances are he’ll turn a blind eye while she takes the fall.
So far, two Opa-locka officials have already pleaded guilty, most likely in exchange for information that could lead to other arrests. If the feds come after Gooding-Liburd, it will be interesting to see if she’ll implicate her former boss or fall on her sword for him?
My money’s on the sword.
Meanwhile, Lauderdale Lakes officials are in wait-and-see mode. Interim City Manager Phil Alleyne told the Sentinel that the “allegations are disturbing,” but has taken no action as yet. Vice Mayor Eileen Rathery announced she’s planning to meet with him and Gooding-Liburd, and told the Sentinel that she’s “prepared for us to take any action that’s necessary for us to take.”
While Gooding-Liburd still refuses to make any comment to the media, Kelvin Baker had plenty to say. “There’s just tons of misinformation about Opa-locka. I think in the end the truth will come out.”
I’m sure it will, Kelvin. I’m sure it will. Be careful what you pray for – you just might get it.
Stephanie
baker cant be both competent and incompetent.
¿Qué?
You are correct. For the record, he’s incompetant.
Of course Baker and Liburd will turn on each other…if it comes down to saving their own skin. Baker’s remarks to the press are ludicrous…because the only reason Liburd had for transferring the $1.7 million out of the water deposit fund (short of actually pocketing it) was to balance the City’s budget and prevent a deficit situation…which would have been embarrassing for Baker and her. It wouldn’t be the first place where this has happened and it won’t be the last. Lauderdale Lakes did the same thing a few years ago with $2.5 million of its dedicated CRA funds…transferring them to the General Fund to cover operating expenses. And then the finger pointing started.
In the case of Opa Locka, Baker stood to benefit by presenting a balanced budget (or a perception of one) to his commission. He should have known what Liburd was doing. If he didn’t…then he was negligent and incompetent! If he did…then he was complicit!
He did the same exact thing in North Miami Beach. He pillaged the city’s water utility reserves to present a “balanced” budget to the city council. By the time the scheme was discovered, he was already gone, but the utility’s Fitch credit rating took a dive. After he was fired, he applied for jobs at Boynton Beach and Davie. I wrote to the commissions of both cities, warning them about him. I never heard from Boynton, but a commissioner from Davie (where I now live) wrote back and thanked me for the info. Neither city hired him, although I don’t know if it had anything to do with my letters. The only city that would hire him was Opa-locka, and we see how well that turned out. I was shocked when he got the job at the Lakes, but I guess your commission didn’t care about his obvious baggage. Maybe they do now.
I saw the Lakes commission meeting on television when they interviewed the three finalists (briefly) for the CM position and voted…all at the same meeting…without any deliberation or review. We know that they never performed an executive search or vetting for the job. The only requirements were that the candidate have a pulse and be black! You could see the excitement in Gloria “I only hire my own color” Lewis’ eyes when Kelvin Baker stepped up to the podium to give his bio! The other two imbeciles who voted for him, Eileen Rathery and Edwina Coleman chimed in that they didn’t need any help or want to pay anyone to find them a city manager…that they were perfectly capable on their own. So Baker was given the job with no check of his credentials or background. And his traveling circus came with him.
Aletheia, here’s an interesting Sun Sentinel article about the Lakes just posted: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/lauderdale-lakes/fl-nov-guide-lakes-commission-20161022-story.html
It’s kind of a hopeless situation in dysfunctional Lakes. The quality of commission candidates or top level staff never improves. And with the city’s reputation being well known…it simply cannot attract and/or keep qualified and capable employees. Couple that with a deep seated racist work environment…and your pool of available candidates automatically decreases.
Need proof? The Sun-Sentinel article quotes Commissioner Eileen “Peabrain” Rathery, who’s running for re-election, as saying that regardless of how things transpired, Kelvin Baker’s resume would have still stood out! WTF! Maybe as something you would use to line your cat’s litter box!
Baker also applied for the Assistant Public Works director job in Miami Beach before Opa-Loca hired him. He never had a chance of being hired at Miami Beach because the Public Works Director stated that Baker did not hold an engineering degree which was required for the job. All he had as a credential was his Divinity certificate.
No wonder North Miami Beach City Engineer Marty King got away with submitting bogus invoices for repairs that never happened. Since Baker is not an engineer, King simply had Baker sign off on invoices he didn’t comprehend and also had Baker sign checks to pay for it.
Baker was incompetent as the Public Works Director and City Manager in North Miami Beach and he took his incompetence on the road in search of other cities where he could promise to balance their budgets.
Not only is Baker not an engineer, he doesn’t even understand how budgets work. It’s not surprising that Marty King was able to bamboozle Baker into thinking it was all legit, but the scheme would never have gotten past a real city manager who knew what he was doing. Ditto for Opa-locka. If he didn’t know what Gooding-Liburd was doing (which is highly unlikely), he has no business running the city.
For certain people…and in certain cities…it is not a disadvantage to be unqualified. It is actually an advantage. We’re in a new paradigm in South Florida in the public service sector. The less you know, the less legitimate credentials, education and qualifications you have…the better your job prospects! Until the shit actually hits the fan, like with Baker.