What a difference Jose makes!

Miami-Dade County corruptocrats beware!

The new Executive Director of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust is taking no prisoners.

After seven long, frustrating years of watching Joe “No Probable Cause” Centorino give unethical public officials a pass, the cavalry has finally arrived, and his name is Jose Arrojo.  If Mr. Arrojo continues kicking butt like he did last week in the Village of El Portal, dirty politicians and their cronies better scurry like the rats they are.

We recently reported that VotersOpinion made a public records request to the Village of El Portal for copies of all documentation regarding the post-Hurricane Irma clean-up.  We were shocked to receive a reply stating that these records would cost $6,751.00.

Miami Herald reporter Sarah Blaskey and several El Portal residents were also presented with the exact same bill when they made similar public records requests.

Apparently, this was a stock invoice the village prepared in advance to scare off members of the public who dared to ask too many questions about their dirty little secrets.

Unfortunately for El Portal village officials, challenged accepted.

Seriously, we live for this.

We balked at the price tag for a simple public records request and enlisted the assistance of Ethics Commission Executive Director Jose Arrojo, who took our complaint very seriously.

He immediately sent an email to village officials, including the ethically challenged Village Attorney Norman Powell, and directed his Commission Advocate, Michael Murawski to investigate.

Five days later when he received no response, Mr. Arrojo sent another email, stating, “I am following up from my note last week. Has this matter been resolved or is the Village of El Portal still firm on their position that they are entitled to $197 per hour as a fee to provide public records?”

Several hours later, the village clerk responded by email, “I apologize for the delay on this response I was out of town last week as per our conversation earlier today you will be following up with the village attorney as I am not the custodial of these records and didn’t produce the hourly cost I just forward the email.”

The clerk is absolutely correct in that she is not the records custodian, nor is she responsible for the cost of those records.  She is merely the liaison between the public and the official holding those records hostage.  In this particular case, that official is Village Manager Christia Alou.

We have no idea what conversation transpired between COE Executive Director Jose Arrojo and El Portal Village Attorney Norman Powell, but all of a sudden the post-Irma documents submitted to FEMA were allegedly posted on the village’s website.

We say “allegedly” because we have no way of knowing if these are all the documents available since we don’t trust Norman Powell’s version of “transparency.”

In any event, round one goes to Jose Arrojo.

Where’s the Chief?

An even bigger problem is that there seems to be no one running the El Portal Police Department.

Despite the fact that the village website claims its Interim Chief is Jose Perez, sources have told VotersOpinion that he resigned several weeks ago.  Village officials have yet to make the announcement.

So much for “transparency.”

According to the Miami Herald, “Jose Perez, formerly of the City of Miami Police Department, was brought out of retirement to replace Hufnagel despite having no experience as chief and no connection to El Portal. Just one week into Perez’s tenure, Arctic’s services were terminated.”

You will recall that Arctic, a 3-year old Siberian Husky, became collateral damage when the former Interim Police Chief Ronnie Hufnagel, crossed the Mayor.

Once again, Village Manager Christia Alou was less than “transparent” when she told the Miami Herald that “Arctic’s job with the police department never officially existed.”

Unfortunately for Ms. Alou, the internet is forever.

Arctic’s July 25, 2017 swearing in as the community policing K-1 was recorded and posted online on January 3, 2019.

Oops!

It’s anyone’s guess why Chief Perez resigned, but we have a sneaking suspicion he got tired of being the Village Henchman for Mayor Claudia Cubillos, and especially for Manager Christia Alou.  He had to have known he was being used as a pawn in the post-Irma debacle.

Apparently, on command he issued a “post-termination” reprimand to his predecessor Ronnie Hufnagel in an attempt to justify the Manager’s decision to fire her.  PBA union president Steadman Stahl indicated that her termination was “retaliatory.”

Which makes perfect sense considering Hufnagel was fired for blowing the whistle on corruption in the tiny little Village.

To make matters worse, Chief Perez then sicced Homeland Security on El Portal resident Phillip Andronicos, claiming he threatened him.  Homeland Security closed the case after determining there was no crime.

But Perez didn’t stop there.

The Miami Herald reported, “According to records from the Miami Shores Police Department, after his run-in with Andronicos, Perez called in a favor with the nearby department on behalf of the village manager, resulting in a week of extra security around Alou’s home.”

Listen:

The Herald also reported, “Officers were warned that Andronicos had threatened to kill the village manager. It also named Hufnagel as a disgruntled ex-employee involved in some way. Miami Shores police later found the information to be erroneous and called off the increased protection. (Both Perez and Alou later denied ever reporting a death threat, despite official records of Perez’s phone call.)“

Yeah, about that “transparency.”

In the meantime, however, the real question is “Who is running the El Portal Police Department?”

For now, the Village of El Portal has been advertising for a new Police Chief … at a starting salary of $75,000.00.

Good luck with that.

Show us the money!

It seems that Mayor Claudia Cubillos isn’t the only El Portal village official in dire financial straits.

On January 24, 2017, Wells Fargo Bank filed a foreclosure action against Village Manager Christia Alou, claiming that she had not made the monthly $1,860.69 mortgage payments since August 1, 2016.  By that time, she was in arrears for $11,164.14.

On October 3, 2017, the Court issued a Final Judgment of Foreclosure.   According to the Court docket, Ms. Alou immediately moved to reopen the case in an attempt to cancel the foreclosure sale.  By March 15, 2018, she successfully obtained an Order granting her motion to cancel the sale.  By May 22, 2018, the Judge issued an Order to Granting Motion to Vacate Judgment when Christia Alou somehow paid nearly $40,000.00 to bring her mortgage current.

Plus court costs and attorney’s fees.

Does anyone else wonder where she got the money?

Just asking.

El Portal “Vice?”

As we speak, El Portal Vice Mayor Omarr C. Nickerson, a/k/a Omar C. Nickerson, is preparing for a January 28, 2019 trial hearing scheduled for his trial due to a January 17, 2018 arrest for five felony counts for domestic crimes.

But this isn’t his first rodeo.

Less than three months earlier on November 7, 2017, Nickerson was arrested for three misdemeanor counts of battery and domestic violence, as reported by NBC6.

During his trial, he was ordered by the court to stay away from his estranged wife Barbara Gasaly, who filed for divorce three days later.  Nickerson was also forced to surrender his concealed weapons.  On January 16, 2018 he entered an advocate program and was sentenced to twelve months of probation.

That very same day, he was arrested for stalking his soon to be ex-wife and burglarizing her house.

What a guy, huh?

After his second arrest, Omar C. Nickerson was again court ordered to stay away from Ms. Gasaly pending his trial.

According to his online profile, Omar a/k/a Omarr, claims that his primary focus for El Portal is: “More Council-Community Involvement and Improved, Transparent Communication.”

Now that’s what we call “transparency.”

More trouble in paradise!

Not only is the Village of El Portal in need of a Police Chief … and possibly a Vice Mayor if his felony trial doesn’t work out for him … there’s yet another vacancy on the Council.

Shortly after the public records scandal broke, the recently re-elected Councilman Werner Dreher, resigned without explanation.

Then again, Mr. Dreher was the only council member to vote against borrowing $1.25 million for post-Hurricane Irma debris removal, that the Village can’t afford.

It’s almost as if he wanted to get outta dodge before all hell broke loose.

According to the El Portal Charter, the vacancy created by Werner Dreher’s departure must be “filled by a special election to be held not sooner than thirty (30) days or more than ninety (90) days following the occurrence of the vacancy.”

If Mayor Omarr C. Nickerson, a/k/a Omar C. Nickerson goes to prison as a result of his felony trial, that will make two empty seats on the dais.

But no worries!

According to the Charter, only three elected officials are needed to make a quorum, and the other two already vote in lock step with the Mayor, Queen Claudia.

And with the ethically- and intellectually-challenged Village Attorney Norman Powell at the helm doling out his pearls of wisdom, it will continue to be shady business as usual in the Village of El Portal.

Stephanie