As Ladra types this, Doral Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz is arriving at the city’s police station to file a harassment information report on City Manager “Crazy Joe” Carollo after another reported outburst with her and her “illegal” intern.
She drove over from City Hall in a caravan after Carollo “stomped” into a conference room where she and college intern Alex Castro, who had been thrown off the premises by the manager Wednesday for an unspecified reason — another intern applicant named Richard Moran and a resident were meeting to discuss a summer volunteer program for college students that Ruiz wants to propose. The others were following her to the police station Friday afternoon.
Castro said this was the third time he harassed him and the councilwoman. Carollo had confronted him twice on Wednesday and told him to leave because he had not been approved as an intern. He has not said why and told Ladra Thursday that he would provide the reason in writing, but has not done so.
“He’s out of control,” Castro told Ladra, referring to Carollo. “The councilwoman and I were in a meeting with another intern and a resident of Doral when Carollo storms in and says we have five minutes to get out. He was saying ‘You have no right to be in the conference room.’ He told the councilwoman to step outside.”
Ruiz says she feels harassed and is worried by the escalation of anger in the incidents.
“I’m so concerned about what is happening in Doral. I’m filing a harassment information report because this has to be documented. This is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Ruiz told me when I called her as she was in the car on the way (Ladra got a tip about the tiff in the conference room).
“This is wrong. Do we make mistakes? Sure. But that’s not what this is. What he’s doing is abuse of power and political bullying,” Ruiz said.
Earlier today, she had asked if the conference room would be busy and, since it was not, had reserved a half hour for her meeting. She stepped out of the conference room for five to 10 minutes to take a meeting in her office but was wrapping up and coming back in time to see Carollo “stomping through the hallway. I knew it wasn’t good.”
So she followed him to the conference room.
“He throws the door open and starts yelling that he’s warned him before and he’s going to be arrested,” Ruiz said. “Who is he to do that? How does he have arrest powers?
“Then he throws the door back open and says to me ‘You step out and talk to me right now.’ I said, “No. I’m going to finish my meeting. You close the door behind you,'” Ruiz said, still fuming about the exchange.
“I really feel he was capable of raising his hand at me. He was so angry.”
Ruiz says she knows she may not have the votes to oust the city manager, but she wants to try anyway and will bring up a motion to have him fired.
“I don’t care if I have the votes. My ethics tell me he should not be the manager of the city of Doral,” she said.
Watch it tonight on Univision 23. A little doggie, er, birdie told them about it and they have a truck there right now.
Doral update: Councilwoman calls cops on Joe Carollo added by Ladra on
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