The arrest last month of Sweetwater Mayor Manny “Maraña” Maroño on federal bribery and extortion charges left the city shocked (a little), embarrassed (a lot) and one commissioner short after Jose Diaz became acting mayor when the governor suspended Maroño.
The decision was slated to be made Monday night, but because Commissioner Manuel Duasso was missing (due to an illness in the family, we hear), Diaz and the other commissioners — which include Maroño’s mom, Isolina Maroño — will appoint someone else to fill in his seat at the next commission meeting.
Ladra can’t help but wonder if Maroño’s papi is interested in the job. After all, last time they were faced with the vacancy, after the death of Vice Mayor Ariel Abelairas, they chose Maroño’s mommy, who has long run the city’s supplementary food program for needy residents and is a suspected longtime absentee ballot collector in the area for local and state races.
While elections will be held lickety split in Miami Lakes to replace the mayor busted there in the same FBI sting, the Sweetwater city charter calls for the commission chairman to assume the position of mayor. Commissioner José Bergouignan will now become the commission chairman and a new person will be picked to be part of the small, western-edge city’s decision-making body.
“The Commissioners have lost the public’s trust when they did not do their due diligence to look into and investigate further the fake Chicago based business and unanimously approve the item proposed by the mayor, Manny Maroño,” Centeno said, referring to the bogus firm that worked with the mayor and his partner, one-time chief of staff Jorge Forte, to steal job creation grant funds and split them among themselves, according to authorities.
She added that the city should piggy-back on the Nov. 5 countywide election on the Jackson Memorial Hospital referendum and let the residents elect someone to represent them.
The commission should not appoint “one of their own,” she added.
“Nothing will change if they continue to appoint their friends and family,” Centeno said.
Commissioner Prisca Barreto has told people she wants to appoint former Sweetwater commissioner Cecilia Holtz-Alonso to fill the vacancy. Barreto served with Holtz-Alonso in the 90s. But, then again, Barreto has served with everybody, having been a commissioner for 20-some years.
But if Holtz-Alonso — who once advocated for prayer in public schools — wanted to serve again, why didn’t she run for office in May?
It would be great if they appoint her. After all, she has run twice and has gotten at least some some approval from the public — 406 votes last May when she lost to Mama Maroño, 72 to 28 percent. Of course, the election day voting was much different than the AB count, where Maroño beat Centeno by about 4 to 1.
Or anyone else who has gotten a vote — other than a vote from the dais.
It is not right that this person be elected to serve until 2017 — the rest of Diaz’s just-won term — by just the six commissioners already there.
Sweetwater names commissioner…maybe Maroño’s dad? added by Ladra on
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