As expected, Doral City Manager Joe Carollo was fired Monday in a special meeting called by Vice 
Mayor Christi Fraga.
Public Works Director Jose Olivo will serve as interim manager until Mayor Luigi Boria — who looked like it was Christmas — nominates someone new. The council talked about having someone in place in 30 days, but decided to discuss the process again at a special meeting Thursday. Seems like everyone has someone in mind (more on that later).
After the meeting, Fraga told the press she had not intended to make a motion to terminate Carollo when she first called the meeting last Wednesday. Instead, she was going to inquire about a series of issues that she saw with the administration, including the failure to move on items in a timely fashion and the recent revolving door of personnel and so many key department heads leaving lately.
She said that Carollo’s press conference at City Hall Friday, which she criticized for being during city hours with the use of city staff, had forced her to take that step.
During that press conference, Carollo said a relative of her husband’s had approached the mayor last October to offer her vote — the third vote he needed — to oust the city manager back then. Boria’s attempt failed 3-2, with Fraga voting against as well as Councilwomen Ana Maria Rodriguez and Bettina Rodriguez-Aguilera. Carollo said he was told this by the mayor, who he also said reported the incident to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
Fraga on Monday said those were “pure lies” and she told Ladra she had not been approached by authorities about 
any investigation. “Those are just rumors,” she said.
She characterized Carollo’s accusations as a desperate attempt to discredit her and said it was his M.O. “Just look at his past, not only as a politician but also here since he has been here,” she said.
Carollo hinted at the press conference he held Friday, and sorta again Monday, that he was being targeted as a whistle blower and while he would not say if he intended to avail himself of protection under that law, he has spent the weekend conferring with attorneys.
The meeting at 5 p.m. Monday was caliente and well attended by both residents and the media. Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz, the only one who voted with the mayor in October, pounced on the chance to second Fraga’s motion to terminate the manager. She said the city’s reputation had suffered enough.
Councilwomen Rodriguez-Aguilera and Rodriguez, the dissenting voters, made very strong statements.
Rodriguez said that while she understood that the city’s image had suffered and that the high turnaround “was disconcerting,” she did not think that the city manager was necessarily to blame. She noted that in the past 18 months, or since Boria was elected mayor, there have been three city managers — well, four now — as well as three different city attorneys and three different police chiefs.
“And there is a common denominator in those 18 months,” she said. Guess who she was talking about.
Rodriguez-Aguilera said that one of the reasons for some of the personnel flight, such as the the recent resignation of the Planning and Zoning Director who Fraga said would make a fine city manager — mind you, she wasn’t planning on firing Carollo (wink, wink) — was because of harassment from the mayor.
“I will ask you to stop disrespecting me,” Boria told her, saying she was disrespecting “the office of the mayor.”
He demanded her apology. Rodriguez-Aguilera refused. “I will not apologize for something that is true. I am not lying.”
The verbal spar got heated when she was refused the opportunity to speak a second time on the matter.
“This is not Venezuela,” she said. The audience booed her. Later she explained that she felt like she was in a dictatorship — but while Ladra does believe she was bamboozled, that’s a stretch.
After he was fired, Carollo stood and walked out of the room. He turned over his keys and had a quick impromptu press conference in the 3rd floor lobby after the cameras rushed out of the room behind him, aggressively and agitatedly daring the media to corner Boria on the bribery story and inquire about his report to the SAO.
“Go and ask him, did he or didn’t he do that? How is it Ms. Fraga is upset with me when it is Boria who reported her,” he asked.
Which is part of the problem with Carollo: His denuncias always come after he is threatened with termination. It’s a defense mechanism. If Boria was so bad, how come he didn’t quit and come clean months ago? If he does business with the Venezuelan government, as Carollo claims — and he tried to use his position to get better zoning on his kids’ land and he played some funky math with the rent for his campaign office, as he claimed in October — why didn’t know this two years ago when “Crazy Joe” campaigned for and with the mayor?
Maybe that delayed response which seems more retaliatory than whistle blower, is what makes Carollo hard to believe or, worse, have empathy for. He pretty much deserves it, doesn’t he? Heck, Ladra is surprised that this bromance lasted this long. Remember, I gave it less than a year.
Back in council chambers Monday, the majority of the public applauded Carollo’s ousting and said the city had to move on.
“He’s done real damage to the city,” said Manny Sarmiento, president of the Doral Chamber of Commerce. “it’s time to come back to what we were. Because we’re not right now.”
But Richard Glukstad said that the city had spent enough time on the drama and had to get back to real service, like finishing parks and providing more benefits for empl0yees. “You don’t deal with the real issues,” he told the council.
He also scolded Boria and said that Carollo’s mess was the mayor’s making.
“He’s in your church, Luigi. You brought him here. And every one of you voted unanimously to bring him here,” Glukstad said. “And all of a sudden he’s no good? From one day to the next?”
Well, not really from one day to the next.
Doral: Joe Carollo fired amid shots at heated meeting added by Ladra on
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