Coral Gables Police Chief Dennis Weiner is expected to resign today, under pressure from commissioners who were ready to fire 
him at Thursday’s meeting anyway.
In fact, Ladra is told the votes were there to fire him at the last meeting.
Retired Maj. Scott Massington and Maj. Ed Hudak are both being considered as temporary replacements. Word is Massington is being pushed by former City Manager Pat Salerno, who resigned in April after he was caught lying to the commission but who many say is still pulling the strings behind Acting City Manager Carmen Olazabal.
Hopefully, the commission will insist on Hudak, a veteran of the department who should have gotten the job four years ago. Massington is seen as another lackey who is already gone anyway, having retired about 2 months ago. Hey, isn’t he the guy who got in trouble for charging a barbecue to the department’s credit card? Plus, as acting chief last year in Weiner’s absence, he assured everyone that there was no increase in crime, when the FDLE numbers showed a different picture.
Hudak is who people want to see in charge. He will give the residents, fearful of the recent spate of burglaries and robberies, the confidence that the city needs at the moment.
Hudak should get the job permanently.
Read related story: Gables Police Chief faces firing for fudging crime facts
All of this is being resolved right now, as Ladra types, in a series of meetings. We have a call in to the city attorney’s office to confirm. But four separate sources — including one at City Hall and one at the police department — have all painted this picture.
The chief’s resignation — in the wake of what many call a crime wave Weiner refused to admit existed — could be announced as early as tonight or it 
could be announced at the meeting Thursday.
Hudak is the best choice. He is a cop’s cop with the institutional knowledge and experience to turn things around in Coral Gables. The husband of Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Alina Hudak, should have gotten the chief’s job four years ago when Salerno hired Weiner from Juno Beach, where he oversaw a department de cuatro gatos.
Before the Gables, Weiner oversaw tropps that numbered in the single or double digits. Gables Police has 191 budgeted positions and, many sources say, is simply beyond his capability.
And Weiner’s always had one foot out the door anyway: He has applied to four or five jobs outside the city since arriving, including the police chief jobs in Miami Beach and Doral. He also reportedly got a job in Texas, but didn’t take it because his family did not want to move.
Gables Police Chief to step down; Ed Hudak could be top cop added by Ladra on
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Hudak is the MOST corrupt cop every to work in the Gables PD. He is a smooth talker who has only gotten where he is by interfering with investigations and getting friends out of trouble. This is what he is known for. He himself publicly stated his first order of business as the interim is to “meet with internal affairs”. Elaine, I am sorry but you got this one way wrong. Ask around and get the truth behind the facade that has been created about Hudak. He is out and out corrupt; falsified documents, failed investigations, etc. He was behind this whole crime stat thing, all to get him into the chiefs position. What a complete sham!
The Commission just made a huge mistake. Unfortunately, by the time they figure it out it will be too late and the Police Department will be far worse off. Interim Chief Hudak and his cronies will run the Police Department into the ground with politics and decisions made on the basis of retribution for those “rank and file” officers who don’t support him and see him for who he really is. Every decision Hudak makes is based on what is best for him and not what is best for the unit, division, department he is running.
Good luck Coral Gables PD. You and the citizens are going to need it.
I completely disagree that Hudak should be the next Police Chief. He and his wife are made out of the same cloth as Salerno.
Hudak covered the tracks of former City Manager David Brown and Jacks Eads. He is a dirty cop! National Search is very much needed.
Ladra- I completely disagree with you. Furthermore, why have you stopped reporting on Carmen Olazabal, Elsa Jaramillo-Velez, Diania Gomez, Pete Chircut, etc.? These folks were part of Pat Salerno’s clique. I have been told you stopped because all of these folks were your sources to writing your articles? Do you understand these corrupted officials will continue their unethical practices as they have successfully lobbied for Art Noriega to become the next City Manager. The same Art Noriega who was slated to be supposedly arrested several years ago when his good friend Oscar Rivero went to jail.
The Gables is becoming City of Miami west with corrupted officials bring their corrupted practices to City Beautiful.
Ladra I believe in you. Please sniff,bark, and bite away. I given you a bone. Run with it!!!!
Wow,
The citizens of Coral Gables should feel outraged that Major Ed Hudak has orchestrated his own placement into the Chief’s Office. Major Scott Masington was given the preliminary nod, but in usual fashion, Big Ed had his ducks in a row and unleashed the bombshell that Masington was named in a sexual harassment suit from a female sergeant. That same sergeant has a history of mental instability and a tendency to threaten suits against Coral Gables Police Chiefs. Moments after Masington decided to remove his name from consideration, Hudak was, by default, given the job. MOMENTS LATER, that suit against Masington and the City DISAPPEARED. No doubt that Hudak made a deal with that sergeant and her lieutenant husband that will likely be evident over the next few months.
This all stems from the young commissioner named Lago and his buddy Quesada. He consistently battled the presented numbers showing lower crime with the fact that crime can’t be down…You know why? He was getting phone calls, people saying there are more burglaries than ever. Had he been in office more than 3 months, he would have dealt with these calls (if they really exist) for years and would have known that nothing is different than it ever has been.
Lago has made his first attempt to control the Coral Gables Police Department by planting what he believes to be his pawn into the Chief’s position. Step 2, putting someone associated Miami-Dade County into the City Manager’s seat. That is where his reign will end and Hudak will discard him.
I was not a fan of Chief Weiner mostly because of his disconnect with us, the citizens. With that being said, he has made his officers work. I know many of them personally and they almost unanimously disliked him holding everyone so accountable. There was also mention of unfair discipline, but I know not enough about that to comment. What I can debate, though, is the numbers. They just don’t lie. As long as your comparisons are uniform, the results can’t lie. I hear the public stating that Coral Gables isn’t safe, the streets are dangerous and that crime is rampant. I can only chuckle as you must have been reading your prepared script. I walk my dog down Toledo all times of the day and never EVER feel unsafe…ever. Also, if I wake up in the morning and my unlocked car has been rummaged through, I wouldn’t call the police. I’d be inclined to lock my vehicle doors. I have cameras on my property, I set my alarm and I know my neighbors. I live here about 5 to 6 months out of the year so I’m curious to see how this plays out.
VIVA LA REVOLUCION
One last thing, an endorsement from Rip Holmes is nothing short of laughable.
Dear Political Cortadito and Esteemed Readers:
I thank you for keeping us informed!
I wholeheartedly agree that the time has come for Major Ed Hudak to be named Chief of Police in Coral Gables!
Police work, and police public image, are complex phenomena, and certainly, Chief Weiner, and Major Massington, are commendable, and engaging, leaders.
However, in my experience, character and leadership are often revealed in a crisis. In my own personal, and in Coral Gables’, recent crisises, I have found that truth, and integrity, and in my opinion the public interest, are most reliably supported by longtime Coral Gables Police work horse Ed Hudak.
It took guts for Major Hudak to hold fast to the facts in relation to accidents on Ponce de Leon, at a time when the City Manager was showing contempt for Commissioners by mischaracterizing those facts.
I personally gave a speech at County Hall, relating to the need for security cameras in taxicabs — part-time work for me — which was correct, but led to misinterpretation. Chief Weiner was unwilling to meet with me to discuss this, or to look into a recent burglary of my apartment.
By contrast, Major Hudak was willing to receive me in his office.
We should not have to fear speaking out for truth in Coral Gables, not should truth and the need to address crime take a second seat to other agendas.
Now is the time, in my opinion, for the “most honest cop, the work horse”, the true leader in times of crisis, to be recognized for the leader that he is.
Major Massington once told me crime, such as burglaries of the house of my best friend, has not increased during The Great Recession in Coral Gables. I do not have confidence in this statement.
I hope that Major Ed Hudak becomes the new Chief of Police in Coral Gables.
Sincerely,
Jackson Rip Holmes
915 Palermo Avenue, # 106
Coral Gables, FL 33134
P. 305-338-5000
E. [email protected]
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Maj. Ed Hudak ??????? No please .