Courthouse clean bill of health begs questions, investigation

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The need for a new courthouse “has become much more compelling because of the discovery of very serious safety and hazardous conditions,” Martinez told Putney and Glenna Milberg in October. “It isn’t just the structural problems with the beams, that 92 percent of the beams are corroded, sitting in pools of water. But they also have discovered black mold throughout the building and friable asbestos.

“In 2008, we didn’t know the building had asbestos, friable asbestos, dangerous asbestos,” Martinez said, repeating that word three times like a drum beat. “You have a situation where you have a very dangerous structure used by the public on a daily basis.”

Lobbyist/attorney Jorge Luis Lopez and other lobbyists involved, some of whom I’ve been told had conversations about the referendum last spring — though it was presented at the last minute to the county commission so they could get it on a low-turnout ballot with as little vetting as possible — should also be questioned under oath.

Read related story: Miami-Dade: Trust us with $400 million for new courthouse

People need to be held accountable. Especially those who are officers of the court.

Maybe Soto was lied to as well. By whom? Who knew what when?

Wednesday, the chief judge  issued a statement indicating she was not moved by the county’s findings. “Yesterday and today, we’ve had active water leaks due to rain in courtrooms on two floors while court was in session — including the historic courtroom on the 6th floor,” Soto wrote. “We need a long term solution. These are not appropriate conditions under which to serve this community.”

Soto said that the mayor’s memo actually validated her earlier arguments. “The building has many serious issues that the county is spending a lot of money to remediate, but we’re concerned that these fixes are not long lasting.”

And there is no doubt that is true. The conditions at that courthouse are reprehensible and someone still needs to be held accountable for letting it get that way. And she is right about quantity too: They need more space for the growing needs of this county. Not just at the civil courthouse but at the criminal courthouse (more on that later).

Well maybe if that would have been the crux of the courthouse tax campaign, the people would have bought into it.

But, that’s not what Soto’s desperation message sounded like during the “save Cielito Lindo” campaign, which was also a lie since the county has the funds to fix Cielito Lindo and the bond was really to build a new building.

“They’ve told us that if there is a hurricane warning we need to evacuate this building and we can’t return unless a structural engineer says it’s safe and the air quality is tested throughout the building,” Soto said, in the PAC video ad that promoted a yes vote with a sense of urgency.

Certainly some county officials need to be questioned about why the plans they had were not made public. Lee Solomon and his boss, at the very least. Did he lie to the mayor, who told us that there were no plans in play for a new courthouse?

Maybe someone ought to ask Gimenez — who changed his mind at the last minute and supported the referendum he was going to recommend against — what he knew and when.

Read related story: Recall reason #17: Mayor Gimenez flip flops on courthouse tax

At the very least, the mayor must have known that the sky-is-falling campaign for the yes vote was wrong. His memo Tuesday indicates that a study of the columns in April of 2014 — the same one that recommended evacuation in the case of a hurricane — said “we don’t have immediate concern about collapse.” How come Gimenez never said anything? How come he didn’t ask his pal lobbyist Lopez to tone it down? How come our strong mayor stand by and let the voters be hoodwinked?

“Clearly the administration knew that the campaign for the bond was misleading the public by saying that the building was sick,” said Regalado, who at one debate was told that she would have “blood on your hands” if the measure did not pass.

Ladra called the mayor’s office. His spokesman Michael Hernandez said the mayor supported a vote in favor of putting the referendum on the ballot (he also said publicly he would vote for it) because something needed to be done to address the need for more space. It was based on the fact that the historic courthouse on Flagler Street was built in 1928 when the county, now home to 2 million people, had a population of 200,000.

“It was not just about the physical state of the structure,” Hernandez said.

Still, you know what? I’d feel better if the mayor’s statement was also taken under oath.

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  Carlos Gimenez, Miami-Dade Courthouse, Raquel Regalado