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of the public safety committee, which had recommended the independent inquiry after a meeting last week, to review the police department’s work.
“You’re embarrassing our fine police department. You’re embarrassing our town,” Lopez told the council members.
Eladio Jose Armesto, a close friend of the mayor’s and local Christian leader, also said the meeting was improper. “These chambers were not built so it could be made into a snakepit where ignorant people use .. to further a personal agenda. It should never be prostituted into a snake pit to advance anyone’s personal agenda.”
But a few residents said they deserved answers — something more serious and believable than Pizzi’s changing version of events.
“I want to know what happened,” Diane Vargas said. “If someone is to represent our city, it should be someone professional, someone our kids can look up to.”
Claudia Luces also brought up her son, saying that he had been reading the rules and regulations book to get his drivers’ license. “My son asked me, ‘Did the laws change? Is it okay to leave the scene of an accident.’
“Indirectly, you are telling the public that you can leave the scene of an accident as long as you come back. I can go home, freshen up, have some dinner maybe, and a glass or two to calm my nerves, and then go back.”
But David “Doc” Bennett, a dentist and Pizzi’s longtime nemesis, was the only one who got Pizzi riled up. Bennett cited a 2009 ethics complaint that indicated Pizzi did gain some favoritism from police and the mayor interrupted him, saying he would not let him impugn the reputation of the Miami Lakes cops.
Councilman Frank Mingo intervened forcefully: “He has the right to say whatever he wants.”
“An independent investigation is warranted,” Bennett said, “if nothing else than to clear our officers’ names.”
All eight members of the public safety committee stood up to say why they had recommended an independent look at what happened: Because residents had requested clear answers. Council members said that is what moved them.
“Being that there are still many unanswered questions and we are not educated nor authorizted to provide guidance, there was a unanimous request for a citizen-requested independent review of the incident,” said public safety committee chairman Roberto Alonso.
“The committee is requesting that, in an effort to educate our residents, we receive clarification on how the sate statute is enforced and what a resident should do in th event that they themselves crash into town property.”
“Is that too much to ask for? Clear answers?” asked Councilman Ceasar Mestre, who called the meeting. “There’s been allegations in the past. There’s been allegations now. There’s too many inconsistencies in the story.”
Read related story: Red flags: Michael Pizzi ran from crash, changes story
Mestre said he would ask the same questions of any of the other council members, or himself, in the same situation.
“Why did you leave? Why did you run? 
There’s people in this town that deserve answer,” said Mestre, a one-time Pizzi ally. “The days of not calling people out are over.”
He said that the excuses people used to let the mayor slide on this one were “red herrings.” Pizzi, for example, recused himself after repeating three or four times that the council could vote to spend millions of dollars investigating him when the FDLE investigation costs nothing. As for the political motivation, Mestre scoffed.
“Nobody told him to drive that night. Nobody put the animal in front of him. Nobody put the tree in front of him. And, certainly, nobody told him to do what he did after the accident.”
Mirtha Mendez said she was there to ask the question everyone was asking themselves: “Would I have been afforded the same courtesy as the mayor?”
That’s the crux of the issue. The suspicion is that Pizzi was drinking at the Cancun Grill the night of the accident and ran from the vehicle to avoid getting a DUI citation. The allegations are that he used his position and his relationship with someone inside the police department to escape any real scrutiny.
That’s what the FDLE investigation will be about.
But the town might have another problem on its hands if its mayor is showing early signs of Alzheimer’s. One of the speakers said he was concerned that the mayor couldn’t recall whether or not he was at Cancun Grill when he was asked by CBS4’s Gary Nelson last week.
“Having a mayor in office who cannot remember what he did I think is a liability,” said Omar Gonzalez.
Ladra thinks Pizzi’s liabilities are too many to count.
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