The two top building officials from the town of Miami Lakes resigned abruptly last month and some City Hall employees and town insiders say they were pushed out by political pressure and/or interference.
Building official Mike Mesa and Permits Director Lourdes Rodriguez both resigned from their positions in the wake of an ad hoc committee that was formed after a connected developer complained about citations he got.
It seems, from all Ladra’s been able to gather, that a developer named Carlos Perez, who has contributed to a number of council members’ campaigns, bought a house for his son on Rosewood Road and started making improvements to it last year — sans permits. Perez said he had the work done during the height of the COVID pandemic, when much of the municipality was shut down.
Hmmm, maybe he was taking advantage of the situation.
Councilman Jeffrey Rodriguez came up with the idea of a committee to review the building department’s citations and operations at a meeting in March. But for many, it’s just a witch-hunt in disguise.
Mayor Manny Cid tripped all over himself telling Ladra that the two simply left for better paying jobs in other municipalities. Mesa is now chief building official in the town of Bay Harbor Islands. Rodriguez is now director of parks and public spaces at the nearby Bar Harbour Village. Congratulations to the both of them.
But Town Manager Ed Piderman — who recommended against the committee process — was honest. He said it was “probably” the political interference that drove the two professionals away.
In other words, they weren’t looking for other jobs until this happened.
“They finally had enough and before their professional reputations were undeservingly tarnished, they decided to move on,” Pidermann told Ladra. He characterizes the March meeting where the committee was formed as “an orchestrated parade of people who disparaged the building department and the administration.”
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Councilwoman Marilyn Ruano, who refused to appoint anyone to the ad hoc committee, calling it a sham, said the entire oversight issue was retaliatory and she didn’t blame the employees for leaving.
“The building department is there to protect us. To interfere with their jobs is dangerous,” Ruano said, and this was weeks before the Surfside building collapse.
Pidermann, the town manager, said the building department was willing to work with the property owner to bring the house into compliance. “But he fought the director every step of the way,” he said.
City Attorney Raul Gastesi said that the Miami-Dade Board of Rules and Appeals had sided with the property owner, who wanted to use x-rays to show the interior of the walls. Mesa wanted ultrasound, which is more expensive.
The developer prevailed and Mesa was told to accept the x-rays. Ladra bets that’s when he started looking for another job.
Mesa, who was brought in by the new city manager in January of last year, was making $139,049 annually. Rodriguez had been with the city for a decade. She was hired in May, 2011, and made $95,373.
The committee plans to present its report and recommendations at the end of this month.
Two building officials resign in Miami Lakes under shady circumstances added by Ladra on
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