Miami seeks 'independent' investigator to look into Art Acevedo accusations

Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo is gone, but his shadow is still hanging out in City Hall.

Acevedo was fired Thursday after a 5-hour hearing in front of the city commission who tried real hard, with the help of the city manager, to make it look like it was because of eight specific job issues, which include failure to report damage to his car, gaffes with members of the public, taking time off without reporting it and accusing three commissioners of misconduct.

But the city of Miami is still following up, allegedly, on the latter — the abuse of office allegations that Acevedo made last month against the Three Amigos, Commissioners Joe Carollo, Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Manolo Reyes, who, Acevedo said, interfered with police investigation and used police and code enforcement to go after their political enemies.

At the first special meeting last month to discuss Acevedo’s actions and future with the city, Reyes moved to have an “independent investigator” look into the allegations that the chief made against them. He or she will have the ability to issue subpoenas through Commissioner Jeffrey Watson.

City Attorney Victoria Mendez was put in charge of finding someone. She told Ladra last week that she had begun to comprise a “not exhaustive” list of 69 names. Some are very familiar, including former Miami Commissioner Willy Gort, who is now on the Miami-Dade Commission of Ethics and Public Trust, and former Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina.

One name seems unlikely: former Doral Police Chief and Carollo chief of staff Richie Blom, who was fired after he complained that Loco Joe went on “profanity laden rants” whenever someone “unwelcome” was treated well. Hmmm. Wasn’t part of Acevedo’s firing because he didn’t intervene in a profanity laden rant by his Number 2? Blom also complained about Carollo’s constant harassment of a Little Havana businessman the commissioner targeted as a political enemy.

So it is doubtful that Mendez is truly considering him and Ladra has to wonder if this “not exhaustive” list is real.

A shortlist has been requested, as well as an explanation of how this will work. Will the investigator present his findings to the commission? To the police? To an outside agency? This is why we can’t trust this process and need a real and independent investigative agency to conduct the inquiry.

Meanwhile, these are the people Mendez is supposed to be considering:

Israel Reyes
Jerald Bagley
Gary Winston
Rodolfo Llanes
Jorge Colina
Manny Orosa
Paul Phillips
Wifredo Ferrer
Craig Leen
Ian Moffet
Richie Blom
Averil Dorsett
Brian Barakat
Charles Mays
David Kubiliun
David Markus
Dori Foster-Morales
Eric Padron
Flora Seff
Hillah (Katz) Mendez
Jarret Wolfe
Jason Bloch
John Priovolos
Jonathan Davidoff
Jordan Lewin
Pepe Herrera
Joseph Rosenbaum
Michael Band
Katie Phang
Khurrum Wahid
Carmen Vizcaino
Leonard Glick
Liz Hernandez
Luis Taborda
Markenzy Lapointe
Jacqueline Arango
Martin Zilber
Melba Pearson
Mimi Turin
Neal Sonnet
Roy Black
Nelson Bellido
Nick Basco
Olga Ramirez-Seijas
PJ Mitchell
Pablo Tamayo
Pat Dray
Andres Rivero
Ramon Javier
Ramon de la Cabada
Raul Chacon
Ray McGhee
Rey Dorta
Omar Ortega
Robert Pertierra
Roderick Vereen
Roger Cabrera
Sabrina Vora Puglisi
Scott Silverman
Sherri Romano
Stan Blake
Stephen Hunter Johnson
Suzie Brown Vazquez
Tammy Forrest
Teresa Williams
Thomas Bowman
Todd Michaels
Trudy Novicki
Wifredo Gort

Art Acevedo, Victoria Mendez

Miami seeks ‘independent’ investigator to look into Art Acevedo accusations added by Ladra on October 15, 2021
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