What now? When and how will Joe Martinez future vacancy be filled

And has this been cooked so that his replacement does his bidding?

Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez was charged with two felonies on Tuesday after a five-year investigation and posted bond.

But he hasn’t resigned. Nor has he given any hint that he’s gonna.

Will Martinez show up at the commission meeting on Thursday? Some people think he will. He’s macho like that and may want to show he’s got nothing to hide or feel bad about.

Others think he’ll avoid the public specter. He can blame his lawyers, who will likely advise him to stay home. As he left the Turner Guilford Knight correctional facility on NW 36th Street Tuesday, Martinez told reporters he could not speak and that he would speak when he could.

And, really, why go? Martinez can’t govern with a cloud like this over his head. Anything he says is going to be looked at sideways. And his presence will just hijack the meeting.

If Martinez resigns, the commission can choose to appoint someone. That change in the county code that voters made? The one requiring a special election to fill a vacancy when someone resigns? It only applies to “resign to run” situations, where the commissioner who is resigning is running for higher office. It does not apply to resign to go to jail situations.

Maybe commissioners will do the right thing and remember the will of the voters. Because we want a special election. There’s no real hurry. It’s not like there are a lot of close votes on the county commission, where a 10-3 vote is a mutiny. And Joe Martinez is certainly not a tie breaker anyway.

Commissioners won’t have to do anything if Gov. Ron DeSantis exercises his right to suspend Martinez, now that he has a felony charge against him. He doesn’t have to suspend Martinez, but he can, and it would provide the commissioner with a path back to the dais if he is acquitted or the charges are dropped. Multiple sources say the Martinez camp has reached out to Tallahassee to try to work out a smooth transition.

Las malas lenguas say Martinez has even suggested his own temporary replacement: his former chief of staff, Roni Oves.

Ugh. Really? The accused is going to choose his successor? The successor is going to be someone who was there when the alleged crime was committed? Somehow, that stinks just as much as taking three $5,000 checks to get a buddy off the code enforcement hook.

Could this have been plan B all along? After all, Martinez has known for a while about this five-year investigation. Oves resigned in May to work for The Oves Group, which was formed in February. He’s been campaigning for newly-elected commissioner Anthony Rodriguez, who Martinez funneled $90,000 to through his political action committee. Oves was rumored to become the District 10 chief of staff before all this blew up.

But it would be better for Martinez if Oves had a vote. For the last two years, Martinez has raised a lot of money from a lot of developers who want to move the Urban Development Boundary. Promises were made.

_{From l to r: Unidentified woman, Roni Oves, Anthony Rodriguez and Joe Martinez.}

Maybe this is why Martinez delayed his surrender. He said it was due to back surgery, but he could have scheduled it that way. Now, it’s too late to get a special election on the Nov. 8 ballot, so, in his thinking, Oves would be appointed and have the pole position de facto incumbent position to run for the seat in 2024, pulling a Danielle Cohen Higgins.

Then Joe Martinez can still have a hand in the county’s business, still be pushing his agenda for the next six years. Is Oves going to be Joe’s stand-in to make good on all the deals he made?

Las malas lenguas also told Ladra that Juan Fernandez-Barquin was considered, but not only did he just win his re-election race and not only is he future speaker Daniel Perez‘s boy, but he recently moved out of District 11 and into Commissioner Raquel Regalado‘s District 7 (ojo con eso). Former Commissioner Juan Zapata lives downtown now, so forget him.

But that’s pretty much it. There’s no real bench in District 11, where there are zero municipalities to grow one. And maybe that’s why it’s especially important to have an election — and not an appointment — to fill the District 11 vacancy. This is the only elected representative these people have.

Appointing someone who will likey win an election afterwards is really taking that choice, that voice, away from the people.

And is it really impossible to get this special election on the Nov. 8 ballot? The county commission is the election department’s boss — until 2025 — they can get it on the ballot if they really want to.

Joe Martinez, public corruption

What now? When and how will Joe Martinez future vacancy be filled added by Ladra on August 31, 2022
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