Coral Gables skips search, hires new city manager Amos Rojas on the spot

3 commissioners say public corruption is the reason

UPDATED: The Coral Gables city commission on Tuesday decided to skip the national search for a new city manager and instead hired Amos Rojas, Jr., a former U.S Marshal and special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who can “clean up” City Hall — and starts immediately.

The vote was divided 3-2, typical in the City Beautiful these days, with the mayor and vice mayor dissenting and the new three amigos majority prevailing.

Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, the leader of the three amigos, sprung the surprise nominee at the commission meeting during discussion of an item sponsored by Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson on beginning the process of replacing the former City Manager Peter Iglesias, who was fired earlier this month. Yes, this is the same Fernandez who is constantly complaining about being left out of the loop and getting surprised at the meetings. Los pajaros tirandole a la escopeta.

Ladra would bet her kibble that if Mayor Vince Lago had been the one with a surprise, unvetted, hand-picked new administrator, Fernandez and his allies would have screamed bloody murder.

Fernandez told Ladra he had no choice, that he would have loved to have taken the more traditional search route, but he was certain Lago — who admitted to taking a potential candidate to breakfast himself — would manipulate the process to get a manager he could control.

At the meeting, Fernandez reminded his colleagues about the multiple anonymous text messages that went out attacking Commissioner Kirk Menendez after he floated the name of Miami International Airport Director Ralph Cutié. The commission voted Feb. 13 to negotiate with Cutié, but he apparently changed his mind after those anonymous text messages went out and, Fernandez said, Lago threatened that “if he took the job, he would make his life a living hell.”

Lago denied sending any anonymous or threatening texts. “The best way to do this is to use a national search firm,” the mayor said. “You can continue to blame me… but at the end of the day, it was their decision not to come here.”

Menendez, however, said he could “confirm that a message with that wording was communicated,” to Cutié. He later cast the swing vote to hire Rojas.

“The city of Coral Gables is adrift in a cesspool of public corruption, and I’m here to help navigate our beloved city out of the muck and to safe harbor. So I vote yes,” Menendez said. He told Ladra he had no idea that Fernandez was going to nominate Rojas and that he wrote the statement during the meeting.

Fernandez said that the anonymous texts and shakedowns were “a clear sign that we need a manager who can deal with threats, lies and intimidation tactics and is unfazed by them.” And as he spoke, another text blast went out attacking Kirk for going along with Fernandez on the appointment.

After reading off a list of qualities that a new city manager would have to possess — and among those was “no ties to special interests or developers who seek to control City Hall as evidenced at the last meeting” — Fernandez said someone with those qualities had approached him with interest in the position, which means either that Rojas is certfiably crazy or someone else prompted him.

“This individual also has the ability to address the number one concern our residents have today: ‘Is there public corruption in Coral Gables?’ This is the pressing concern that we must take to the forefront as this commission,” Fernandez said.

In the 10 months since he’s been elected, Fernandez — who has launched investigations into Amazon purchases and cash box accounting — says that he has had “brave members of our staff” and the community share information that has bothered him. “We must look into these concerns and ensure our city is clean of impropriety and corruption and that our processes are being faithfully followed.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Rojas, who graduated from Gables High and Miami Dade College, spent 24 years working for the FDLE, including the last eight as special agent in charge of the Miami Operations Center. After that, he served as deputy director of the South Florida Money Laundering Strike Force for two years before he was nominated by President Barack Obama and sworn in as the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Florida.

“If he is good enough for the president of the United States to nominate to serve in such an administratively challenging and crucial office, he is not only good enough, but he is exactly what the city of Coral Gables needs,” Castro told Ladra after the meeting, during which she googled and researched Rojas while the others squabbled.

At the meeting, she peppered him with softball questions. Does he live in Coral Gables? “I could never afford to live in Coral Gables,” said Rojas, who grew up in neighboring Shenandoah.

Anderson said she wanted to do a professional search with background checks, even if the city prioritized someone local and, thus, “familiar” with the county and state issue and policies. “This is not a normal process,” she complained. “This is not a process where we’ve had input from the community.”

She said she didn’t know anything about Rojas’ finance experience or public works experience. You know, because he’s going to be a city manager not a police chief.

Lago said an independent executive search with in-depth background checks would be best. “To draw the most people, we have to send a strong message that it’s an open playing field,” he said.

Both the mayor and vice mayor actually appealed to Rojas because they knew that the three amigos would be a waste of time. And they knew they were facing a 3-2 vote from the start.

Said Fernandez: “This man commands respect because he gives respect. He commands hard work because he puts out hard work. He believes the solution to a problem can most of the time be found to being faithful to the ordained process.”

Rojas, who said he could start as early as Wednesday, had agreed to work for the same salary and compensation package as Iglesias. Maybe now he can afford to live in Coral Gables.

Ariel Fernandez, Vince Lago

Coral Gables skips search, hires new city manager Amos Rojas on the spot added by Ladra on February 28, 2024
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