All of 17 people wanted to head the gutted Miami-Dade Ethics Commission

A shortlist of seven will be interviewed next week

The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust is about to get a new executive director to replace Jose Arrojo, who bailed to the State Attorney’s Office shortly after the state passed a new law that tied his hands behind his back.

Whoever fills his shoes will have to wait until someone with “personal knowledge” of an ethics violation — in other words, someone involved in the graft/theft/fraud — to report it. No proactive work ethic needed. The Florida Legislature took all the teeth — and they were baby teeth — out of the ethics commission with Senate Bill 7014.

“The citizens of Miami Dade County have lost a repository for complaints of ethical misconduct, you know, the one agency that could take these referrals and act upon them and send them out to different agencies,” Arrojo was quoted as telling a WFSU reporter. “That ability to do that no longer exists for the citizens of Miami Dade County, at least not with their ethics commission.”

Still, there were 17 original applicants, according to Administrative Officer Rodzandra Sanchez. Maybe that has something to do with the $235,000-a-year salary plus benefits. Five were immediately disqualified because they had not been members of the Florida Bar for at least 10 years, which is a requirement. The commission shortlisted the remaining 12 to seven.

The wannabes are, in the order provided to Political Cortadito by the Ethics Commission:

Radia Turay, the advocate for the Miami-Dade COE
Loressa Felix, general counsel for the COE
Ignacio Vazquez Jr., an assistant U.S. Attorney
Theresa Therilus, former city manager of North Miami and current Executive Director of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners
Ivonne Villar, chief legal liaison for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue
Sonya Miller, general counsel at Florida Memorial University
Elsa Fernandez, a Miami public defender

The two internal candidates, Turay and Felix, are considered the favorites. They’ve been with the COE for a while and have shown their commitment to the cause. The commission has seen them in action, presenting and making cases. So has the staff, who need someone that can have their back and buffer them against political influence so they can do their jobs. They would be happy with either of them.

“If an internal applicant or current county employee is hired, then he/she should be able to come on board rather quickly,” said Ethics Commission spokesman Leonardo Mendoza. “If it’s an external choice, then the hiree has to go through the entire county hiring process, which takes some time.”

The experience of the internal candidates could also be especially helpful during this transition from a commission with baby teeth to an almost useless government office. Sorry, guys, but it’s true. The agency needs someone who can remember the past.

The other candidates are, em, underwhelming. And it’s not surprising that there’s nobody from the State Attorney’s Office, like public corruption ASA Tim VanderGiesen, what with the commission’s effective, uh, castration. Miami City Attorney George Wysong would have gotten serious consideration, but he just got promoted so he didn’t apply.

From the open position announcement:

“The Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust is an independent County Charter Agency empowered to review, interpret, render advisory opinions, and enforce the Miami- Dade County and various municipal Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinances, Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Ordinances, and other local charter and ordinance provisions.”

The five-member board of commissioners has quasi-judicial authority — which means its proceedings are similar to court proceedings. It has a $3.2 million budget — which comes from the county, so how “independent” can it really be? — and 17 employees, including lawyers, investigators, community outreach personnel and support staff. The executive director carries out the commission’s policies and directives, and serves as the agency’s chief executive, personnel and fiscal officer, with the authority to appoint, remove, and suspend employees, adjust compensation, and adopt personnel and management policies. She or he or they also gets to issue the written ethics opinions to county and municipal elected officials, charter officers, board members, and employees.

That’s a perk.

This position is “exempt from the classified service and serves at the pleasure of the Ethics Commission.” That means the board can fire the executive director at any time for any cause.

Minimum required qualifications include:

Membership in good standing in the Florida Bar for at least ten years.
Significant and successful leadership experience in local, state or federal government, or in similar professional settings.
Significant experience as a public speaker.
Significant training experience, including development of training curriculum.
Significant experience drafting public reports, memoranda, or opinions interpreting and applying provisions of law.
Significant experience with pre-charge criminal and administrative investigative procedures.
Thorough understanding and familiarity with the Miami-Dade Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance or similar government conflict of interest and codes of ethics.
Thorough understanding and familiarity with Florida public records and public meetings laws.

It is only “preferred” that the person has an understanding and familiarity with local government procurement practices, local government budget and fiscal practices and local government employee recruitment, evaluation and disciplinary procedures.

The commission is going to interview the seven remaining applicants at a public meeting at the Commission chambers starting at 9:30 a.m. July 17.

The county has said the new director should start by August — just in time for the primary election.

Arrojo resigned in June after Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle — who was re-elected this year without any opposition — brought him back to the SAO to join her leadership team and address complaints of prosecutorial integrity. “I have been afforded the opportunity to return to our State Attorney’s leadership team as Ms. Fernandez-Rundle begins her ninth term in office and so I remain committed to serving the community,” he told The Miami Herald.

Ethics Commission

All of 17 people wanted to head the gutted Miami-Dade Ethics Commission added by Ladra on July 10, 2024
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