Hialeah Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez — who likes to intimidate and silence his critics — has certainly earned his new nickname with his latest show of force and abuse of power against one of his biggest foes, Fire Union Vice President Eric Johnson.
And just in time, as the heat turns up in the county mayoral election between Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who the union backed and Johnson has publicly supported again, and Commission Chairman Joe Martinez, who is getting support from the Hialeah political mafia machine.
Earlier today, Hernandez had an impromptu “press conference” about opening an investigation after an anonymous (read: doubt it) complaint received by the police department about Johnson’s personal Facebook profile page and a photo of his with “
minors consuming alcohol” which really turns out to be his sons posing for a snapshot with bottles in their hands and one of them resting his head on a box of Corona on the long drive back from a much-deserved vacation. It was probably an empty box. Did I mention he was coming back from vacation? The original mobile photo posts, in late April, were accompanied by this comment: “Young rednecks in training… Lol. And the after effect.” Funny, because friends of Eric’s who know what a great father he is, realize that is just his sarcastic, self-deprecating redneck humor at play here. Besides the fact that Ladra was not, ahem, invited to the boozy party, there is nothing to see here, people, move along. That’s just the type of picture rednecks ta
ke of their kids. Everybody knows Johnson didn’t let his boys take a drink. They can kill a wild pig in the Everglades with their bare hands by the time they are in kindergarten, but they certainly can’t drink. Hell, it was a big deal for them to hold the bottles. Hence the photo.
In any case, the mayor did not furnish these harmless photos or provide these details. He told the media representatives present — and Ladra admits this is third person since she was not invited to this breathless announcement with cameras and tape recorders whirring in his office at City Hall — that the photos were “sealed” as part of the investigation. This despite the fact that they are still visible on Johnson’s facebook page. No, the mayor didn’t furnish the photos because they are no smoking gun. Much ado about nothing, so Johnson re-post it on his facebook page moments after he learned of the investigation from the press — another hint that this might be more about political retaliation than it is about any violation of city or fire department rules. Much after the reporters descended on him, Johnson got notification of the investigation that he participated in conduct “unbecoming a member of the fire department.” He could face firing, the notice says.
Let’s leave alone, for now, that Channel 7 decided to take it into a whole different direction all on their own, making the most ridiculous accusations that our Slick is a racist based on his sarcastic-o humor-o. Or did the anonymous email talk about allegedly racist posts also? If not, we will get to Channel 7’s unmedialike behavior soon enough. But that is a fight for another day.
Because what is important here is how this bogus investigation into one of the mayor’s biggest critics started. It was with a conveniently anonymous email complaint that Ladra suspects was not so anonymous at all. When was it received? Today? Or did Mayor Castro just decide to a
nnounce it today? The same day a front page story in El Nuevo Herald detailed how “elect Martinez” signs all over the City of Progress had violated city rules for political signs (more on that later). Johnson had, incidently, posted about the signs on my facebook page less than two weeks ago, after I ran into the chairman at a restaurant opening and posted this mobile photo of him. He had also already posted or commented several times that he would, personally, support Gimenez again.
Friends of Slick’s have already posted on his hyperactive facebook wall that there have been rumors about private investigators working for the mayor and that there may be a job posting soon: Commander of Facebook Sector. That might be funny. If there weren’t an enforcer and intimidator named Glenn “The Goon” Rice ready to do the work already.
Could this be a pre-emptive strike against one of the city’s most politically active critics of the current administration — a leader whose “braveheart” speech at a budget hearing last year has gotten almost 7,500 views on YouTube? And, at the same time, a way to diminish the impact of the increasingly influential fire union three months before the primary? Stranger things have happened in Hialeah, where, I don’t believe, the mayor has ever had a “press conference” to announce an employee being investigated before.
Did his eyes sparkle as he said he was worried about the reputation of the city and the fire department? Can’t anybody else spot the acting? Hernandez is a former “film director” of sorts.
Se cae de la mata.
Fire Union President Mario Pico, a man much more careful with both his words and his photos, is adamant that the city is barking up the wrong tree. “The mayor, the fire chief and the police chief have a duty to investigate any complaint they get, but I am sure they’re going to come to the same conclusion we did: That this was a cowardly act by an anonymous person using family photos to imply something that is not true,” Pico told me late Wednesday.
“Our position is simple. You have to do an investigation. But if they come after Eric and it’s unsubstantiated, it’s going to be a big problem. The mayor hasn’t gone after us,” after the election, Pico said. “But if he does, all bets are off.”
While I, like Pico, welcome any investigation into Johnson’s behavior — which is always without reproach, whether as a father, a firefighter or as a friend — I hope and he should demand that investigators also look into the complaint itself. Because that
‘s where the real crime could be if it is found to be connected to the mayor, a bully who has been known to retaliate and has a penchant for “anonymous” complaints that benefit him (anyone remember the investigation into the bathroom toilet installed in the old campaign office rented by former Mayor Raul Martinez, who Johnson loudly and vehemently supported last year in his unsuccessfully bid against Castro Hernandez?).
Or, as some say, perhaps it is connected to former Mayor Julio Robaina and his family, who was often the butt of many of Johnson’s off-color jokes, which is politically-protected speech. But even if it is not tied directly to Mayor Castro, if it is tied to his allies or his political machinery, he has an obligation to vet the complaint before sullying a good man’s name.
Ladra can’t help but wonder if it came from Alejandro Sosa, a fake Facebook troll who is likely one of the mayor’s lackeys (the smart money is on Arnie Alonso) and often posting attacks on the administration’s critics on taxpayer-paid time. Is someone going to look into the pages visited by the employees closest to the mayor during work hours and trace the IP address of this particular “anonymous” email back to its anonymous complainant? This is easy enough stuff for the authorities to do. Maybe the mayor has done us all a favor without knowing it. Maybe he stuck his foot far enough into his mouth that he will get caught this time.
If I have to be the one to make a complaint — and that’s a rhetorical question since I have already decided to do it; enough is enough already — you can believe one thing: It won’t be anonymous.
More abuse of power by Hialeah’s own Castro added by Ladra on
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