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.
Read related: State attorney: Joe Martinez broke our trust for $15,000, help with bank loan
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.
Read related: Joe Martinez claims public corruption charge is really a political hatchet job
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.
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.
Read related: Sources: Joe Martinez will turn himself in on Tuesday after 5-year investigation
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.
What now? When and how will Joe Martinez future vacancy be filled added by Ladra on
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[…] Ladra on August 31, 202212 CommentsMiami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez was charged with two felonies on Tuesday after a five-year […]
Cevallos is corrupt and no one wants him. One day he is a democrat and the next a Republican. Fuera corruptos como Cevallos
Who want to appoint Christian Cevallos who according to many is so corrupt that there are few investigations on him for bad use of donations. He uses the council as a way to get monies from people to gain Influence and is a fake. One day he is a democrat and the next a Republican. We are better off with someone else and not the corrupt Cevallos.
What happens if he does go to a County Commission meeting and try to fill a seat on the dais, do they re-arrest you?
Martinez did not show up to an important County Commission Meeting on Thursday BUT we bet he still took a paycheck on Friday. When will Keon Hardemon get indicted?
DeSantis has not mentioned a thing about Commissioner Martinez and probably won’t! GOP buddies don’t suspend each other……………
Why doesn’t Rundle indict a few more of these creeps? Keon Hardemon needs to be arrested.
Joe has not done ANYTHING for Kendall since 2000. Has acted as a mafioso scaring and intimidating his rivals away while bringing zero progress to our district. This is a tiny bit of Joe’s monkey business. There is a lot more to discover. I’d love to see Christian Cevallos as our next Commissioner. He is a young reelected councilman who has done much more for Kendall in just a couple of years than Joe in 22 years.
Could not help yawning through State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Office of Inspector General director Félix Jiménez press conference.
The most interesting part was when Felix Jimenez talked about how well “the wheels of justice grind” in reference to his nearly expired five year investigation into Commissioner Joe Martínez.
Here is Felix Jimenez, an individual who was forced to retire from MDPD through the back door when he wrongly opposed a new procedure that took the responsibility of investigating MDPD related shootings from the Homicide Bureau and gave it to FDLE. Felix Jimenez, an individual who was tapped by Rundle for his current job in exchange for total loyalty and has sold his honor for a cushy paycheck openly criticizing the ethics of Commissioner Martínez!
I happened to have worked with both Joe Martínez and Felix Jimenez at MDPD. Whereas Joe Martínez was a brave, fully committed officer, detective and supervisor with a love of community, Felix Jimenez was considered a cowardly overtime thief with a knack for recruiting young female detectives to his squad for perverted and inmoral reasons.
Ask anyone who knows Martínez and Jimenez and they will tell you that Martínez is ten times more ethical and trustworthy than Jimenez could ever aspire to be.
I can’t wait to read Jimenez’s future deposition. Hope the tough questions from Kendall Coffey don’t trip him up.
Ojo con esto! There is an important figure in District 11 too. Check on Christian Cevallos, a Councilman elected in 2018 and 2020 with more votes than Joe himself within the same voters poll. As a matter fact, Joe knows of Cevallos and has been threatening companies and supporters of him to stop any support, even Farm Share was scared away from Cevallos constant activities, another victim of Joe’s bad use of influence and power.
Well based on the states own record 2nd degree felony in Florida statute of limitation is 3 years.
Also 3rd. degree felony its also 3 years. So an investigation of 5 years commenced before the act had taken place or they filed after the statute of limitations.
Either way is an attack on a leading political candidate for sheriff of Miami Dade County.
What happened to “innocent until proven guilty”? Your op-ed is filled with assumptions and innuendo. I’d love for Jose to show up at the next meeting. He’s got enough balls for that.
Ladra WE have seen Politicians live in Utility shed to Comply , also seen the District 1 of Miami (2) TWO Applicants live in the Same Building and same Floor at the River Terrace one Qualify living is his Brother Single Bedroom Apt . and the Other was Fernandez to qualify and Now Live in The beach where he became a Commissioner . The Election Laws STINK !and We live in a County W/O ETHICS (COE) or Inspector General (OIG) They are The POLITICIANS PROTECTORS ?