Ed Hudak says city can be a ‘transfer portal’ for cops
The city of Coral Gables and it’s police union might be headed to an agreement after the 38 vacancies were discussed during Tuesday’s commission meeting and the mayor and commissioners agreed that filling those positions and approving a contract were priorities.
“The contract is obviously part of the issue,” Chief Ed Hudak said, citing other reasons, like officers who move for family reasons. There are 15 officers with applications to other departments, he confirmed.
But Hudak has also pretty much given up on retention.
“The way to recruit is to handle this as a transfer portal,” he told the commissioners.
That means he’s okay with hiring police officers and training them for three years so they can go to another department. This way, the Gables Police will soon have no senior officers.
Hudak also said that he is recruiting retired police officers, like those who are working traffic patrol in the mornings and afternoons. “We’re going after people who are going to retire but don’t really want to hang it up,” the chief said.
Read related: Coral Gables FOP blasts police chief, mayor about 37 vacancies, low morale
The shortage is not unique to the Gables, he said. It’s a nationwide issue. Doral has more than two dozen vacancies, he said. Hialeah has 30 cadets in the academy.
Hudak stressed that the vacancies have not cause any gaps in police coverage. “Not one shift has gone short because we have always covered,” he said. They have paid a lot of overtime, but Hudak said the department has used the savings from the unfilled positions to pay for that. There are some days when there is more than one event — Carnaval on the Mile is an example — and every single officer is out.
“We had everyone on shift,” Hudak said, adding that they are watched closely to “make sure no fatigue sets in.”
At the meeting, among the residents who spoke, Miami-Dade Sheriff candidate Ignacio “Iggy” Alvarez, whose law firm is also in the City Beautiful, said he was concerned the extra shifts are going to cause unsafe conditions for the officers and the community. “They are picking up the slack and there comes a point where they can’t do that anymore,” Alvarez warned.
Commissioner Melissa Castro put the item about the vacancies on the agenda after the police union posted a video on the web last week that counted the losses and blamed the city, saying that the chief and Mayor Vince Lago had been lying to the community about the shortage. Lago and Gables Fraternal Order of Police President Chris Challenger, exchanged some words.
“I know you are trying to achieve a goal here. You have an agenda. But to scare the residents,” Lago asked, calling the video distasteful.
“Those videos, they don’t help the cause. I think the effort is to scare the commission. I won’t raise taxes,” the mayor continued. “I don’t think it’s going to move me one way or another.”
But the video is what got the item of the vacancies on the agenda and, Alvarez said, it is how he learned about the situation. Because the city sure is doing everything it can to hide the shortage.
“The video is not to scare, it’s to state facts,” Challenger said at the meeting. “If I don’t make that video, I’m not here right now.”
Lago told him to visit him on Fridays when he has his open hours. “I have no choice but to meet with you because it’s open hours. I can’t not see you,” he said, leaving out the bit where he makes people he doesn’t want to talk to wait for hours outside his office.
“We feel that our voice is being ignored,” Challenger said, adding that he warned of this exodus a year ago. He also said the chief lied about an officers leaving to the Coral Springs department because he moved to Broward. The officer already lived in Margate, Challenger said.
Read related: Coral Gables police, fire union: Lying Vince Lago is no pal of public safety
“He didn’t move,” the union president said. “I talked to him on Thursday, before he also day. And he told me ‘I didn’t want to leave. But Day One at Coral Springs I’m going to get a $10,000 raise and in three years, I’ll be making $103,000.”
Challenger, who has been a Gables Police officer for 22 years, makes $98,000 annually. He previously told Ladra that the city’s offer — a whopping 19.8% raise over three years — is just catching up after years of zero to 2% raises. He also said the city has been dragging its feet on the offer and counteroffer.
The exchange between him and the mayor got testy when Challenger brought up that he had stopped Lago’s friend, Manny Chamizo, on the day Lago was first elected mayor in 2021. He wrote an incident report and told the mayor it could have been worse. “You looked at me and you said, ‘Thank you.'”
Lago refuted that and remember the incident differently and said Challenger was doing him a favor for brownie points. “What you did was you tried to intimidate me to think that I owed you a favor,” the mayor said. “I have been very clear. If anybody breaks the law, hold them accountable.”
It was a fascinating little side chat that needs further investigation, especially since Chamizo, the mayor’s appointee on the Waterway Advisory Board currently facing a felony stalking charge, is know to be one of Lago’s trolls on the platform formerly known as Twitter. But let’s get back to the vacancies.
Hudak blamed the union for the low morale in the department. When Castro asked what was the number one reason that officers are fleeing the Gables, he didn’t say it was the compensation. “It’s the visceral conversations within the organization,” Hudak said. “It’s a trust thing.
“The only rhetoric we have out there that says we suck is our own union,” the chief added.
Coral Gables police chief says shortage of 38 officers has not affected coverage added by Ladra on
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Coral Gables what happened to you? I’ve always thought Chief Hudak was popular with his officers. This was surprising. It appeared that Chief Hudak was unprepared to answer for the vacancies. He fumbled or went on and on about nothing when answering pretty standard questions. It’s evident that he didn’t want to discuss facts.
FOP President Chris Challenger for Chief! Making CGPD Great Again
That union president should be running that police department. My husband and I were really impressed by his demeanor, professionalism, and accountability. It appears quite the opposite with our City’s Chief of Police and Mayor. It is apparent the police department needs a new leader at its helm. I am very concerned and disappointed to hear how poor the morale is there and how the City has been sitting idle for way too long. Hopefully the Chief, Mayor, and HR Director are removed. I really admire Commissioner Castro for supporting the men and women in law enforcement. I hope the City takes this seriously.
A transfer portal? Hudak was being serious about that?Hudak should resign and spend all of his time at the University of Miami since he thinks the solution is a “transfer portal.”
The other solution, hire retired cops? That’s the solution? Hire a burned out, beat up retired officer who is in it solely for the money. The State of Florida lowered the years of service to 25. Coral Gables is proposing to do the opposite, bring people back in and keep them working. Brilliant strategy. Will Hudak propose law enforcement NIL deals next?
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Lago and Hudak need to be fired. I felt like I was watching them try to magician away the facts.
The police union shared the only police contract that was offered the following day with the members. It is documented. The thread shows the gross number of responses were of emojis of excrement and profanity. Obviously, no need to vote. Instead they chose dig in and move on to finding an alternate solution.
The National statistic on police number per 1000 residents was intentional misleading. Just ask your exhausted police. It’s essential to consider factors such as population density, urban dynamics, service demands, resource allocation, and community policing strategies when evaluating the adequacy of law enforcement resources in specific areas. Rural, less populated areas do not need as many officers- Which is most of the nation. Shame on you Chief for lying again to Gables residents.
Best moment of the day- When the Hudak points to the leadership staged on camera behind him and states “that is the future of our department”. JAW DROP- they are all retired except for one that plans to retire next year.
I remember what the Union President, Challenger was referring to regarding Lago’s felon friend, Chamizo. The chief just keeps covering for him at Lago’s behest. They are both unethical and like to scratch each others dirty backs. That is the truth that was trying to be shared.
I do not know why Challenger didn’t say to the Mayor as he was being belittled regarding the video that highlighted the shortages- Ah, so your problem is transparency.
Anderson-Yes, the police were desperate and ignored…she gets a morale survey full of comments begging for a new Chief and she reaches out to Hudak. This lack of compassion or awareness for the huge majority shows complete disregard for Gables officers. I have seen the survey- it is full of suggestions and statements of officers pouring their hearts out hoping to be heard.
I am grateful our residents are learning the truth. These videos are pretty disturbing.
https://odysee.com/Curious-Case:d
https://odysee.com/Unethical:0
I was unaware that there was an issue with the police. I have a background in HR and I can tell you this much. From watching the commission meeting, there is no doubt there is a toxic environment that the Chief is breeding in Coral Gables. Pay will make you think about leaving, but poor leadership will give you the push to go through with it.
Given that Hudak’s wife just announced her retirement I think it might be in his best interest to retire and try to move on from all the mess he has made …
On another note, It was absolutely wonderful watching KFC be called the corrupt politicians they are by Coral Gables resident, Jay Spieler after he stood there and just pounded fact after fact for all to hear. The irony is overwhelming! After all their false and baseless accusations toward Mayor Lago and here was the TRUTH, as witnessed LIVE in the chamber. Fast forward the video to 1:56:41 to watch Mr. Spieler call it like it is. The way they went about hiding salary increases in the budget, the way the City Manager’s hiring was “steamrolled through this commission without even a pretense of fiduciary oversight” Corruption in broad daylight is right.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Ac5TRaGfVls?si=–X0075sTqGCsjWn
And lastly it is still mindblowing to me that someone like Maria Cruz has the audacity to go before ANY one ANY where to discuss ethics. We call that
“sin verguenza” in Spanish.
http://www.myfloridateacher.com/discipline/icmsorders/012-1377-FO-022916114916.pdf
Or that anyone thinks shes worth listening to…in the world of “Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres..what happened to dime lo que has hecho y te dire quien eres?”
Translation:
Or that anyone thinks she’s worth listening to…in the world of “Tell me who you’re with and I’ll tell you who you are…what happened to tell me what you’ve done and I’ll tell you who you are?”
God Bless.
pretty ripe that Lago stated “If anybody breaks the law, hold them accountable.” what about him…??
Chief Hudak blames the union for low police morale? Excuse me but the tone is set at the top.
A Police Chief who does not accept responsibility needs to be fired. I pay almost $20,000 a year in property taxes for my home and the Police Chief is not even professional enough to respond to my e-mails when I wrote him to suggest the neighborhood watch patrol be scheduled to drive around at night–the time when my house has been burglarized 3 times already–rather than in the mornings.
Follow The CORRUPTIOM and The $$$$$$$?
Coming from the Chief that leads one of the lowest paying the police departments, who negotiates against his own officers contracts on behalf of the City, who blames the “Union” for low moral, who only fills high ranking positions with outside applicants, who puts more effort in working for U of M, who promotes the women that engage in his flirting, that lies to the citizens to cover his own corrupt a$$, that was arrested for a felony, that claimed to be a U of M football player but never once played in a game, that once kneeled to honor BLM….