Much has been made about this whole Santeria mishegas, that I felt it was time to put my two cents in after learning all the facts of the case. Or, at least most of the facts based on several new articles posted in the Miami Herald and the Miami New Times. I’m told that both reporters received and reviewed the investigation files and reported their stories. Now it’s my turn to weigh in.
The way I see it, this is just one more embarrassing incident in a long line of embarrassing incidents that the residents of North Miami Beach have had to endure for the past several years. And, believe me, there have been plenty. From the former administration under the “leadership” of Myron Rosner, who occupied the mayor’s seat from 2009 to 2011, which council caused NMB to be the laughing stock of the county (and three of them are still up there!), to former city manager Kelvin Baker’s temper tantrum and childish outburst back in August, 2010, to the $2.6 million plumbing caper shortly thereafter, to the recent behavior of the police union “leaders” and some of their members (including conduct most unbecoming by and subsequent firing of a cop who threatened two residents), North Miami Beach has had its share of negative publicity.
Now we have to contend with yet another cop and civilian police employee who decided it was a good idea to coerce a maintenance employee to sprinkle birdseed around the city manager’s desk in an attempt to put a curse on him.
WTF?
Honestly, I have no idea if this is actually a fire-able offense. Based on the Herald article, “Officer Elizabeth Torres told investigators she meant the manager no harm.” She stated, “I want to clarify, that it’s nothing malicious and nothing intended to hurt that person.”
While I have yet to hear of any scientific evidence that birdseed is a toxic substance to humans, and I certainly don’t believe that inanimate objects can cast spells or conjure up curses, I’m still perplexed at exactly what Officer Torres and Ms. Rodriguez were trying to accomplish by thinking up this crazy scheme and actually attempting to carrying it out.
I’m told that the fired employees are going to initiate an appeal or possibly file a lawsuit claiming that their freedom of religion has been violated.
Again, WTF?
Secularists will argue that practicing a religion on public property violates the so-called “separation of church and state,” which isn’t exactly written anywhere in the United States Constitution (in case anyone here besides me has bothered to actually read it). But the current “politically correct” mindset that permeates society today accepts this premise as the law of the land. In recent years, lawyers have been getting rich by taking municipalities to court for putting up Christmas trees and other “religious symbols” during the holidays (how many of you already know that a Christmas tree is actually NOT a religious symbol? Hands, anyone?), and government officials have taken this attitude to the extreme out of fear of being sued. So, yeah, if you look at it that way, the employees should not have been practicing their Santeria religion (if in fact, this is the religion to which they adhere), on government property.
Others will argue that since a non-denominational prayer is said before city council meetings by a rotating bunch of local clergy members, that we do not actually practice the “separation of church and state” to begin with. This is absolutely correct. While the Constitution does guarantee us freedom of religion (and freedom from religion, as well), it also mentions the word “God” and the word “Creator” about a dozen times or so. Most of our Founding Fathers, the dudes who actually wrote the Constitution, were religious and had God in mind when formulating the law of the land. In essence, saying a non-denominational prayer before a council meeting, or pretty much anywhere else at City Hall, is hardly a crime. Which leads me to believe that the fired employees could use the argument about their religious freedom being compromised.
The thing is, if do go this route, I wonder if they’ll consider the consequences of taking this to court. They’d then have to admit under oath that they are adherents of Santeria, and that this act of using birdseed to put a hex on the city manager, was in fact, a religious ritual. This will open up yet another can of worms for them. While using the argument about praying at council meetings, the employees could claim that they were fired because of their religious beliefs, and that their freedom of religion was violated.
But what about the city manager’s right to freedom from religion. Did he ask to become a participant in their religious ritual by giving them permission to put a hex on him? I don’t freaking think so!
That all being said, for the purpose of giving this incident the gravitas it deserves by not laughing my ass off for five minutes, I’d like to give a big shout out to Nadege Green, “our” reporter whose story made the front page of the Miami Herald’s Section A. She also added a nice touch of irreverent snarkiness with her opening sentence, “A note to prospective municipal employees: If you’re looking for a way to help out beleaguered colleagues, casting a spell on your boss is probably not the way to go.”
Yeah, I’m thinking this wasn’t Torres’ or Rodriguez’ finest moment. From what I gather, Officer Torres has now tarnished what appears to have been an excellent 24 year record with the North Miami Beach Police Department. Ms. Rodriguez was also a highly valued employee with an unblemished record. The only thing I keep asking to myself and anyone who cares to listen is, “What the heck were they thinking?” The only explanation Torres gave was that “she was motivated in part because she couldn’t attend union protests over budget cuts due to her work and school schedule.”
Seriously? WTF?
There’s a lot of things I can’t do because of my work schedule, but I don’t go all voodoo on someone because I have a job! DUH!
Which brings me to yet another point that one of my readers posted in my previous blog, who wrote, “Really, no religion should be practiced by any employee at NMB while being paid with government money. Religion has no place in the workplace, especially when it is government. If the police officer wants to make big bucks, then she should be out doing her job and not using work time to conspire to plant bird seed. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!!!”
Hallelujah, Praise the Lord, and pass the potatoes!
Seriously, though, if these two employees pulled this stunt while on the clock, that’s really not cool.
It’s also really not cool that the they tried to drag Esther Villanueva, a maintenance worker, into this harebrained scheme to do their dirty work. Fortunately, she didn’t play along and reported it to her supervisor. Unfortunately, she happened to be one of the employees who were pink-slipped due to budget cuts. If anyone deserves to get her job back it’s the janitor. Loyalty and doing the right thing should be rewarded, not punished. She also obviously has more sense than the two Santeria Priestess wannabes.
Officer Torres confirmed just how little sense she possesses by telling the Herald, ““As misguided and ridiculous as it may seem, this idea popped into my head and I thought, ‘Well, it can’t hurt anybody,’ ” Torres told investigators. “I do regret that it came to the city manager’s attention and may have made him nervous or afraid.”
If this idea was able to just pop into her head, there was probably not much traffic up there to begin with, if you get my drift. It’s hard to believe that a law enforcement officer thought this up, much less ran with it. (I, too, often think up nasty things I’d love to do to certain people, but civility restrains me.) Remember, folks, this individual wears a badge and carries a gun. I’m just saying.
As for her concern that her actions “may have made [the city manager] nervous or afraid,” that’s just laughable. I’ve seen Mr. Bonner in action. And, believe me, it would take a hell of a lot more than pigeon food to make that man nervous or afraid. Don’t flatter yourself, honey.
In the final analysis, I still have no clue whether Torres and Rodriguez should have been fired or just plain spanked. Thankfully, it’s not my decision. Still, I gotta ask..”What WERE they thinking?”
Obviously, they weren’t.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
“I do regret that it came to the city manager’s attention and may have made him nervous or afraid.”
In other words, she’s sorry she got caught. A sentiment common among criminals that this veteran law-enforcement officer should be well familiar with.
As someone who practices Santeria, I can’t help but laugh when I read stories like this…
For the majority of us, the religion is part of us but we don’t bring it into the workplace.
Even though these two are trying to claim this is a violation of their religious rights and blah blah blah, I doubt it would hold up. Statements from the two make it seem like this is something they came up with based on a loose understanding that came second-hand, at best. They’d likely be hard-pressed to show evidence of sincere beliefs and that this is an accepted practice of the religion.
The folks pursuing the get-rich-fast, get-revenge-on-so-and-so, etc. schemes typically get taken advantage of, are misled, and ultimately don’t accomplish anything.
Santeria is no more focused on spells and curses than Christianity is centered around crosses, statues, and prayer. They all play a part to one degree or another, but they are usually the superficial things people latch onto when they don’t have a better understanding of ‘the big picture’. I’m sure the same could be said for many religions, really.
Thanks for filling us in on something that very few of us know anything about. Present company obviously included. Please understand that I wasn’t disparaging Santeria, but the two employees who thought they could use the religion for casting spells, or whatever it was they were trying to do. There is a form of mysticism in most religions that I’m aware of, including (and probably especially) Judaism. I have a healthy respect for those beliefs and traditions, and the people who practice them. I am certainly not one to state there is no Higher Power. This story, however, just reeks of silliness, which is pretty much the same way I feel about Madonna and her “practice” of Kabbalah. To those people who understand this ancient Judaic discipline, Madonna is a joke. Only the most learned of Torah scholars can possibly comprehend Kabbalah, and she certainly doesn’t qualify.
I imagine that Santeria is similar in nature. As with Kabbalah, I won’t even pretend to understand it, nor would I pretend to practice it. I’m glad to see you have a sense of humor about all this, too!
I didn’t feel like your post was disparaging at all, Stephanie. No worries 🙂
I think we can all agree that what they did was not exactly an ideal way to resolve their workplace issues 😉
Message to the dumb f**king cop who posted the ridiculous comment on that stupid leoaffairs website: I had nothing to do with the two idiots who decided to “put a curse” on the city manager. They did this to themselves. Of course, you need a scapegoat so you continue to blame me for all the problems you create for yourself. You also blame the mayor. Nice try. But, while you’re kissing Myron’s ass and helping him dig dirt on his enemies (yeah, we know what you’re up to), keep in mind one thing: Myron is history in this town. I’ll laugh my ass off when he gets what’s coming to him and all of you go down with him. I’m just saying. 🙂
Warmest,
Staph Infection
Leo Affairs is an anonymous website and anyone can post. The people posting may be former cops, may be citizens of NMB, may be council members, may be any one leading you to believe it is a cop and may be a cop. But, when you read the posts as with these take them with a grain of salt. Also, Ive seen Officers respond to calls where someone was killed. Ive seen them say a prayer over the body for the deceased and for the family. Honor Guards from the Police, and Armed Forces attend funerals AND GET PAID BY THE GOVERNMENT. On our money here in the USA it states “In GOD we trust”. The US Supreme Court has ruled on Santeria already accepting it as a Religion and even allows for animal sacrafice. So we have an employee practicing Religion on duty, good luck with that when it comes to discipline. If I was her, I would have said I was praying for him to move on to a better job and be in a better place. The City Manager who was the Victim went against the Police Chiefs recommendation and fired the employees. The City Manager should have excused himself from the entire incident, isnt there a couple Assistant City Managers? Then I hear after firing her they hired someone they laid off. Then realized they could not fire her without due process and had to hire her back stating it was all a misunderstanding. What a bunch of Idiots.
I realize anyone can post on LEOAffairs. I do, however, know the difference between a comment made by a cop and one not made by a cop. Either way, it really doesn’t matter because there are only a few of them who use that website to be obnoxious, and their behavior does not represent the majority of the police department. Unfortunately, those few bad cops are just another embarrassment to the PD and our city at large.
I think the bigger picture here is not whether someone was being discriminated against because of religion. Prayers are said in workplaces all over the country, both public and private. If Officer Torres uses that as a defense or an excuse for her behavior, good luck with that. Considering the current climate in the courts, she’d probably win on that count. What the news articles either miss or are neglecting to report, is what I consider a much more serious offense, and that is the fact that Torres and Rodriguez appear to have intimidated Ms. Villanueva into being an accomplice in their prank. From what I’ve been told, the janitor had no personal relationship with the police employees, had never before spoken with them, and they had no reason to believe she would go along with their scheme. The fact that Torres is a cop was alone enough to instill fear in the janitor, who would obviously be very wary of not following directions from a law enforcement officer. Secondly, Ms. Villanueva reported this “plot” to her immediate supervisor, Paulette Murphy, who then reported the incident to the police department. Ms. Villanueva never went to the police on her own, yet I have heard she is concerned about possible repercussions. Ms. Murphy may also be concerned about it as well.
What you may not realize (although I hope you do), is that someone wearing a police uniform and wielding a badge and gun, will instill a healthy fear and respect from the general public. When a police officer asks a civilian to do something, most normal, law abiding citizens, will comply immediately without question. If they feel something was amiss, they might question it later, but their immediate reaction is to do what a cop says to do. Unfortunately, the power a cop has over the general public, even if it’s just the impression of power, can cause some cops to abuse that power. There is a fine line and some do cross it.
When Officer Torres asked the janitor to perform a task that had nothing to do with public or personal safety, and especially since the cop was not on official business, she crossed that line.
The Great Birdseed Adventure itself was a prank of epic stupidity. The intimidation by a cop of a city employee is an entirely different animal. That, my friend, is the much bigger picture.
THANK YOU Stephanie for stating what should be obvious to everyone (but which most don’t seem to get). This is not about freedom of religion. Officer Torres herself doesn’t seem to take that aspect of it seriously at all, based on her statements. This IS about a uniformed, badge-wearing, gun-toting police officer using all the power those things imply to coerce a low-level employee into doing something wrong, however silly and harmless it may have been. That is the conduct for which she should be fired. “Unbecoming” is the understatement of the year in this situation. Kudos to Ms. Villanueva (and her supervisor Ms. Murphey) for having the tremendous courage to do the right thing.
And BTW, salaries, anyone with half a brain can tell who’s a cop and who isn’t on LEO Affairs. They’re so damn transparent that even Guano for Brains can figure it out. The first clue is, if it sounds like it was written by a 12-year-old…oh, never mind.