Hopeless in Opa-locka

If Opa-locka residents thought term limits were going to solve their corruption problem, they were sadly mistaken.

With three career politicians about to vacate their seats on the dais, voters had the rare opportunity to finally change the culture at a City Hall rife with fraud, graft, cronyism, and politicians drunk with abusive power.

With the exception of Matthew Piggatt, a two year veteran as a Commissioner, and Joseph L. Kelly, a former elected official returning to office as Vice Mayor, the brand new Opa-locka City Commission is filled with fresh faced newcomers who ran on the promise to put an end to the rampant corruption that put Opa-locka on the map as one of the most corrupt cities in Florida.

Yeah, we’re laughing, too.

Right outta the box, the new Mayor committed an act of petty retaliation against a former commissioner who dared to disagree with him on the dais.

Worse, Mayor Piggatt’s abuse of power was aided and abetted by none other than the ethically challenged, terminally stupid, and finally fired, former City Attorney Vincent T. Brown.

Timothy Holmes was first elected as an Opa-locka commissioner in November 1994. During his time in office he was provided with a city-issued vehicle for his official and personal use. In 2003, he injured his back at a ceremony at City Hall. He has since become permanently disabled and confined to a wheelchair.

In 2013, the city provided him with a Ford Expedition SUV, which Holmes modified at his own expense to make it handicapped accessible. As reported by The Miami Times, Holmes “added equipment on the steering wheel that allows him to brake and accelerate the car with his hands. According to a receipt obtained by The Miami Times, Holmes also spent $4,270 to replace the wheelchair lift on Oct. 19.”

Before leaving office last November, Mr. Homes arranged with the city to purchase the vehicle at the assessed value of $14,500, even though he had already spent over $10,000, “more than the value of the car,” on maintenance and repairs. Nevertheless, Holmes was willing to pay any price necessary to keep his only form of transportation.

Former City Manager Yvette Harrell agreed and offered to sell him the vehicle.

Yet, when Mr. Holmes awoke on December 7, 2018, there was no van in his driveway. He immediately called the police to report that his van was stolen … only to be told that it had been repossessed by the city.

Timothy Holmes told The Miami Times “he was targeted by the new mayor as a form of payback” because Holmes “disrespected him” when they were both commissioners for the previous two years.

And Opa-locka residents thought former Mayor Myra Taylor was drunk with power!

On December 26, 2018, Holmes sued the City of Opa-locka and asked the Court for a “Temporary Injunction requiring the City to return the vehicle to Holmes.”

On January 11, 2019, Holmes filed an Emergency Motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) for the vehicle to be returned.

Two days later on January 13, 2019, the Court agreed and issued an Order granting the TRO.

On January 17, 2019, Circuit Court Judge Spencer Eig issued a Final Judgment and ordered the City of Opa-locka to sell the vehicle to Timothy Homes for a sum of $10,145, and to immediately transfer it into his name upon full payment.

But, as you might expect, that’s not the end of the story.

After all, this is Opa-locka we’re talking about.

As it turns out, there was no need for Timothy Holmes to begin this legal battle if only City Attorney Vincent T. Brown had not played dirty and used the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust as a weapon.

In a follow up story by The Miami Times, Opa-locka van saga continues, it was revealed that Vincent T. Brown had known since December 24, 2018 that Ethics Commission Executive Director Jose “Take No Prisoners” Arrojo gave the green light for Holmes to buy the vehicle from the city.

In an original opinion, Mr. Arrojo stated that he could not outright buy the van since he was an elected official at the time. However, after Holmes’ term ended with the November 2018 election, there was no longer a “prohibited business transaction” under Section 2-11 of the Ethics Code.

Except Brown hid Mr. Arrojo’s updated Ethics Commission opinion from the Mayor and Commission for nearly a month.

Worse, he lied to the Court!

In his Response to Plaintiff’s Motion for Temporary Injunction filed on January 13, 2019, Vincent T. Brown asked the Court to deny the motion, citing Section 2-11 of the Ethics Code, which “prohibits elected officials from transacting any business with their cities.”

Brown, however, neglected to advise the Court that Mr. Holmes was no longer an elected official, and more importantly, that the Ethics Commission already approved the transaction.

Can anyone spell P-E-R-J-U-R-Y?

Vincent T. Brown continued his charade on January 16, 2019 at a special meeting when he finally notified the Mayor and Commission of the December 24, 2018 Ethics Commission decision.

At the executive session held January 23, 2019, they discussed the case, at which time Brown told the commission that “he plans to rectify the situation once and for all in court on Thursday.”

To which Commissioner Joseph Kelley said, “Hopefully, after 5 p.m. tomorrow all of this would be resolved.”

Oh, it was resolved, all right.

It was resolved when Judge Eig “ruled that the disabled senior citizen should get his handicapped-accessible vehicle back as soon as Friday,” according to a January 24, 2019 Miami Times article, Holmes back in the driver’s seat.

Timothy Holmes’ attorney, Michael “Pitbull” Pizzi, who relished yet another victory against the most corrupt city (and the most inept city attorney) in South Florida, told the Miami Times, “Upon the return of Mr. Holmes’ van, he can get back to leading a normal life and justice will have been achieved.”

Only last month, the Pitbull scored two back-to-back wins for fired Opa-locka employees, Finance Director Charmaine Parchment and the twice fired-and rehired City Manager Newell J. Daughtrey.

Earlier this month, Pizzi and his co-counsel also got the go ahead from Circuit Court Judge Beatrice Butchko to move forward with a “massive class-action suit” against the city for overcharging residents for water and illegally using their deposits to fill budget gaps, as reported by The Miami Times.

Opa-locka has been fighting this lawsuit since April of 2017 and blew an outrageous $188,785.08 in legal bills to outside counsel Kozyak Tropan Throckmorton.

According to City Attorney Vincent Brown, it was money “well spent,” as reported by the Miami Herald in a January 17, 2019 article.

Residents, who had already been ripped off of thousands upon thousands of dollars by the city’s water department, would probably disagree.

As a defense, Opa-locka claimed that it never had a contract with the holders of water accounts.

Pitbull Pizzi, however, said, “They made an idiotic argument and they lost. The contract is you pay your water bill and pay your deposit, and they give you accurate water services.”

Opa-locka officials are now being forced to answer to “victims of the city’s corrupt water system and who can now vindicate their rights and achieve justice,” Plaintiff George Suarez told The Miami Times.

BOOM!

Going after corruption in Opa-locka can be a full time job.

But, as Mike “Pitbull” Pizzi has already proven, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.