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Director Joe Centorino, Miami Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust
March 4, 2013 Joe Centorino, Director MIAMI DADE COUNTY COMMISSION ON ETHICS AND PUBLIC TRUST Via Public Record Email. Subject: The Weston Affair Dear Mr. Centorino: The recent New Times coverage of the City of Miami Beachs wrongful firing of fire inspector David Weston on the pretext of violation of ethical standards, but actually for his chain-ofcommand reporting of missing monies in the millions of dollars, has given me cause to review his case and to opine here, based on his statements and my understanding of the law as a layman, that a director of the Miami-Dade County Commission of Ethics and Public Trust, if not incompetent or negligent, may have violated ethical standards in the handling of the matter when he apparently abused the power of his own position, arbitrarily denying Weston, and by inference the entire county including its municipalities, due process of law under the governing
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DAVID WESTONS PUBLIC RECORD RESPONSE TO DAVID ARTHUR WALTERS LETTER TO JOE CENTORINO ET AL
From: David Weston <dweston@permitdoctor.com> To: David Arthur Walters <miamimirror@gmail.com>,"Centorino, Joseph (COE)" <CENTORI@miamidade.gov> cc: Michael Gngora <michaelcgongora@aol.com>, Deede Weithorn <dweithorn@bpbcpa.com>, David Weston <dweston@permitdoctor.com>, "Frigo, Victoria (COE)" <FRIGOV@miamidade.gov> Date: Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 5:42 PM Subject: RE: Ethics Commission Director's Handling of Miami Beach Conflict of Interest Case/ reply from David Weston March 4, 2013 TO: Honorable Commissioners, Mr. Joe Centorino and David Walters, Mr. Walters has taken up a cause for me personally but, I would prefer the broader view. Miami Beachs administration needs to protect its hard working and honest employees when they suspect and sincerely report when something appear to be wrong. Sadly employee protection is non-existent and city employees know it!!
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I would ask that you momentarily suspend your disbelief and accept that I truly had concerns and I believed that millions of dollars were missing. Of course your auditors have subsequently proven me correct. For my part I have substantial documentation to support the efforts that I was trying to make. In my case I was regularly cautioned [and finally threatened] to discontinue my concerns and reports of missing monies. I am not the only person in the Fire Prevention department that was treated in this way. One only has to ask Firefighter [retired] William Curbello if he too was told to ignore the audit issues of Permits Plus or suffer the consequences. [Mr. Curbello has told me he would answer the Commissions questions if asked to do so].Likewise retired Firefighter James Llewellen was also disciplined for going outside the chain-of-command with safety rather than monetary issues. More importantly I believe that if Miami Beachs employees had whistleblower protection that some of the terrible events of recent times [building, code, procurement, and fire arrests] might have been reported and acted on sooner. One only has to read Miami Beach Special Investigation Sections report # 2011-018-PC to conclude that the building and fire departments needed better supervision and immediate personnel changes. Mr. Centorino does not owe me any apologies. Alternatively I owe him my thanks. He made the time to meet with me, at my request, when he was an Assistant State Attorney with the Public Corruption Section; and he personally examined many of my supporting documents. While Mr. Centorino knew something was wrong, I was told there was no provable crime. I similarly met with Miami Beach SIS Detective Rosa Redruello, who concluded from her investigation that Building and Fire officials had the authority to reduce permit fees as an incentive to developers. Personally I believe it is bad management to allow this practice, if true. Mr. Walters suggestion to require that forgiven fees be recorded, accounted for, and a matter for public record seems like a responsible financial step and a good suggestion from an intelligent man. The point of my communication is to assure you that retaliation against honest employees existed for me, existed before me, and exists even today. After the recent article in New Times I was contacted by a current Miami Beach employee who thanked me for coming forward and claimed that they were likewise be retaliated for cooperating with a police investigation. In conclusion I personally found the Commission and their employees were breath of fresh air. The Commission rulings in my favor [4-198 and 8-36] fully vindicated my financial actions. Now its time for the city to do the right thingand you know what this is. Regards, David Weston
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EDITORIAL
FIRED FIRE INSPECTOR PLAYS NICE WITH ETHICS COMMISSION March 5, 2013 It appears that former City of Miami Beach fire inspector David Weston, who said he was fired for reporting millions of dollars in missing monies, and who is now a principal in a permit expediting firm that operates under the name Permit Doctor, wants to expedite the solution to corruption in the historically corrupt South Florida city by cooperating with city administrators instead of fanning the flames of scandal blackening the city, grinding axes, and having them fired for negligence, incompetence, or malfeasance. Westons dismissal was his gain and the citys loss, since he was almost immediately thereafter even more gainfully employed, therefore he would not have been benefited by filing a whistleblower complaint in circuit court. The staff of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, thoroughly acquainted with his case, did not press charges against the officials involved for violating the ethics and conflict-of-interest ordinance against exploiting public office to obtain exemptions or privileges. Impunity for retaliation against subordinates or the weak for talking back or reporting misconduct has been a sovereign privilege or exemption enjoyed by the strong in authoritarian regimes, where might is the right, since time immemorial. The response of Fire Chief Javier Otero to the recent Miami New Times revelations of misconduct including that reported by Weston was, These are nothing more than allegations from disgruntled employees. But Weston denied that he was a so-called disgruntled employee: I was not interested in pursuing a complaint against the city. I was not disgruntled, only concerned that something very wrong that clearly was going on.
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