MIAMI MIRROR – TRUE REFLECTIONS  

COUNTY ETHICS CASE C13‐03 AGAINST MIAMI BEACH COMMISSIONER ED TOBIN 

23 May 2014 

MIAMI‐DADE COUNTY COMMISSION ON ETHICS AND PUBLIC TRUST 

Please confirm that the Commission in this case determined that it had no jurisdiction over the specific complaint brought against Commissioner Ed Tobin of the City of Miami Beach; to wit, that he supported the appointment of a particular person for an administrative position, which the Commission found he had a perfect right to do; therefore the complaint was dismissed.  

Nevertheless, due to its concern with the indefinite “spirit” of the city charter, and its eagerness to  “educate  all  elected  officials,”  the  Commission  reminded  him  of  its  text, which  does  not prohibit  the  conduct he was accused of, and  recommended  that  the  charter be amended  to preclude  such  conduct although  that would  contradict  the perfect  right  the Commission had already declared he had to engage in such activity. 

Thank you, 

David Arthur Walters 

Note: 

To take the negative as the point of departure, and set up as primary the willing of evil and consequent mistrust,  and  then  on  this  supposition  cunningly  to  devise  breakwaters, which  in  turn  require  other breakwaters to check their activity, any such contrivance is the mark of a thought, which is at the level of the negative understanding, and of a feeling, which is characteristic of the rabble.—The functions of the state, the executive and the legislative, as they are called, may be made independent of each other. The state is, then, forthwith overthrown, an occurrence which we have witnessed on a vast scale. Hegel, Philosophy of Right 

When we speak of the distinctive activity of any function, we must not fall  into the egregious error of supposing that it should exist in abstract independence, since it should rather be distinguished merely as an element of the conception. If the distinctions were to subsist in abstract independence, it is as clear as light that two independent things are not able to constitute a unity, but must rather introduce strife. As a result, either the whole world would be cast into disorder, or the unity would be restored by force. Thus,  in the French Revolution at one time the  legislative function had swallowed up the executive, at another  time  the executive had usurped  the  legislative  function.  It would be  stupid  in  such a case  to present the moral claim of harmony. (ibidem) 

“I trust him (City Manager Jimmy Morales) almost blindly. I know he has the utmost confidence of most, if not all, of my colleagues.” Commissioner Michael Grieco, Miami Herald, May Day 2014 

LETTER OF INSTRUCTION

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To:

From:

Date:

Re:

City ofMiami Beach Commissioner Edward Tobin

Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust

October 2013

C 13- 03 (Vazquez v. Tobin)

A complaint was filed against Respondent, Edward Tobin (Tobin), a City ofMiamiBeach Commissioner which alleged, among other things, that Tobin exploited his officialposition by improperly inserting himself into the administrative affairs ofthe City incontravention ofthe City Charter, specifically concerning the selection of the Chief of Police.On August 8, 2013, the Ethics Commission found no probable cause to sustain the complaintand dismissed it. However, pursuant to Section 2-1074 (s) ofthe Ethics Commission'senabling ordinance, the Ethics Commission determined that issuing a Letter ofInstruction isappropriate.

Wherefore, the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust doeshereby issue this Letter ofInstruction to City ofMiami Beach Commissioner Edward Tobin.

Pursuant to the City's Charter, Section 1.01, the City ofMiami Beach is aCommission-City Manager form ofgovernment.

Sec. 1.01. - Corporate existence; form of government; Charter.

"The City of Miami Beach (hereafter "City") in Dade County, Florida,

which was created by the Florida Legislature, shall continue as amunicipal corporation with a Commission-City Manager form of

government as provided herein and with this document as the Charter forthe City."

Section 4.02. of the City's Charter provides for the functions and powers of the CityManager: Sec. 4.02. - City Manager-Functions and powers.

"The City Manager shall be the chief executive officer and head of the

administrative branch of the City government. Except as specificallyprovided otherwise in this Charter, the City Manager shall be responsible

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to the City Commission for the proper administration of all affairs of theCity."

Subsections (b) and CD of Section 4.02. delineate that it is the City Manager'sresponsibility to appoint department directors and that the Manager has supervision andcontrol over the heads of departments.

"(b)To appoint all directors of the several departments now existing, or tobe created, with the consent of the City Commission, and to remove thesame at will, except for the Legal Department and the City Clerk'sOffice."

"0) The City Manager shall account to the City Commission for theconduct and acts of the several departments now existing, or hereafter tobe created, and he/she shall have supervision and control of the heads ofthe said departments, and such heads as appointed by the City Managershall be accountable to the City Manager for the conduct and acts of theirdepartments, except for the Legal Department and the City Clerk'sOffice."

Typically, under the commission-manager form of government, the City Managerfunctions as the chief executive of the government organization. Like a private sectorCEO does for a company, the City Manager oversees the day-to-day operations of thecity and serves as the chief advisor to the city council. In directing daily operations of thecity, the Manager is responsible for ensming effective and efficient government service.Every city employee ultimately answers to the City Manager, so the Manager has theright to hire and fire staff as appropriate and allowable by law. The City Commission, inthis type of government, is the legislative body for the city. Its role is to adopt laws andpolicies to govern the city. The Commission leaves implementation of the policy up tothe city manager and the rest of the city staff. It should be underscored that under Section4.02 of the City Charter, it is the City Manager who has the power to appoint departmentheads, including the Chief of Police. The Commission's role is limited to voting for oragainst that appointment. Intrusive actions by a member of the Commission into themechanics of the appointive process violate the spirit of the City Charter and underminepublic trust in the integrity of the appointive process.

The Ethics Commission's investigation into the complaint showed that Tobin openlysupported former Bal Harbom Police Chief Tom Hunker (Hunker), to be the chief of theMiami Beach Police Department.

According to the former City Manager, the process for selecting the Chief ofPolice is that the Manager and his staff advertise the position, collect resumes, interview

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applicants and then, make a selection. That selection must be ratified by the CityCommission. Under the City's Charter, the Manager is responsible for the appointment ofall department directors. The Chief of Police is a department director.

The Ethics Commission, in dismissing the complaint against Tobin,acknowledged that Commissioners, as well as every other citizen of Miami Beach, have aright to provide information, suggestions and recommendations about police chiefcandidates. It was also determined that the selection process for police chief was notcovered by the City's "Cone of Silence"- which restricts the intervention by electedofficials on the procurement process or by any prohibition on "ex parte" contact betweenan elected official and a selection committee member.

We issue this Letter ofInstruction for three reasons: First, to remindCommissioner Tobin that the City's Charter clearly delineates the distinct duties andresponsibilities of City Commissioners and the City Manager.

Second, we strongly suggest that the City adopt an ordinance clearly establishingthe parameters of the legislative role in the appointive process with appropriate remediesfor violations. The job advertisement and national search for a police chiefought to be a fairprocess. The public's trust is diminished when it appears that obtaining a highly responsiblegovermnentjob depends less on the qualifications ofthe best candidate and more on whichcandidate has the best connections to the seat ofpower. The willingness ofthose connectionsto manipulate the process behind the scenes can create an appearance ofimpropriety in theselection process.

Finally, by issuing this Letter ofInstruction, we hope to educate all electedofficials. We hope that Commissioner Tobin will find this Letter of Instruction helpfuland use it as guide in the future.

All persons subject to the jurisdiction ofthe Miami-Dade County Commission onEthics and Public Trust are encouraged to seek opinions from the Ethics Commissionwhenever they have a question regarding the appropriateness of their conduct or theapplicability of the ethics code.

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Miami Beach Commissioner Ed Tobin castigates Miami‐Dade County Ethics Commission 

Gayle Durham  Thu, May 10, 2012 at 3:10 PM To: David Arthur Walters <davidarthurwalters@gmail.com> 

You can quote me as a concerned resident, or whatever. 

Did you see the Miami Dade Ethics Commission Director Joe Centorino come to the podium to make their sales pitch to Miami Beach commissioners to spend $45k on an ethics class for city employees? 

Tobin was sarcastic, he said something like, how I am to trust you to train our employees when I called you to report an ethics violation and you said you could not investigate, you said I had to do the investigation,  that I had to prove what I am reporting by providing pictures of what I saw. 

Tobin said, "So I should have taken off my job and investigated the case for you?" 

May 9, 2012  VIDEO 2  of 2 (5:36:41pm)  Item R7J   

 http://web.miamibeachfl.gov/mbtv77/scroll.aspx?id=52532