‘Compromise’ amendment makes significant changes
Less than two weeks after removing Miami City Attorney Vicky Mendez from her position earlier this month and demoting her to a transitional, ceremonial post, commissioners could name a permanent replacement on Thursday. And Interim City Attorney George Wysong is the recommendation from a selection committee made almost entirely of land use and zoning lobbyists.
He basically already has the job. An item about the city attorney selection on the commission meeting agenda for Thursday has been withdrawn.
If Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo really wants to see his bank statements, Commissioner Damian Pardo is ready to prove that he used part of his lifelong savings to self-fund his campaign for the District 2 seat last year.
All Carollo has to do is resign.
DEVELOPING BREAKING STORY: Christi Tasker, a two-time candidate for Miami Commission in District 2, was arrested last week after she allegedly interrupted a police traffic stop in her Brickell neighborhood. A video taken by an anonymous passerby shows she was forcibly taken to the ground before she was handcuffed.
At one point, it looks like an officer placed a foot or a knee on her back. This incident may become a problem for police, who look like they may have overreached.
Miami City Manager Art Noriega got a pass Thursday after he explained, to use the word loosely, his wife’s business dealings with the city, while City Attorney Victoria Mendez was removed of her position at the commission meeting on the spot. After commissioners voted 4-1 for Mendez to step down — she will still stay on in “a transitionary role” through June — the new Acting City Attorney George Wysong moved into her seat. Only Commissioner Joe Carollo voted against the change.
“I was born in Allapattah, raised in Flagami and lived in Flagami for 44 years,” Mendez said, thanking God, her family and her colleagues — and choking back what some say were crocodile tears.
City attorney’s future, manager’s excuses on agenda
