Mayor Meets With NAACP Amid Coronavirus Diagnosis

From the Miami Times:

By Erik Bojnansky

Miami Times Contributor

Dec 2, 2020

On the same day she was diagnosed with COVID-19, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava held an hour-and-15-minute virtual Zoom meeting with the leadership of the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP. The purpose of the meeting: to discuss the branch’s concerns over Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales being hired as the chief operations officer of Miami-Dade County. Citing his leadership of the Miami Beach Police Department, and incidents of excessive force against Black residents and tourists during “high impact weekend” events, the Miami-Dade chapter opposed Morales’ appointment.

The following day, in brief comments to the Miami-Dade County Commission via Zoom during its Tuesday meeting, Levine Cava confirmed she will still be appointing Morales as the county’s COO. However, in a joint statement with the Miami-Dade NAACP, Levine Cava vowed that “her administration will operate from a core set of guiding principles including inclusivity, equity and accountability” and that she would create an Office of Equity and Inclusion. Levine Cava also promised to issue a report “following her first 100 days in office on the progress that she and her administration have made to build a more equitable and inclusive Miami-Dade County.”

Daniella Pierre, president-elect of the Miami-Dade NAACP, said “the community” is still wary of Morales’ appointment as COO, but she’s pleased that the mayor agreed to a 100-day evaluation, which will also look at Morales’ job performance.

“We are thankful that Mayor Levine Cava took swift action to meet with us and listen closely to us,” Pierre said. “Our concerns remain. We are looking forward to that 100-day evaluation … of her appointment of Morales.”

Pierre noted that Morales also was present at the Zoom meeting.

“He got a chance to hear our frustration, our pain and all of the accounts of events that happened under his watch,” Pierre told The Miami Times. “We made it clear that we know it wasn’t solely his actions, but he was in leadership during that time.”

Morales did not return emails for comment by press time.

Ruban Roberts, Former Miami-Dade NAACP President

Courtesy Miami-Dade NAACP

The NAACP’s Miami-Dade branch has frequently cited concerns about police policies and actions on Miami Beach, insisting that people of color are often victims of excessive force and brutality by the MBPD. In November 2018, branch president Ruban Roberts sent a letter protesting city policy to arrest someone during Memorial Day weekend, after a single warning, for playing music too loud in a car. Roberts insisted that the policy was used to target Black Americans, and that arrests should be reserved for actual crimes.

“The implementation of specialized and unique law enforcement rules for this particular holiday weekend, supports the belief that the City of Miami Beach is hostile and unwelcoming to African American visitors,” Roberts wrote.

In March, the Miami-Dade NAACP called for Morales’ resignation after videos circulated of Miami Beach police officers beating, tackling, verbally cursing and spraying tear gas at Black spring breakers. A police-involved shooting on Ocean Drive also circulated the media and internet.

Pierre said the campaign to oust Morales ceased due to COVID-19 related shutdowns. However, when Levine Cava announced her intention to hire Morales, she sent out a news release stating the NAACP branch’s opposition.

“It’s all about excessive police conduct and maltreatment,” Pierre said, later adding: “How the police carries out high impact weekend events [like] Labor Day, Memorial Day, Spring Break all fall under his purview.”

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber countered that Morales has actually been instrumental in enacting key police reforms.

Dan Gelber, Miami Beach Mayor

Courtesy City of Miami Beach

“We were the first city [in South Florida] to implement body cams, the choke hold is prohibited, we train in de-escalation,” Gelber listed.

Other reforms, implemented by Morales, include training to prevent implicit bias, tracking and reporting use of force, and allowing outside agencies like the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate excessive force allegations and police shootings. Diversity has also increased under Morales’ tenure, Gelber added, noting that 16% of the MBDP’s sworn officers are African American and that the deputy police chief, Wayne Jones, is Black.

“By the way, that is not to say that we can’t do a better job, that we can’t listen and can’t be willing to evolve,” Gelber said. “But I think Jimmy has been a good leader, and most of these reforms happened under his tenure.”

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber (L) and City Manager Jimmy Morales (R) at a COVID-19 testing site.

Dan Gelber via Facebook

Pierre said there were problems with racism at the MBPD, and other sectors of Miami Beach, long before Morales was appointed city manager. Nevertheless, she scoffed at the notion that Morales implemented meaningful reform at the MBPD, pointing out that the Miami-Dade NAACP often received complaints from people who didn’t know why they were arrested or detained.

“Many of the arrest forms that we were able to attain from the Miami Beach police stated that people were arrested because they looked questionable,” Pierre said, adding: “Just because you hire a Black person as deputy chief does not mean you are a reformer.”

And while the Miami-Dade NAACP will not actively campaigning against Morales’ pending hire, Pierre said the organization has already sent out the emails and phone numbers of Miami-Dade’s elected officials.

Daniella Levine Cava celebrates her mayoral victory with supporters on Election Day.

Photo by Manny Orozco

“Whether or not the community wants to give their opinions on Morales’ pending hire will be up to them,” she said.

An attorney by training, Morales was a Miami-Dade County commissioner between 1996-2004.

Following an unsuccessful run for Miami-Dade mayor in 2004 (he was defeated by ex-police director Carlos Alvarez in a runoff), Morales went on to become a shareholder for the law firm of Stearns Weaver Miller et al, and did stints as the city attorney of Marathon and Doral. In 2013, Morales was hired as Miami Beach’s city manager.

Morales announced his intention to resign back in October. At the time, he didn’t specify where he intended to work, only that he wanted to “explore the next chapter, the next adventure, of my life” and that he was “excited to explore other opportunities.” On Nov. 23rd, Levine Cava announced that she intended to hire Morales as COO. Following that announcement, Morales’ resignation date as Miami Beach city manager moved up from Feb. 1 of 2021 to Dec. 11 of this year. His first day as COO is Dec. 14.

In her news release announcing the hiring of Morales, Levine Cava cited Morales’ “forward-thinking leadership and nearly 25 years of experience in public service and city operations” which she said will “help us tackle these challenges and build a more resilient Miami-Dade for the 21st century.”

As Miami Beach city manager, Morales also led resiliency measures, including raising streets and installing pumps to mitigate flooding.

As the COO, Morales will oversee the departments of water and sewer; transportation and public works; regulatory and economic resources; parks, recreation and open spaces; solid waste management; elections; aviation; and the seaport.

The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.