Florida lawmakers try to make it harder to investigate unethical Miami-Dade politicians | Opinion

The Florida Legislature passed a bill that would add unnecessary obstacles to investigating politicians for potentially being unethical.

One example in Miami-Dade County explains why Gov. Ron DeSantis should veto it.

The arrest of then-Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla on corruption charges last September was the product of a criminal investigation that started as an investigation into whether he had violated local ethics rules.

The inquiry into the commissioner’s behavior began with the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, a body voters created to ensure the integrity of people in government. In the course of the investigation into his potential misuse of office, “it became evident that a violation of criminal law” might have occurred, prompting the commission to refer the case to law enforcement and prosecutors, Executive Director Jose Arrojo wrote in a statement issued after the arrest.

Prosecutors now accuse Diaz de la Portilla of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations to push a downtown Miami sports complex funded by a wealthy couple. He vehemently denies wrongdoing. The Ethics Commission also agreed to charge him with violating the county ethics code for letting a friend use a city car to pick up alcohol and run errands for him. A hearing on this case was delayed last year because of his pending criminal charges.

Thanks to Senate Bill 7014, it will become much harder for ethics agencies in communities across the state to investigate similar cases. This is particularly bad news in a place like Miami.

The legislation would prohibit those entities from initiating their own inquiries or complaints into whether an official committed a violation — as the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics did with Diaz de la Portilla, Arrojo told the Herald Editorial Board. The only way a commission could begin an investigation is if someone files a third-party complaint under oath.

As it stands today, Arrojo’s staff can comb through campaign finance reports and public records to spot problems. A news article or a citizen’s tip about an official behaving improperly could prompt his team to further investigate a potential ethical breach, Arrojo said.

Arrojo said the requirement for a third-party complaint could also stop law enforcement agencies and state attorneys from referring cases they investigated to local ethics boards. Ethics commissions function as community watchdogs on issues such as whether an elected official or government employee has a conflict of interest between their public duty and private life.

SB 7014 also diminishes the work of the state’s watchdog, the Florida Commission on Ethics. Under the legislation, only people with direct knowledge of a violation — and not “hearsay” or, say, a concern based on a news article — could file a state ethics complaint. Whistle blowers likely would have to out themselves in order to bring potential wrongdoing to light, risking political retaliation and even their jobs.

The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics already has that first-hand knowledge requirement, Arrojo said. But remember that local commissions, unlike their state counterpart, are currently allowed to self-initiate complaints — an authority neither local boards or the state body would have under the legislation.

This bill seems intent on making it harder to spot public corruption — and it’s the product of lawmakers who themselves are supposed to be held accountable by the ethics investigators they want to kneecap.

Sponsor Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, has said baseless ethics complaints have been weaponized during elections, used to tarnish the reputation of candidates. That certainly may be true. But Arrojo said it would be “stupid” for his commission to pursue such frivolous cases. His funding relies on support from county commissioners and the public — and it’s also clear that lawmakers in Tallahassee are watching for any missteps.

We don’t dismiss Burgess’ concerns, but are they worth making it more difficult to keep public servants in check?

Miami-Dade voters, after all, created the local ethics commission in 1996 for a reason. They wanted more accountability, not less.

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