UM Law School Professor Anthony V. Alfieri Comments on the Ethics of Gifts to Miami-Dade County Officials
UM Law School Professor Anthony V. Alfieri, Director of the Law School's Center for Ethics and Public Service, was quoted in a December 2, 2007 Miami Herald article about gifts given to Miami Dade County's Mayor and members of his staff. The full article follows.
Mayor: Gifts not a conflict
Published on 2007-12-02, Miami Herald.com
By Charles Rabin
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez -- who argued last summer to curb the county's unlimited gift policy -- attended last month's Jennifer Lopez/Marc Anthony concert at AmericanAirlines Arena courtesy of one of the most influential marketing executives in South Florida.
Arranging the $1,140 tab for Alvarez, his girlfriend, personal affairs director and another guest: Jose Cancela, a local businessman with a long list of national and international clients.
Two weeks later, the mayor, six staffers and several of his family members spent an all-expenses-paid overnight stay aboard the Carnival cruise ship Freedom. The cruise sleep-in followed the annual Mayor's Ball to raise money for the United Way and Camillus House.
The mayor received 15 cabins valued at $8,500, according to Alvarez spokeswoman Suzy Trutie.
The back-to-back freebies, disclosed by Alvarez under the county's gift reporting requirements, do not violate the county's existing policies. On the surface, however, they appear to conflict with the mayor's own campaign mandate to sweep out insider dealing at County Hall.
Alvarez declined an in-person interview with The Miami Herald. But in written statements, he defended his involvement in both events.
Cancela, he said, is a personal friend. ''There's no conflict of interest,'' Alvarez wrote.
Carnival, which pays negotiated passenger fees worth millions of dollars to the county each year, donated the ship for the evening. Alvarez distanced the company from the free cabins, saying the United Way and Camillus House actually hosted the fundraiser aboard the ship.
''There is no conflict of interest because Carnival Cruise Lines did not comp admission to the Mayor's Ball,'' he wrote.
An ethics expert said the gifts pose perception questions.
''He risks undermining and sabotaging his own efforts when he engages in precisely the same type of activity he condemns,'' said Tony Alfieri, a University of Miami law professor who directs the school's Center for Ethics and Public Service.
''Even when he acts transparently with full disclosure, he nevertheless undercuts his own moral authority as the leader of the county,'' Alfieri said.
The mayor also disclosed that he was a guest of the University of Miami when its football team traveled to Tallahassee to play the Florida State Seminoles in October. The trip was valued at $1,087. Miami won the game.
The county's gift policy has been a hot topic for more than a year. While there is no value limit on gifts county employees and elected officials can accept, the gift-giving spurred intense discussion last summer on the dais over how freebies from vendors or bidders can taint the county's image.
The mayor offered limiting gifts to $100. Commissioner Carlos Gimenez went further, saying they should be eliminated altogether. Only the County Commission has the power to vote and change the gift-giving law through ordinance.
The issue died on the dais. Later, Ethics and Public Trust Executive Director Robert Meyers created a task force of community leaders to suggest a stronger ordinance.
The recommendations, expected early next year, will likely include either a cap or an outright ban on gifts, Meyers said.
Alvarez said he supports a limit on gifts. ''If the Board of County Commissioners presents an amendment to the current ordinance, I will support it wholeheartedly,'' he wrote to the newspaper.
The tickets to the Nov. 2 JLo concert came via Cancela, who lost when he ran against Alvarez for the county mayor's post in 2004. Cancela then endorsed Alvarez in the runoff election.
One of Cancela's clients, ING Financial Services, footed the bill for the concert. Also attending were Alvarez's girlfriend, his personal affairs director Delivette Gonzalez, and another guest.
Cancela, like Alvarez, said he sees no problem in the arrangement.
''I extended the invite on behalf of our clients. I hosted a reception at the AAA,'' he said. "There were lots of community leaders.''
Among the community leaders: Miami Herald Publisher David Landsberg, who said the newspaper is a private entity and that he sees "absolutely no conflict.''
ING sponsors the yearly ING Miami Marathon, which brings in runners from around the world and pumps an estimated $15 million annually into Miami-Dade's economy.
Another of Cancela's clients is the Jackson Memorial Foundation, the fundraising arm of county-run Jackson Memorial Hospital.
County taxpayers voted three years ago to award the hospital $120 million in bond revenue, mostly for upgrading an emergency room, pediatric care and a center in South Miami-Dade. Each year JMH receives $190 million through the half-penny sales tax.
According to Marvin O'Quinn, chief executive of Jackson Health System, the hospital received $170 million from the county in the past year, mostly through tax money, and from capital project funds.
The Mayor's Ball raised $2.3 million this year.
Tickets to attend the event ranged from $500 to $10,000. Corporate sponsors, including The Miami Herald, made contributions ranging from $6,000 to $100,000.
''As host of the Mayor's Ball, I participate in solicitation phone calls for this worthy event and I am allotted 15 cabins to use at my discretion,'' Alvarez said by e-mail, calling the Nov. 16 event "the most successful one-night fundraiser in the United Way and Camillus House's history.''
The sleepovers were held on the ship of a cruise line that often negotiates expensive deals with County Hall. Earlier this year the county settled a long-standing dispute with Carnival over facility maintenance improvements worth well over $1 million. The company was also green-lighted for an $11 million new garage, roadway improvements and a contract for waterborne security.
Along with Alvarez attending the United Way fundraiser were eight family members and his two sergeants at arms, the mayor's senior advisor Luis Andres Gazitua, director of constituent services Millie Garcia-Navarro,director of policy Robert Villar and Gonzalez, his personal affairs director.
Also comped tickets, according to spokeswoman Trutie, were Assistant County Manager Susanne Torriente, Executive Assistant to the County Manager Henry Sori, and United Way Coordinator Damarys Isler.
County Manager George Burgess and Assistant County Manager Alex Muñoz paid $500 to attend.
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posted 3-December-2007
