Opa-locka city manager files complaint on alleged embezzlement by vice mayor
MIAMI - A proposed termination of City Manager Darvin Williams, instigated by Vice Mayor Natasha Ervin, coincides with Williams filing a whistleblower complaint accusing the vice mayor of embezzlement and potential employee fraud.
Williams filed the complaint to the governor's office on Monday — the same day the city commission attempted to fire him.
A special meeting called Monday proposed terminating Williams and replacing him, although he was allowed to keep his job after a vote.
"It's exhausting," Williams said. "It makes the job 10 times harder."
Ervin was behind the proposed resolution to terminate Williams, who was unaware of the proposal when he submitted a whistleblower complaint to the governor's office hours earlier.
The whistleblower complaint alleged embezzlement by the vice mayor and potential employee fraud in the Parks and Recreation Department.
In the complaint, Williams alleges Ervin's niece received over $20,000 as a vendor for the city for catering services between June 2023 and July of this year. The complaint claims the invoices "were submitted for payment by the Vice Mayor in the Vice Mayor's handwriting."
CBS News Miami asked Ervin if the city commission knows that her niece has been paid over $20,000.
"You have to ask the manager," she said. "I do nothing without the manager knowing what's going on."
CBS News Miami asked Opa-locka Mayor John Taylor if people who sit on the dais and serve the commission disclose that their family members are receiving a city contract.
"The way we do it here, everything comes before the commission in resolution ordinance form. So at that moment, if she speaks it, that's the only way we will find out," Taylor responded.
The complaint also alleges Ervin interfered with an investigation into the Parks and Recreation Department. The complaint showed at least one employee in the department was fired in July for "falsifying timecards to receive payment for hours not worked."
The complaint says the vice mayor "contacted the HR Director Mary Adams to query her regarding information and details regarding her investigation."
Ervin said she had a conversation with the HR director and I asked the question, 'How can we fire people when we don't, they don't know what's going on?'"
CBS News Miami asked Ervin if she asked to see the termination letters.
"No, I didn't," she responded.
On July 24, Williams mentioned during a city commission meeting that there are ongoing criminal investigations being conducted by the city and outside law enforcement agencies. The police chief confirmed that to CBS News Miami in writing but would not elaborate on who or what is the target of those investigations.