Mayor Against Manager In Doral Breeds Contempt In Council Chambers
DORAL (CBSMiami) - Doral's mayor and city manager continued their feud at Tuesday's special city council meeting, with manager Joe Carollo spending close to three hours detailing a laundry list of allegations against mayor Luigi Boria.
"Why are you so afraid of what I'm going to say Mr. Mayor," Carollo asked during a particular testy exchange.
"I'm not afraid," Boria retorted. "If you want to go to the FBI, feel free to go."
The heated discussion came a week after Boria botched attempt at ousting Carollo, the man he handpicked for the manager's job.
Last week, Boria slammed Carollo's character and called for his termination.
Instead, the council gave Carollo a 3-2 vote of confidence.
Carollo kept his job and vowed to keep on fighting.
"If they want me out, they better fire me," Carollo said.
The city manager spoke for hours, mostly uninterrupted.
He listed a variety of claims against Boria, ranging from possible improprieties related to a proposed land deal, to the mayor's alleged connections to disgraced politicians, including the suspended mayors of Sweetwater and Miami Lakes, Manny Maroño and Michael Pizzi.
Maroño and Pizzi were arrested in August on federal corruption charges related to an FBI sting.
"Now I understand why we haven't moved forward with all the projects in this city, because the city manager has spent all his time investigating.
Carollo also brought up the connection between Maroño and Southland the Towing Company.
His comments came just hours after CBS 4 and El Nuevo Herald's joint investigation into the dealings between Sweetwater and Southland.
Carollo said Mayor Boria was aware that Maroño had ties to the owner of the towing company when he suggested Doral utilize Southland's services.
Boria denied he knew about the relationship.
"This is Joe. He has a history of defaming people," Boria said.
Carollo also spent a good chunk of time discussing Juan Carlos Tovar.
Tovar, a Venezuelan developer and Boria's former business partner, was arrested last week.
He was accused of filing a false police report which claimed Carollo yanked Tovar into a hallway at City Hall.
Surveillance video vindicated Carollo.
The city manager said he thinks someone put Tovar up to it.
Tovar and his company, Grand Floridian, LLC, recently won approval from the city's zoning department to expand.
Tovar used to co-own the company with Boria's children, who sold him their shares earlier this year.
Carollo said Boria would have voted on the deal had he not brought up the issue of a potential conflict of interest.
Boria said the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust found he did not violate the ethics code.
To this day, he continues to recuse himself when the Grand Floridian topic is discussed.
In fact, he spent much of the meeting Tuesday in and out of the chamber.
Boria said he was eager to get back to city business.
Carollo said he would continue to work as Doral's administrator, despite the recent drama.
"I don't care what anybody wants to say about me or threaten me with. This job does not pay me enough," Carollo explained. "There ain't enough money in Venezuela or Miami that would make me turn my head on these kinds of individuals coming here."
