Dear Friends & Colleagues,

These past weeks, we have continued expanding our engagement with the public by launching our social media avenues, taking initiatives to livestream our Commission meetings, and furthering our training efforts to include mandated state ethics training for elected officials. As we look to the coming year, we remain committed to developing additional initiatives to promote accessibility, transparency, and education.

On the enforcement side, our Advocate was successful in obtaining an admission of guilt at the most recent Commission meeting on a complaint filed by the Miami Beach Inspector General’s Office. The case involved a city employee who exploited his official position as a supervisor for the Miami Beach Police Department. Further specifics of this case are detailed in this edition of Eye on Ethics.

In our efforts to assume the repository function of financial disclosure and outside employment forms for advisory board members and county employees, our staff continues to work diligently with the elections department to ensure a successful transition of this new COE responsibility.

On the training front, I’d like to highlight that we recently collaborated with the Miami-Dade League of Cities to deliver county and state ethics training for newly elected officials. We thank the League and the City of Doral for hosting this well-attended event. 



As we head into the end of the year, I wish you a joyous holiday season and a prosperous 2025.

Best Regards,

Ignacio

Commissioners

Dr. Judith Bernier, Chair

Wifredo Gort,

Vice Chair

Nelson C. Bellido Esq.

Dava J. Tunis, Esq.

Sandy Boisrond, Esq.

Executive Director

Ignacio J. Vazquez, Jr. Esq.

General Counsel

Loressa Felix, Esq.

Advocate

Radia Turay, Esq.

A complaint filed by the City of Miami Beach Inspector General alleging that the former supervisor of the Crime Analysis Unit (CAU), Clifford Sparks, a civilian employee at the City of Miami Beach Police Department, violated the Exploitation of Official Position and Prohibition of Outside Employment sections of the Miami-Dade County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance, resulted in a stipulation to Probable Cause.

A joint investigation showed that Mr. Sparks, in his capacity as supervisor of the CAU, facilitated the introduction between a lifelong friend and business associate, Richard Jerome, the owner of Crime Suppression Technologies (CST), and the MBPD with the goal of developing a software program for MBPD’s record management system, creating a potential financial benefit for himself. Furthermore, Mr. Sparks admitted to using his subordinates to test CST software during work hours and maintaining close communication with Mr. Jerome, devoting between 15-20 hours per week, including city work hours, in furtherance of CST’s software development. Additional joint investigation also revealed that Mr. Sparks failed to file required outside employment statements, disclosing the source of his outside employment, the nature of the work being done, and any amount or types of money or other consideration received during two tax years as required by the Miami-Dade County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance.

Under the terms of the stipulated Settlement Agreement, Mr. Sparks has agreed to pay a total fine of $1,500 and accept a Letter of Instruction from the Ethics Commission.

Miami-Dade Commission meetings, which generally occur on the second Wednesday of every month, will now be streamed live by way of the Zoom platform. The first virtual live meeting is scheduled to be streamed this upcoming Wednesday, December 11 at 10AM. This initiative further enhances the COE’s mission to promote transparency by allowing citizens to witness discussions and decisions in real time and it also fosters greater inclusivity and participation in government. To view Wednesday’s December commission meeting click here. 

The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics is looking to fill the position of Staff Attorney. The Staff Attorney provides ethics advice and issues ethics opinions to covered parties under the County Ethics Ordinance, under the supervision of the Executive Director and the General Counsel. Assists in developing educational materials and conducts training for public officials, employees, advisory board members, and local government lobbyists. Prepares reports and memoranda for presentation to the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission. Responsible for leading investigations, makes probable cause determinations, and conducting prosecutions to address violations of the public trust under agency supervision. 

Click here for more details regarding the opportunity and to learn how to apply.

• C 23-53-11: A public hearing was set for the February COE Meeting in a complaint involving former Town of Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger. The Commission previously found Probable Cause that Mr. Danzinger violated the Exploitation of Official Position Prohibited section of the Miami-Dade County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics ordinance while making a power point presentation where he used Town resources to promote his mayoral campaign.

• An officer was advised that he may engage in outside employment as a trainer, agency coach and adjunct professor with three organizations, none of which are county contractors or vendors, without giving rise to a conflict of entrance because the outside employment would not impair his independence of judgment in the performance of his County duties.

• A firefighter who used his personal funds to pay an attorney to get a disciplinary finding overturned was advised that he cannot use an online fundraising page to attempt to raise funds to reimburse himself for the money he spent on attorney’s fees because of the broad prohibitions on soliciting gifts.

• A county advisory board member who owns and operates a private construction company was advised that he may contract with the county as a vendor, provided that his company does not do business with his advisory board and does not respond to any solicitation that arises from his advisory board’s recommendation. Additionally, he may not appear before his advisory board, nor may he vote on any matter that directly affects his company.

Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics & Public Trust

Phone: 305-579-2594

Email: ethics@miamidade.gov

Website: www.ethics.miamidade.gov

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