Ethics Questions Raised For 3 Key Biscayne Council Members

Police Chief Charles Press will answer questions about how the Village is policed at special Town Hall at 6 pm Tuesday in the Village Council Chambers. (Key News/Tony Winton)

The Miami-Dade Ethics Commission notified Key Biscayne officials last week of new conflict-of-interest inquiries regarding Council Members Brett Moss, Ed London, and former Mayor Frank Caplan over their ties to various nonprofit organizations, officials said.

Village Attorney Stephen Helfman said he was notified about the inquiry in what he described as a “courtesy call” from the Commission.

The exact nature of the ethics inquiries is unclear. Helfman said that with respect to Ed London, the inquiry had to deal with charitable gifts London has made to the Key Biscayne Community Foundation. With respect to Moss and Caplan -the publisher of Key News- Helfman said the inquiry involved their volunteer service on the boards of the Key Biscayne Historical Society and the Chamber of Commerce, while those groups were receiving Village funding.

Even more puzzling was how or why the Commission began an inquiry.

Helfman said the Commission informed him Council Member Ignacio Segurola telephoned the panel, but Segurola denied filing a complaint. Segurola did not return repeated calls and messages asking him if he had any other contact with the Commission.

On Saturday, Helfman said Segurola told him that the Ethics Commission had reached out to him, not the other way around.

Ethics Commission Executive Director Jose Arrojo said the agency declines comment on allegations until after an initial determination is made and would neither confirm nor deny whether anyone had contacted the panel. He said, however, that allegations need not be filed in writing.

“If an allegation, on its face, looks like it may have merit, then we will reach out to relevant parties,” he said. Arrojo confirmed that it is possible for persons named in allegations to waive confidentiality, which would then speed the release of records.

Caplan said he was informed of the inquiry by Chad Friedman, another Village attorney.

London said Sunday he was notified by Helfman of the complaint, which London said was meritless.

“I’m not concerned, and I don’t have a conflict,” he said.

Moss did not return calls and messages for comment.

Helfman said ethics investigations can take months, especially if there are multiple witnesses to be interviewed. He said County rules can require officeholders to not take part in decisions of entities that they serve on as directors or officers, even if their service is unpaid and for a nonprofit.

An ethics and Sunshine Law investigation of former Mayor Mayra Peña Lindsay roiled Village Hall for months before prosecutors cleared her earlier this year. The Village later reimbursed the former mayor for $35,000 in legal fees in a case centered on the ejection of a resident from a public meeting.

The Ethics Commission contact reported by the Village attorney comes on the heels of two highly contentious Village Council meetings about the Community Foundation, and against a background of what appears to be a widening politically-charged feud between Segurola, his supporters, and other members of the Council.

At a June 18 budget workshop, Segurola said the Foundation should stop administering a number of Village programs, ranging from the 4th of July Parade to programs for seniors, saying the arrangement lacked transparency and was bad public policy. But he provided no evidence.

Mayor Mike Davey then called a special meeting for July 2 for the Foundation to answer questions, a meeting that drew an overflow crowd of supporters holding signs, but Segurola described it as a “dressing down,” even though he joined a vote of confidence in the Foundation.

Around the same time, a series of tit-for-tat records requests were made by Segurola and Foundation officials. Segurola withdrew some of his requests, but others are still active, officials said, including his request for all communications by his fellow council members.

Segurola’s actions have touched a nerve for both his critics and supporters on the tight-knit island of 13,000.

Eugene Stearns, a prominent Miami commercial litigator and one of the leaders of Key Biscayne’s 1991 incorporation drive, wrote a blistering letter to Segurola and the Council July 10. Likening Segurola to the late Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy, he said he was “posturing as the champion of transparency.”

Segurola’s supporters, however, see him as fighting an entrenched Village power structure.

Among them is Antonio Camejo, the leader of the Key Biscayne Condominium Presidents’ Council, who urged members to attend the July 2 meeting.

In a June 29 email, he described Segurola as an “honest and qualified person” who was guarding the public trust from “cronyism, favoritism, and Council members who are compliant only to the powerful and influential.”

Few appeared to respond to his call, and Camejo himself did not attend the session.