City of Miami
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL 33133
www.miamigov.com
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
10:00 AM
Commission Chambers
Civil Service Board
Troy Sutton, Chairperson
Rodrigo Jimenez, Chief Examiner
Rafael Cabrera, Board Member
Ulysses Garcia, Board Member
Travis Lindsey, Board Member
Pledge of Allegiance
The meeting was called to order at 10:10 am, with the Pledge of Allegiance. At commencement of the meeting, attendance was as follows:
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Attendee Name
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Title
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Status
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Troy Sutton
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Chairperson
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Present
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Rodrigo Jimenez
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Chief Examiner
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Absent
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Rafael Cabrera
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Board Member
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Present
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Ulysses Garcia
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Board Member
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Present
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Travis Lindsey
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Board Member
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Absent
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Adoption of Agenda
Chair Sutton asked if there were any revisions to the Agenda. Hearing none, a motion to adopt the Agenda as printed was considered and resulted as follows:
A motion was entered to approve the Minutes as presented, which resulted as follows:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
A. Approving of the Minutes
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A.1
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Civil Service Board - Regular Meeting - Jun 29, 2021 10:00 AM
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A motion was entered to approve the Minutes as presented, which resulted as follows:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
B. Personnel Matters
C. Military Leaves of Absence
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C.1
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Odney Belfort, Police Sergeant, requests Active Duty Military Leave without pay effective July 1, 2021 through July 31, 2021. Copy of Orders submitted. (DISCUSSION)
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The Board entered a motion to approve the leave as requested and thanked the employee for his service.
Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
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C.2
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Marvin Bravo, Police Sergeant, requests re-employment as a Police Sergeant following his return from Military Leave. Copy of memorandum from the Army National Guard indicating Honorable Discharge submitted. (DISCUSSION)
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The Board entered a motion to approve the re-employment as requested and thanked the employee for his service.
Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
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C.3
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Jimmy Rodriguez, Police Officer, requests re-employment as a Police Officer following his return from Military Leave.Copy of memorandum from the U.S. Coast Guard indicating Honorable Discharge submitted. (DISCUSSION)
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The Board entered a motion to approve the re-employment as requested and thanked the employee for his service.
Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
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C.4
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Jason Hunter, Communications Repair Worker, requests re-employment as a Communications Repair Worker, following his return from Military Leave. Copy of memorandum from the Army National Guard indicating Honorable Discharge submitted. (DISCUSSION)
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The Board entered a motion to approve the re-employment as requested and thanked the employee for his service.
Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
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C.5
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Felix Feliciano, Firefighter, requests re-employment as a Firefighter following his return from Military Leave. Copy of memorandum from the Air Force indicating Honorable Discharge submitted. (DISCUSSION)
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The Board entered a motion to approve the re-employment as requested and thanked the employee for his service.
Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
D. Disciplinary Matters
E. General Items
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E.1
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Copy of a Request to Continue from Adanna Ferguson, Assistant City Attorney, concerning the Whistleblower hearing of Dana Carr, Police Captain pursuant to Florida Statue 112.3187. (DISCUSSION)
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Adanna Ferguson, Assistant City Attorney, advised the Board that the reason for the request for a continuance is because a key witness who did the investigation is unavailable. Chair Sutton called for Captain Carr; however, she was not present. Member Cabrera asked whether Captain Carr was notified of said request. The Executive Secretary responded in the affirmative. The Board entered a motion to GRANT the continuance as requested, which resulted as follows:
Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
F. Reports
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F.1
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Hearings Pending List as of July 13, 2021. (NOTIFICATION)
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The Board discussed the meeting calendar, noting the hearing of July 27th was cancelled earlier in the meeting. Member Cabrera asked Board members if they would be amenable to cancelling the meeting. Following discussion, a motion was made to CANCEL the meeting of July 27, 2021, which resulted as follows:
Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
G. Requests for Hearings
H. Today's Hearings
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H.1
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Whistleblower hearing on behalf of Lourdes Blanco, former Executive Director of the Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority, regarding her Termination, effective October 25, 2018.
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Prior to starting the hearing, Adanna Ferguson, Assistant City Attorney (ACA), appeared before the Board to respectfully request that Member Cabrera recuse himself from the hearing. She went on to explain that although since working with him being a member of the Civil Service Board, she felt that he can be fair and impartial, she wanted to avoid the appearance of him being biased given that he was a member of the Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority (MSEA) Board at the time it was dissolved. Member Cabrera stated that he understood the request but declined recusal.
Chair Sutton called for the Whistleblower hearing on behalf of Lourdes Blanco, former Executive Director of the Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority.
Ramon Guillen, Attorney, on behalf of Lourdes Blanco, thanked all of the witnesses that appeared at today's meeting. He went on to say that one of his witnesses will have to leave at 11:00 am and a key witness is unavailable both in-person and virtually. He advised that he’d consulted with his client and they ask that the Board grant a Continuance in this matter and reschedule the hearing to the regular meeting of October 5, 2021, given that all parties have checked their respective calendars and will be available. ACA Ferguson expressed no objection to the request.
Following discussion, the Board considered a motion to GRANT the employee’s request to continue, which resulted as follows:
Motion by Board Member Garcia, seconded by Board Member Cabrera, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia
AJOURNMENT:
A break was taken from 10:17 am – 10:51 am.
There being no further business before the Board, a motion was entered to adjourn the meeting at 11:55 am, which resulted as follows:
Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:
AYES: Garcia, Cabrera, Sutton
SIGNATURE: Troy Sutton, Chairperson
ATTEST: Tishria L. Mindingall, Executive Secretary