Minutes: Civil Service Board 10-11-22

City of Miami

3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL  33133
www.miamigov.com

Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, October 11, 2022
10:00 AM
Commission Chambers

Civil Service Board

Troy Sutton, Chair
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 10:15 am, with the Pledge of Allegiance. At commencement of the meeting, attendance was as follows:

Attendee Name

Title

Status

Troy Sutton

Chairperson

Present

Rodrigo Jimenez

Chief Examiner

Present

Rafael Cabrera

Board Member

Present

Ulysses Garcia

Board Member

Absent

Travis Lindsey

Board Member

Present

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:

Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Lindsey, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

A.        Approving of the Minutes

A.1

Civil Service Board - Regular Meeting - September 20, 2022

Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Jimenez, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

B.        Personnel Matters

B.1

Copy of a memorandum from Angela Roberts, Director, Human Resources Department, notifying Yvonne Hernandez, Assistant to the Director, of her voluntary return to former classification. Yvonne Hernandez is returning to Administrative Assistant II. (NOTIFICATION)

C.        Military Leaves of Absense

C.1

Raweewan Andrews, GIS Data Specialist, requests extension of Active-Duty Military Leave without pay from September 21, 2022 through December 6, 2022. Copy of Orders extending leave submitted. (DISCUSSION)

Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Jimenez, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES: Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

C.2

Enrique Acosta, Firefighter, requests Active-Duty Military Leave without pay from September 12 through September 16, 2022. Copy of Orders submitted. (DISCUSSION)

Motion by Board Member Lindsey, seconded by Board Member Jimenez, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES: Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

C.3

Enrique Acosta, Firefighter, requests Active-Duty Military Leave without pay from September 19 through September 23, 2022. Copy of Orders submitted. (DISCUSSION)

Motion by Board Member Jimenez, seconded by Board Member Lindsey, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES: Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

C.4

Marvin Bravo, Police Sergeant, requests Active-Duty Military Leave without pay from September 26, 2022 for indefinite period. Copy of Orders submitted. (DISCUSSION)

Motion by Board Member Jimenez, seconded by Board Member Lindsey, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES: Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

C.5

Alain Etienne, Police Officer, requests Active-Duty Military Leave without pay from September 25, 2022 for indefinite period. Copy of Orders submitted. (DISCUSSION)

Motion by Board Member Jimenez, seconded by Board Member Cabrera, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES: Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

C.6

John Romero, Police Officer, requests Active-Duty Military Leave without pay from October 3, 2022, for a period of a 363 days. Copy of Orders submitted. (DISCUSSION)

Motion by Board Member Jimenez, seconded by Board Member Lindsey, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES: Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

C.7

Abraham Rodriguez, Police Officer, requests re-employment as a Police Officer, following his return from Active-Duty Military Leave. Copy of a DD214 from the Army, indicating Honorable Discharge submitted. (DISCUSSION)

Motion by Board Member Jimenez, seconded by Board Member Lindsey, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES: Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

C.8

Sandy Cabana, Police Sergeant, requests extension of Active-Duty Military Leave without pay from October 6, 2022 through November 14, 2022. First extension was through October 5, 2022. Copy of Orders extending leave submitted. (DISCUSSION)

Motion by Board Member Jimenez, seconded by Board Member Lindsey, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES: Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

D.        Disciplinary Matters

D.1

Copy of a letter from Chief Joseph F. Zahralban, Director, Department of Fire Rescue, notifying Sean Latterner, Firefighter, of a 24-hour suspension, effective September 24, 2022. (NOTIFICATION).

D.2

Copy of a letter from Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales, Department of Police, notifying Alexander Garcia-Contreras, Police Officer, of a 40-hour suspension, effective September 29, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

D.3

Copy of a letter from Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales, Department of Police, notifying Alexander Garcia-Contreras, Police Officer, of an 80-hour suspension, effective October 10, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

D.4

Copy of a letter from Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales, Department of Police, notifying Richard Efrece, Police Officer, of a 10-hour suspension, effective October 3, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

D.5

Copy of a letter from Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales, Department of Police, notifying Marquise Williams, Police Officer, of a 10-hour suspension, effective October 15, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

D.6

Copy of a letter from Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales, Department of Police, notifying Jesenia Cotilla, Police Sergeant, of a 40-hour suspension, effective October 3, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

D.7

Copy of a letter from Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales, Department of Police, notifying Wisler Andre, Information Technology Tech III, of an 8-hour suspension, effective October 3, 2022, and a request to appeal from Mr. Andre. (NOTIFICATION)

D.8

Copy of a letter from Barbara Hernandez, Director, Department of Parks and Recreation, notifying Juan Ramos, Grounds Tender, of a 192-hour suspension, effective October 5, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

D.9

Copy of a letter from Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales, Department of Police, notifying Eldys Diaz, Police Lieutenant, of a 10-hour forfeiture, effective September 30, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

D.10

Copy of a letter from Chief of Police Manuel A. Morales, Department of Police, notifying Juan Meza, Police Officer, of a 10-hour forfeiture, effective September 30, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

E.        General Items

E.1

Copy of a request to continue from Stephanie K. Panoff, Senior Assistant City Attorney, concerning the Appeal Hearing of Mario Gonzalez, former Police Officer, as it relates to his Termination, effective November 9, 2021, (CSB#21-21D & CSB#21-22D). Mr. Gonzalez requests a continuance until the conclusion of the criminal case. (DISCUSSION). Hearing is scheduled for October 18, 2022.

Stephanie Panoff, Assistant City Attorney, appeared before the Board and explain the reasoning for her request for a continuance. Mr. Gonzalez was not present; however, via email advised the Board of a request to continue until the outcome of his criminal case. ACA Panoff expressed an objection to an indefinite continuance.

Following discussion, the Board made a motion to GRANT a joint continuance, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Jimenez, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

E.2

Copy of a request from Stephanie K. Panoff, Senior Assistant City Attorney, to consolidate the Appeal Hearings of Mario Gonzalez, former Police Officer, as it relates to his Terminations, effective November 9, 2021, (CSB#21-21D & CSB#21-22D). Mr. Gonzalez expressed an objection to the request. (DISCUSSION)

Stephanie Panoff, Assistant City Attorney, advised the Board of her request to consolidate Mr. Gonzalez' two appeal hearings concerning his Termination. Although Mr. Gonzalez was not present, the Board noted his disagreement with the request, based on his assertion that the reasons for his terminations were different.

Following discussion, the Board made a motion to DENY the request without prejudice, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Lindsey, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

F.         Reports

F.1

Hearings Pending List as of October 11, 2022. (NOTIFICATION)

Having had the hearings scheduled for October 18, 2022, continued at today’s meeting, Member Cabrera suggested canceling the Board meeting.  Following discussion, the Board made a motion to cancel the regular Civil Service Board meeting scheduled for October 18, 2022, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Cabrera, seconded by Board Member Lindsey, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

G.        Requests for Hearings

H.        Today's Hearings

H.1

Continuation of the Appeal Hearing of Alfredo Matias, former Police Officer, concerning his Termination, effective January 27, 2022.

Prior to proceeding in today's hearing, Chair Sutton advised Michael Braverman, Attorney on behalf of Mr. Matias, that in the absence of Member Garcia, today's Board consisted of 4 members and ask for his position as it relates to moving forward with today’s hearing.

After consulting with his client and ACA Adanna Ferguson, he believed it would be in the best interest of everyone to request the hearing be continued to a time and date that all members will be present; ACA Ferguson concurred.

Following discussion, the Board made a motion to CONTINUE the Appeal hearing tentatively to the meeting of November 15, 2022, contingent on the Chief of Police’s availability, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Lindsey, seconded by Board Member Cabrera, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey

H.2

Appeal Hearing on behalf of Aiesha Fortune, Police Officer, concerning her 40-hour suspension, effective January 2, 2022.

The Executive Secretary advised that a Request for Continuance had been received from the Department, and there was no objection from Eugene Gibbons, Attorney, given the fact that there was a continuation of a Termination Appeal Hearing.

Following discussion, the Board GRANTED a Board continuance, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Lindsey, seconded by Board Member Jimenez, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Jimenez, Cabrera, Lindsey


ADJOURNMENT:

There being no further business before the Board, a motion was entered to adjourn the meeting at 10:38 am, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Lindsey, seconded by Board Member Jimenez, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Cabrera, Jimenez, Lindsey


SIGNATURE: 
Troy Sutton, Chairperson

ATTEST:  Tishria L. Mindingall, Executive Secretary