Scandal Stalking 3 Miami-Area Mayors

Three mayors within one county have fallen under suspicion as a string of corruption allegations has tangled Miami-area politics.

The mayor of Hialeah has been indicted on federal racketeering charges, the mayor of Miami Beach is under investigation after the collapse of a savings and loan, and three-quarters of Sweetwater’s elected officials--the mayor included--face federal extortion charge.

All three cities are in Dade County, the densely populated area of about 2 million people that includes Miami.

Since his appointment two years ago, U.S. Atty. Dexter Lehtinen, a former Republican state senator from Dade County, has made corruption in public office his No. 1 priority.

Some people question his motives.

“There is a major suspicion in this town that Dexter has politicized the U.S. attorney’s office,” said Miami attorney Jeffrey Weiner, vice president of the National Assn. of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The scandals in Hialeah and Miami Beach threaten the political careers of two Democratic stars, both coming off landslide reelections in November.

In Hialeah, Raul Martinez, who since 1981 has been mayor of Florida’s fifth-largest city, was indicted in April on charges of extorting nearly $1 million in cash and real estate from developers for zoning approvals. He was suspended along with a city councilman who allegedly traded his vote for $24,000 in cash.

Martinez emerged as a potential challenger to Lehtinen’s wife, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, in last year’s U.S. House race. But he stayed out, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen won the seat for the Republicans.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Dexter Lehtinen disqualified himself from the investigation into Martinez, who has been under federal scrutiny for years. Two other council members in the city of 200,000 have pleaded guilty to federal charges in the last three years.

No trial date has been set for Martinez, who faces up to 180 years in prison and $2.25 million in fines if convicted. Martinez, 41, has denied all charges, and his supporters say the case is politically tainted.

In Miami Beach, third-term Mayor Alex Daoud has not been charged but is being probed by federal and state authorities and by the Florida Bar.

Among items being investigated are $35,000 Daoud received from CenTrust companies before the thrift was taken over by federal regulators, tens of thousands of dollars in renovations to his home and thousands of dollars in gifts from Miami Beach socialites.

Daoud, a popular and media-conscious mayor, has become tight-lipped about his troubles except to make periodic denials of any wrongdoing.

City inspectors found more than $235,000 in improvements to Daoud’s Sunset Island home, the Miami Herald reported. Daoud lacked city permits for most of the work, did not pay all required fees, failed to get final inspections and, according to some contractors, refused to pay his bills, the newspaper said.

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed thousands of pages of city documents as part of its investigation of Daoud’s dealings with David Paul, former head of CenTrust.

In Sweetwater, Mayor Irain Gonzalez and five of seven council members were named Jan. 25 in an extortion indictment.

Two pleaded guilty, and the mayor and two council members are on trial. Another council member, named as an unindicted co-conspirator, testified against them in a case involving a $10,000 bribe allegedly made by a developer for a zoning variance. Jury deliberations began Friday.

Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez said the accumulation of scandals doesn’t mean city government in the booming Miami metropolitan area is suddenly for sale. “I guess it’s just circumstance,” said Suarez.

He added: “One of my partners is from a state in the Northeast where they’ve had a lot of corruption, and he said some of the stuff that he’s been reading about here sounds pretty minor compared to what he was used to.”