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Home My Public Portal About21-9941 Appointing John Taylor as Vice MayorRESOLUTION NO. 21-9941 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA-LOCKA, FLORIDA, APPOINTING JOHN H. TAYLOR JR AS VICE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF OPA- LOCKA, FLORIDA, TO FILL THE VACANCY OF VICE MAYOR CREATED AS A RESULT OF MAYOR MATTHEW A. PIGATT'S RESIGNATION; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, on November 10, 2021, Matthew A. Pigatt resigned as Mayor of the City of Opa-locka, Florida; and WHEREAS, Article II, Section 2.7 (C)(3), of the City Charter requires that the Vice Mayor shall complete the term of Mayor if the Mayor's position becomes vacant thereby creating a vacancy in the position of Vice Mayor; and WHEREAS, Article II, Section 2.7 (C)(3) of the City Charter requires the City Commission to fill the vacancy in the manner that the position of Vice Mayor is generally filled under Article II; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Article II, Section 2.4 (b) of the City Charter, the City Commission finds that John H. Taylor Jr. is the candidate to receive the second highest number of votes in the November 3, 2020 City of Opa-locka General Election; and WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that it is in the best interest of the City to appoint John H. Taylor Jr. to serve as Vice Mayor of the City of Opa-locka, Florida pursuant to Article II, Section 2.7(3). NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA-LOCKA, FLORIDA: Section 1. The recitals to the preamble herein are incorporated by reference. Section 2. The City Commission of the City of Opa-Locka hereby appoints John H. Taylor Jr. as Vice Mayor of the City of Opa-Locka. 1 Resolution No. 21- 9 94 1 Section 3. John H. Taylor shall serve as Vice Mayor pursuant to Article II, Section 2.7(C)(3) of the Charter of the City of Opa-Locka, Florida. Section 4. Scrivener's Errors Sections of this Resolution may be renumbered or re -lettered and corrections of typographical errors which do not affect the intent may be authorized by the City Manager or the City Manager's designee, without the need of a public hearing, by filing a corrected copy of same with the City Clerk. Section 5. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption and is subject to the approval of the Governor or his designee. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 17th day of November, 2021. Attest to: arena Flores ty Clerk Moved by: Commissioner Bass Seconded by: Commissioner Davis VOTE: 4-0 Commissioner Bass YES Commissioner Davis YES Commissioner Taylor YES Mayor Williams YES Veronica J. Williams, Mayor Approveds to form and legal sufficiency: Burnadette Norris= eeks, P.A. City Attorney 2 Section 2.4. - Presiding officer, mayor; commissioners; vice mayor. (a) The candidate for mayor receiving the highest number of votes in each general election shall, for a term of four (4) years immediately following thereafter, have the title of mayor, shall preside at meetings of the commission, and shall be recognized as head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for purposes of military law, but shall have no regular administrative duties. (b) The candidate for commissioner receiving the highest number of votes in each general election shall, for the term of two (2) years immediately following thereafter, have the title of vice mayor. (c) All candidates for the office of mayor shall qualify and stand for election separate and apart from those candidates qualifying and standing for election as commissioners. The term of office of the mayor shall be four (4) years. The terms of office for commission members shall be four (4) years. (Res. No. 12-8434, § 2, 7-18-12) Section 2.7. - Vacancies; Forfeiture of Office; Filling of Vacancies. (A) Vacancies. The office of a Commission member shall become vacant upon his/her death, resignation, disability, suspension or removal from office in any manner authorized by law, or by forfeiture of his/her office. (B) Forfeiture of Office. (1) Forfeiture by disqualification. The Mayor, Vice Mayor or Commission member, shall forfeit his/her office if at any time during his/her term s/he: (1) ceases to maintain his/her permanent residence in the City. (2) by legal declaration of mental incompetence of a member. (3) otherwise ceases to be a qualified elector of the City. (4) is convicted of a felony. (5) violates any express prohibition of this Charter. (6) lacks at any time during the term of office for which elected any qualification for the office prescribed by this Charter or by law. (2) Forfeiture by absence. The Mayor, Vice Mayor or Commission member shall be subject to forfeiture of his/her office, in the discretion of the remaining Commission members, if s/he is absent without good cause from any three regular meetings of the Commission during any calendar year or if s/he is absent without good cause from any three consecutive regular meetings of the Commission, whether or not during the same calendar year. (3) Procedures. The Commission shall be the sole judge of the qualifications of its members and shall hear all questions relating to forfeiture of a Commission member's office, including whether or not good cause for absence has been or may be established. The burden of establishing good cause shall be on the Commission member in question; provided, however, that any Commission member may at any time during any duly held meeting move to establish good cause for the absence of him/herself or the absence of any other Commission member, from any past, present or future meeting(s), which motion, if carried, shall be conclusive. A Commission member whose qualifications are in question, or, who is otherwise subject to forfeiture of his/her office, shall not vote on any such matters. The Commission member in question shall be entitled to a public hearing upon request regarding an alleged forfeiture of office. If a public hearing is requested, notice thereof shall be published in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the City at least one week in advance of the hearing. Any final determination by the Commission that a Commission meeting has forfeited his/her office shall be made by a majority of the Commission by resolution. All votes and other acts of the Commission member in question prior to the effective date of such resolution shall be valid regardless of the grounds of forfeiture. (C) Filling of vacancies. A vacancy on the Commission shall be filled as follows: (1) If Tess than six (6) months remain in the unexpired term, the vacancy shall be filled by the City Commission within 30 calendar days following the occurrence of the vacancy. (2) If six (6) months or more remain in the unexpired term, the vacancy shall be filled by the City Commission within 30 calendar days following the occurrence of the vacancy. The person chosen shall fill the vacancy until the next regularly scheduled Miami -Dade County -wide election, at which time an election shall be held to fill the vacancy for the balance of the term. However, if the Commission is unable to fill the vacancy within the 30 day period, a special election to fill that vacancy shall be held no later than 90 calendar days following the occurrence of the vacancy. The person so elected shall serve until the next scheduled City Regular Election, at which time any remaining balance of the term shall be filled by election. (3) If the Mayor's position becomes vacant, the Vice Mayor shall complete the term of Mayor. Vacancy of Vice Mayor thus created shall be filled in the manner that the position of Vice Mayor is generally filled under this Article. If the elected Mayor shall be returned to office, s/he shall automatically resume the duties of the office for the remainder of the term for which elected, and the Vice Mayor shall return to complete the balance of his/her term. The appointment of the person to complete the term of the Vice Mayor shall be automatically rescinded. (4) A vacancy in a Commission seat shall be filled by a qualified elector residing in the City. (5) Persons filling vacancies shall meet the qualifications specified in this Article. (6) If no candidate for a vacancy meets the qualifications under this Article for that vacancy, the Commission shall appoint a person qualified under this Article to fill the vacancy. (7) Notwithstanding any quorum requirements established in this Charter, if at any time the full membership of the Commission is reduced to less than a quorum, the remaining members may, by majority vote, confirm additional members to the extent otherwise permitted or required under this subsection (C). (8) In the event that all members of the Commission are removed by death, disability, recall, forfeiture of office and/or resignation, the Governor of the State of Florida shall appoint interim Commission members who shall call a special election within not less than 30 calendar days or more than 60 calendar days after such appointment. Such election shall be held in the same manner as the first elections under this Charter; provided however, that if there are less than six months, remaining in any of the unexpired terms, such interim Commission appointee(s) by the Governor shall serve out the unexpired terms. Appointees must meet all requirements for candidates provided for in this Article. (Res. No. 12-8434, § 2, 7-18-12) M I A M I•DADE ;COUNTY CERTIFICATION STATE OF FLORIDA) COUNTY OF MIAMI-DADE) Elections 2700 NW 87th Avenue Miami, Florida 33172 T 305 -499 -VOTE F 305-499-8547 TTY: 305-499-8480 miamidade.gov I, Christina White, Supervisor of Elections for Miami -Dade County, Florida, do hereby certify that the attached is a true and correct copy of the Official Results for the Miami -Dade County General Election conducted on November 3, 2020, which included the Opa-Iocka General Election: Commissioners WITNESS MY HAND AND OFFICIAL SEAL, AT MIAMI, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, ON THIS 13TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2020 Enclosure Th Christina White Supervisor of Elections Miami -Dade County SUMMARY REPT-GROUP DETAIL Official General Election Official Results Miami -Dade County, FL November 3, 2020 Run Date:11/13/20 03:58 PM Report EL45A Page 011 TOTAL VOTES ED VBM EV PROV Opa-locka Commissioners (VOTE FOR) 2 Randolph Aikens 405 5.63 90 179 136 0 Christina Banks 698 9.70 110 357 231 0 Sherelean V. Bass 1,063 14.77 238 446 379 0 Audrey Dominguez 879 12.21 150 444 285 0 Timothy Holmes 614 8.53 117 265 232 0 Dorothy Johnson 878 12.20 185 416 277 0 John "The Juice" Taylor 1,265 17.57 292 515 458 0 Veronica Williams 1.396 19.39 229 630 537 0 Total 7.198 1,411 3,252 2,535 0 Over Votes 32 4 18 10 0 Under Votes 3,550 645 1,266 1,639 0 Palmetto Bay Vice Mayor (VOTE FOR) 1 Alan "A1John" Farquharson 1,737 12.79 166 795 776 0 Edward "Ed" Silva 5,179 38.14 483 2,322 2,374 0 Leanne Tellam 6,662 49.06 430 3.660 2,572 0 Total 13,578 1,079 6,777 5,722 0 Over Votes 4 0 2 2 0 Under Votes 1.675 206 689 780 0 Palmetto Bay Council Member Seat 2 (VOTE FOR) 1 Steve Cody 6,901 51.87 606 3.341 2.954 0 David M. Singer 6,403 48.13 459 3,284 2,660 0 Total 13,304 1,065 6,625 5,614 0 Over Votes 7 0 4 3 0 Under Votes 1,946 220 839 887 0 Pinecrest Councilmember Seat 1 (VOTE FOR) 1 Anna Hochkammer 7,449 71.51 395 4,266 2.788 0 Harry Speizer 2.967 28.49 216 1,344 1,407 0 Total 10,416 611 5,610 4,195 0 Over Votes 7 0 4 3 0 Under Votes 1,204 116 470 618 0 Pinecrest Councilmember Seat 3 (VOTE FOR) 1 Shannon Del Prado 6,512 60.66 322 3,739 2,451 0 Laura McNaughton 4.224 39.34 316 1,938 1,970 0 Total 10,736 638 5,677 4,421 0 Over Votes 1 0 1 0 0 Under Votes 890 89 406 395 0 Sunny Isles Beach Res Area Comm Seat 1 (VOTE FOR) 1 Justen S. Fischer 3.243 45.01 613 1,354 1,276 0 Larisa Svechin 3,962 54.99 734 1,826 1,402 0 Total 7,205 1,347 3,180 2,678 0 Over Votes 3 1 1 1 0 Under Votes 1,594 438 505 651 0 MATTHEW A. PIGATT Mayor Cell: (786) 269-1252 Cell Office: (305) 688-4611 Office Email: mpigatt@opalockafl.gov RESIGNATION SPEECH November 10, 2021 Accept this as my resignation from the position of Mayor in the City of Opa-locka, I will not be a figurehead foL corruption. I am going to those with the real power in this system: The People. CJ1 Orr; I am not resigning because the job is too big. I am resigning because I am in the wrong position to effect real c ihRzin ca I naively thought that a system that is broken could be fixed from within - by reformers who, if they just care.': eeply enough, could root out things like cronyism, shadow deals, and government officials who turn a blind eye toward the corrupt deeds of others lest their own corruption be dragged into the light — I was wrong. I left home 17 years ago with a commitment to become a better person for my family and the community that saved my life. I came back home ten years ago and chose to raise my family here in Opa-locka because it was the heart of my community. my city - and in cities just like this throughout America. My journey through this government began as an intern in the planning and community development department. I learned about the history of this community, its beauty, its potential, and its challenges. I learned firsthand how the employees of this city were treated by the leadership and how they were taking advantage of the people by not doing their job to serve the people. My first time challenging this government was when I spoke out against the firing of the City manager and the corruption on the dais back in 2014. That led to me getting code enforcement violations on my home, being threaten by the police multiple times, and being accosted by so-called shadow mayors and community advocates, right here in this room, at that podium, while those on the dais and in the room looked on in silence. When I ran for office, the tagline was a new generation of leadership. The people voted to replace the only elected official indicted after the FBI raids on this city. We campaigned around town repeating the same words to everyone: "It is time to put an end to this corruption and hold this government accountable. We need to handle the basics. Get our finances in order. We need to make sure the trash gets picked up on time. Our water bills are accurate. These streets get fixed. And the police and code enforcement don't pick and choose who they are harassing." The people overwhelmingly voted for that twice. Since being elected, I have been laser focused on my commitment to the people: 1. We have a new generation of leadership. All new elected officials, a new city manager and city attorney. 2. We replaced our residential trash company with one that picks up our garbage on time and efficiently. 3. We replaced 98% of our water meters across the city and have a third party making sure the bills are accurate. 4. We fixed 18 out of 19 of our pump stations and developed a stormwater master plan to address the flooding across the city. 5. We brought in a financial consultant and budget director that did several evaluations of our finance department, City Hall • 780 Fisherman Street, 4`h Floor, Opa-locka, Florida 33054 • (305) 688-4611 completed 5 audits, submitted a 5 -year financial recovery plan, and works well with the State's Financial Oversight Board and Auditor General. 6. We paved over 20 miles of streets including Cairo lane, 139th, and 141st. We fixed over 90% of the potholes throughout the city; the largest road surfacing and re -milling project in decades. And we are putting sidewalks in the neighborhoods. 7. We brought in Miami Dade County Police Department to do an assessment of our police department. We got a new police chief, command staff, new officers, new vehicles, new equipment, and a substation. Yet despite all of these accomplishments, in this position as Mayor, I could not stop the corruption. I naively thought that I could help reform this city from the inside, by being the change I wished to see in this community and bringing in a new generation of leadership. During my time I withstood, threats on my life, my family, the loss of my job, character assassinations, and political intrigue more scandalous than the show Scandal. What I have experienced and witnessed with my own eyes during my journey through this government, let me just say this for now, those who stand up for what is right do not last long in this system. The forces of corruption are too strong for one person to reform. The reformers within the government are outnumbered by those who want to compromise, maintain the status quo and promote themselves over the people. However, the people outnumber the government. The people can hold this government accountable. I want to thank the people who elected and supported me on this journey through the inside of this system. I got you. I am going to take these insights and experiences back to the people. Everything will be shared when it will do the most good. I have a family I need to be there for and take care of. I started this mission as a young single man. Now, I am a proud husband and father. My wife, my son, and my two daughters need their Babu. I am going to take some time for my family. And, then, the people will learn everything, including how to hold their government accountable, and change this system. There are, of course, some here in this very room — and, some sitting right up here on this dais who are breathing a sigh of relief, believing that I am finally going away. As always, they could not be more incorrect in their hopes and pride. As I said at the very beginning of this statement, I am not abandoning the people's mission to dislodge the corrupt, the power- hungry, and the flat out shady from in this city and others. When the time is right you will be hearing more about what form this will take and how those who are like minded can get involved. For those of you who stand in opposition to this — to those who operate in the shadows, who put themselves above service, who actually believe you hold power beyond the people... to the corrupt, the cronies, the narcissists, the deceivers, and the liars - understand that I am not only giving my notice. I, and those who join me are putting you ON notice. On behalf of all the people who want better for their communities, Thank you. I thank all of you for these insights and experiences. We will hold government accountable to the people. City Hall • 780 Fisherman Street, 4111 Floor, Opa-locka, Florida 33054 • (305) 688-4611