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HAAB Minutes 07/22/1999 Minutes Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Meeting July 22, 1999 HISPANIC AFFAIRS ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF MEETING of July 22, 1999 at the Golden Gate Community Center, Naples, Florida PRESENT: ABSENT: Frank Loney, HAAB Member Dora Vidaurri, HAAB Member David Correa, HAAB Member Pete Cade, HAAB Member Faye Reddick, HAAB Member Maria Grimaldo, HAAB Member Leo Cardona, HAAB Member Ramiro Maiialich, Chief Assistant County Attorney and HAAB Staff Liaison Member Also Present: Frank Rodriguez, Citizen Chris Bent, Applicant Victor Valdes, Editor, Las Naciones Newspaper Jim Williams, Collier County Sheriffs Office The meeting of the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board of Collier County (HAAB) for July 22, 1999 commenced at approximately 7:05 P.M. A quorum of six (6) members was present. A motion was made by Frank Loney to approve the minutes of the June 24, 1999 meeting. Faye Reddick seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor of approval of said minutes. Election of New Chairman: Liaison Ramiro Maiialich briefly reviewed the history of Chairperson election discussions that have been previously held by the HAAS. Maria Grimaldo stated that she believed that the election should occur tonight with no further delays. Leo Cardona nominated David Correa for the position of Chairman. A second was provided by Pete Cade. David Correa commented that on occasion he had exhibited strong viewpoints, such as in the Cardona case. He stated that he can be an emotional person but only when he believes strongly regarding an issue and when it is necessary to correct a wrong. David described his prior history of twenty-five years in the New "'~'" York court system and promised to treat everyone alike on the HAAB. David commented that in regard to the Commissioner Carter issues, he voiced strong opinions due to the English as Official Language Resolution which he considered would be a slap in the face of the Hispanic community because there had been no contact with the Hispanic community about the Resolution David stated that he later met with Commissioner Carter and the County Administrator and apologized if his strong opinions had been misinterpreted. Faye Reddick commented that there will be many emotional issues before the HAAB in the future due to the pain which continues to be felt in the Hispanic community. She stated that there is a place for emotion but that the members should stick to the golden rule of treating everyone alike and as everyone would want to be treated. She reminded the members that they should act as role models for the Hispanic community, even if they disagree with other viewpoints. She emphasized that the members must show respect and not burn bridges She commented that one cannot always take back what has been said. Maria Grimaldo emphasized the need to see more productive meetings and not merely aggressive positions She commented that she thought that David Correa would do a good job as Chairman. David Correa assured everyone that he would try to treat all concerned at the Hispanic Board meetings with courtesy and respect. After this discussion, a call for the vote occurred and the vote was unanimous to approve David Correa as the Chairman for a period of one year. Said Chairmanship would begin effective at the August, 1999 meeting. Frank Loney stated that he hoped that the HAAB would continue to be aggressive in its pursuit of HAAB and Hispanic issues, regardless of who is the Chairman. Presentation by Victor Valdes regarding the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Report on its Investigation of the Collier County SheriIT's Office which was Ordered by Governor Bush, with Written Comments provided by Mr. Valdes. Mr. Victor Valdes, Editor of Las Naciones News and Hispanic Rights advocate, made a presentation as follows: He stated that he had respect and professional consideration for Inspector Williams from the Sheriffs office, who was present at the meeting. However, Mr. Valdes commented that since 1994 he has made civil rights violation allegations against the Sheriff and also allegations of police brutality. He reminded the members that in 1993, there had been a so called "Valdes Probe" on this subject. He mentioned that in 1997, he had accused Deputy Russo of lying and perjury, and other wrong doings He said that afterwards, the Internal Affairs Division of the Sheriff s office found his complaints to be true and the Officer resigned. He reminded the members also that the Valdes Probe tried to clean out the Sheriffs office of a few bad officers out of hundreds of good ones that belonged to the Sheriff s office 2 Mr. Valdes mentioned that on January 11, 1999, he sent a letter to Florida Governor Jeb Bush regarding the need for an investigation of the Sheriffs office. Mr. Valdes claimed that 14 years of complaints cannot be investigated in 5 hours. He thought that the investigator did the best that could be done under the assignment that was given in the time allotted. He thought that the investigator spent a total of 15 to 20 hours on the case and only 27 days were available for investigation before report to the Governor A summary of the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is attached to these minutes at the request of Mr. Valdes Mr. Valdes reported that the FLDE summary found that there was no criminal wrong doing with regard to Sheriff Hunter. However, Mr. Valdes noted that public records and the Sheriffs statements mentioned in the report have inconsistencies. Mr. Valdes indicated that he would send more allegations and witness statements to the Governor in regard to this matter and he would request that the Governor and that Attorney General Reno do further investigations. Mr. Valdes submitted for the minutes copies of Las Naciones News Paper Supplement with the entire history of the matter. Mr. Valdes claims that he has presented previous case examples of contradictions in statements by the Sheriff. For example, he presented the case of the Gomez brothers regarding police brutality and referred to the document, at page 20 of the attached newspaper article, showing that the brothers were not convicted despite the allegations against them by Sheriff s officials. Mr. Valdes stressed the need for a full investigation and he hoped that Inspector Williams would do a professional and thorough job in light of the prior complaints that Mr. Valdes has mentioned. Mr. Valdes further stated that he considered that former HAAB Chairman Frank Rodriguez had tried to interrupt his presentation of these matters to the HAAB on prior occasions. Member Faye Reddick inquired of Mr Valdes regarding the report and the Governor's investigation. Mr. Valdes responded by mentioning the example of Officer Glendell Edison who he complained about to the Sheritr s office for 10 years and about whom the Sheriff did not act. He says that Edison has now been charged with corruption Mr Valdes also mentioned that in 1993, he reviewed about 150 internal affairs files and most of the complaints in the files were made by minorities. Faye Reddick mentioned that she believed that the Sheriffs corruption allegations are beyond the scope of the HAAB but that she was interested in any brutality allegations involving the Hispanic community as a whole Mr Valdes commented that he has a list of bad officers who have had many allegations brought against them and a pattern of improper conduct. He said that some of these officers were also involved in a recent "bachelor party" which was widely publicized. Inspector Jim Williams appeared on behalf of the Collier County Sheriff s office and offered a number of comments regarding Mr. Valdes' allegations. Mr Williams stated that appreciated the opportunity to appear before the HAAB and that this was a difficult issue for the Sheriffs office. he said that any underlying corruption issue allegation is of great significance. Mr. Williams stated that he appreciated Mr Valdes' statements of confidence in his abilities, but he said that the strength of his position stems from Sheriff Hunter who has given him full reign to review any and all allegations He reported that in January of 1998, he took over as the head of the Professional 3 Responsibility Division of the Sheriffs office. He came to Collier County in May of 1996, after 30 years in the Marine Corps as a Deputy Inspector General. He is now in charge of Internal Affairs. Mr. Williams commented that Agent O'connell from FDLE is a very professional individual and did have only a limited time for a preliminary inquiry into this matter. He said that the Sheriffs investigation has occurred since January of 1998, and did include the Edison matter. The result of that investigation was that Edison was terminated and arrested on corruption charges. He mentioned that a large team of investigators had worked on the Edison matter in coordination with the US Attorney office. He mentioned that the crimes were of a historical nature and that they involved a lot of boring and tedious work covering facts stemming from the 1980s. Mr. Williams also mentioned that another officer had been implicated in the Edison matter and that an investigation had been ongoing since December of 1998 in conjunction with the US Attorney. In all of these matters he stressed the Sheriff wants any corruption stopped. Mr. Williams commented that the March 10, 1999 response to the Governor's investigation directive had determined no criminal violations by the Sheriff He stressed that the FDLE findings only passed on criminal allegations and did not address any administrative issues that Mr. Valdes may claim exist. Mr. Williams stressed that the Collier County Sheriff is a very fair man who acts cautiously and applies a "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard to assure fairness to officers who have allegations against them. That standard was met in the Edison case, even though initial investigations into the Edison matter apparently had not been sufficiently thorough. He said that the Sheriff had implemented steps to improve future investigations. Mr Williams asked that the FDLE letter be attached for the record He offered to provide a copy of the entire investigation for the record if the HAAS was interested. Mr Williams went on to explain that there were 3 categories of allegations by Mr. Valdes against the Sheriff: 1) knowledge of the Edison illegal activity; 2) acting as an accomplice; and 3) that the Sheriff was not qualified to investigate the Edison matter At this point Mr. Valdes interrupted and claimed that since 1989, the Sheriff knew of the illegal actions of Mr. Edison. Mr. Williams continued by saying that none of the 3 allegations had been found to have any merit by FDLE. Specifically, Mr. Edison was investigated and prosecuted He said that he personally worked overtime on the Edison matter at the express direction of the Sheriff. Mr. Williams further added that the FDLE investigation had found no evidence of obstruction of any investigations by the Sheriff. He commented that the Sheriff depends on subordinates to carry out investigations such as the Edison matter. He noted that one of the subordinates is no longer with the agency and the other may be indicted for interfering with the Edison investigation Member Faye Reddick commented that she would have preferred that this matter had come to light through the Sheriffs own processes without the need for Mr Valdes to engage in his exhaustive efforts. Maria Grimaldo congratulated Mr Valdes for keeping the HAAS informed through his newspaper She said that she respected the comments of Mr Williams but believes that without Mr. Valdes, nothing would have been done. Inspector Williams responded by stating that Mr. 4 Valdes is a journalist, but that he is an investigator and he does not advertise his investigative efforts, but that the public records are available to show the diligent efforts of the Sheriff. In conclusion, Mr. Williams commented that the Sheriff investigates in an objective and professional manner. He says that the Sheriffs office has taken Mr Valdes' allegations seriously, although they have not always agreed. He stated that he was not personally familiar with the Gomez case mentioned by Mr Valdes, but that it may be an internal affairs investigation which is ongoing. He would be willing to discuss results of cases once they are brought to conclusion and are appropriate for comment. David Correa mentioned that the Sheriff is an elected official and that it is up to the people to determine ifhe is doing a quality job. Frank Loney commented that he has been in the County for a long time and believes that Sheriff Hunter was elected due to the problems with his predecessor. Frank stated that he believes that sometimes minorities have a tough time with the Sheriff s office when they have been arrested. Mr. Valdes asked the HAAB to note several aspects of his attached newspaper article showing the ineffectiveness of the Sheriffs investigations into the Edison matter. Mr. Valdes stated that he had raised these issues for 15 years and that he suffered improper harassment from the Sheriff because of his complaints. David Correa observed that the FDLE Report concluded that there was no Sheriffs wrongdoing. Mr. Valdes' response to that was that if Sheriff Hunter had paid attention to Hispanic issues in 1989, the matter would have been resolved far earlier. Inspector Williams disagreed and stated that Sheriff Hunter takes personal responsibility for all of the investigative efforts that are underway to assure proper conduct by his officers. He stated that the Sheriff and Mr. Valdes have many differences and issues between them, some of which are in court. However, he said that it is the Sheriffs policy that allegations of police brutality and other misconduct are always open to being addressed. Mr. Valdes noted that it has been a wise move with the Sheriff to name Mr. Williams as Inspector because he has confidence in Mr. Williams' abilities. At the request of some members of the HAAB, Inspector Williams also provided a brief summary of the "bachelor party" publicly reported incident. Mr. Williams noted that the Sheriff had responded strongly to the situation in that case. Comments by Former HAAB Chairman Frank Rodriguez Frank mentioned to the HAAB that a 2 hour meeting is not sufficient for all of the matters on the agenda of the HAAB. He mentioned that there were 2 items for the HAAB to consider in the long term. First, he mentioned that he had met with County Administrator Bob Fernandez regarding the subject of diversity. He reported to the Board that Mr. Fernandez wants to create a panel to inform him about diversity issues. Frank suggested the need for a liaison from the HAAB to the Diversity Task Force. The first meeting is scheduled to take place in late August. Frank also mentioned the need to have HAAB involvement in the coalition to improve farm worker 5 -""" housing. Christopher Bent asked how that effort would dovetail with the "Pueblo Naples" project. At this point, Frank Loney asked to be excused to leave because of a sick child. The result was the lack of a quorum so Liaison Ramiro Maiialich advised that there could be no official action taken from this point on in the meeting. It was discussed if the next meeting would be held in Naples and Chris Bent suggested that each member of the HAAB should come with plans and goals for the year. There was a brief discussion about potential items for the Chairman to place on next month's agenda. The meeting then concluded Prepared by: Ramiro Maiialich, Board Liaison Approved by the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board on the 26th day of August, 1999. <D~ (:J >, \____{:;./ .f .{<~ David Correa, Chairman Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board I I __-...~~I t<1'I1. 1'(- a. f\ K ~I\ ~! ~ oh~ (M;..r f>\-A "- foe 7/ ).';)./ ~q f11e~~'1-p o~ +t.- H Itft(; ( 6