Published Thursday, January 24, 2002

Herald Link

Fire board denies member ground zero pay

BY KARL ROSS, kross@herald.com

The troubled Miami-Dade Fire Board ignored a county ethics commission recommendation and voted Wednesday to deny a payment of $31,700 to a fellow board member for his work at ground zero in New York, even though it paid other county rescue workers at the scene.

Fire Commissioner Neil Hall led the 3-0 vote to block payment to Commissioner Roberto Del Cristo, calling it ``obscene'' for an elected official to profit from volunteer work.

Joining him were Commissioners Marilyn Smith and Teresa Everett, although Everett objected to Del Cristo's exclusion and cast her vote under protest.

Del Cristo was one of three local physicians to accompany members of the county's Urban Search and Rescue Team to the site of the World Trade Center attacks. Billing at a rate of $100 per hour, Del Cristo and the two others were each entitled to collect $31,700 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Del Cristo said the vote was Hall's retaliation against him for making an issue of Hall's residency.

An ethics commission investigation has found that Hall really lives in Broward County, not Miami-Dade County as required for fire board membership.

``Obviously it's payback,'' said Del Cristo, who recused himself from the vote. ``I'm not going to let them get away with this.''

Del Cristo said he would challenge the board's action in court, adding that a lawsuit could imperil the $1.2 million the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department stands to receive from FEMA for its assistance in responding to the Sept. 11 attacks.

New Fire Chief Charles Phillips said it's improbable that a court injunction could block the transfer of funds but would not rule it out.

Phillips declined to comment further about the conduct of fire board members, which other fire officials privately called ``embarrassing'' and childish.

Del Cristo and Hall have been feuding for months, hostilities escalating with the appointment of Phillips as fire chief late last year. Del Cristo tried to derail Phillips' confirmation by raising questions about Hall's residency. Del Cristo also spoke out against a proposed raise to Phillips earlier this year.

Hall lobbied vigorously for Phillips' appointment as chief and refused to recuse himself from voting despite a report by the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust stating Hall lived in Broward County at the time he was elected.

Wednesday's meeting was summarily adjourned a short time later. Commissioners Hall and Smith left the chamber when Del Cristo stood up at the podium to make a power point presentation about the ethics report on Hall's residency.

``He has always been an outsider,'' Del Cristo said. ``He has never served his district, and he's a lie.''

The fire board lost its quorum when Hall and Smith left and was unable to vote on a motion by Del Cristo to file a lawsuit seeking Hall's removal from office.

-- Anonymous, January 24, 2002