Three commission seats contested in financially troubled Opa-locka
Corruption, mismanagement and insolvency — Opa-locka’s intractable problems have spurred a handful of fresh faces to enter the city’s pivotal election in November.
Among the eight candidates vying for three City Commission seats is Matthew Pigatt, a scholarship coordinator at Florida Memorial University.
Pigatt, 30, doesn’t hold back about what ails Miami-Dade County’s poorest city: “We have people in office who have taken advantage of the city and its citizens. Quite frankly, it’s embarrassing as a homeowner. … I cannot just sit back any longer.”
Pigatt and four other newcomers share the same lament as they challenge three incumbents in an election overshadowed by an FBI investigation into extortion involving public officials and a state oversight board’s takeover of the city’s finances.
In addition to Pigatt, the challengers are: Diamos Demerritt, 33, a minister who teaches at New Birth Baptist Church’s elementary school; Alvin Burke, 62, a retired Miami-Dade corrections officer; Christine Banks, 64, a longtime administrative assistant in Opa-locka government; and Anna Margarita Alvarado, 52, a former City Hall receptionist and library assistant.
In low-budget campaigns, Pigatt, Demerritt, Burke and Banks are challenging veteran Commissioner Joseph Kelley and his fellow incumbent, Luis Santiago, for two at-large seats with four-year terms.
In the third at-large commission race for a two-year term, Alvarado is challenging incumbent John Riley.
Of the two incumbents seeking four-year terms, Kelley, a minister, is viewed as a reformer. Santiago, a car salesman, faces potential federal charges accusing him of extorting Opa-locka businesses for thousands of dollars, according to confidential sources and court records.
Santiago has refused to talk with the Miami Herald since the newspaper has highlighted his central role in the alleged bribery scheme. The FBI’s probe has already resulted in guilty pleas by former City Manager David Chiverton and Public Works supervisor Gregory Harris for shaking down business owners and water customers.
Kelley said the upcoming election carries great consequences for the city, which has averted bankruptcy but is still struggling with a new budget and $14 million in past debts owed mainly to Miami-Dade government and dozens of vendors.
“We need to regain fiscal accountability and we need to earn the trust of the community again,” said Kelley, who pegged the city’s financial decline to the election of Myra Taylor as mayor in 2010. “A lot of people know I have been vocal about the problems. I continue to sound the alarm.”
Kelley often finds himself at odds with Taylor, Santiago and the other commissioners, over matters ranging from free ethics training by Miami-Dade County officials to the appointment of a new city manager, Yvette Harrell, a lawyer who replaced Chiverton but lacks experience as a public administrator.
The political newcomers said nothing will change at City Hall as long as the incumbents remain in power.
Banks, who has lived in the city for nearly 50 years and worked in various departments of Opa-locka government, described the commission as a “cancer” that is killing the predominantly black community of 16,000.
“But it’s really greed,” Banks said. “Hopefully, whoever [wins] … will come in with honesty, integrity and a willingness to work with the state oversight board. I do believe we can recover.”
Demerritt — a star running back at Norland High School who lost his athletic scholarship at Florida International University after being charged with armed robbery on campus — said he turned his life around after the charges were dropped. He became a Baptist minister and mentor to youth in Opa-locka. He said he wants to bring that positive energy to the city’s troubled government.
“The people are disgusted,” Demerritt said. “They have been promised stuff for years and years, and nothing has happened.”
Burke, who worked as a county corrections officer for almost 20 years, lost his job in 1994 after being charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana. The charges were eventually dismissed, and Burke went on to work several years as a code enforcement officer in Opa-locka. Now retired, he has become a fixture at City Commission meetings, often criticizing the board on budgetary and other issues.
“The problem in Opa-locka has been the leadership,” said Burke, a critic of Mayor Taylor. “I saw Opa-locka in its heyday, and I see where it is now. I would like to see it back in its heyday. … It’s going to take five years.”
In the race for the two-year term, the incumbent, Riley, served as mayor in the mid-1980s. Now 72, he was appointed to his new seat after former Commissioner Terence Pinder killed himself in May before his pending arrest on state bribery charges. The winner of that race will complete the remaining two years of Pinder’s term.
Since the state oversight board was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in June, Riley has continually challenged its handling of the city’s finances and policy decisions. He did not respond to a request to comment for this story.
But his opponent, Alvarado, views the board as a godsend: “They are a role model for the city. We need them.”
Jay Weaver: 305-376-3446, @jayhweaver
This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 7:30 AM with the headline "Three commission seats contested in financially troubled Opa-locka."