CORAL GABLES
Coral Gables' ex-official may get near $100K to drop claims against city
The Coral Gables City Commission will consider paying its former Building and Zoning director, Margaret Pass, nearly $100,000 in order to settle her claims against the city.
BY CARLI TEPROFF
cteproff@MiamiHerald.com
Coral Gables' former building and zoning director, Margaret Pass -- who was fired in 2007 for mismanagement of her department -- could receive close to $100,000 if commissioners approve a proposed settlement agreement Tuesday.
The city would pay Pass $50,000 within 15 days of signing the agreement and then an additional $49,000 within 12 months, according to a document prepared by the city's outside counsel. Commissioners also must agree to change Pass' status in her personnel file from being terminated to retired.
For her part, Pass would agree to drop all lawsuits against the city, the proposed agreement states.
``In exchange for the consideration described in this agreement, Pass hereby knowingly and voluntarily releases, waives and forever discharges any and all claims, rights, demands, actions or causes of actions, of any kind whatsoever . . . from the beginning of the world until the effective date of this agreement,'' the document reads.
The agreement also prohibits either party from speaking to the media on the subject.
``The city attorney's office is authorized only to say `the parties resolved the matter to their mutual satisfaction,' '' the attorneys wrote.
Calls to both Kathleen Phillips, Pass' attorney, and City Attorney Elizabeth Hernandez were not returned.
Pass was fired by former city Manager David Brown from her $122,000-a-year job in October 2007. That was 13 months after her assistant, Jorge Reyes, was arrested on charges of approving time sheets for ghost workers who never worked for the city and allegedly split the city money with the workers.
Police charged Reyes with fraud, theft and drug possession -- stemming from his arrest at City Hall, where police found cocaine. He was later fired and settled the case with the state attorney's office, agreeing to cooperate with an investigation into anonymous allegations of widespread fraud and corruption at the building and zoning department.
At the time, allegations were circulating that Pass had city employees work at her Central Florida farm on taxpayers' dime. Brown at the time also said Pass had inappropriately allowed employees to take comp time.
Police launched an investigation into the charges, looking to see if some city employees worked on one or both of her two properties in Glades County during city business hours.
Police Maj. Ed Hudak said the investigation is nearly complete and the department is working on a summary.
``No criminal charges have been filed,'' he said Friday. ``Now it's just an administrative thing.''
Pass had filed an appeal with the city's trial board, saying she was fired without cause. She withdrew her appeal in October.
The proposed settlement would put an end to the more than two-year saga that has overwhelmed City Hall.
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