Miami-Dade commissioner met with prosecutors recently, but nature of probe unknown
Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez recently met with staff at the State Attorney’s office in connection to a criminal inquiry, the Miami Herald has learned, but the focus of the investigation hasn’t been made public.
Martinez has declined to comment on the investigation, first reported by the Miami New Times. All that’s known publicly is that Martinez has participated in the investigation, but the nature of the probe and its target remain unknown. The Herald has learned that Martinez was interviewed for several hours at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office sometime last week.
Martinez is a retired county police lieutenant who reclaimed his District 11 commission seat in 2016, four years after giving it up for a failed challenge of Mayor Carlos Gimenez. He had held the seat for 12 years before his 2012 mayoral campaign.
A former commission chairman, Martinez has said he plans to run for reelection in 2020 but has yet to file his candidacy papers. The other incumbent commissioner not impacted by term limits this cycle, Eileen Higgins, filed her papers in March. Robert Asencio, a former Democratic member of the Florida House, is running for the nonpartisan seat held by Martinez, a Republican.
This year, Martinez reported $31,000 in income from Centurion Security Group, a Miami-Dade company with a contract to provide security guards at county facilities. Before a 2017 vote on a Centurion contract, Martinez submitted papers to recuse himself from the vote.
On Nov. 20, the New Times reported the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office declined a records request for communication with Martinez, citing a shield in Florida’s Sunshine law for documents tied to a criminal investigation.
News of the Martinez tie to a criminal inquiry arrives as the commissioner’s family is enjoying a star turn on television. Martinez missed Tuesday’s commission meeting because he was in Los Angeles to watch his 15-year-old daughter, Joana Martinez, compete on NBC’s The Voice.
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 3:03 PM.