There’s asbestos, but Miami’s newest commissioner finally has an office at City Hall
Miami City Hall is experiencing some office politics. Literally.
Miami’s newly elected commissioner, Sabina Covo, hasn’t had office space at City Hall since she started work Monday because Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla was preparing to move out of his office and into the office vacated by her predecessor, a situation that sparked an awkward push-and-pull in the city’s halls of power this week.
After former Commissioner Ken Russell resigned in late December, Díaz de la Portilla started preparations to move into Russell’s former office. Furniture was removed to make way for planned renovations. Díaz de la Portilla’s name was placed on the door, though he and his staff continued to work out of his previous District 1 office near the front of the building on Dinner Key.
His name was on two doors at City Hall at once.
Meanwhile, Covo was elected in District 2 on Feb. 28 and sworn into office Saturday, but she had no space to begin holding meetings at City Hall. She has been working out of a temporary space in Virrick Park in Coconut Grove.
“I have a lot of preparation to do for Thursday,” Covo said on Tuesday, with a sigh. “I cannot be distracted by this situation right now.”
By Wednesday afternoon, she still didn’t have a workspace at Dinner Key. City Manager Art Noriega said he gave Díaz de la Portilla until 5 p.m. to empty his original office so Covo could move in. Díaz de la Portilla could have worked out of an already-established office in Allapattah in his district.
Amid the hullabaloo, Díaz de la Portilla requested a last-minute item be placed on Thursday’s City Commission agenda to discuss Noriega and “his performance.” When asked if the discussion had anything to do with the office situation, he said “of course not.”
“Just an assessment,” Díaz de la Portilla said in a text message Wednesday. “No biggie.”
Just after 5 p.m. Wednesday, Noriega told the Miami Herald that the matter was resolved. Covo would move into Russell’s old office, and Díaz de la Portilla would cancel his move and stay put, he said. On Wednesday evening, city staffers who had moved District 2’s furniture out of the office were putting it all back in.
“I need to have a space for her tomorrow,” Noriega said on Wednesday, walking between the two offices. ”This is a clean solution.”
When asked about the last-minute discussion about his performance, Noriega didn’t want to speculate.
“I don’t know what is going to come of it,” he said.
An hour after his initial statements, Díaz de la Portilla’s staff sent the Herald a written statement blasting Noriega for allowing anyone to move into Russell’s old office because of asbestos found in the adhesive connecting the carpet to the floor.
“It is irresponsible, reckless and ill-advised for a city manager to give an asbestos ridden office to anyone,” reads Díaz de la Portilla’s statement. “We have been waiting for serious mitigation of this health risk and have advised the manager as such. It is for this reason we expect for the manager to act in a responsible manner.”
Díaz de la Portilla provided a Feb. 27 report from Aeris Indoor Environmental Services, a firm based out of Boca Raton, that found asbestos in samples of the carpet adhesive.
“I already evaluated that,” Noriega responded. “I would never put anyone at risk.”
The report, which assumes the office would undergo renovations, recommended the asbestos be removed. Noriega said the office was never renovated and the carpet never removed. He cited an email from the city’s interim director for capital improvements, Hector Badia, where Badia states that as long as the carpet is left alone, it would effectively seal the asbestos.
“So long as the condition of the carpet remains good, the asbestos remains encapsulated within the mastic. The office is safe to occupy,” Badia wrote. “If the renovations to the office are to occur that would disturb the mastic, then remediation of the asbestos will need to be undertaken.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 7:44 PM.
