After Facebook fight draws criticism, Miami Beach commissioner announces $17K donation
After a profanity-laced Facebook fight with an online critic caused a stir among some of his constituents, Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola announced that he was donating $17,000 of his public compensation to a food bank.
Arriola said the donation to South Florida Seniors in Action had been “set in motion weeks ago” — before he called a Miami lawyer a “dumbf***” and a “p****” on Facebook — but Arriola did not call the group’s director with the specifics of the donation until Tuesday, a day after his social media spat with former Adrienne Arsht Center board member Israel “Izzy” Lazaro Alfonso.
Arriola’s comments drew scorn from former Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower, who said public leaders should “lead by example.”
“I think we should all hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Bower said. “If you’re having a debate you shouldn’t have to rely on bad words to express your opinions.”
“This guy crossed the line with me and was extremely rude to me and my family,” Arriola said. “I believe in standing up for myself.”
Arriola, who said the timing of the donation was not related to the negative coverage he received, nevertheless used his announcement Wednesday to take a shot at the news media, who he said is obsessed with covering elected officials in the worst possible light.
“Let’s see if the media cares about the good deeds as much as a social media rant,” he wrote Wednesday on Facebook. “Doubtful.”
Arriola, who was reelected to a four-year term in 2019, will donate his compensation — including salary and allowances — to the food bank until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, he said. On Wednesday, he was photographed handing over an oversized $5,000 check from his company, Inktel, to Feeding South Florida. That is in addition to the $17,000 donation.
After an unrelated discussion last month, the mayor and other commissioners — noting that some city staff members would be taking unpaid furloughs — said they wanted to make some kind of financial contribution too. Some said they would forego part of their pay or benefits and asked the staff to put the money back in the general fund. Others said they would donate a portion of their compensation to charity. Other than Arriola, the others said they would give smaller amounts, at most about $3,100.
Eddie Sierra, the director of South Florida Seniors in Action, said he and Arriola had discussed a donation more than a month ago.
“He has expressed his desire to contribute over a month ago,” Sierra said. “It was a huge surprise and an act of kindness and generosity.”
Alfonso, a licensed attorney who previously practiced commercial real estate law at Greenberg Traurig and Akerman LLP, met Arriola more than 10 years ago when Arriola — then the chairman of the performing arts center board — tapped Alfonso to serve on the Arsht board. Alfonso recently opened a private practice, Alfonso Law PLCC.
Alfonso sparked the verbal back and forth Monday evening when he labeled a coronavirus-related post on Arriola’s personal Facebook page as “propaganda.”
Bad blood between their high school almae matres — Arriola went to Christopher Columbus High School and Alfonso went to Belen Jesuit Preparatory School — made the public exchange more toxic.
When Arriola called Alfonso a “dumbf***,” Alfonso took it further, using what Arriola described as a “homophobic” remark to call for Arriola and his father, former Miami City Manager Joe Arriola, to “suck on Carrollo’s d***,” referring to Miami Commissioner Joe Carrollo.
“If it wasn’t for Daddy putting a silver spoon in your mouth, you wouldn’t be jack s*** and no one would be listening, let alone buying your bulls***,” Alfonso said.
The elected official responded by calling him a “Belen p****” and a “b****,” and then appeared to challenge him to a fight. Alfonso posted Arriola’s address.
“Tell me where you want to meet and we will settle this like we did back in the old days. Belen p****,” Arriola wrote.
Arriola told the Herald that Alfonso had been “trolling” him and “crossed the line” by mentioning his family and using “homophobic” language. At one point, Alfonso said he would beat “the rainbow colored blood pouring out of your head.”
In a statement, Alfonso said he apologized if his comments offended the LGBTQ community.
“If I offended anyone (other than Ricky), with the vulgarity of some of my rage-infused and prompted comments on Facebook, for that I apologize,” he said. “To Ricky, there is no apology.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 4:24 PM.
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