The county ethics commission recently closed an investigation into Homestead Councilman Jimmie Williams’ foray into the fast food business with prominent businessman Wayne Rosen.
By Christina Veiga
cveiga@MiamiHerald.com
Homestead Councilman Jimmie Williams’ venture into the fast food business was a flop — but ethics investigators said he did nothing wrong when he partnered with a politically connected businessman to the open a seafood joint.
The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, which closed its investigation last week, nonetheless said the business arrangement “seems inappropriate” and suggested Williams violated state disclosure laws and failed to properly fill out a financial disclosure forms.
The county ethics commission looked into how Williams launched a Snapper’s Fast Food restaurant in northwest Miami-Dade along with businessman and developer Wayne Rosen.
“While surely it seems inappropriate for Williams to ask a prominent and politically active businessman to finance a joint venture at a time when the same businessman has pending matters that could foreseeably come before the City Council and the [Community Redevelopment Agency] board, it could not be shown that Williams in any way sought to exploit his official position,” wrote investigator Karl Ross in the July 23 report .
Williams did not return calls to his cell phone and to the church he leads.
“Mr. Rosen fully cooperated with anybody asking questions about this, and nobody found any issue with anything Mr. Rosen did. This is an investment very similar to many, many investments that Mr. Rosen makes,” said attorney Juan-Carlos Planas, who represented Rosen during the investigation.
Officials at the Florida Commission on Ethics could not confirm whether they were looking into the matter, but said generally that someone would have to file a compliant before they could investigate.
Homestead’s political watchers had questioned whether Williams lived outside the city limits after the councilman, who is a pastor, was reassigned to a church in Miami Gardens.
Williams told investigators he moved out of the parsonage of his former church in Homestead when he got the new job, but did not move to Miami Gardens, opting to move within Homestead.
The commission concluded that Williams still lives in Homestead. He’s required to live in the city in order to keep his position on the council.
Rosen and Williams’ foray into the fast-food business was troublesome from the start.
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The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, which closed its investigation last week, nonetheless said the business arrangement “seems inappropriate” and suggested Williams violated state disclosure laws and failed to properly fill out a financial disclosure forms.
The county ethics commission looked into how Williams launched a Snapper’s Fast Food restaurant in northwest Miami-Dade along with businessman and developer Wayne Rosen.
“While surely it seems inappropriate for Williams to ask a prominent and politically active businessman to finance a joint venture at a time when the same businessman has pending matters that could foreseeably come before the City Council and the [Community Redevelopment Agency] board, it could not be shown that Williams in any way sought to exploit his official position,” wrote investigator Karl Ross in the July 23 report .
Williams did not return calls to his cell phone and to the church he leads.
Rosen is a real estate developer in Homestead who has contributed heavily to many council members’ political campaigns. He financed the Snapper’s venture with a $250,000 promissory note issued to himself and a company registered to Williams and his wife, the commission found. The promissory note, however, was never signed, according to the report, and it isn’t recorded in county court records.
“Mr. Rosen fully cooperated with anybody asking questions about this, and nobody found any issue with anything Mr. Rosen did. This is an investment very similar to many, many investments that Mr. Rosen makes,” said attorney Juan-Carlos Planas, who represented Rosen during the investigation.
The commission report noted that Williams didn’t vote on matters relating to his business partner. But he did not file the state-required disclosure form when he abstained from voting on a site plan approval for a charter school backed by Rosen. However, the county ethics commission couldn’t pursue the matter because the disclosure requirement is a matter of state law, which the commission cannot enforce.
Officials at the Florida Commission on Ethics could not confirm whether they were looking into the matter, but said generally that someone would have to file a compliant before they could investigate.
The county ethics commission also reported that Williams initially failed to report on his financial disclosure form a debt of $46,875. That debt stems from the promissory note issued by Rosen to start the restaurant. Williams later amended his form to include the debt disclosure, and to also change his current address, according to the investigative report.
Homestead’s political watchers had questioned whether Williams lived outside the city limits after the councilman, who is a pastor, was reassigned to a church in Miami Gardens.
Williams told investigators he moved out of the parsonage of his former church in Homestead when he got the new job, but did not move to Miami Gardens, opting to move within Homestead.
The commission concluded that Williams still lives in Homestead. He’s required to live in the city in order to keep his position on the council.
Rosen and Williams’ foray into the fast-food business was troublesome from the start.
First, there were allegations of a late night meeting with rapper-turned political aspirant Luther Campbell, who claimed the councilman offered him a $40,000 “appearance fee” to show up at the yet-to-be opened Snapper’s. Campbell interpreted the offer as a payoff for a political endorsement.
The fried seafood joint opened in June 2011 and started off profitable, according to Rashid Keblawe, another business partner interviewed by the commission. Keblawe told investigators that Williams hired his half-brother, half-sister, sister’s boyfriend and other friends. He said that led to the restaurant’s downfall.
“Jimmie, he wanted to have his family working there and they overrode the people with experience,” Keblawe told investigators.
After the restaurant began to falter, Williams told investigators that Rosen removed all the restaurant’s equipment on New Year’s Eve 2011, and the business closed permanently the next day.
Williams told investigators that he is in debt because now he owes rent to the shopping center where the restaurant was located. Court records show he owes more than $350,000. Williams told investigators he is considering filing bankruptcy protection.
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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/30/2923678/miami-dade-ethics-commission-homestead.html#storylink=cpy
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