News: Jorge’s Pension Board Appointment Raises Jonah’s Hackles
Last Friday – two days following the Miami Beach City Commission’s acceptance of his resignation – City Manager Jorge Gonzalez was notified of his being named to the city’s Pension Board.
Here is the email from Rick Rivera, pension administrator for the Miami Beach Employees’ Retirement Plan, to Gonzalez, sent at 10:12 a.m. that morning. (It was copied to, among others, assistant city managers Hilda Fernandez and Jorge Gomez, who also serve as Pension Board members):
Subject: New Pension Board Trustee
Importance: HighGood morning Jorge,
Congrats on your appointment to the MBERP pension board! I am printing a new trustee’s handbook for you and will deliver it to you when it is ready. Below you will find a pension board meeting schedule for 2012. At your earliest convenience, you may swear-in at the City Clerk’s office as a new trustee to the MBERP Board.
[What followed here was a list of monthly board meeting dates and times for the remainder of 2012.]
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Rick
Rick Rivera, Pension Administrator, MIAMI BEACH EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT PLAN
At 10:26 a.m., Rivera sent an email to Rafael Granado of the city clerk’s office, notifying him of the Gonzalez appointment. In a 4:23 p.m. email that afternoon, Granado, responding to a request from an aide to Commissioner Jonah Wolfson, forwarded a copy of Rivera’s email announcement of the appointment.
That evening, in a 8:32 p.m. email, Wolfson himself demanded from Gonzalez an explanation:
Subject: Fw: New Pension Board Trustee
Sir – Please provide an explanation as to why you have appointed yourself to the pension board.
Sent via BlackBerry
