‘On cursed land’: After mayor quits in troubled Opa-locka, it’s up to someone else to bring a ‘new day’
When Matthew Pigatt decided to run for mayor of Opa-locka in 2018, he cited his hometown’s reputation of corrupt government and mismanagement as the reason a young activist and commissioner like himself would seek the city’s top office.
He said he wanted to clean things up and bring a fresh start for his community. He promised a “new day” for a financially troubled government that has been monitored by a state oversight board since 2016.
And on Wednesday, when Pigatt abruptly resigned during a commission meeting, leaving office one year before his term ends, he cited the same reasons for his departure.
“I will not be a figurehead for corruption,” he said.
Pigatt’s departure marks another chapter of turmoil in the city, which for years has been plagued by mismanagement and political chaos.
Allegations of corruption date back to the early 2000s, when the state first declared a financial emergency amid threats of bankruptcy in the small city of 18,000. In 2016, the FBI raided City Hall, and several former city employees were arrested on bribery charges. Commissioner Terence Pinder, who was among those facing charges, drove a city-leased SUV into a banyan tree at a high speed and died before he was supposed to turn himself in.
Years of relative peace followed, but Pigatt’s accusation-filled resignation hinted at more troubled times.
State Sen. Shevrin Jones, a West Park Democrat who represents the city and is a friend of Pigatt, said: “The words the mayor said ... were alarming. They have gone through this before.”
Pigatt declined to comment.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE COMMISSION?
In addition to raising questions about Pigatt’s unspecified accusations of “corruption” among the city’s management, his departure also triggers more structural change for the city commission, which will make Vice Mayor Veronica Williams the mayor, according to the city’s charter.
City Attorney Burnadette Norris-Weeks did not respond to questions about when Williams would officially take office as mayor. In a Facebook post Thursday, Williams thanked Pigatt for his service and said that as “the new Mayor” she will work to “ensure that there is transparency in government and that our city delivers the highest level of service to our residents and business owners.”
“I plan to strive each day towards helping to make the City of Opa-locka a first rate city,” she wrote.
Williams did not respond to requests for comments, but City Manager John Pate said the city’s operations won’t be knocked off track by Pigatt’s resignation.
“Historically, the city has dealt with situations where people have stepped down from their seat, either voluntarily or due to deaths,” he said. “This is not something that is uncommon or brand new for the city to deal with. The city commission has to meet and figure out how they are going to proceed.”
Pate was recruited by Pigatt to join the city’s staff, but their relationship disintegrated. Pate has accused Pigatt of tampering with the city’s policechief search, while Pigatt has accused Pate of withholding basic information and suggested that Pate is clearing a path to sue the city. Before resigning, Pigatt had pushed unsuccessfully to fire Pate.
This year, Pate stripped Pigatt of his administrative privileges on the city’s Zoom account, and both have said they were no longer comfortable meeting one-on-one. In emails to the members of the commission, Pate has reminded Pigatt that it’s the manager who runs city operations, not the mayor.
“The city will continue to move forward and operate,” Pate said Thursday, declining to comment
further.
THE STATE’S ROLE
The gravity of the city’s problems was highlighted in 2016, when then-Gov. Rick Scott declared a financial emergency for the city, calling for an oversight board to take over the city’s finances amid a threat of bankruptcy.
The city’s government is still under the control of a state oversight board appointed by Scott. Neither a spokeswoman for Gov. Ron Desantis nor Inspector General Melinda Miguel responded to questions about the status of the board and whether the departure changes or informs its work.
In Pigatt’s resignation speech, he said his activism in the city led to “getting code enforcement violations on my home, being threatened by the police multiple times and being accosted by so-called shadow mayors and community advocates.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to which elected officials are supposed to report allegations of impropriety, did not respond Thursday to requests for any complaints made by Pigatt or other Opa-locka officials. Neither did the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics or the city’s police department and code-compliance office, whose records departments were closed for Veterans Day.
State Sen. Dennis Baxley, who co-chairs the Florida Legislature’s Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, said his committee voted last year to have investigators from the state’s Auditor General embed in Miami-Dade to review the city’s operations and return to the committee with a report.
The committee started looking into the city after complaints from the community. In 2019, it received a scathing report that cited 99 issues of fraud and mismanagement.
The “disturbing” findings, Baxley said, included nepotistic hiring, loose limits on city fuel pumps and who was authorized to use them.
Based on what the Auditor General comes up with, that report could affect the distribution of state revenue to Opa-locka or result in the removal of the city’s charter, which is held by the state.
Baxley, R-Ocala, said the committee is still waiting for the report.
The committee’s role is to provide oversight of government operations through the auditing and review of activities of the Auditor General, which did not respond to requests for an update on its review.
“We hope people wake up and realize things have to change and make those changes under the guidance of the system,” Baxley said. “I pray their problems get worked out.”
RESIDENTS SURPRISED
Dorothy “Dottie” Johnson, a former member of the Opa-locka Commission and a retired U.S. postal manager, said she was “taken aback” by Pigatt’s resignation, calling it “a sad day in Opa-locka.”
Johnson ran for mayor
and lost against Pigatt in 2018, and said she always felt that he and the city manager were lacking experience. She said the mayor didn’t always work collaboratively and that the city needs more buy-in from residents.
Johnson is on the city’s audit committee.
According to minutes from the last meeting, Pigatt, who served as chairman of the committee, underscored how important the audits were to get the city out of a state of financial emergency.
“I knew something was wrong,” she said of Pigatt. “The city needs an overhaul of personnel, from the top to the bottom. I feel a cry of help.”
“If what I heard is true, more skeletons are going to come out of the closet,” she said.
Natasha Ervin, a businesswoman, activist and resident of 32 years, said she was shocked to see the resignation. She usually attends every commission meeting but skipped Wednesday night’s. She has lost hope that real change will ever happen in the struggling city.
“I told my husband, I wonder if they built Opalocka on cursed land,” she said. “Why can’t we get it together?