Miami Herald, Posted on Tue, Nov. 08, 2011
By Nadege Green
Former North Miami Beach Mayor Myron Rosner’s two-year case before the ethics commission has ended in an acquittal.
In 2009, the commission found probable cause that Rosner used his official position to obtain a permit to add an awning to his home without seeking a required variance. Rosner was a councilman at the time.
In its deliberations to determine whether Rosner misused his position, the commission deadlocked. The vote was 2-2. A fifth member of the commission did not vote because he previously served with Rosner in the Miami-Dade League of Cities.
In order to find a person guilty of a violation, the commission needs a majority vote.
“Unless there is a majority, there is no finding of guilt. That is the end of the process. The process is over and he does not have a finding,” Joseph Centorino, executive director of the ethics commission, said.
Rosner has maintained he did nothing wrong, and was unaware that he needed to request a zoning variance.
The former mayor, who is disabled, believed he could install the awning to shelter him and his wheelchair, according to Rosner attorney Kendall Coffey.
“Our view is that the case was brought wrongly because a man in a wheelchair who thought he had the right for accommodations was a city councilman,” Coffey said.
Had the commission found that Rosner violated the county’s ethics ordinance, he could have faced fines and be required to issue an apology.
Rosner has said the city’s set of blueprints indicated the project would need variances. But he said the copy he received from the city did not show the same information.
Rosner lost his mayoral post to George Vallejo in the May election. Rosner, who was elected as mayor in 2009, had previously served six years as a councilman.
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