Mayor’s Assistant Abruptly Resigns.

The drama at the City of Doral continues and the plot thickens as Gonzalo Bello, the Mayor’s Assistant or “Chief of Staff” as Mayor Boria calls him, resigns and leaves abruptly without notice.  On Monday, October 21, 2013, Mr. Bello reported to work as usual, but it was not a usual day.  The right hand man of Mayor Luigi Boria turns in his resignation to City Manager, Joe Carollo, cleans his office out, and abruptly leaves without any notice whatsoever just within hours of arriving.

In his letter to the City Manager,  Mr. Bello says:

“I assure you, sir, that this is not a decision I have taken lightly.  I made my decision due to events beyond my control or my creation that have placed me in a position which I believe make my duties quite difficult and at times uncomfortable.  I have complete confidence in myself and my ability to manage the Office of the Mayor as per the job description, but at this time I believe it is in my best interest to move on and pursue my academic goals.”

The duties of the Assistant to the Mayor are quite clear and what has changed or what additional duties have been assigned to him are in questioned.  In the Special Meeting held on October 23, 2013, which was called by the Mayor.  The topic of the vacancy of the position was placed on the agenda and addressed.  Mr. Carollo stated that he had a conversation with Mr. Bello and that he tried to keep him on board, but it was of no avail. 

In the prior meeting of October 15, 2013, Mr. Bello was called by the Mayor to clarify events and details of the Farm Share event which the Mayor had been planning and not had notified the Council about.  Although, members of the Council can hold and have events on their own, you cannot hold a city event, in a city park, at the tax payers’ dime and call it your own.  Mayor Boria had apparently circumvented the proper process and procedures to host the Farm Share event without consent from Council.  It was only days before the even which was held on Friday, October 18, 2013, when pressured by the City Manager and confronted during the Council Meeting with emails and documentation proving that he was holding the event without Council concent that he admitted to it.  At that time, Mr. Bello was put in a very awakard position when the Mayor himself asked him, “Did I tell you to do this?”, referring to the emails and arrangements made.  Mr. Bello did not respond, but the Mayor continued stating that he had no knowledge of what Gonzalo was doing, “He did it all, made the phone calls, handled the details, I had nothing to do with it.”

Perhaps, this was the final straw and Mr. Bello and the “uncomfortable” position that Mr. Bello speaks of in his letter of resignation.  One can only speculate what else the Mayor might have been eluding to and placing on the shoulders of his assistant.

We have tried to reach Mr. Bello for comments but have been unable to reach him.