After six months of doing exactly nothing about a police department in disarray and a looming $40 million budget gap, Miami City Manager Tony Crapp Jr. is packing up his office this afternoon and bailing for a cushy private-sector job in Broward County.
Gee, thanks for all the hard work, Tony. Anyone out there want the toughest managerial job in local city government? (crickets...)
Crapp, who previously spent years as an aide to Mayor Tomás Regalado, took over the reins in January from Carlos Migoya, who left for a high-paying gig running Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Crapp stepped right into the middle of an ugly, increasingly comical fight between Regalado and police Chief Miguel Exposito. Exposito's force was amid a streak of killing seven black suspects in as many months, allowing an embarrassing reality show to film inside the department, and taking the mayor to task for supposedly intervening in a gaming-machine sting.
Many assumed Crapp was the ax man brought on to cut down the wayward chief. Instead, Crapp hired ex-FBI Chief Paul Philip to evaluate the department, and Philip dutifully reported back, "It's A-OK!"
Meanwhile, the city's financial mess has only deepened since Crapp was hired. The latest estimates show a $40 million gap in next year's budget.
Regalado and whoever is batty enough to take this job will have to fix that alongside a new chief financial officer as well; CFO Larry Spring already resigned last week.
Enjoy the good life up north, Tony. We hope you'll think of us when we're watching the next MPD tragedy and cutting every municipal service short of tap water next fall to fix the budget.
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