So I read in today’s Miami Herald that Miami Police Chief John Timoney has been driving a free hybrid luxury SUV without claiming it on a required state conflict-of-interest form – and that Johnny Boy receives $8000 from taxpayers to lease a car. This is all thanks to CBS4’s Gary Nelson.
What I didn’t read much about in the story was the dealership – and the guys who apparently gave Johnny the free car.
Though I never spoke to Gerald Bean during my May of 2006 investigation into why the City of Miami named a weedy stretch of Kendall after his dealership, I pictured him as a big good ‘ol boy, a man who likes to do things the way the right way – the old fashioned way.
He raised his sons, Terry and Tim, to run his dealerships with authority. Tim followed his advice. Terry did too, but maybe too much. (One employee told me that Terry referred to him as a Spic and pissed on his leg one day when he got carried away).
In 2001 seven employees filed a massive EEOC filing against Lexus of Kendall. and it was settled. So we’ll never really know what went on –the employees are bound by an agreement.
The Beans know how to take care of their own. Tim was banned from ever setting foot on any of the lots –though he still drew a salary from the business and had a voicemail at the dealership directory back in 2006.
Somehow, Chief Timoney ended up being part of the clan.
