Hardemon Cleared Of Ethics Violation Accusation

Miami FL

18 March, 2021

8:16 AM

Description

Miami Times Staff Report Mar 16, 2021 The Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust has announced that no probable cause was found in a complaint that Miami-Dade County Commissioner Keon Hardemon violated the Mandatory Fair Campaign Practices ordinance. The complaint, filed by then Commission candidate Gepsie Metellus, alleged that her opponent, Hardemon, used campaign mailers and a television video to promote untrue and malicious statements about her. The scathing bright red and yellow mailers attracted considerable attention and accused Metellus of wrongdoing. The dispute between the candidates – one that ultimately dragged in the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami – was covered in The Miami Times and our sister publication, the Biscayne Times. Metellus, executive director of the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center in North Miami, lost her bid for a county commission seat to Hardemon 2-1 on Nov. 3, 2020. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.