<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3LMb8m_0viH3vFo00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3LMb8m_0viH3vFo00" width="1536" height="1024" ><figcaption>Opa-locka's assistant police chief Robin Starks has been demoted after filing a whisteblower complaint against the city manager and police chief. (Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum)</figcaption></figure>After making a whistleblower complaint against city manager Darvin Williams and police chief Kenneth Ottley last week, Opa-locka’s assistant police chief, Dr. Robin Starks, has been demoted.On Sept. 20, two days after Starks sought Whistleblower protection, Ottley sent an email to the police department and city leaders announcing that Starks had been reassigned to the city’s Compliance Department. Her complaint had accused Williams and Ottley of malfeasance and misconduct.In an email to Mayor John Taylor, Vice Mayor Natasha Ervin and members of the city commission, Starks’ attorney Michael Pizzi called the demotion ‘humiliating’ and suggested legal action could be taken. “This humiliating public removal before any of you has even had the chance to evaluate or take action on her whistleblower letter and EEOC charge is a disgraceful violation of her rights and breaks the law,” Pizzi wrote. “This transfer in of itself constitutes illegal adverse action and she objects and will be taking immediate action.”Pizzi also said the demotion has affected Starks’ health.“Last night Robin was at Memorial West Hospital with health issues generated by this unprecedented and outrageous conduct,” he wrote.In a letter to the city commission, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Florida Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel, Starks had alleged that Williams and Ottley have together requested that she “improperly target individuals for discipline for personal reasons,” violated the city charter and usurped commission direction by misusing city funds when retaining lawyers without proper approval, and improperly interfered in police investigations.Starks sought whistleblower protection status under Florida law, writing, “I have been targeted by the city manager and chief because of my loyalty to the city and because I refuse to participate in or condone improper illegal behavior.”The debacle is only the latest in a series of troubling events that have occurred within the city in recent weeks. Just less than a month ago, city manager Williams had filed his own whistleblower complaint against Vice Mayor Natasha Ervin immediately after she put forth a resolution to terminate Williams, which just barely failed by a tied vote.It was the second time that Williams had escaped being ousted by the city commission. Earlier this year, a similar resolution was proposed by Commissioner Joseph Kelley when Williams was in his second year as interim city manager. The vote failed, however, forging the path for Williams’ position to be made permanent two months after.Last month, Williams accused Ervin of embezzlement, interfering with investigations, nepotism and creating a hostile work environment.In yet another whistleblower controversy, former City Manager John Pate’s case against the City of Opa-locka will be heard at the Dade County Courthouse on Jan. 6, 2025. Pate is accusing the city of terminating him after he accused city officials of malfeasance. He is also being represented by Pizzi.Pate claims he was terminated because he was going to discipline a police officer who was related to an elected official.Then-Opa-locka Mayor Veronica Williams said that the city had a history of problems with Pate and that letting him go was the best thing for the city.</div></body>

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Starks demoted after seeking whistleblower protection

After making a whistleblower complaint against city manager Darvin Williams and police chief Kenneth Ottley last week, Opa-locka’s assistant police chief, Dr. Robin Starks, has been demoted. On Sept. 20, two days after Starks sought Whistleblower protection, Ottley sent an email to the police department and city leaders announcing...