Talk about some loose change.
A Miami-area mayor who is feuding with his local commission tried to use 360,000 pennies and nickels — that’s 28 buckets full of coins — to pay a $4,000 ethics fine.
Instead of accepting the change, the ethics commission doubled the fine for Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, saying he intentionally broke the rules because he knew the panel only accepted checks. And now the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust is suing the mayor.
The commission ruled in July that Hernandez lied about interest rates on a $180,000 loan to a jewelry salesman now jailed for a pyramid scheme.
The El Nuevo Herald reports that Hernandez has called complaints against him a “political circus” and described commission members as “clowns.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Fine?? No jail time for the Pyramid scam? Or was that part of the story unrelated?
This story was convoluted from its inception. Journalism is an art not practiced by current species of writers.
I wonder? sounds like two different stories but, with that all said Why do they not have to take the pennies it is legal tender.
I’ve paid a fine in pennies before. I made the clerk count the pennies and give me a receipt.
If memory serves me correct, the law stipulates that U.S. currency must be accepted as payment for goods and services. It sounds like this guy’s lawyer needs to point that out to the clowns in city hall. Unless the commission has a posted “checks only” policy they may have trouble refusing payment.
He should’ve hired a check printing service and had them print and mail 360,000 checks for one cent each and make them process them all!