Commissioner Martinez Should Keep Politics Out of His Defense

It’s been a long time since a Miami-Dade County commissioner was indicted on public corruption charges – two decades to be precise. It used to be a more common occurrence.

That’s why we should all raise an eyebrow when Commissioner Joe Martinez accuses Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle of going after him to ruin his chances of running for county sheriff.

Fernandez Rundle doesn’t run around indicting politicians. In fact, some have expressed that she’s turned a blind eye to too many elected officials who deserve to be charged with crimes.

Let’s start with the fact that Martinez is a former police lieutenant who should know better than to allegedly take money in exchange for “fixing” things for a business constituent who owed the county thousands of dollars in code violations.

If Martinez is found guilty, he’s the last person we need as sheriff. Either way, Gov. Ron DeSantis has a responsibility to suspend him from office and shouldn’t give Martinez a pass because he’s a fellow Republican who wants to take a poke at a Democratic state attorney.

No man is above the law and that includes pompous politicians – all of them.