[July 01, 2011] Miami police chief says he was offered $400,000 to leave the city Tweet Jun 30, 2011 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito, who has been in a heated, yearlong dispute with two elected leaders seeking his resignation, said Wednesday that city officials offered him $400,000 in January to "leave his position as chief quietly," a year before his expected retirement. Exposito would not say who made the offer, referring only to "representatives of the city of Miami" in a statement he made through his spokesman. Larry Spring, the city's recently departed chief financial officer, confirmed parts of Exposito's account. Spring said that at the request of Mayor Tomas Regalado and former City Manager Tony Crapp Jr., he set up a meeting with the chief to discuss Exposito's possible departure from the city. Spring said he didn't know who proposed the $400,000 figure, though he was aware of the amount. "No one from the administration came up with the figure for the chief, that I'm aware of," Spring said. In his statement, the chief said he was offered $200,000 up front to leave, with another $200,000 to come after he became a civilian again. The chief said he turned down the offer. City records show a check made out to Exposito for $200,000 was written on Jan. 12 -- the day before a drama-filled showdown between the chief, Regalado and Commissioner Richard. P. Dunn II, who wanted the chief to resign. Those same records show the check was voided the day of the commission meeting, when Exposito survived the attempted ouster. No record has surfaced of another $200,000 check. The chief's statement came in response to questions that arose after the voided city check posted Wednesday morning on the Crespo-Gram Report, a local blog. Regalado did not return Miami Herald calls seeking comment Wednesday. But he told WSVN-Fox 7 Wednesday night he was "focusing on the budget and on the citizens of Miami and on the image of Miami." Regalado said he would not say more because it "doesn't help" the city's image. Crapp, who left the city unexpectedly two week ago, said he was unaware of any financial offer to Exposito. But he said he knew Spring was trying to negotiate the chief's departure. "I never attended any of those meetings and no one ever indicated a number to me," Crapp said of the $400,000 figure. "I never had to sign off on anything because the chief didn't resign." But Spring said Crapp was well aware of the negotiations, and, with Regalado, had asked him to set up the meeting. "The manager was involved in those discussions, and ultimately the chief decided he did not want to leave," Spring said. Exposito told El Nuevo Herald on Wednesday that he had rejected the money. ''I told them they couldn't buy me or my reputation," Exposito said. The chief added that he had not made the offer public before because it could be the subject of an investigation. The battle between the police chief and the mayor began over a year ago, in April 2010, after a series of botched, high-profile public corruption arrests. The next month, the relationship deteriorated when Regalado pushed through an ordinance to allow video gaming slot machines to operate in the city -- against the wishes of Exposito, who says the so-called maquinitas are a form of illegal gambling under state law. Later, in the summer, Miami police were involved in a string of shootings of black men. Protests from the black community and family members of the dead men put pressure on Regalado to remove the chief. By then, Commissioner Dunn had joined the fight. The chief and the mayor's differences peaked in October, when Exposito ordered his department to seize hundreds of the slot machines -- 11 days after Regalado's ordinance passed. In December, Exposito held a press conference at police headquarters to say he was notifying federal authorities that Regalado had interfered with the raids. The mayor's desire to remove the chief intensified into January, and Dunn -- angry at Exposito for ignoring calls for new police leadership in Overtown and Little Haiti -- made it known he would seek the chief's resignation at the Jan. 13 commission meeting. El Nuevo Herald reporter Melissa Sanchez contributed to this report. To see more of The Miami Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Miami Herald Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]