DeFede Columns

Fred Frost, the South Florida head of the AFL-CIO is not thrilled with the prospect of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz being considered for a cabinet position in the Obama Administration.

"We're not happy," Frost told me Friday morning. "If anyone from the Obama campaign were to ask, we'd tell them not to expect a ringing endorsement from us. He has shown poor judgment when it comes to trade agreements and stood back and did nothing while union workers were being brutalized during the FTAA."

Downtown Miami was turned into a virtual police state during the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas summit, with police accused of indiscriminately assaulting protesters, including retired union workers who had traveled to Miami from around the country to speak out against the trade agreement.

The city's Civilian Investigative Panel condemned the police conduct during the summit saying the police reacted with an "unrestrained and disproportionate use of force" and that "civil rights were trampled." The city was been forced to settle numerous lawsuits with individuals hurt or wrongly arrested by police.

"Manny Diaz has never apologized, never addressed what happened during the FTAA," Frost said. "He refused to meet with us to talk about it."

Last year, the AFL-CIO and the Florida Alliance of Retired Americans, filed a lawsuit against the City of Miami. That lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial early next year. Which means if Diaz is named to the cabinet he would be going through confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate around the same time he would be required to appear in court to defend himself against the union's claims he violated their First, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth amendment rights.

Frost also complained that Diaz has failed to pay workers in the city fairly.  "We passed a living wage ordinance but the city never enforced it," he said. "We had to take it to a lawsuit to get the city to do what was right. That kind of stuff bothers me. I have a problem with that."

Frost's troubling comments come at a time when Diaz is under serious consideration for a high level cabinet post.

Two senior Democratic sources advising the Obama transition team tell CBS4 News that Diaz is one of the leading candidates for the Housing and Urban Development job and is also under consideration to be Transportation Secretary.

"Is it real? Yes it is," one of the senior Democrats told me, adding he believed the HUD job was more likely to happen. "I think he has a lot to offer."

Politically, appointing Diaz would serve two very pressing desires of the Obama team – the need to name a high profile Hispanic to the cabinet and the desire to reward Florida with a cabinet position.

"I think it is important for Florida to be represented in the cabinet," the Democratic source said. "And I don't see another Florida Democrat that qualifies."

The dearth of Florida Democrats comes from the fact that most of the well-known individuals who could be called on to take a cabinet post are members of Congress and are unlikely to want to give up their seats.

It is the need to appoint a Hispanic to the cabinet, however, that is really driving Diaz's name within the Obama camp. The Hispanic vote was critical to Obama's election and he has pledged to create a cabinet as diverse as the people who elected him.

"Manny is just lucky he is a Hispanic Democrat with a high profile," said the second Democrat advising the transition.

Ten days ago, Diaz's name was mentioned in connection with a new post Obama is planning to create, the White House Office of Urban Policy. With Diaz's background as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, such a job would seem a good fit for Diaz.

But with Hillary Clinton now in line to be Secretary of State, beating out New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for the post, Diaz's name was suddenly elevated to cabinet consideration (Further complicating matters, late Friday the Washington Post reported Richardson may be named Commerce Secretary.)

"This is all happening very fast," said the second Democrat. "And what is really happening here is that Manny is promoting himself, through the U.S. Conference of Mayors, trying to get an appointment."

This Florida Democrat, as well as others I have spoken to, expressed concern with Diaz, calling Diaz "a Johnny-come-lately" to the Obama campaign. During the primary, Diaz supported Hillary Clinton. And even after Obama won the nomination, Diaz held back his endorsement for a long time. In fact, Diaz was one of the few – if not the only – speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Denver who did not endorse the Democratic nominee during his speech to the convention delegates.

Diaz waited until the closing weeks of the campaign to endorse Obama.

"Manny is going to have a tough time making it through the vetting process," the second Democrat said.

The vetting process for all cabinet appointees is extensive. In addition to a 60-page questionnaire, which delves into all of the nominee's financial dealings and business relationships, it also involves a background check by the FBI, including FBI agents interviewing friends, associates, and even neighbors of the nominee.

Diaz has faced questions about his ethics in recent years. His decision to own a restaurant housed on city land raised one set of concerns, but that was nothing compared to the revelation back in 2004 that the mayor's restaurant was behind almost $200,000 in rent payments to the city, that it owed the county nearly $100,000 in delinquent property taxes and that it had stiffed the state almost $250,000 in sales tax payments.

It was only after I reported those problems four years ago that the mayor sold his stake in the restaurant.

The mayor's relationship with city hall lobbyist Steve Marin will also be an area for the feds to review. Marin, a close friend of Diaz, received several no-bid contracts from the city.

Then of course there is the debacle surrounding the city's efforts to settle the infamous Fire Rescue Fee case, in which Manny Diaz and then city manager Joe Arriola were either duped into paying a handful of people $7 million or were complicit in the outrageous deal. Either way the case does not reflect well on Diaz's judgment or ability.

There will be other issues, as well, including his decision to enter into a multi-million dollar land deal with then city manager Arriola and Johnny Winton, who was a city commissioner at the time. The three waited months to disclose their private business dealings, and in the meantime, Arriola and Winton engineered a $53,000 pay raise for the mayor, ramming it through the city commission without any advance notice or allowing the public to speak on it.

In 2007, Diaz was charged with violating the conflict-of-interest provisions of the County's Ethics Ordinance because of the land deal with Winton and Arriola. He pleaded "no contest" and was found guilty by the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. Diaz was fined $250 and given a letter of reprimand.

But ultimately, it could be Diaz's problems with organized labor that may cause him the most trouble. Frost was on the phone today with national union officials discussing what to do about Diaz's name being mentioned for a cabinet position.

When the local AFL-CIO filed its lawsuit against the city, it was the union's national leadership that gave it the green light.

Frost asked the question: Can Obama really appoint someone to the cabinet that the largest labor union in the country is actively suing for beating, tear gassing and brutalizing its retired workers?

It was Diaz, after all, who hailed the police response during the summit a success and gave it the name, "The Miami Model." That term, the Miami Model, is now a source of scorn within the labor movement and was derided on editorial pages around the country. The Miami Model earned Diaz a special place in labor's memory. It now all depends on how long a memory they have.

Several years ago, I interviewed Richard Trumka, a former coal miner who had risen to through the ranks of labor to become the national Secretary and Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, a position he still holds today.

Trumka, one of the most powerful men in the labor movement, repeatedly singled out Manny Diaz for contempt when I spoke to him in December 2003. He was furious Diaz refused to meet with him and other members of organized labor after the FTAA debacle. He said Diaz "had an obligation" to hear from the workers who were abused. "[Diaz] had a chance to stand up for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and [he] took a pass," Trumka said.

He told me back then Diaz made "a big mistake" by rebuffing labor. And then he promised: "We're not going away."

Five years later, we'll see if that's true.