In yet another development for the town of Surfside, which could hardly be called sleepy these last few months, an ethics complaint has been filed against the mayor, Charles Burkett. The complaint comes from Dina Goldstein, a former employee of Surfside, who alleges that the mayor has been part of a campaign to leak her private information and lead a smear effort against her on social media, as reported by Miami Daily Life.
Goldstein, who had been employed with the town for more than 16 years and received commendations such as Police Civilian of the Year, was terminated last summer without a chance to dispute or even review the reasons for her dismissal. "These are all of my commendations," Goldstein told Local 10 News, holding up her past commendations.
The straw that broke the camel's back for Goldstein was discovering that Burkett had allegedly shared her personal details, including her address and phone number, on the Nextdoor app and his citywide blog. This disclosure, claims Goldstein, led to "vicious attacks against me, a lot of false accusations," according to Local 10 News. In direct violation of privacy expectations, the mayor divulged information from what had once been a confidential ethics complaint.
Goldstein's husband, William Blumenkranz, has supported his wife’s claims and suggested that they may have been targeted because of their vocal criticism of Burkett. "I speak out against him and he doesn’t like anybody that speaks out against him," Blumenkranz said in a statement obtained by Local 10 News. The tensions within the Surfside community have been further exacerbated by several incidents in recent months, including the mayor's impromptu interventions in police traffic stops and the unauthorized erection of gates on public roads, which have since been removed by the county.
In her bid to clear her name and possibly return to her former job, Goldstein has expressed her enduring commitment to the community. "I want to essentially just clear my name," she told. "I want the best for this community and this town." Contrarily, Mayor Burkett is said to have stated, via a text message to Local 10 News, that he was unaware of any obligation to keep the complaint confidential and does not believe it necessary to do so, showing a dismissive stance towards the ethics complaint's confidentiality.
