Why did Miami Beach mayor resign from federal job? He’s mum — and agency says it’s secret
Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner has yet to explain why he resigned from a lucrative position with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, more than one month after he left his job as an enforcement attorney there amid a human resources investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The Herald reported earlier this month that Meiner, who serves as mayor in a part-time capacity, had left the SEC after 17 years at the agency’s Miami office. Meiner did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment at the time, but wrote on social media hours after the story first published that he was “thrilled” to announce a new job at a small company, The Farkas Group, the family office of businessman Michael D. Farkas.
Meiner’s statement did not address his reason for leaving the SEC. “I am excited for this new endeavor where I can contribute my expertise,” he wrote.
Last Wednesday, during a break in a Miami Beach City Commission meeting at City Hall, a Herald reporter approached Meiner to ask again why he resigned from his federal role. Meiner did not respond to the question and continued to walk away from the reporter.
His chief of staff, Veronica Coley, told a reporter the question wasn’t relevant to the commission meeting. Another member of Meiner’s staff tried to block the reporter from following the mayor as he walked across the hall.
Meiner did not respond to subsequent requests for comment for this story on Tuesday made through text messages and emails to him and Coley.
READ MORE: Miami Beach mayor leaves his federal job. Did misconduct claims play a role?
The SEC won’t address the resignation, either. An agency spokesperson declined to comment Tuesday, saying the SEC doesn’t comment on personnel matters.
Meanwhile, the agency has withheld records that could reveal why Meiner resigned and whether it was related to misconduct claims.
A one-page form documenting Meiner’s resignation that the SEC provided to the Herald last week showed that the departure was effective June 27. It also revealed that Meiner’s salary was $234,590. But a section of the form titled “reason for resignation” was entirely redacted.
In an explanation citing a federal law, an SEC public records officer wrote that certain information was exempt from disclosure because “its release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” The Herald has been pushing for the release of records related to any complaints about Meiner’s conduct at the agency, arguing in part that his position as an elected official should outweigh personal privacy concerns.
Meiner has avoided questions from the Herald since its report in November about three women who claimed he made unwanted advances while working with them at the SEC.
Among them was a fellow attorney who reported to her superiors in 2016 that Meiner told her while in her office that he wanted to get a second apartment to carry on an affair with her. That incident triggered an inquiry by the SEC’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity that seemingly did not result in discipline, according to records reviewed by the Herald.
Another woman, a former intern, said Meiner tried to kiss her in 2012. A second former intern told the Herald that during and after her internship, Meiner frequently asked her out for drinks and dinner and told her in text messages that she was “beautiful and smart.”
She said she sent Meiner “several very direct texts reminding him he had a wife and kids and reminding him I was in a very serious relationship.”
Meiner said in November that the women’s allegations were “absolutely untrue and offensive” and that he had “never been the object of a formal complaint.”
He added that he believed the claims about his conduct were “likely motivated by anti-Israel and antisemitic views,” saying a colleague had once “confronted” him about Israel and made “inflammatory statements” referring to Israelis as “colonizers” and expressing support for Hamas.
In February, the Herald confirmed that the SEC’s Office of Human Resources in Washington, D.C., had begun contacting current and former SEC employees seeking to speak to them about their experiences with Meiner or knowledge of any allegations against him.
Meiner told reporters in February that “there is no investigation,” though he declined to elaborate on the claim. The human resources probe had not yet concluded as of mid-June, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The agency has not revealed where the investigation stood when Meiner resigned or whether he was facing potential discipline.
Meiner, a former city commissioner, was elected as mayor days after the Herald’s November report, running on a platform of upholding political ethics and cracking down on crime.
