The fallout of the sex text scandal in Homestead continued yesterday after a city department head was suspended from his job.
Parks Director Robert Landen has been suspended for sending sexually explicit and racially offensive text messages on government-owned Blackberrys on city time, sources said.
Landen, who was also suspended from his reserve police officer job, traded the texts with myriad females, mostly city employees and one or two who were his subordinates.
Hundreds, even thousands, of inappropriate texts were exchanged that can hardly be considered official city business.
"Oh nice take pic of u for me to see what u r wearing" Landen asks an employee.
"U could dip ur fingers in tequila and I could lick ur fingers if we were going together" to that night's party, she responds.
Landen sent and received many others far more explicit, and there was at least one racist text, forwarded by Landen.
"Fwd: Fwd: OMG!! Ur not going to believe this (EXPLETIVE) !!! I got a tattoo of a n------ on my shoulder, and now my (expletive) arm quit workin!" it read.
Landen refused comment until he was given the OK by his employers. It's unknown what his ultimate fate will be.
The Landen suspension is just the latest scandal to hit Homestead. Earlier this month, city manager Mike Shehadeh was fired for exchanging romantic text messages with assistant Johanna Fadis on city time and on city Blackberrys.
A meeting Tuesday at City Hall to discuss the texts turned out to be no discussion at all. After the meeting, Mayor Steve Bateman acknowledged that there were unresolved issues in Homestead.
"If there are other violations, I believe the city manager should bring them forward," Bateman said. "He's looked at the entire disc of evidence."
