Facebook Said Commissioner Was In Miami Beach As Irma Struck. He Was Not.

MIAMI BEACH, FL — As his city was being battered by the unrelenting winds and blinding rain of Hurricane Irma, Commissioner Michael Grieco remained a voice of calm on social media. His first public Facebook post during the Sept. 10 storm came at 7:46 a.m., an hour and 24 minutes before Irma would make landfall at Cudjoe Key in the Florida Keys.

Facebook said he was in Miami Beach. He was not.

Grieco had taken to Facebook at the height of the hurricane to ask for information from residents who still had electricity around the city.

"Majority do not at this point. Trying to monitor grid best we can," read the commissioner's post, which included a map of the Miami area with a red and white marker pointing to the center of Miami Beach.

The top of the post stated: "Commissioner Michael Grieco is in Miami Beach, Florida."

He was a long way away, it turns out, in Orlando.

When contacted by Patch about the misleading post on Facebook, Grieco said he was not trying to fool anybody.

"I evacuated my family to Orlando and then when Irma’s track started taking a turn toward them, I made sure I was with them during the actual storm and then came back Monday in time to diffuse a SWAT standoff with an armed resident," he confirmed to Patch in an interview.

He told Patch that the location stamp was on some — but not all — of his social media posts. At least two other posts he made after the storm carried location stamps from places that Grieco had not physically visited. Three days after the storm Grieco checked into Key West to promote a fundraiser and he also checked into a Miami Gardens orphanage to help boost donations.

At 6:17 p.m. on the day Irma came ashore, Grieco again posted on Facebook with the same location stamp as before. By then it would have been dangerous for anyone to be moving around the streets of Miami Beach. "Please do not go outside" he urged residents. "There is a curfew in place until 7 a.m. Moreover, keep away from standing water and downed power lines if you venture out tomorrow. Please share."

This article initially referenced a Facebook post that was critical of Grieco's Miami Beach location stamp. He told Patch that he strongly believed it was from a bogus social media account controlled by political opponents.

A Miami Beach resident that spoke directly to Patch, who asked not to be identified told Patch that Grieco should have simply told residents he was evacuating with his family and that he would return when it was safe to do so.

"He tried very diligently, I think, to create the impression he was here," the resident said.

On Sept. 6 in the days leading up to Hurricane Irma's arrival in Miami Beach, Lauren Carra asked Grieco on Facebook why Miami Beach city employees were required to work the Thursday and Friday ahead of the storm.

"Because they/we chose to work for the government and the government is directly answerable to and responsible for its taxpaying residents in providing emergency services.," Grieco replied seven minutes later at 9:42 p.m.

But Grieco, who is running for re-election and dropped a mayoral bid following a series of Miami Herald reports that claimed to link him to an outside fundraising group, stressed that he hasn't broken any rule nor was there a requirement for him to remain in the city during the storm.

Sources inside the Miami Beach city government acknowledged that there was no formal requirement for Grieco to remain, but added that nearly every city official in a leadership position stayed.

"I aggressively utilized my extensive social media platforms to communicate essential information to and from thousands of Miami Beach residents while also keeping my family safe," Grieco told Patch.

Here is a brief timeline of Grieco's whereabouts during Hurricane Irma:

• 7:46 a.m. Sunday Sept. 10: Grieco asks on Facebook how many people still had power around the city. The post was timestamped one hour and 24 minutes before Irma made landfall at Cudjoe Key. Weather conditions around Miami had already deteriorated. The post bore a location stamp indicating that Grieco was in Miami Beach when he later acknowledged he was more than 200 miles away with his family in Orlando.
• 6:17 p.m. Sunday Sept. 10: The storm continues to wreak havoc on Miami Beach. Grieco makes another Facebook post in which he urges residents: “Please do not go outside” and reminds them that there is a curfew in effect. This post also bore a location stamp indicating that Grieco was in Miami Beach at the time.
• 9:40 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11: Grieco, now back in Miami Beach, assists police with a “shots fired call” involving a resident he had spoken to in the past in his capacity as a city official. Grieco said he helped convince the man to surrender in the 2400 block of Prairie Avenue. By then, the storm had already left Miami Beach.

Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco's Facebook posts said he was in Miami Beach during Hurricane Irma. Photo by Paul Scicchitano.