Exclusive: Security contractor Willie Perez in his own words
‘Part of my structure, of what I do and how I do it, is the ability to be able to understand the politics and the requirements in a city that wants security.’
Welcome back to Stet’s deep dive into the long-running ethics inquiry into Mayor Keith James and the no-bid contract his administration delivered to a friend. We left with then-City Administrator Jeff Green saying he and the mayor wanted the $7.9 million, five-year contract to go to their friend Willie Perez’s company, PSC, because it would unify security services downtown. Green said James was in on all the conversations from Day One. The mayor said he was not.
Today, we try to help you understand the man behind the contract, Willie Perez, and how city commissioners agreed to vote in favor of it.
Second of three parts
Catch up on Part 1 here or see Part 3 here.
Longtime city employee Shara Esposito had been among the city workers and top administrators, including newly elected Mayor Keith James, who met for drinks most Friday nights at CityPlace’s Blue Martini and other downtown hotspots.
Also among the regulars: Willie Perez, the regional head of Professional Security Consultants, which patrolled CityPlace and parts of downtown.
Years later, despite a long-running Florida Commission on Ethics probe into a no-bid security contract delivered by James to Perez’s company, there’s no record that the ethics investigator reached out to Esposito.
But Esposito did put her thoughts on the record in sworn testimony in the lawsuit she filed against the city over her firing.
When asked “Who is Willie Perez?” in the August 2021 deposition, Esposito fired off this response.
“Willie Perez is Keith — Mayor Keith James’ — really good friend. He’s also really good friends with Congresswoman Lois Frankel. He’s also the guy that everybody hung out with on Friday nights at Blue Martini’s.
“He’s Mr., you know, Scotch-and-Cigar Willie. He’s the one that sent me the penis picture on my phone. Sent, obviously, other people — I think even (woman’s name deleted by Stet) told me that he sent her (a) dick picture as well throughout the years. And that’s who Willie Perez is.”
Added onetime City Administrator Jeff Green, a regular at the group gatherings, Perez carried out his security duties from the table at Blue Martini.
“Willie basically was in charge. So he liked to sit at CityPlace and direct what went on even if he was socializing,” Green said in his September 2021 deposition.
Perez: ‘We had a cigar club’
Under subpoena, Perez and his lawyer met with an Ethics Commission investigator in January 2020. The Ethics Commission provided the audio recording under state public records laws.
Asked if he had texted the mayor about the security contract in the month after James took office and canceled competitive bidding for the job, Perez told investigator Kathleen Mann, “We text a lot about ‘let’s get together for a drink.’ We had a cigar club. So we text a lot about ‘let’s meet over here. Let’s meet over there.’ But it was a bunch of people but specifically about that I don’t recall.”
Reached by phone on June 28, Perez told Stet he had nothing to say about the ethics probe before hanging up.
When the city fired Esposito, on Oct. 4, 2019, she showed her supervisor the lurid picture she said had been sent to her months earlier by Perez. She said she had told Green about it and he had done nothing.
Green testified that he had been at the table when Perez sent it. Perez even showed it to him, Green said.
He later told investigators he didn’t report it because Perez didn’t work for the city at the time but he privately urged Perez not to do it again.
In her lawsuit, Esposito argued that Green wanted her gone because he had sexually assaulted her in May 2019, an allegation Green denied under oath. Green said he didn’t know about the allegation until it became public six weeks after his resignation, The Palm Beach Post reported in November 2019.
Over the weekend after Esposito’s firing, James persuaded Green to resign. The files do not indicate if the mayor knew about the assault allegation when Green resigned. In his testimony, Green said, as first reported by Stet in Part 1, he took the fall over the lurid text to help assure Perez didn’t lose his security contract.
The City Commission rejected a $180,000 settlement with Esposito in November 2019 before settling in September 2022 for $220,000. By that time the depositions of Green, Esposito, James and others had been added to the court file.
How did she know?
The weekend Green resigned, Perez texted Esposito to tell her that Green would be fired. “I just told you and no one else, so keep it to yourself,” Perez texted, according to an image of the text presented by Esposito’s lawyer.
“How would Perez know that you’re going to be fired before it’s official?” the lawyer asked Green.
“Why is Willie having conversations with Shara (Esposito) would be my question,” Green replied.
When asked again, he said, “Well, I would imagine that Willie and the mayor are having conversations.”
‘I try to get to know the mayor’
In his own Ethics Commission interview, Perez said he socialized with James and other city officials as part of his job.
Willie Perez in his January 2020 ethics interview explains his approach to getting contracts.
“So part of my structure, of what I do and how I do it, is the ability to be able to understand the politics and the requirements in a city that wants security.
“For example, in every city that I do it I try to get to know the mayor, try to get to know the commissioners, try to get to know the fire chief, try to get to know the police chief, try to get to know the structure ‘cause part of my business is the ability to communicate with them.”
Asked if he had conversations with James or Green before the city disqualified his company’s bid in April 2019, Perez said they had had discussions about security downtown.
Ethics investigator Kathleen Mann questions Willie Perez about his involvement during the key April 2019 timeframe.
“A lot of people know me in downtown. A lot of people know me in Northwood. So, a lot of people were expressing via email and conversations with him that they wanted us back in the contract,” he said.
But did he and the mayor specifically discuss the bid? “I don’t recall to be honest with you. I might have. I might have not. I don’t recall.”
Three days after PSC’s disqualification, the city canceled the competitive bids and five months later awarded the contract to PSC without bidding.
Contract details gathered by ethics investigators showed Perez was paid by PSC $165,500 a year and a 1 percent commission from each contract he brought in for the life of the contract. He also received an annual bonus.
Perez said he oversaw 37 contracts and received just $5,000 per quarter in commissions. Investigators were not able to get records indicating if he had been paid specifically 1 percent of the city contract.
Willie Perez explains why he didn’t want the security contract.
But Perez told the investigator he didn’t want the city contract because security downtown had lapsed while his firm had been replaced by another company under former Mayor Jeri Muoio.
“For two years, I said ‘I don’t want it. It’s too much stress. It’s too much work. I don’t need the tension.”
That changed when James took office.
Perez said he helped James get elected because he believed in James’ mission.
Willie Perez explains why he supported Keith James for mayor and denies offering kickbacks.
“I did a fundraiser, a couple of them,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of fundraisers for a lot of people.
“I believe in his mission. The mission of where the city was going. This is my home.”
Green insists on no-bid approach
In a meeting with the city attorney and procurement officer in early September, Green said he got their sign-off on his no-bid approach. It could be done under a section of city code that allowed for no competitive bids as long as the City Commission gave its consent.
Green said the attorney and procurement officer expressed reservations but agreed that the no-bid contract did not violate any laws or city rules.
“The way that City Hall works is we have a discussion,” Green told the investigator. “It’s an open process. If you disagree you’re welcome to speak your mind.”
He said Procurement Officer Frank Hayden suggested amending the request to reflect the need for one security firm downtown. But Green repeated his belief that such an approach would create the impression that many firms could bid but only one could win.
He insisted on the no-bid approach.
“He (Hayden) asked the same questions you did. ‘Can’t we just amend?’ You know, we could, but to me, in that discussion, it seems underhanded. I’d rather do it this way.
“And that’s what we did. We made the decision. … He (Hayden) may have not been happy with the decision but ultimately it was our call. Unless it was illegal. No one advised me that it was.”
Rival alleges favoritism
On Sept. 9, 2019, with the no-bid contract before them, city commissioners heard from lawyers for the current holder of the contract, Giddens Security.
In a letter to commissioners, Giddens asked for a delay to allow time for an investigation because “we have received information which raises the potential that bias, favoritism or collusion may have been involved in the decision to stop the competitive proposal process.”
Commissioner Cory Neering asked City Attorney Kimberly Rothenburg if commissioners had the authority to award the contract without bidding. She stated the code allowed it, and while the decision could be challenged in court, she thought the city would prevail.
In fact, Rothenburg told the ethics investigator it could only go forward with the commission’s blessing.
Neering said he would support the contract because the mayor ran on a platform of public safety and he wanted to support the mayor’s platform.
James: ‘Staking my political future on this’
Before calling for the vote, James argued in favor of awarding the contract to PSC without bidding.
Mayor Keith James’ comments before the September 2019 City Commission vote to award the no-bid security contract to Perez’s company, PSC.
“Yes, this is a big contract. But public safety is a big deal. To me it is important to get the right team in place,” the mayor said. “And yes, I’m, I guess to some degree, staking my political future on this decision but I feel very confident in it and would heartily recommend commissioners that you vote in favor.”
Commissioners approved the contract unanimously. As mayor, James presides over the meetings but does not vote, except to break ties.
Two months later, CityPlace, then known as Rosemary Square, ended its years-long relationship with PSC, severing one of the keys to the no-bid contract: That the same security firm would cover CityPlace, the Downtown Development Authority and the city properties.
Coming next Thursday: The Florida Ethics Commission rejects motions to dismiss the case. Twice.
If you missed Part 1, you can check it out here.