Oops! Rosendo Prieto, ex-Surfside building official who signed off on condo, placed on leave

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SURFSIDE, Fla. — The former Surfside building official who three years ago told residents at the South Florida condominium that collapsed last week that the structure appeared to be “in very good shape” was placed on leave from his current job, city officials said Tuesday.

The city of Doral said in a statement that Rosendo “Ross” Prieto is taking a leave from C.A.P. Government Inc., a firm that provides building department services to government clients. Prieto, who left his post in Surfside last November, was assigned in May by C.A.P. to work for Doral, the Miami Herald reported.


“On June 28, 2021, C.A.P. Government, Inc. notified the City of Doral that Mr. Prieto was on a leave of absence and assigned another employee to assist the City of Doral Building Department on a temporary basis,” Doral spokesperson Maggie Santos said.

Edie Ousley, a spokesperson for C.A.P., confirmed to the Herald that Prieto was taking a leave of absence. She declined to say whether the move was voluntary.

Prieto was the top Surfside building official when the 40-year recertification inspection process was being done at the Champlain Towers South building in November 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported. Prieto served as the building official in Surfside for about seven years, the newspaper reported.

A month after engineer Frank Morabito flagged “major structural damage” at Champlain Towers South, Prieto attended a condominium association meeting and told the board he had reviewed the report. He told association members that he believed the building was in good shape, according to minutes from the meeting obtained by the Herald.

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