I have good news and bad news for North Miami Beach councilwoman Phyllis Smith.  First the good news, Phyllis:  This blog is NOT about you.  Now the bad news:  This blog is NOT about you.  So, shut up and sit down.

Rumors that have been circulating about whether or not former North Miami Beach Councilman/current State Representative John Patrick Julien lives in the district which he represents have now hit the news.  In today’s local section of The Miami Herald, Lawmaker faces question about living in district, it was reported that although he owns a house with his wife three blocks outside the district, Mr. Julien claims he lives with his friend, former North Miami Beach councilman Robert Taylor, whose home is located inside the district.

I first heard this story a few months back during the North Miami Beach Council campaign, when several candidates who possessed the voter walk lists told me that Mr. Julien’s registered address is the same as Bob Taylor’s.  I questioned Mr. Julien at the time and he told me that he did live at Bob’s house.  He also told me that if anyone wants to file a complaint against him to do so.  I passed this message on to the people who told me about it, but I don’t know if anyone followed through or not at that time.  Apparently the press has now picked up the story, and Bob’s neighbor, Mary Hilton claims that Mr. Julien does not live across the street from her with Bob.  The article states, “She said she plans to file a complaint with the House Rules Committee against Julien for living outside his district.”

Once a complaint is filed and if the Committee finds her complaint to be legally sufficient, I’m sure the Herald reporter, Nadege Green, will be following through with her investigation.  On the surface, it certainly does appear that there’s something fishy going on.  For starters, Mr. Julien and his wife filed a joint tax return and homestead exemption for the year 2010, when Mr. Julien states that he moved into Bob’s house in December of that year.  Also, there’s the fact that Ms. Hilton lives across the street from Bob and claims she never sees Mr. Julien there, except for the incident reported in the article about his car being parked there one time.

There are quite a few people who would relish the thought of John Patrick Julien getting what they believe are his just desserts.  Many of them still hold a grudge about his falsified resume when he first ran for the NMB City Council several years ago.  Complaints were filed back then and Mr. Julien was found guilty of various charges.  He apologized, paid his fines and did community service.  [NOTE:  Rep. Julien responded to this comment with the following statement,  “I agreed to make a contribution to the United Way (or something like that), which was tax deductible. I did not do community service hours. I did not plead guilty, innocent or anything and I certainly was never found guilty of anything.  I was charged in December 2005 and the charges were dropped in March 2006.” ]   I don’t remember the exact penalties right now, but to my recollection he followed through with whatever he was supposed to do, and most people told me they were willing to give him a second chance.  Mr. Julien got back into the good graces of some folks, while burning bridges with others, by supporting and campaigning for the former mayor Myron Rosner in his bid to unseat the then sitting Mayor Ray Marin.  The folks who didn’t like Mr. Marin were happy to have Mr. Julien on their side, while those of us who knew that Myron was a piece of crap were most unhappy with John for supporting him.  In an ironic twist, two years later it was John Julien who realized that he made a mistake with Myron and refused to support him in this last election when Myron ultimately lost his seat to newcomer George Vallejo in a landslide election.  By this time, even Myron’s previously ardent supporters in the 2009 election were railing against him, and the rest of us were rightly vindicated!

Now it seems that Mr. Julien is up against yet another scandal, and personally, I’m sorry to see this happening.  The truth is, I was one of the people who was willing to try to give Mr. Julien a second chance, and honestly I can’t even say why.  Usually I’m not a very forgiving person, but for some reason I wanted to believe that he meant his apology.  What I do believe about Mr. Julien is that he does care about serving the public and is not on the take like so many career politicians.  While lying on one’s resume is not a good thing, Mr. Julien did own up to it and apologized.  But the biggest thing, in my opinion, is that I don’t recall ever hearing anyone imply that Mr. Julien was using his position as a Councilman for personal monetary gain or power.  I know some people might not think that’s important, but to me this is a big deal.  Unlike someone like Myron, for example, who allegedly used and abused his position as mayor to bully employees and residents, as well as to allegedly steal taxpayer money by not paying for construction variances, I don’t believe anyone has ever accused John Julien of profiting from being an elected official.  To my knowledge, Mr. Julien never strong-armed city vendors for contributions or used his wife’s job (whatever that may be) to wrangle campaign donations, as Myron did.  Allegedly, of course.  I also happen to agree with much of Mr. Julien’s voting record, both in the City Council and in the State House.  And, yes, I know I’m a raging Republican and he’s a Democrat.  Go figure.

Frankly, I had no idea when Mr. Julien ran for office back in November that the house he owned with his wife wasn’t located in my district.  I didn’t find this out until months later during the NMB Council campaign, which is when I questioned him about living with Robert Taylor.  I even told him that if, in fact, he really does live with Bob that I’m more disappointed in him for doing so than his lying about it.  Of course, I was only semi-joking because lying about where you live to run for office is a serious offense – much more serious I think than falsifying a resume.  I do know that there are folks who are only too happy to see Mr. Julien in the hot seat, but I have to be honest and tell you that if these allegations prove to be true it will only make me saddened and disappointed.  Yes, you read right.  Chalk it up to the remnants of my once bleeding heart.  (For those of you who don’t know, I’m a recovering Democrat and a hard core fiscal conservative.  While most folks would be surprised at my stance on the so-called social issues, I’m not going to go into that here.  This column is not about partisan politics or ideology.)  My point is that despite my caustic cynicism, I do possess a bit of the Pollyanna Principal in that I want to have faith in human nature.  I want to believe that someone tells the truth when asked a question.  It’s also my natural tendency to root for the underdog most of the time.  It does not give me any sense of pleasure at all when I find out that someone I trusted lied to me.  Despite all the “circumstantial evidence” here that appears to lead to a “conviction” (and I have to admit it doesn’t look good for the home team), I still want to believe that Mr. Julien will somehow be able to exonerate himself.  Again, go figure.

The truth is, what really upsets me right at this minute is that if Mr. Julien does, in fact, live with Bob as he claims, then this raises the Ewwww Factor to a brand new level.  If Bob Taylor is John Julien’s “best friend in the whole wide world,” that REALLY gives me pause.  Ewwww!

While I usually make it my business not to attack a fellow resident, in Bob Taylor’s case I’ll make an exception.  First of all, he WAS a public official at one time, and he has threatened to run again for City Council on a few occasions.  UGH!  Perish THAT thought!  In addition, this is a man who publicly, in print and at a City Council meeting, called me a racist with absolutely no proof and for no apparent reason.  Although the fact that it was well after noon might have had something to do with it.  I’m just saying.  In any event, all’s fair in love and war, and well, this is war!

According to the Miami Herald article, Bob Taylor claimed that he has a second bathroom.  A source who has been at Bob’s house also told me he has a second bathroom.  What’s really weird is that the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector never heard that Bob has a second bathroom.  I’m pretty sure he’d like to know.

According to the property records on the Miami-Dade County website (http://gisims2.miamidade.gov/myhome/propmap.asp),  Bob’s been paying property taxes on a home that’s listed as a three bedroom/one bath structure.  I have also made a public records request to the City Clerk for a copy of the building permit Bob should have pulled when he added this second bathroom to his home.  If he did pull one, then he owes the County and City back property taxes from the date he built it.  If he didn’t pull a permit (a la Myron), then he’s got bigger problems!  Either way, he’s going to have to face the music.

Finally, the Miami Herald article states that Bob Taylor never charged Mr. Julien rent for living at his house.  It quotes Bob as saying, “He brings a six-pack of beer every now and then.  But that’s all.”  Okaaaaaaaay!

If all it takes to rent a room in Robert Taylor’s house is to bring him an occasional six-pack, he could probably solve the homeless problem all by his lonesome.  I’m just saying.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”