It was recently brought to my attention that North Miami Beach Councilman Frantz Pierre somehow managed to close off the alley next to his home by having a concrete barrier plopped down in the middle of the road. The purpose of the barrier is to stop any vehicular traffic from accessing the passageway. Like garbage trucks, for example. Hmmmm…. How’d he do that?
Once upon a time Frantz was on good terms with the former fired City Manager Kelvin Baker. Of course, that was before Frantz moved to fire Baker for not hiring his friends to high city positions. Apparently, there was a time that all Mr. Pee-Air would have to do was simply snap his fingers and his will would be done. Yeah, I know. If that image alone doesn’t make you ROFL, nothing will.
During those heady days of false power, Frantz must have told Mr. Baker that he wanted his alley closed off because there was too much traffic driving through the alley along the east side of his house. Lo and behold, a concrete barrier magically appeared, replete with a reflective plate attached to it so any car or truck daring to mosey down His Highness’ alley wouldn’t slam into it.
Here is an aerial photograph of Frantz’ property taken from Google Maps. The little red balloon marked “A” is Pee-Air’s house. To the left of that property is the alley, where you can clearly see the barrier that stops any vehicular traffic from accessing the alley. (You can click on the photo to get a bigger picture.)
Here is a street level photograph of the barrier shot from the south side of the alley. The property surrounded by the wooden fence on the left belongs to Frantz.
I’m not sure if this is a violation of the North Miami Beach Code or the Miami-Dade County Code, or both. But, it’s obviously a blatant violation of some Code or another. One cannot simply close off a public right-of-way on a whim! Apparently, North Miami Beach’s own Baby Doc Pierre thinks he’s above the law.
Contrary to Frantz Pierre’s overblown image of himself and his position as an elected official, North Miami Beach is not his own personal fiefdom where he can do as he pleases. If the residents of North Miami Beach all have to comply with our Code ordinances, then he has to comply like the rest of us.
Hey, Frantzie baby. We are so on to you and the sneaky little games you’ve been playing since you conned your way onto that dais back in 2007. As your “house of cards” finally starts to topple down (and believe me, it’s happening as we speak), I will be there to document each and every falling card.
And, yeah. You can bet I’ll be ROFLMFAO!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
What a boob.
What an amazing revelation!
What if a fire truck or other rescue vehicles need to get into that alley? Aren’t there a lot of apartments back in that area? What if there is a four alarm fire?
What if a police vehicle is chasing someone on foot and they need to chase them through that alley?
What if a person in a wheelchair wants access through that alley?
Why did the city pay so much money to pave the alleys just to block them?
Did the City’s engineer approve the blocking of this right of way? Who is to say that the reflective plate would ensure prevention of someone slamming into the cement and getting killed?
Who in the world would have approved this? Why was it approved?
This seems like an immediate jeopardy situation that should be corrected immediately and then investigated thoroughly.
Even the city’s website defines an alley as a “public right of way”.
Shocking, to say the least.
Shocked, thanks for your comments. I agree with everything you said. I will be writing to the city manager and code enforcement and ask them the same questions.
Someone posted on the leoaffairs website the following:
Ms. Kienzle hotline
Postby cobra » 10/20/11 04:39:41
THE BARRIER BY FRANTZ HOUSE HAS BEEN THERE FOR OVER 15 YEARS. IT WAS PLACED THERE, SO IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT FOR DRUG DEALERS IN THE GOVERNMENT CENTER TO FLEE THE AREA DURING POLICE OPERATIONS.
THE BARRIER MAY HAVE BEEN REPLACED RECENTLY WITH A NEWER ONE. FRANTZ DID NOT HAVE IT PUT THERE ORIGINALLY (YOU GOT BAD INFORMATION)
THE OLD SCHOOL NARC’S AT NMBPD HAD IT PUT THERE. ASK YOUR INFORMANTS.
JUST SAYING.
If this is true, then perhaps it’s even a bigger problem than I initially thought. For instance, if the NMBPD installed the original barrier, was it approved by the city or the county, or whoever is in charge of public roads? Also, if the original intent was to stop drug dealers from fleeing, why did they choose only that one alley as opposed to all the other alleys in that neighborhood? That just doesn’t make sense to me. I am checking with my “source” who gave me the tip about this barrier to verify the statements made. As soon as I get more information, I will post it here. Thanks for the information, cobra (whoever you are). It’s definitely worth looking into.
FYI to shocked and cobra. I just sent the following letter to both Mr. Bonner and Mr. Wardle (Code Enforcement):
Dear Mr. Bonner and Mr. Wardle,
In case neither of you read my blog (and I know Mr. Bonner told me he does not), I “discovered” a possible code violation in the alley next to the house located at 2120 NE 171 Street. For pictures and background please see the blog at https://www.votersopinion.com/?p=1556#comment-7868.
I was originally told that Frantz Pierre requested it be placed there in 2007 and that former city manager Kelvin Baker made it happen. I have now received another “version” of when and why this barrier was placed in the middle of the alley. I received the following tip:
“THE BARRIER BY FRANTZ HOUSE HAS BEEN THERE FOR OVER 15 YEARS. IT WAS PLACED THERE, SO IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT FOR DRUG DEALERS IN THE GOVERNMENT CENTER TO FLEE THE AREA DURING POLICE OPERATIONS.
THE BARRIER MAY HAVE BEEN REPLACED RECENTLY WITH A NEWER ONE. FRANTZ DID NOT HAVE IT PUT THERE ORIGINALLY (YOU GOT BAD INFORMATION)
THE OLD SCHOOL NARC’S AT NMBPD HAD IT PUT THERE. ASK YOUR INFORMANTS.”
I am not sure which story is the right one; HOWEVER, I feel this is something that needs to be inspected and the barrier needs to be removed post haste. One of my readers made a comment, which I am posting here because I believe these questions need to be addressed and the problem resolved immediately. My reader wrote:
“What if a fire truck or other rescue vehicles need to get into that alley? Aren’t there a lot of apartments back in that area? What if there is a four alarm fire?
What if a police vehicle is chasing someone on foot and they need to chase them through that alley?
What if a person in a wheelchair wants access through that alley?
Why did the city pay so much money to pave the alleys just to block them?
Did the City’s engineer approve the blocking of this right of way? Who is to say that the reflective plate would ensure prevention of someone slamming into the cement and getting killed?
Who in the world would have approved this? Why was it approved?
This seems like an immediate jeopardy situation that should be corrected immediately and then investigated thoroughly.
Even the city’s website defines an alley as a “public right of way”.
Shocking, to say the least.”
I do not know if this alley is city or county (or state?) property, but I do know that a public access road should not be blocked without the proper permits, variances, etc. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Stephanie Kienzle
Hopefully I will have answers soon.
Thanks,
Steph
Kelvin Baker was not the city manager in 2007. However, he may have “made it happen” at the time in his capacity as the director of public services. While all communications between council and staff are supposed to be routed through the city manager, current and former council members ignore this protocol on a regular basis. They call the person in charge of the department in question, make a demand, and their demands are met. Unfortunately it’s a long-standing tradition.
You’re right! I was told that it was Kelvin Baker who arranged for the barrier for Frantz, but I completely forgot he wasn’t the city manager at the time. Still, as you said, he was the director of public services with his eye on the city manager position back then. It most likely would have been in his best interest to “help” a sitting council member who could eventually return the favor. Of course, this is all conjecture, but it seems plausible, no?
I also received a phone call today from someone who used to work for the city, and he said he distinctly remembers going to the Pierre property for some service issue back in about 2005 and 2006, and he claims there were no barriers in the alley whatsoever. Another resident called to tell me that he found out the barrier was placed there in 2007, although he didn’t give me details of how he knows this. I will try to find out more. As I mentioned above, someone claims that this barrier has been there for over 15 years, but this seems to contradict the statements from the two people I spoke with today. Whatever the truth really is, I aim to uncover it if I can.
Unless I just checked the wrong alley, that barrier is no longer there! Good work Stephanie.
For real? Wow! That was fast!
Oh it was Darth Baker allright.
I have been doing some further digging. First of all, the barrier is still there. Also, I have spoken with some other employees and former employees of the city, and not one person believes the barrier was put there prior to 2007. One employee did, in fact, specifically state that Pierre insisted to Baker (who was the director of public services at the time) that it must be put there to stop the traffic driving by his house. It originally was a different type of barrier, and was then replaced by the concrete barrier, which I’m told is called a “jersey” barrier. As for the comment that this barrier being placed there to stop drug dealers from fleeing, this would make more sense if these barriers were placed in more than one alley in the surrounding neighborhood. I want to give “cobra” the benefit of the doubt, but I am not finding any proof that the barrier has been there for 15 years and for the reason he or she stated. I am not saying it’s not possible, but I would really like some more evidence to back up that claim. Thanks!
I am sorry to hear that it was not removed. If Miami Dade Fire Truck/Rescue personnel are not aware of that cement road block, it could be very dangerous. It seems like it would be a TREMENDOUS LIABILITY to the City of NMB to keep it there.
As per Stef’s new blog today, she proved with Google maps dating back prior to 2007 the barrier was not there before. Mayor Mischon has been living in this same building Frantz Pierre lives in I got to understand, and never requested any barriers. Frantz came into office in 2007 and after a couple weeks, a barrier was put there? I have been threatened by NMBPD officer inviting criminals to come to my home and I did not see any patrolling, much less increased patrolling in my neighborhood.
Also, we need to do better paying $20 million per year and getting substandard services from this department that promised they will be slower (sic) than before. That is what the Interim chief, Mr. Gomer had in print on Aug. 23rd at the budget workshop hearing. Frantz should do better by demanding better service for all. His obligation is to serve the entire NMB community. He should not be in office to serve himself.
Mubarak