If the people who live in and work for Miami-Dade County are happy that North Miami Beach makes them look good, we here in NMB can all feel good that our sister city to the south, North Miami, exists. Next to that municipality, we are a model city.
And, if you thought our former mayor Myron Rosner was devious, manipulative and corrupt, compared to North Miami mayor Andre Pierre’s regime, Myron’s antics were child’s play.
Since Pierre was re-elected in May, all hell has broken loose over in North Miami. For starters, he managed to get the former City Manager, Russell Benford, to resign so he could promote his favorite “hired gun,” the then Chief of Police Stephen Johnson, to the position. First as interim City Manager and then, with a 3-2 vote of a council whose majority he easily controls, Pierre installed Johnson permanently. As soon as the ink was dry on Johnson’s contract, Johnson promptly fired the long time Finance Director Carlos Perez under the guise of “poor performance,” which couldn’t be further from the truth (see The City of North Miami: Corruption “R” US, https://www.votersopinion.com/?
Another thing Stephen Johnson did when he was promoted was call a meeting of all the Directors of every department in the city, at which meeting he gave the directive that they were to cease sending emails amongst themselves in order to avoid creating public records. He also prohibited them from speaking to the press and to citizens, specifically certain resident activists, and he then threatened immediate dismissal for doing so.
Like the old saying about Vegas, Stephen Johnson wanted to make sure that what goes on in City Hall stays in City Hall.
The latest scheme in a long line of questionable activities in North Miami is the sudden creation of a job entitled “CRA Coordinator.” Here is the curious timeline: Back when Russell Benford was hired as City Manager, a man named Tony Crapp was the Director for North Miami’s Community Redevelopment Agency, or CRA. Mr. Crapp had also applied for the position of City Manager and offered to do both jobs (City Manager and CRA Director) for the price of one. I don’t know what Mr. Crapp’s salary was, but once Stephen Johnson replaced Russell Benford, Mr. Crapp was let go, ostensibly because they couldn’t afford what they were paying him. It seems, however, they have enough money to pay for someone to bear the title of CRA Coordinator. Or, at least, that’s the position for which the City of North Miami is advertising.
According to the Employment Announcement previously advertised on the city’s website, which has since been removed (good thing I have a copy!), this position is available and pays between $50,960.00 and $75,587.00. The city claims the position was budgeted for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012, and that the deadline to apply was Monday, November 21, 2011. According to the Announcement, “only those applicants who most closely meet the specific requirements for the position will be contacted for an interview.”
What are the requirements? According to the city’s published Announcement, the applicant must have a :
“1. Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Economic Development, Planning Development, Finance, or closely related field (diploma/transcripts required at time of application) and
2. A minimum of five years in Economic Development or related field administering grant and financial assistance programs
3. A valid Florida Drivers License (copy required at time of application)
4. Ability to communicate in English and Creole and in writing is preferred.”
The City of North Miami also published several disclaimers at the bottom of the Employment Announcement, including the fact that the City “does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national or ethnic origin, age or disability.”
This certainly sounds Kosher, right? Well read on.
It just so happens that I received a copy of an email chain, the first of which was dated Monday, November 28, 2011, and which was distributed to several residents and activists. The resident sent a public records request to the Clerk of the City of North Miami asking for a list of applicants for the position of CRA Coordinator, with copies of their resumes, as well as the list of committee or staff members reviewing the applications. The resident has yet to receive these documents even though the package was delivered to the (obviously secret) committee on Friday, December 1, 2011 and the committee (whoever they are) met on Monday, December 5, 2011.
If this information was available since at least December 1, 2011, why has the city withheld it from a resident to this day – December 8, 2011 – a full week later? What is the City of North Miami hiding from its residents and taxpayers?
Well, for starters, rumor has it that this particular position was created specifically for one person, and one person only – a former temporary Principal of the North Miami Senior High School Adult program. This would be the same Lesly Prudent who has a radio program and who is one of North Miami Beach councilman Frantz Pierre’s close friends. (Yeah, you just knew good ol’ Frantzie just had to be involved somehow, didn’t you?) As I’ve previously reported (https://www.votersopinion.com/
Like I said, it’s only a rumor that Lesly Prudent is a shoe in for the job of North Miami CRA Coordinator. It seems to me that the taxpaying residents of North Miami should at least have the opportunity to review the applications and resumes of all the applicants since they are the ones who will be paying the future employee’s salary. When all is said and done, it will certainly be interesting to see if the best and most qualified person was hired.
I’m just saying.
Keep up the good work, Andre Pierre. You’re making North Miami Beach look marvelous. Simply marvelous!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/19/2553558_north-miami-hires-educator-to.html