Soccer-Gate

North Miami mayor Andre Pierre just can’t stay out of trouble. Or the news. The Miami Herald just posted this story, North Miami mayor used city soccer fields for free. According to the article, “North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre and friends have been regularly using the city’s athletic stadium for pickup soccer games without paying $38,000 in rental fees, The Miami Herald has learned.”

The story goes on to explain that from October, 2009 through September, 2011, Pierre used the fields “for private soccer practice” without paying the tab of about $29,000.00. He reserved the field for the last time on September 10, 2011, but on September 17, 2011 a group called the North Miami Taxpayers Club started reserving the field.

By sheer coincidence, Andre Pierre is a member of the North Miami Taxpayers Club. Ironically, since Andre Pierre is being tossed out of his home in a foreclosure proceeding and hasn’t been paying his mortgage, he’s not even a Taxpayer!

In what is probably the understatement of the year, the Herald reports, “Ethics experts say Pierre’s actions could leave residents distrustful of his leadership.”

Ya think?

Unfortunately, if the residents had any sense at all, they never would have re-elected him last May. After following the politics in North Miami, I get the distinct impression that the voters aren’t even remotely concerned that Andre Pierre is beyond ethically challenged, and should probably be facing criminal charges for the myriad of stupid, unethical and crooked things he’s done. So far. One just wonder when the next Pierre Behaving Badly article will come out. Probably next week if his pattern holds.

I started documenting Pierre’s lapses November 18, 2011, and the hits just keep on comin’. If you want to brush up on the Andre Pierre Body Count, please read what an informed Miami Herald reader wrote, which I republished on February 2, 2012 here. Pierre News doesn’t stop there, so if you’re really interested in reading even more, just type in “Andre Pierre” where it says “Search” to the right of this column, and you can access all the blogs about him.

Back to the Great Soccer Field Ripoff, the Miami Herald reports:

“City Manager Stephen Johnson said he gave permission to the Taxpayers Club to use the facility for free. Johnson said he has authority to waive the fees, and the club of adult soccer players is “a good cause.” City rules allow for fee waivers for nonprofit groups, and the city has used this provision in the past.

There is no record of North Miami Taxpayers Soccer Club as a nonprofit registered with the Internal Revenue Services, but city spokeswoman Pam Solomon said the group is seeking IRS recognition.”

Let’s see now. The North Miami Taxpayers Club is getting all the benefits from the City of North Miami for a non-profit status … that it doesn’t have! It’s also been grabbing the freebies for over six months while it seeks “IRS recognition.” Huh? How’d that happen? Well, DUH! Andre Pierre’s pet gopher, Stephen Johnson, didn’t get promoted from Chief of Police to City Manager for nothing! He was hired to Make Things Happen. And that he does. That he does.

Finally, reporter Nadege Green wrote, “John Etienne, a North Miami High School employee, said Sunday that he is the founder of the North Miami Taxpayers Soccer Cllub. He said the club was created for soccer players over 40-years old. He declined to say who arranged for the club to use the field for free.” But then added, “I don’t want to get involved in anything political.” Too late, dude. You’re already involved.

This latest brouhaha is only the most recent in a long string of ethical lapses, and what many perceive as criminal activity, perpetrated by The Corruptocrat of North Miami, Hizz(dis)honor Andre Pierre!

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”