Here we go again!
I just received a copy of the latest North Miami Beach Police Department’s Internal Affairs Memorandum dated July 2, 2012. This makes the fourth one that I have read involving none other than councilman Frantz Pierre. I am told there was yet another Internal Affairs investigation that took place sometime prior to September of 2011; however, according to Sgt. Richard Silberman, that investigation was completed by former Chief of Police Ralph Hernandez, and that report needs to be dug up out of the city’s archives. No problem. I can wait. I have nothing but time.
In the meantime, the current, FIFTH investigation regarding Mr. Pee-Air is as bizarre as it gets! I’m beginning to think that Frantzie just might out-crazy Myron to win the 2012 Insane Clown Posse Award.
As we have come to expect, Sgt. Silberman did his homework and investigated the matter of Pierre v. Kamali, in what is officially known as the SANITATION BID COMMITTEE CONFLICT ALLEGATION BY COUNCILMAN PIERRE. Without going into all the gory details of the eight page report, which you can read for yourself by clicking here: Frantz Pierre – Kamali inquiry for public 119, I will just give you the highlights.
1. Frantzie alleged that Public Services Director Shari Kamali was derelict in her duties as a member of the Sanitation Bid Committee. Sgt. Silberman noted that at the Council meeting, he stated publicly, “I can put on record that, I got at least two credible witnesses that can tell me, that the original vice-president of the winning bid company, has extensive conversation with Ms. Shari Kamali.”
2. Resident Bert Kehren felt that this accusation warranted an investigation by the police department. Mr. Kehren was interviewed and claimed that resident Mary Hilton told him “that she had information alleging that money had improperly changed hands in the matter of the Sanitation outsourcing bid with the City.”
3. In his interview with Sgt. Silberman, resident Bruce Lamberto disclosed that Pierre told him that Ms. Kamali possibly allowed a vendor to change his bid after the bid was opened.
4. Resident Mary Hilton was interviewed and denied having any knowledge of impropriety concerning Mr. Russell Mackie, vice president of Waste Pro and Ms. Kamali. She also suggested that Sgt. Silberman speak with resident Richard Riess.
5. Councilwoman Barbara Kramer was interviewed and stated that Mr. Mackie claims to have met with Ms. Kamali “maybe 7 months to approximately a year ago,” but “that she is not aware of any improper contact between Kamali and Mackie, nor is she aware of any “money changing hands,” as mentioned by Mr. Kehren.” Ms. Kramer also stated that Ms. Kamali “did not recall having met Mr. Mackie.”
6. Assistant City Manager/Sanitation committee member Mac Serda was interviewed. He stated “that there has been no improper contact by any member of the committee and any of the bidding vendors to his knowledge.” Mr. Serda was also unaware of any “violation of the cone of silence” that was imposed once the bidding process started.
7. Waste-Pro vice president Russell Mackie was also interviewed. He admitted he and another representative of his company had met with Ms. Kamali, at their request, approximately a year ago. This meeting was basically a “sales call” to offer his company’s services in case the city ever needed them. According to Mr. Mackie, Ms. Kamali told him the decision to outsource was “not a decision for her to make.” Mr. Mackie advised Sgt. Silberman that his company “stays abreast of what goes on in local governments as potential for new opportunities.” He also denied any improper dealings during the bid process, nor did any “money change hands.” Mr. Mackie also provided copies of all email correspondence between his company and Ms. Kamali.”
8. Mr. Richard Riess was interviewed and his concern was that “he had overheard a conversation between Mr. Mackie and someone else outside of the Council Chambers, commenting that he was concerned that Ms. Kamali did not mention that he had met with her some time ago prior to the bid.”
Sgt. Silberman then quoted several comments made at the Sanitation workshop meeting held on June 1, 2012, where Councilwoman Phyllis Smith and Mr. Bonner both tried to press Frantz to disclose whatever information he claimed he had. He refused, stating, “This is something I want to discuss with our City Attorney before I make further revelations.”
At the Council meeting held June 5, 2012, Sgt. Silberman reiterated Pierre’s ridiculous remarks that “once again, when the time is right, the Council and the City will know the truth.” He further quoted Frantz as saying, “I got “irrefutable evidence” that there were discussions, there were contact between Ms. Kamali and the individual. I got credible witnesses and I stand by it.” He then attempted to make some sort of half-assed attempt to apologize to Ms. Kamali for…um…
Gee, I can’t figure that one out. He basically accused her of underhanded bidding negotiations, and yet claims that “that was not an attack.” He then stumbled over himself trying to explain that he didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, but only that she should have disclosed “on record that she had contact.” Frantz then asked Ms. Kamali to accept his apology, even though he had information for the Council that will “blow your mind.”
More than a month later, we’re still waiting for this mind blowing information.
Let me continue.
On June 15, 2012, Sgt. Silberman provided further quotes from the Council meeting. This time both Councilwoman Beth Spiegel and City Manager Lyndon Bonner pressed L’il Frantzie P for his mind blowing information. Frantzie again reiterated that he “got at least two credible witnesses who can tell me that the regional Vice-President of the winning bid company has extensive conversation with Miss Shari Kamali.”
We’re still holding our collective breath.
Please read the excerpt of Ms. Kamali’s interview for the full story so I don’t have to type the whole thing. The important thing to note here is that she denied any misconduct whatsoever, and that she herself had asked Mr. Bonner to investigate this matter when she was first accused of wrongdoing. She also “stated that she has no idea why Pierre would be making these allegations against her.” Ms. Kamali did speculate, however, that it might have had something to do with Frantzie’s run in with water meter reader Antonio Orgeta, which was investigated by Internal Affairs and documented in its report dated April 4, 2012, and which I published in “Don’t You Know Who I Am?”
As vindictive as Pee-Air is, that wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Sgt. Silberman already expressed some concern that it was a bit of a coincidence that Mr. Ortega was the victim of foul play regarding his own water meter shortly after his Pierre Encounter, which also resulted in an Internal Affairs investigation as I reported in “Water, Water, Everywhere.”
Moving right along.
Again, please refer to the attached Internal Affairs Memorandum to get the full conclusion of Sgt. Silberman’s investigation. The bottom line, however, is that in a not so surprising twist, on June 29, 2012, Mr. Pee-Air called Sgt. Silberman to tell him that “he no longer wished to pursue this matter.”
Isn’t that special?
Fortunately for Ms. Kamali. She must be extremely relieved to be exonerated of false and humiliating accusations.
Unfortunately for the residents AND VOTERS of North Miami Beach, we have been subjected to yet another one of Frantz Pierre’s despicable AND COSTLY dramas. He has a history of making false accusations against people for nefarious and selfish reasons, and then ends up either dismissing the charges or, as in this case, decides his “credible witnesses” are no longer credible enough to “pursue the matter.”
In the matter of Frantz Pierre vs. Ketley Joachim, who ran against him in the last election, Frantz filed false charges against her and possibly even committed perjury. He either lied to the police or he lied to the judge, but neither story he told jives with the other. This matter is currently being re-opened by several concerned citizens.
In my research, I didn’t even think about asking how much the five Internal Affairs investigations regarding councilman Frantz Pierre have cost the city. With all the hours Sgt. Silberman alone has spent on them, not to mention the salaries of the secretaries who type them, the IT person who digitizes them and the Clerks who make copies for the public, I can imagine it’s a pretty penny. Combine that with the time the City Manager and the City Attorney spend “handling” these ridiculous matters, and we’re not talking chump change!
But more importantly, beyond the actual tax dollars that are wasted by his warped and twisted antics, Frantz Pierre is screwing with real live human beings. Maybe in “his country” it’s okay to destroy human emotions, careers and families, but it’s not okay here!
Folks, you know how I like to put a humorous spin on everything I write. But this crap that Frantz Pierre is pulling and continues to pull is just not funny. In just the last couple of years alone, he has attempted to destroy the lives of Jean Pompee, Ketley Joachim, Antonio Ortega, Lyndon Bonner and now Shari Kamali. I won’t even know who else he screwed with in the earlier Internal Affairs investigation, as I mentioned above, until I receive a copy of that report. But, I’m sure it will be just as devious, and devastating to his victim.
Even scarier, these are just the Pee-Air Evil Deeds that have been documented! Who knows what other crap he’s been up to that’s gone unreported and under the radar? We’ve all heard the rumors…
What I do know is that THIS HAS GOT TO STOP! Frantz Pierre must be censured by not only his fellow council members, but by the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, the State Attorney, the Attorney General of the State of Florida and the Governor himself.
Better yet, he needs to be recalled. The residents and the employees have had enough!
Frantz Pierre is running amok and he is walking among us.
No, there is nothing funny about it!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
I’ll trade you my city hall for your city hall! Imagine how many wonderful things we could be doing if we weren’t such dedicated gadflies. Only wish there were more of us! LOL!
If he (ever) had to give an explanation for this behavior, he will probably say that this is a cultural thing very common in his country. I mean clearly there is a pattern of outrageous claims made by Haitians, not just here, but in North Miami also; remember when (the other) Pierre accused a colleague’s daughter of being a prostitute? Research shows that children learn how to lie between the ages of 2 and 4, which coincides with the discovery of the word “no,” which provides boundaries. Children mainly lie to gain an advantage over these boundaries, and to boost self-esteem. If you look at the culture of Haiti, most of its people have been historically kept within very tight boundaries and treated like crap, which destroys their self-esteem and produces some serious arrested development issues. Those who make it out, only know how to lie as a way to get what they want and gain the respect they have never had. This is also the reason many of them don’t make it in our permissive society; they have never exercised self-control. I am not making excuses for the many Pierres that afflict us, just offering a different way to look at these poor souls’ “condition.”
While you make perfect sense from a psychological point of view, most of us deal with childhood “issues” that we’ve learned to overcome. The more people I meet in life, the more I see that pretty much everyone comes from a “dysfunctional” family. Unfortunately, parenthood doesn’t come with a manual, and we usually have to resort to on the job training when raising a child. Believe me, even the best of parents make mistakes – some worse than others. The good news is that most of us make a conscious decision not to repeat the mistakes our parents made. The bad news is that we make new ones. Oh, well.
But the truth of the matter is that eventually we have to take responsibility for ourselves and our own actions when we reach adulthood. We all eventually have to learn right from wrong or suffer the consequences. As a society, we cannot accept unacceptable behavior or we become no better than ones who behave offensively. Lying is NOT acceptable behavior! Especially from public officials.
Having a miserable or “dysfunctional” childhood is no excuse, either. In fact, for some of us, the best part of our childhood is that it’s over. We have the choice not to repeat it. More importantly, we have the responsibility not to inflict it on society.
With yesterdays column freshly in my mind, and my being a one-termer, kicked out of office guy, I find it FASCINATING that Bert is on the war path for Franz P. Thanks to guys like Bert, Dorkan, Taylor, etc…. the residents have Franz P up there. My delivery may have been direct, blunt, even harsh, but I am not a thief, a liar, or unethical. And, unlike Franz P who only drinks from the public cup, I built and operate a successful office where I employ others. There is something to be said for business acumen.
You are so right. So many of these activists should start by apologizing to the residents of North Miami Beach for ruining our city just because they felt that people like Ray Marin and you were “arrogant”. Elected Officials are supposed to guide the public, not respond to every single ever-changing mind. It is impossible to please all people all the time, but lately it seems pretty possible to piss off all the people all the time. Without admitting they were agents of the mess we are in now, these so called activists lose a lot of credibility. Are they going to get tired of the next set of Elected Officials too? Does anyone think people like Mary Hilton or Richard Reiss or even Bert Kheren will EVER be happy? With ANYTHING? A big part of our failure as a city is our lack of stability. You and Marin may have been “arrogant” but at least we had stability, and after all this drama, it looks like the original catalyst for our fall from grace – Marina Grande, is going up as originally planned. Talk about wasted lives, resources, careers and time.
Under normal circumstances I would refer to Pee-Air as just another irrelevant little piss ant looking for an ant hill to piss off of. However since he does hold a council seat irrelevancy is not an option. Instead he is just another little piss ant who seems to have found his ant hill and is now using it for his intended purpose.
I think the time has come to consider a recall effort in order to relegate this mental twit back his natural state of irrelevancy!