Chutzpah!

According to Google Translate, the English translation for the Yiddish word “chutzpah” is “chutzpah.”  I tried translating it into Spanish, French and even Haitian Creole, and the translation was, you guessed it, “CHUTZPAH!”  So, when I tell you the story about North Miami councilwoman Marie Steril’s latest brazen act of questionable ethics, the only reaction in any language is “She’s got some freaking CHUTZPAH!”

An article just published by The Miami Herald entitled, Ethics Commission: North Miami councilwoman, mayor’s wife charitable efforts questionable, relates yet another sordid tale of corruption in what can only be described as The Chicago of the South.  The Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust has been on a roll lately, taking the title of its agency seriously for a change, and busting the no goodnicks of North Miami.  As I reported here last week in Some Holiday Cheer! And Andre Pierre! 🙂, the Commission has FINALLY found probable cause that the mayor exploited his position by using the city’s soccer field for himself and his buddies without paying the required fee.  That investigation is under way and a public hearing will be scheduled.

Now it seems that Andre’s colleague on the dais, good ol’ Marie (Antoinette) Steril, has been caught red-handed dipping into the city’s coffers by using employees “on the city’s clock,” according to the Herald, as fundraisers for her non-profit organization in Haiti, Family Corners, while also collecting a salary by said non-profit.  She claims that her organization and North Miami have a “joint partnership.”

Although I’ve written extensively about the plethora of “non-profit” corporations and how they con money out of municipalities for questionable “beneficiaries,” this is the first time I’m writing about an elected official using a “non-proft” to scam her own city out of dough.  Apparently, this can be a profitable venture, since the mayor’s wife is also under the gun for doing a similar thing.

According to the Herald, Bernadette Pierre’s company Laissez-Faire “staged a dance concert to raise money, but all the expenses were paid for by North Miami from money donated by sponsors.”  The concert was to benefit the Miami Choral Academy, and was a “joint partnership” between Pierre’s company and the city.  Laissez-Faire and North Miami donated $8,800.00 to the academy, however, the Ethics Commission’s “investigators could not conclude whether the mayor’s wife profited from the arrangement.”  Mrs. Pierre would not return calls to the Herald and neither would Hizzoner.  Gee, I wonder why.

The Ethics Commission issued letters of warning to both Marie Steril and the City of North Miami.  It smacked Marie for using city resources for our own benefit, and it warned North Miami that “joint partnerships” need to be publicly discussed in order to avoid “an appearance of impropriety, which could have easily been avoided by open public acknowledgement and debate.”

Here’s the thing.  Does anyone in South Florida even expect the City of North Miami to operate in the sunshine anymore?  I mean seriously, folks, under the “leadership” of mayor Andre Pierre and his colleague, Marie Steril, this city council has done more to sully the reputation of the entire council and the city itself than probably any elected officials in the history of North Miami.  Bar none.  With the help of their hired guns, er, I mean, employees, city manager Stephen Johnson and police chief Marc Elias, they have been able to turn the city into their own personal piggy bank.

Turkeys and Toys

Or, as one of my sources so succinctly put it, North Miami is nothing more than a giant money laundering factory for the benefit of Haiti.  I’m told that Chief Elias and one of his majors go to Haiti all the time on the city’s dime – trips which are conveniently signed off by Mr. Johnson.  Just last week, for example, right after the North Miami Thanksgiving turkey giveaway, to which scores of turkeys were donated ostensibly for the residents of North Miami, the chief hopped a plane to Haiti while residents were divvying up the few turkeys that were actually given out locally.  In fact, the chief was supposed to return from his trip two days ago, but his flight was cancelled and he was stuck in Haiti for another day.  Poetic justice.

As I reported in Slush Fund Baby, last year during the North Miami Police Department’s Police Athletic League’s toy drive, some of the toys collected for the needy children of North Miami seem to have “disappeared into the Burmuda Triangle.”  It was rumored that Marie stashed the best ones in a private room, to be “distributed” elsewhere.  However, since whoever allegedly witnessed this alleged theft of donated toys never filed an official complaint, this alleged crime will go un-investigated, un-prosecuted and unpunished.  Besides, who would it be reported to anyway?  Chief Elias?  Like he would ever file charges on one of his bosses, right?  HAH!

I’m told the donated toys are fairly easy to pilfer.  The largest donors are North Miami’s local Walgreens and the Target on Biscayne Boulevard, and the toys are simply dropped off in the lobby of the police station, where they are easily accessible by any city official or employee.  Maybe this year, someone could figure out a way to lock the donated toys up before the actual event so that the needy kids of North Miami can have a Merry Christmas.  Just saying.

North Miami’s own Friends & Family® Plan

Marie Steril also managed to “help out” her friend and mother obtain free housing in North Miami.  As I reported in Oh, Marie!, she set up her friend and fellow church member, Martine Saint-Aime in a city owned home, who lived there rent free while waiting to buy it.  The closing never took place, but Ms. Saint-Aime didn’t vacate the property until she was good and ready.  Marie also managed to snag one of North Miami’s city owned homes for her own mother without disclosing their relationship in accordance with HUD rules.  As a result of this “oversight,” the taxpayers are now on the hook for over $154,000.00 in repayment, fines and penalties to HUD.

Even though I was advised that this money was simply a return of funds that the city already received from HUD, the fact that North Miami already spent that money to purchase and refurbish the property that Marie’s mother is still occupying, simply means that Steril again benefited from the “largesse” of North Miami’s taxpayers in the form of a free house for mama.  When the council voted to approve this repayment, with the lone exception of the only ethical council member in North Miami – Scott Galvin, this expense apparently did not occur to them.  Then again, city manager Stephen Johnson attempted to stifle Councilman Galvin’s objections by telling him that “the funds are coming from unexpected revenue.”  HUH?  How does a city get “unexpected revenue?”  The Porsche fairy perhaps?  Convenient, eh?

Will Voters Ever Learn?

In any event, the City of North Miami has become the poster child for fraud and corruption in municipal government.  Andre Pierre and Marie Steril continue to make headlines for unethical acts of sheer chutzpah.  The taxpaying residents continue to pay through the nose to support the dirty dealings of those they vote into office.  Yep, elections do have consequences.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”