In a Now You See It, Now You Don’t move, a mystery item was pulled from the consent agenda for the June 4, 2013 meeting.  Rumor has it that former North Miami Beach councilman Philippe Derose, who chose not to run again after ten years of service, has requested to have the Uleta Community Center renamed after himself.

Yes, he did.

Rumor also has it that he’s been vigorously lobbying council members to vote in the affirmative, and has enlisted the city manager and the city attorney to help him round up support.

Talk about a WTF moment!

Here’s the thing.  Former mayors and councilmen, who served for a lot more years than did Derose, left office and went back to their lives without ceremony.  Some were voted out, but two of them stepped down after decades of service.  None of them demanded that a building be named after them.  The two who were so honored were deserving because of the work they performed for the betterment of the city.

Former councilman Jules Littman, who served for 22 years and for whom our theater is named, secured the funding to convert the old gymnasium into a world class facility.

Former mayor Jeffrey Mishcon, who served for about 17 years, was instrumental in obtaining a grant from the Safe Neighborhoods Parks Bonds Project in order to turn an empty lot he deemed “one of the biggest ‘blights’ in the city” into an athletic field.  Mishcon Park was named after his late wife, Patricia.  Still, Mishcon didn’t take credit for the accomplishment “because so many people worked together to make it happen.”

Councilman John Kurzman, who served for 24 years until he stepped down, didn’t get a building.

Mayor Ray Marin, who gave 20 years of service, didn’t get a building.

Councilman Jay Chernoff served 19 years, and didn’t get a building.

Councilman Kenneth A. DeFillipo served for 14 years, didn’t get a building.

While in office, every single one of these elected officials took their roles as leaders seriously and worked hard at legislating policies for the benefit of the residents of North Miami Beach.  They each have legacies of which they can be proud.

Philippe Derose served a grand total of 10 years, and has accomplished what?  He sat up on that dais, always being very careful to vote with the majority and avoid controversy.  To my recollection he never proposed any legislation, with one exception.  Just last October, he sponsored an ordinance to give seniors an additional homestead exemption.  While that was nice of him, he hardly had to work for it.  No fund raising or grant writing was involved.  If anything, it actually involved giving money away.  But, he had the full support of the entire council without having to ask twice.  The mayor said it was a “no-brainer.”

He did, however, lobby intensely to send equipment and money to Haiti after the earthquake.  When challenged by his colleagues as to how that would be beneficial to the residents of the city he was supposed to be serving, he appeared to get defensive and asked, “Other cities are helping Haiti.  If we don’t, how will it look?”

I guess he was referring to the only other city in South Florida with a vested interest in Haiti, which would be North Miami.  Considering that one of the most corrupt public officials in the history of South Florida organized that mess by raising donations ostensibly for the American Red Cross and yet somehow the money went missing, Derose’s concern about how NOT throwing money at Haiti “would look” is beside the point.

That’s the only time I ever saw Derose animated.  About anything.  The rest of the time he sat up on that dais with a smile on his face and just went along with the program.  Whatever it was.  Like I said, he never made waves.

Just because he didn’t make waves, doesn’t mean he did much of anything else.

But, now he wants a building.

Um, yeah.  About that.

Here’s the thing.  I have dirt.  Not terribly scandalous dirt, but dirt nevertheless.  I’ve done my homework.  Philippe Derose’s non-profit organization, Haitian American Alliance Youth Foundation, Inc., which is located in Miami Shores, brings in over a hundred thousand dollars a year from county and federal grants, yet not one penny of that money is used to benefit the residents of the City of North Miami Beach.  I have researched the revenue and expenses for this company, and believe me, quite a bit of it is eyebrow raising.

However, since Mr. Derose decided not to run for office again, I decided it wasn’t worth dishing the dirt.  I still don’t want to because he has always been pleasant, a gentleman and he looks good in a suit.

But a building?

And one that he has absolutely no connection to whatsoever?

That’s just crazy talk.

When I asked several residents what they thought of this crazy talk, I got an earful.  A good friend of mine said to me, “Why doesn’t he do what the Jews do?  When they want buildings named after them, they donate their own money or raise it somehow.”  That got me thinking about all the plaques of dedication on the seats and walls of every synagogue I’ve ever been to in my life.  Those dedications weren’t given out like candy.  They were paid for by a handsome donation given in someone’s honor or memory.  Synagogue school buildings are named after donors, as are wings in hospitals (Jewish or otherwise).

No one just plasters someone’s a name on a building just because he looks good in a suit.

Mayor Mishcon and councilman Littmann were given such honors because of the work they did in order to accomplish the goals they set for the city.  Our City.  That would be North Miami Beach.

Can anyone out there come up with one goal that Philippe Derose set for the benefit of North Miami Beach and then went on to accomplish that goal?  I sure can’t.

One person who defended his request to me said the dedication was because Mr. Derose was the first Haitian American elected to public office in America.

Sure, that’s quite an accomplishment, but again, what does that have to do with our city?  For seven years he was first a councilman then the mayor of the City of El Portal.

Has he asked El Portal for a building?

One does not get a building named after himself simply because he’s “famous” for being the first of anything.

If that were the case, consider Marlen Martell, who is the first Cuban American woman to become a council person in North Miami Beach.

Does she get a building?

The late Jacqueline H. Smith, who was honored by State Rep. Kendrick B. Meek for her extensive work with children and seniors, was the first black woman to serve on the North Miami Beach City Council.

Does she get a building?

For that matter, I’m the first blogger for the City of North Miami Beach.

DO I GET A FREAKING BUILDING?

Wait!  Don’t answer that.

In all seriousness, folks, something is very amiss here.  First of all, which council member proposed this in the first place?  Was it for political purposes?  What was he or she thinking?

Secondly, how on earth did this proposal even get on the consent agenda in the first place?  The only way an item could be so proposed is if the votes of all seven of the council members have been already secured by either the city manager or the city attorney in advance, and it is guaranteed to pass without objection.  In that case, all seven members would have had to initially agreed.  However, I happen to personally know that a couple of them objected strenuously from the moment this was proposed.  Who overrode their objections?

Lastly, since the item has now been pulled from the agenda, how did that happen?  Was pressure put on the council, manager and attorney to make it go away?  If so, I wonder if that pressure came from former elected officials, or residents, or both.  However it happened, at least we know that there is still enough common sense to go around in our city.

Something tells me, however, that this is not a dead issue.  Something tells me that Philippe Derose is going to continue lobbying for his building.  In that case, let me make a few suggestions.

 

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”