And, no, I’m not talking about either the Gators or the Dolphins, even though both my teams kicked ass this weekend!
I’m talking about the lawsuit filed by former North Miami mayoral candidate Kevin Burns against Lucie Tondreau, the winning candidate, challenging her residency. On Saturday, Judge Cueto dismissed the case. He stated to CBS Miami, “This Court finds that a court’s jurisdiction to review a candidate’s qualifications to run for office lapses once that candidate is elected into office.”
On the surface, this does appear to be in direct contradiction to the opinion issued by Judge Darrin Gayles in his ruling against Yvenoline Dargenson , a North Miami Beach council candidate who was sued by councilwoman Beth Spiegel, challenging her residency. Judge Gayles stated, “I simply do not find Ms. Dargenson’s testimony credible,” followed by, “I’m simply ordering that the election not be certified until I’ve entered an order, but effectively you know what my ruling is going to be, if necessary.”
While Judge Gayles was willing to remove a candidate from office after the election, if necessary, Judge Cueto effectively said that making this kind of decision is above his pay grade. Interestingly, both judges are from the same Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, yet they seem to have very different ideas about the scope of their jurisdiction.
Here’s the thing. The big difference in both of these cases is that Judge Gayles didn’t have to toss an election winner from office, even though he indicated he was willing to do so if she did win; whereas, in the case brought before Judge Cueto, the Plaintiff wanted him to overturn an election after the fact. I’m told that judges, especially in lower courts, are loathe to set aside final election results and thwart the will of the people. And, in North Miami, the people clearly spoke.
In any event, pending a successful appeal by the Plaintiff, Lucie Tondreau will continue to occupy the mayoral seat at North Miami City Hall. It also appears that there’s a very good reason why it’s better to hire trial lawyer Benedict P. Kuehne instead of clown laywer Frank Wolland if you’re ever sued. Where Wolland tried to claim that North Miami Beach’s residency requirement was unconstitutional (as in, WTF, FRANK?), Kuehne argued that any challenges to his client’s residency should have been made before the general election and not after she won in the run-off. Obviously, Kuehne’s argument scored points with Judge Cueto, since he apparently agreed with that assessment.
Had the Plaintiff filed suit when he first suspected that Tondreau did not comply with the North Miami Charter residency requirements, Lucie would most likely not be the mayor today. Based on the evidence alone, Plaintiff Burns might have had a better chance to knock her out of the race altogether if he challenged her residency earlier. His motives for waiting until after the run off race is suspect in itself, as Kuehne pointed out. As much as I despise Identity Politics, the fact remains that in North Miami the group most likely to come out and vote are Haitian Americans, who are most likely to vote for their fellow countrymen and women. If Lucie had been ousted from the race, the odds were in favor of Dr. Smith Joseph, who would have probably garnered the “Haitian vote.” And Kevin Burns would have been an also ran. Whether or not Burns had considered this scenario when making his decision to wait, he took a big chance either way. If he filed earlier, there was a very good chance he would have lost in the general election. But, once he waited, he effectively ruined all chances of disqualifying Tondreau. So much for Monday morning quarterbacking.
If anyone dropped the ball here, it was Dr. Joseph, who had a very good chance of seeing a return on his six figure investment if he had called into question Lucie’s residency from the get go.
But, since neither of her strong challengers made any waves during the qualifying period, Lucie Tondreau is the bona fide mayor of North Miami. Deal with it, people! Or, as I always say, “It is what it is.”
Now that the lawsuit is over, I can go back to concentrating on football season.
It’s good to be a Gator!
But it’s even better to be a Dolphin!
THREE AND OH, BABY! WOO HOO!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
Kevin Burns would have been no great improvement. People seem to forget how he paved the way for North Miami to get into financial problems. He gave his buddies in city hall huge raises as a parting gift, lets not forget the trip (to Ireland?) to check out the water system, he also used the police department to take him to the airport and he made serious bad spending decisions (the tower at the park for one). How about his hiring of his unqualified buddy Mike Forucci in Code Enforcement?
Yeah, Burns was a piece of work too so I’m not too sad to see him lose this one. That place will never get straightened out. The only chance is maybe if Carol Keyes gets into the mayors seat and then only if shes not outnumbered by corrupt council people.
Please kept writing about North Miami, we need you. I almost never post or write about the things going on in our city or with my case, however i wanted to make a brief comment, without trying my case on this blog.The facts to this case have not been heard yet. The only thing Judge Cueto wrote is that he believes his court doesn’t have jurisdiction according to a 1981 Fl. SPCT case. You pointed out Judge Gayles heard a case and was ready to rule, what Judge Cueto believes is NO JUDGE has jurisdiction to hear a case, other than one involving voter fraud (good luck with that)BEFORE,DURING or AFTER an election. Would that mean all the cases heard the last 32 years by the local courts and Third DCA were in conflict with the 1981 case? Many Judges have remove elected officials AFTER they were sworn into office for violating election laws, as we noticed in our brief to the Judge when he asked about having jurisdiction on this matter. The Florida Statues dictates how and when you can contest election results and qualifications. It clearly states to do it AFTER the votes are taken and certified. Both the lawyers for the other parties involved have had election cases heard and ruled on before local courts after the elections. If we were to believe Judge Cueto’s opinion, it would mean someone could lie and run for office (which they do) and if elected they are untouchable by the courts relating to any crime or violations because it is political in nature. I’m sorry, the voters are not allowed to vote for a non resident even if they wanted to, the law doesn’t allow it. We have filed a “Notice of Appeal” with the Third District Court and a “Request for Expedited” scheduling before the court. You mention Dr. Smith Joseph didn’t challenge Lucie. Many of us are aware the Dr. couldn’t because he has his own residency issues. I want to thank many of your followers for their support, this is more than just a North Miami issue.