The Miami Times boasts:  “As the largest and oldest Black newspaper in the Southeast, we represent the pinnacle of community relations. Each week we seek to educate, entertain and inform our readers by covering those issues that matter most within our community with authority, vigor and integrity.”  A column just published on this site, Blacks face stiff competition in North Miami elections, opines that “the political climate is ripe for former mayor Kevin Burns to win the special election and become mayor of North Miami for a third time.”

The editor flat out stated that because of all the recent scandals at North Miami City Hall, “weary voters may turn to Burns to help clean up and restore integrity at city hall,” and cautioned that “Haitian candidates need a larger voter turnout to guarantee a win this time around.”

I’m shaking my head.

A presumably black editor at a “Black newspaper” has openly suggested that Haitians are the cause of all of North Miami’s woes, and that by getting out the vote, only Haitians can fix them.

As much as I deplore pitting race against race, I am also taken aback by the editor’s suggestion that “the scandals involving [Andre] Pierre and Tondreau” are a direct result of their being Haitian.  This inference automatically casts doubt on any Haitian running for office, as if there has never been a corrupt politician of any other nationality in the history of the United States.

I have consistently and emphatically stated that corruption, especially in politics, comes in every race, color and nationality.  From 2010 until now, less than four years into this decade, 70 local and state public officials in this country have been convicted of crimes while in office.  There were 94 convicted officials in the previous decade from 2000 to 2009.

Prison stripes are obviously becoming more and more popular among the elected elite.

Here is but a small sampling of some of the more prominent and creatively crooked politicians on Wikipedia’s Who’s Who List of Convicted Corruptocrats:

Governor of Louisiana Edwin Edwards (D) convicted of extortion, mail fraud and money laundering. (2000)

Governor of Connecticut John G. Rowland (R) Rowland resigned from office during a corruption investigation, and later pleaded guilty to one-count of deprevation of honest services. (2004) He served ten months in a federal prison followed by four months house arrest, ending in June 2006.

Mayor of Orlando Ernest Page (D) In September 2006 he was convicted of bribery and official misconduct during a temporary stint as mayor. He threatened to stop a redevelopment proposal unless the prospective developer gave a piece of the project to a nonprofit group with which Page was affiliated. He was subsequently sentenced to 42 months in prison.

[New York] State Senator and Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R). On January 23, 2009, Bruno was convicted on two counts of wire fraud.

Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich (D) was charged with conspiracy to commit mail, wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. He was impeached and removed from office by 59-0 votes of the Illinois Senate. (January 28, 2009) On August 17, 2010, he was convicted on just one of 24 federal charges.  In a retrial in 2011, he was found guilty on 17 other counts and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

[Pennsylvania] Senior Judge Michael Conahan (D) sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison for his involvement in the Kids for cash scandal. (2009)

[New York] State Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D). On May 25, 2010, Gonzalez was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, following pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts in May 2009.

Racine, Wisconsin Mayor Gary Becker (D) was convicted of attempted child seduction, child pornography, and other child sex crimes (2010)

Governor of North Carolina Mike Easley (D) was convicted of a federal campaign law felony in November 2010.

[Mississippi] Judge Bobby DeLaughter (D) was made famous for finally convicting Byron De La Beckwith in 1994 for the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963. DeLaughter pled guilty of one count of lying to the FBI and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. (2010)

[New York] State Senator Kevin Parker (D), Parker was convicted of a misdemeanor charge, criminal mischief, and on March 21, 2011 was sentenced to three years probation and a $1,000 fine for attacking a New York Post photographer and damaging the photographer’s camera and car door. (2011)

Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court Diane Hathaway (D) was sentenced to 366 days in Prison for criminal mortgage fraud. (2013)

Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Jim Greer (R) was sentenced to 18 months in prison plus one year of probation after pleading guilty to four counts of theft and one count of money laundering, admitting he stole some $200,000 of party donations. (2013)

Mayor of San Diego Bob Filner (D) given three months of house arrest, three years probation, and partial loss of his mayoral pension after pleading guilty to state charges of false imprisonment and battery.

[Massachusetts] State Representative Carlos Henriquez (D) was convicted of two counts assault and battery charges and sentenced to 2.5 years, with six months to be served in the Billerica County House of Correction and the remaining two years to be spent on probation. (2014)

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (D) was found guilty on 20 counts of bribery. (2014) [Note: Nagin was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison.)

I could be wrong, but I don’t recognize one Haitian in the bunch.

Just saying.

The Miami Times column did a huge disservice to North Miami voters by practically handing Kevin Burns the mayoral seat, and completely dismissing Dr. Smith Joseph based on the results of the last election.

And also because he’s Haitian.

The way I see it, regardless of his nationality or race, Jean Marcellus is the worst choice for mayor of North Miami.  If, as The Miami Times editor surmised, he was concerned about “the threat of a non-Black in he mayoral seat,” he would do the only smart thing and withdraw from the race.  He came in fifth out of seven candidates in the last election, thus proving himself to be irrelevant.  It’s hard to believe he’s foolish enough to repeat the same mistake.

No, Jean Marcellus is definitely not mayoral material!

Unfortunately, his candidacy will split the Haitian and black vote.  Even Lucie Tondreau’s endorsement on Haitian radio will not be enough to garner Marcellus enough votes to win the election.

Personally, I would love to see the voters be given a choice between Kevin Burns and Smith Joseph, whom I consider the only two viable candidates in this race.  The results of such an election would reflect the true wishes of the citizens of North Miami.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”