When I started researching the history of the Joe Celestin deal for my last blog, Your (North Miami) tax dollars hard at work, I had no idea how difficult it would be to understand the mess, much less explain it for my readers.  It should have been easier to figure out the timeline of events, but then I realized I was missing a key piece to the puzzle.

The City of North Miami first entered into a Property Management Services Agreement with Celestin’s company, Joe Celestin Civil Engineer & General Builder, LLC on May 20, 2011.  The original term was for four months, and then a month-to-month basis “until a developer for the site was obtained.”  Celestin was to be paid $19,500.00 for his services.

As I mentioned in the update to the blog, On October 9, 2012, the contract was amended by extending the term to October 31, 2013 and increasing the payment to $25,000.00 a month.

The problem is that I can’t find that first amendment to the Agreement.

A year later on October 9, 2013, the contract was amended again, extending the term to October 31, 2014.  This Second Amendment mentions the first one, claiming that “the City and Property Manager executed an agreement as subsequently amended by the parties on October 9, 2012…”

Here’s the really crazy part.

Although the council voted to approve a Resolution on November 12, 2013, which also mentions that “on October 9, 2012, the Mayor and City Council authorized the City Manager to amend the Agreement with Property Manager,” ABSOLUTELY NOTHING APPEARS OF RECORD THAT THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!

Neither the Agenda nor the Minutes of the October 9, 2012 City Council meeting mention the agreement between North Miami and Joe Celestin Civil Engineer & General Builder, LLC.

I don’t know about you folks, but I find it curious indeed that an Amendment to a Property Management Services Agreement, which was presumably  signed by both the City Manager and the Property Manager, and allegedly  approved by the Mayor and Council on October 9, 2012, yet there’s no record of this actually happening.

At the time this mysterious document was executed, Andre Pierre was the Mayor and Stephen Johnson was the City Manager.

Need I say more?

So here’s the thing.

North Miami’s City Council is nearly perfect.  Once Marie Steril is off the dais, and voters elect her replacement in May (hopefully with Alix Desulme), the days of North Miami’s corrupt backroom dealing, no-bid contracting, and burying of public records will finally be over.

Yes, for realz!

But the best part of all is that North Miami finally has a City Manager who may as well be a rocket scientist.  Aleem Ghany has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s in Public Administration.

And, unlike Biscayne Landing Property Manager Joe Celestin, who advertises himself as a “Civil Engineer & General Builder,” Aleem is a state certified and licensed Professional Engineer and a state licensed general contractor.

As such, nothing gets past Aleem.  Not only does he get the job done, he also knows which employees aren’t doing theirs.

And, yes, if you’re one of them, you should be worried.

(That includes you, Chief Burgess.)

Aleem Ghany’s goal is to finally, for once and for all, clean up the City of North Miami.

Of course, no one should be surprised.  After all, Aleem Ghany is a Superstar!

In high school, he was chosen as…

At university, his many achievements included:

After obtaining his last Master’s degree, Aleem became a legend in his own right!  His career achievements include:

And, of course…

Needless to say, North Miami residents are beyond lucky to have Aleem Ghany running their city.

Any questions?

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”