Since North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin is running unopposed, and Mayor Smith Joseph’s challenger, Jean Marcellus, was disqualified when his qualifying check bounced, the City Council election has been narrowed down to one race. There are five candidates vying for one seat in District 4, which is being vacated by Marie Steril, who is not seeking re-election.
Four of the candidates are actual North Miami residents and, coincidentally, all four are involved in children’s education. Jessica Alston is a retired Miami-Dade County Public Schools counselor, Alix Desulme is a teacher, Beverly Hilton runs a child care facility and Roseline Phillippe runs a non-profit organization which trains and provides hands-on technical assistance for early childhood staff. Any one of these individuals would be an excellent candidate for a PBA endorsement.
The fifth candidate is Carpetbagger/Not-A-Teacher/Absentee-Ballot Scammer Carline Paul.
Guess which candidate the Dade County Police Benevolent Association endorsed?
That’s right! The PBA endorsed a fraud for City Council.
Sources claim that the PBA’s endorsement of Carline Paul was “suggested” by individuals within the Police Department high up the food chain.
With his long-standing connections to the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Dade County Benevolent Association, could North Miami Police Chief Leonard Burgess have anything to do with this endorsement?
It certainly seems plausible.
In the Chief Lenny tradition of rewarding bad behavior (See: Jodlyn Antoine and Larry Coffee), and punishing whistle blowers and cops with integrity, could Burgess have somehow influenced the PBA to endorse the most ethically challenged candidate possible to replace the ethically challenged Marie Steril?
Anything is possible.
The fact is that Carline Paul doesn’t even live in the City of North Miami. The Miami-Dade County Tax Collector’s public records reflects that Carline M. Jean (a/k/a Carline M. Paul) owns the property located at 1348 NE 147 Street, Unincorporated County, 33161-2549. The Tax Roll also reflects that she received two homestead exemptions for the calendar year 2014, which exemptions automatically rolled over to 2015 because she never bothered to alert the Tax Assessor’s office that she “moved” to North Miami.
In order for Carline Paul to run for office in North Miami, she had to have been a bona fide resident for one full year from the date of qualifying on April 7, 2015. In order to qualify, she would have had to live in North Miami from April 7, 2014. On her filing documents, Carline Paul claimed that her primary residence is 12215 NW Miami Court, North Miami, FL 33168.
If she did, in fact, move to North Miami (which no one actually believes), then she fraudulently claimed two homestead exemptions on the subject property for 2014 and 2015.
And yes, a complaint was already filed.
For another thing, although she calls herself a “Teacher,” Carline Paul is not certified to teach. Anything.
Don’t believe me? Check for yourself: Educator Certification Lookup
This is problematic for two reasons.
For one thing, it’s against the law to impersonate a teacher.
And secondly, even though she registered to run for office in the name of “Carline Marie Paul,” she uses the name “Teacher Carline” on all her campaign material. It is against Florida election laws to use any other name than the one used to register as a candidate on campaign materials.
And, yes, a complaint was already filed.
It’s also common knowledge that Carline Paul was recruited to run by Former Mayor/Convicted Felon Lucie Tondreau, who is currently receiving three hots and a cot at Club Fed, and who also had questionable residency issues before taxpayers started footing the bill for her room and board.
If Lucie’s “endorsement” wasn’t enough of a handicap, Carline Paul’s campaign is being spearheaded by Lucie’s former something-or-other, Nacivre “Charlie” Charles, who was last arrested on November 1, 2013 on traffic charges while Lucie’s office was being raided for evidence of absentee-ballot fraud.
It later turned out that Charlie was implicated in the absentee ballot fraud scheme, but that wasn’t his first brush with the law. In 1999, Charlie was one of 59 people arrested in the famous DEA drug smuggling investigation and sting operation called Operation Ramp Rats.
Not surprisingly, Carline Paul also has a history with absentee ballot fraud implications. The Miami Herald reported those connections on September 24, 2012 in an article, In ballot quest, Teacher Carline plays controversial role. She told the Herald, “When you receive those absentee ballots at home, don’t let anyone take them. You must consult with someone you trust, or consult Teacher Carline. She’ll help you understand what’s on the ballot in order to vote correctly.” Reporter Nadege Green interviewed several voters who told her that Carline Paul “takes appointments” to fill out their absentee ballots.
You would think that the Dade County Police Benevolent Association’s screening panel would have taken the time to research the backgrounds of the political candidates before awarding an endorsement. If they had done so, perhaps they wouldn’t have been so quick to endorse Carline Paul.
Just saying.
As a parting thought, here’s an interesting bit of trivia.
One of the questions asked on the Dade County Police Benevolent’s 2015 Candidate Questionnaire for the North Miami election was, “Do you believe the job of a North Miami Police Officer is more hazardous than the jobs of other North Miami employees?” This question was prefaced with the following Background narrative:
Miami-Dade County and North Miami in particular continues to be a high crime area. Criminals are more brazen and have an increased lack of respect for life as we have all seen with the recent shootings and violence against not only citizens, but also the men and women who are sworn to protect our residents, including the shooting from just a few days ago.
Oddly, and unlike Police Chief Leonard Burgess, the Dade County Police Benevolent Association does not seem to be of the opinion that North Miami’s crime rate “is the same as the City of Aventura.”
No, Chief Lenny. 🙂 … Thank u.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
Same crap, different election! The City of North Miami and the residents of this city are the biggest losers. The City of North Miami has continuously been going down the tubes for years. Many on the city council, including the city clerk, are only interested in themselves. To hell with the city! WHERE ARE THE AUTHORITIES?
The four qualified candidates running in District 4 should challenge Carline Paul’s residency before the election. Otherwise, North Miami residents might be stuck with a carpetbagger on the council. And a corrupt one at that! Allowing a non-resident a seat on the dais sets a dangerous precedent and only encourages others to do the same.
Oh, wait! Too late.
Never mind.
The residency issue should be enough for the PBA to retract their endorsement. If they didn’t know her history as a fraudster they now have her residency fraud in black and white. Why would they want to take the chance of being associated with her and getting egg on their face when she makes the headlines like Lucie Tondreau?
What’s WRONG with this entire picture where everyone seems to be “under the covers”? Why can’t the residents stand up and stop the crazies?
Probably because they see how useless it is to complain to this council or manager. The manager has no backbone whatsoever!
The fact that the PBA endorsed the candidate is a perfect reason not to vote for them. Example: Burns. Lenny Burgess, Larry Juriga and the PBA. It’s all the same. Why would any candidate want an endorsement from the PBA or the corrupt NMPD. Smith Joseph is the best thing that’s happened to N.Miami in many years. Gary Eugene is the best thing that’s happened to the NMPD in many years. Forget the PBA.
Smith Joseph and Gary Eugene are both men of principle. I’m not sure if North Miami residents appreciate how fortunate they are to have both of them on board. While not everyone may agree with how the Mayor might vote from time to time, no one could accuse him of being corrupt. Not only is Dr. Joseph the most ethical mayor North Miami has had in at least a decade, and possibly much longer than that, but he is one if the most ethical public officials I have ever met. There are very few! Ditto for Assistant Chief Eugene, who truly deserves to be the Chief. It’s a real shame that he is not recognized by the corruptocrats running the police department or by the city manager. Given a chance, Gary Eugene could bring the police department back to its former glory before Burgess ran it into the ground. Such a pity.
The PBA didn’t do their homework prior to endorsing this teacher imposter. It’s plain to see that they were influenced by someone and took the easy way out instead of making a well evaluated decision. Shame on you John Rivera, we expected more from you but maybe we shouldn’t have.
Lenny Burgess isn’t a Miami Dade cop anymore. Stop playing the schmoozing game with him and open your eyes to what he’s doing to North Miami!
Chief Lenny is not the only one who schmoozes for a living. Check out this pic from the PBA’s PUBLIC Facebook page. One of these individuals is a photo opportunist who also happens to be Lenny’s new BFF. Does that plot thicken, or what?
Omg that little prick Evan Ross. He’s sucking up to the PBA? That guy is like a cockroach, crawling out from under your baseboards and scurrying all over the place leaving droppings behind. What the heck is going on with the PBA? They’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Just received a flyer in the mail today with Caroline Paul being endorsed by Frederick Wilson, Daphne Campbell, Audrey Edmondson, Philippe Bien-Some, Frank Willard, and Lesley Prudent. How many of these were Lucy T. supporters also?