I just received my Public Record Request 363 from the City of North Miami:
As I already proved in my blog dated September 19, 2015, this is a flat out LIE!
Police Chief Leonard Burgess and Major Franzia Brea are playing semantics when they claim that a “fully executed” Last Chance Agreement does not exist.
Signed or not, the Last Chance Agreement absolutely DOES exist.
That North Miami Police Chief Leonard Burgess failed to follow through by making sure it was signed by Police Officer Jodlyn Antoine and the Dade County Police Benevolent Association doesn’t negate these FACTS:
FACT NUMBER 1: On August 1, 2014, Officer Jodlyn Antoine signed a disciplinary notification acknowledging that he received the LAST CHANCE AGREEMENT.
FACT NUMBER 2: On September 12, 2015, Chief Leonard Burgess signed a memo to officer Jodlyn Antoine advising him, “I recommend the attached Last Chance Agreement dated August 25, 2014, as an alternative to being terminated from employment.”
Whether or not Antoine did, in fact, sign the Last Chance Agreement is of no consequence.
This document exists by the very FACT that I received it on or about March 27, 2015 as a result of a Public Records Request from the City of North Miami Clerk’s Office.
Sources advised me that Chief Leonard Burgess claims that the Last Chance Agreement that he signed on September 12, 2014 is not in effect because Officer Jodlyn Antoine refused to sign the agreement.
If that’s the case, then he should have terminated Officer Jodlyn Antoine on the spot!
In the memo signed by Chief Leonard Burgess on September 12, 2014, he specifically put in writing to Officer Antoine:
“In reference to NMPD Internal Affairs Investigation Case Number 2014-02, the Disposition Panel determined a Sustained Finding on seven violations. As a result, your chain of command recommended that the Disciplinary Action against you be termination.”
If Chief Leonard Burgess recommended that Officer Jodlyn Antoine enter into the Last Chance Agreement as an alternative to termination, and if Officer Jodlyn Antoine refused to enter into this agreement, then Chief Leonard Burgess would have had no alternative but to terminate his employment immediately.
The big mystery here is NOT whether or not the Last Chance Agreement exists.
We have already determined that it does exist.
The mystery is why Officer Jodlyn Antoine was not terminated when he refused to sign it.
The bigger mystery is how Chief Leonard Burgess has still managed to convince the City Manager to let him keep his own job.
North Miami residents used to complain about the corruption in their government when former Mayor Andre Pierre and former Police Chief-turned-City Manager Stephen Johnson were in power.
North Miami residents were exasperated when former Mayor Lucie Tondreau and former Police Chief Marc Elias seemed to follow in their footsteps.
North Miami residents were oh-so relieved when a new Mayor, Council, City Manager and Police Chief took their places.
HAH! The joke’s on you, folks!
Your Police Chief is just as corrupt as any of his predecessors.
Your City Manager is obviously as corrupt as the Police Chief.
Your Mayor and Council are complicit in this corruption by not stepping up and demanding transparency and accountability by the Police Chief and the City Manager.
North Miami residents have got to be sick and tired of the blatant, in-your-face corruption at City Hall and at the Police Department.
Your only hope for a corruption-free government is to demand accountability from your Mayor and Council.
If they refuse to change the Culture of Corruption, VOTE THEM ALL OUT!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
There are many other cities in South Florida. I wouldn’t buy a home in North Miami under any circumstance until there is accountability and honesty in ALL areas of city government. And to the realtors who sell million dollar plus homes in North Miami it’s time you opened your mouths. What has occurred is absolutely disgusting and pathetic! Who the hell do the people in charge think pays them? The residents do and most in charge of the city don’t even live in it. And now Aleem Ghany, the present City Manager, wants an additional 20 weeks’ severance pay when he leaves. He has had the authority to fire the Chief of Police but hasn’t done a damn thing. This city is a joke!
A realtor that earns a sales commision should open their mouth about what? The fact that the city is a cess pool? Realtors aren’t even permitted to speak to clients about crime statistics. Why would a realtor lose a sale and commision?
The only way to get accountability is to show these politicians that if they don’t do their jobs they won’t be re-elected. Make your voices heard and stop voting for council people who settle for the status quo. Scott Galvin is a prime example. He’s been in office for years yet he has no real accomplishments when it comes to ridding our city of this corruption. Scott Galvin has proven to be all talk. It’s time to vote him out, he’s gotten comfortable in his position and he’s doing nothing about the problems in the police department. I would think that as the most long standing council person he would be vocal and be a leader. Scott Galvin is not a leader and we need to start questioning why he’s standing behind a corrupt chief of police. What does Galvin gain by having Burgess remain chief? There has to be a reason and my guess is that it benefits Galvin somehow. This the problem with career politicians. He’s too entrenched to look out for the city, now it’s all about looking out for himself.
Scott Galvin has absolutely NO control over the police department or the Chief. Aleem Ghany, the City Manager, is the individual with the authority, power, and ability to fire the Chief of Police. NOT SCOTT GALVIN!
The manager ultimately answers to the council. The council can vote the manager out of a job. It’s the council who ensures that the manager is carrying out his duties. In this case, he hasn’t, and now he’s tucked tail and left his job. I’m sure you’ll hear more of the reasons Aleem Ghany left in the near future.
Stephanie, it’s a game of politics right in everyone’s face. Chief Burgess is blaming the PBA and the PBA isn’t coming forward to say it isn’t so. Why? Because the PBA wants to maintain a relationship with Burgess and by keeping quiet, Burgess is now indebted to the PBA. The PBA can tell him “we fell on the sword for you and now you owe us”. The PBA doesn’t answer to the citizens of North Miami so there aren’t consequences for them to let the issue lie but there are times when they may want something from Burgess. One hand washes the other and both hands wash the face. That’s how police politics work.
There is a last chance agreement. North Miami drew it up, the PBA didn’t have any part in drawing up the contract. Antoine didn’t sign the agreement but Burgess needed something to show City Manager Ghany that would make it look like he did something which would cover him from not firing Antoine. Burgess probably didn’t expect Antoine to screw up before the ink dried. Now everyone knows Burgess lied and he’s blaming the PBA and the PBA is staying quiet on the subject to help Burgess out.
My guess is that the PBA wanted nothing to do with this Last Chance Agreement because they had to know Antoine would screw up again. How could he not? With his history of harassing and stalking women, and his admission to ILLEGALLY accessing the police database to help him hunt down his prey, it was only a matter of time that he would be on the prowl again.
Anyone with a working brain cell could figure out what’s going on here. The Chief is doing what he does best … bullshit his way through another mess he created for himself. Aleem may be a rocket scientist for real, but he has absolutely no common sense, and he has no clue that the wool’s being pulled over his eyes. The Mayor and Council don’t want to deal with it, and some of them have their own agenda as well.
North Miami is and always has been a cesspool of corruption regardless of who is in power on any given day. As exasperating as it is for the residents, it’s great fodder for the blogger. At the end of the day, I get to turn off my computer and listen to the sounds of bullfrogs croaking and crickets chirping in my back yard instead of rounds of gunfire. God Bless the Town of Davie!
I’d bet my paycheck that the PBA attorneys told Antoine not to agree to their Last Chance offer. They probably said don’t agree to be terminated if you screw up again because it doesn’t let you have due process to defend yourself and we can defend you again. So he didn’t sign but by this time Burgess had already pitched the idea to Ghany as his solution and he couldn’t get himself out of it without looking dumb.
That explanation makes perfect sense. If Aleem had control of the situation, he would have made sure the agreement had been fully executed by all parties. Aleem sure dropped that ball. In that respect the chief got one over on him.
Now that this coverup has been exposed, it’s obvious that the chief not only looks stupid, but he’s proven himself to be even stupider than he looks. Eventually, this whole disaster is going to blow up in his face no matter how hard he tries to spin his way out of it. I’d sure hate to be him right about now.
The problem is burgess. The guy is just like officer antoine. He’s a chubby dorky guy who tries to pass himself off as cool and suave, only to come across as arrogant and out of touch. Both have a weakness for women. Both are incompetent. Burgess was able to go to school and get a degree and join an organization that has boosted his career through networking. A successful incompetent vs an unsuccessful incompetent. They’re both the same. Maybe officer antoine will be chief one day. All he has to do is follow the same steps. Then chief antoine can protect another sexual predator officer.
The sad thing is that Fburgess is right. We’re all screwed because no one cares.