Remember the time that Fake “Teacher” Carline Paul ran and lost against Alix Desulme for North Miami City Council District 4?  Yeah, that was totally awesome!  She literally self-destructed her own campaign.

For one thing, Carline didn’t even live in North Miami.

For another, even though she referred to herself as “Teacher” Carline, she’s never held an Eductator’s Certificate in Florida.

Carline Paul had also been linked to absentee ballot fraud in past elections.

And, of course, despite all these questionable “qualifications,” she was endorsed by the Dade County Police Benevolent Association.

How appropriate.

Since her humiliating landslide loss to Alix Desulme, Carline Paul has pretty much gone missing from the North Miami political scene.  She might believe that she’s put her disastrous campaign behind her, but unfortunately, all the dirty tricks she played during the council 2015 election are now coming back to haunt her.

A complaint filed with the Florida Elections Commission on April 4, 2015, nearly a year and a half ago, alleging a laundry list of campaign finance violations, has finally resulted in an Order of Probable Cause.  Because the Commission deemed the allegations in the complaint all legally sufficient, Carline Paul will have to answer to twelve counts of charges.

Granted, none of the charges are criminal in nature, but there are still consequences for violating campaign finance laws.

Ironically, the woman who calls herself a “Teacher” so that she can “educate” people on how to “vote correctly,” had a problem “adding correctly.”  Obviously not a math teacher, on several of her campaign treasurer’s returns, Carline had trouble calculating and carrying forward the totals of her contributions and expenses.  She also neglected to attach the required itemization of expenditures on two occasions, incorrectly listed a loan as a contribution, and did not file a campaign treasure’s report for one of the reporting periods.

Granted, other candidates have committed much more egregious campaign sins, some even committing criminal acts (Myron Rosner, for example).

Although her violations were not criminal in nature, by not complying with campaign finance laws Carline still broke the law nevertheless.

Here’s the thing.

The decision to run for office should be taken very seriously.  The desire to be of service is an honorable calling, but it also comes with great responsibility.  Candidates must set aside their egos, and commit to work for the greater good of the community.  Genuinely altruistic public servants will always put the welfare of others before personal and political gain.

Even though a citizen does not need a college degree to run for office, it is the candidate’s responsibility to review the campaign finance laws, understand why they are important and, of course, comply with those laws.

Or there will be consequences.

Earlier this week, the Sun Sentinel reported that last month the Florida Elections Commission fined the campaign treasurer of a man who was running for a Margate city commission seat in 2012.  (Yes, it took four years for the Commission to rule on this case!)

Michael Natale, a former North Lauderdale commissioner, was found to have violated 62 counts of campaign finance laws while serving as “both the campaign’s unpaid manager and treasurer” for candidate David McLean, who won the election.

Although Mr. Natale said that he received direction from “City Hall on how to file reports and was never told there was a problem,” he was slapped with $6,200.00 in fines stemming from a complaint filed by the Broward Inspector General.

The Sentinel reported, “Among the allegations: Natale made a cash contribution to the campaign in somebody else’s name; he said that treasurer’s reports were correct and complete when they were not; he “falsely reported or deliberately failed to include information” on campaign reports; and wrote checks although there wasn’t enough money in the account.”

Natale also claims that the campaign account became overdrawn when a donation he received from a “senior citizen volunteer” bounced, and that he never intended to break the law.  Unfortunately for Mr. Natale, the treasurer of a campaign account has a fiduciary responsibility to make sure all the laws are followed.

In addition to that, having been a former commissioner for another municipality, he should have known  how to report campaign finance activity.  His claiming ignorance of those laws seems pretty bogus.

In Carline Paul’s case, she chose to serve as her own treasurer, which means she has no one else with whom to share the blame for her reporting mistakes.  Regardless of whether or not she was knowledgeable about campaign finance laws, it was ultimately her responsibility to make sure those laws were followed.

If the Florida Elections Commission does rule against Carline Paul on all twelve counts, she’ll probably be smacked with a pretty hefty fine.  Unfortunately, if she’s anything like a lot of politicians in South Florida, it probably won’t deter from mulling another run for office in the future.

If Ms. Paul is truly seeking to serve her community, she should learn from these mistakes and take advantage of the opportunity to educate herself about the Florida Statutes regarding campaign finance.

Refraining from “handling” absentee ballots would also be a good idea.

As would not falsely advertising herself as a “teacher.”

And finally, Carline should probably run for office where she actually lives.

Just saying.

For the time being, however, it is abundantly clear that Carline Paul is even less qualified to hold public office than she is to “educate” anyone about anything.

Which is why there are no Oaths of Office or Educator Certificates hanging on her wall.

But, hey.  Maybe that PBA endorsement is suitable for framing.

Stephanie