More trouble for Opa-locka?
The Miami Herald reported on Monday that Merritt Stierheim, who was appointed by the state to fix Opa-locka’s financial woes, has given up his advisory position, citing a “deeply rooted culture of dysfunction among the city’s leaders” who are “unwilling to deal with millions of dollars in debts and bring on seasoned managers to overcome Opa-locka’s intractable financial emergency.”
Stierheim apparently “has made no secret of his lack of faith in Opa-locka’s mayor, Myra Taylor, and its city manager, Yvette Harrell,” both of whom have deliberately stymied all efforts to stop the city from plunging into bankruptcy.
Despite the arrests and guilty pleas of three city officials (including a commissioner) and the mayor’s son on corruption charges, Mr. Stierheim also complained about the “lack of progress by the FBI to complete its four-year-old investigation into alleged corruption at the highest levels of City Hall.”
In a letter to the governor’s inspector general, Stierheim wrote that if the FBI had completed its investigations, “our reform efforts over the past six months may well have had measurably far greater success.”
The Herald also reported that “the U.S. attorney’s office has yet to unveil a long-awaited indictment charging others suspected of participating in the corruption conspiracy.”
One can only hope that Opa-locka former city manager Kelvin Baker, is on the list.
More trouble for Biscayne Park?
Speaking of Kelvin Baker, we hear he’s applied for a position in the Village of Biscayne Park. Should the commissioners decide to hire him, that will probably be the least of their problems.
Like when they were busted for having their police cars sport “official” accreditation stickers … even though the department has never been accredited by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation.
As if that weren’t embarrassing enough, the village commissioners then lost their petition to annex non-contiguous land across a railroad track … and on the other side of a wall they intended to build.
Then they denied that a wall was ever planned … except they had already applied to the county for grant funds to build one.
When they were caught in that lie, the village then conveniently “lost” its own public records regarding its wall-building grant with the county … only to have an ousted commissioner blog about building the wall.
Still … not the least of their problems.
Rumor has it that the FBI has opened an investigation into corruption in this tiny postage stamp of a municipality, and that a Grand Jury has been convened for the very near future. If true, could this have something to do with the recent shake-ups at Village Hall and the Biscayne Park Police Department? Hmmm.
As usual, we will keep on top of this developing story and keep you posted.
Frantzie Watch Update
At it’s March 21, 2017 meeting, the North Miami Beach Mayor and Commission voted to extend City Attorney Jose Smith’s contract for another three years at a 3% cost of living adjustment increase.
Despite the fact that Commissioncritter Frantz Pierre is suing Mr. Smith personally, claiming that the attorney violated his civil rights and rendered him flaccid, he voted in the affirmative.
Watch Frantzie be-clown himself, beginning at hour 3:23:44 of the meeting video, as he attempts to explain his inexplicable decision.
Apparently, since he hasn’t been able to perform in the sack, he’s had plenty of time to ponder if he should vote to renew the “contract of the man, or of the attorney.”
Um … sure.
While the Sporkweasel of NMB claims he heartily approves of Jose Smith, the attorney, he wants everyone to know “if we’re talking about Jose Smith, the man, it’s a different ballgame.”
Despite the fact that he’s currently under investigation by Miami-Dade County’s Ethics Commission and the Public Corruption Unit for an extensive list of ethical and criminal violations, Frantzie declared that he’s the victim.
Because politics.
Or something.
But, L’il Frantzie P wants you to know that he sleeps well at night and has no grudges against anyone.
Let’s see how well he sleeps when he finally ends up where he belongs … in a cozy little prison cell.
This is what progress looks like!
Speaking of North Miami Beach, despite the two (absentee ballot) fraudulently re-elected Frantz Pierre and Phyllis Smith, the Mayor and legitimately elected Commissioners have worked hard to bring their city into the twenty first century … and put it on the map!
The long awaited grand opening of the Marina Palms’ second tower, a luxury high rise on Maule Lake, received some well deserved attention from Curbed Miami yesterday in an article, Tour North Miami Beach’s newly opened reserve at Marina Palms.
While Marina Palms is nearly sold out, there are more new projects planned for a city that languished for decades under previous administrations, who rejected development even as they greedily plundered taxpayer resources for self-serving purposes, such as lifetime health insurance coverage.
Under the fearless leadership of Mayor George Vallejo, who has constantly weathered savage attacks by political foes and is now being forced to defend himself against bogus criminal charges instigated by a certain child lobbyist, the City of North Miami Beach is marching toward a sustainable future unimaginable only a few short years ago.
As a result of his persistence, strong leadership, and aspiration to improve the lives of North Miami Beach residents, property values increased by 16.5% from 2015 to 2016 – higher than all other municipalities in Miami-Dade County, according to a Miami Herald article published on May 31, 2016.
When I recently told him how impressed I was with NMB’s progress, George humbly responded, “I ran for office to do something, not to be something.”
Mayor George Vallejo … getting sh*t done since 2011!
Stephanie
