We can’t help rubbing salt in the wounds of all the city officials who did everything in their power to steal $120 million from North Miami taxpayers.  As we all know by now, their efforts failed spectacularly.

But not for lack of trying.

First there was the $35,500.00 radio blitz that wasn’t even disclosed by Deputy City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey when he delivered his presentation of the GO Bond Educational Campaign Budget at the April 10, 2018 City Council meeting, which was in itself misleading at best.

According to Deputy Duke’s exhibit, the total budget to boost the Bond was $108,350, which included $15,000 to a company called the Mosaic Group.

A public records request revealed that while Mosaic was paid the sum of $117,187.08, this amount actually included “all the collateral, all the promotional materials, the mailers, the designs, everything is what they’re doing,” according to Deputy Duke’s quirky presentation.

No one at City Hall seems to know how The Mosaic Group came to be hired to run the GO Bond Educational Campaign.  Or, at least no one who will admit to it publicly.

But, let’s move on.

According to The Mosaic Group’s final invoices to the City of North Miami, this is the breakdown of the payments made:

If you’re wondering who those “canvassers” are and why they were paid so much damn money, wonder no more.  We have the scoop.

Another public records request revealed that The Mosaic Group paid $15,000 to each of three companies, NIC Investments, Corporation, Zafe Pa Nou, Inc., and GAF Professional Center, L.L.C.

Let’s check out these companies.

The first, NIC Investments, is owned by none other than North Miami’s very own lovable outlaw, Nacivre “Charlie” Charles, who was convicted in 2015 for the illegal expenditure of campaign funds and sentenced to probation.

But, hey, people can change, right?  So let’s give the man fifteen thousand bucks to run another campaign.  What could possibly go wrong?

Then there’s the $15,000 paid to Zafe Pa Nou, Inc., which is owned by Smith Cassamajor.  The talk radio show Zafe Pa Nou was also paid $500.00 for advertising the Bond in addition to the $15,000 “canvassing” fee.

In addition, according to the city’s Transparency Portal, Zafe Pa Nou has received a grand total of $38,180 in taxpayer money from 2015 through May 26, 2018.

This total does not include the above referenced $15,500 for GO Bond “canvassing” and radio advertising, since the website has only posted checks paid to Zafe Pa Nou through April 12, 2018.

There were, however, some curious payments to Cassamajor’s company this fiscal year so far.

We’d sure love to know what the $3,000 “Miscellaneous Expense” from the Mayor and Council Office was for.  Even more puzzling is the $500 payment to Zafe Pa Nou for “Ordinance Codification.”

And, of course, there’s another $380 “Special Election Expenses” that seemed to have slipped under Deputy Duke’s radar when he was preparing the GO Bond Educational Campaign.

So who is this Smith Cassamajor?  And why is the City of North Miami paying him so much money?

Well, we can answer the first question.

Like Charlie, Smith Cassamajor has a history of getting in trouble with the law.  According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, his criminal history includes arrests for using a forged credit card, battery, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, possession of an altered auto tag, a fraudulent driver’s license, obstruction by providing false information on a driver’s license application, child neglect, and driving with an expired license.

But, hey, people can change, right?  So let’s give the man fifteen thousand bucks to “canvass” votes for the city.  What could possibly go wrong?

And, finally, a $15,000 “canvassing” payment was made to GAF Professional Center, LLC, a company owned by Frandzdy Pierre Michel.

The good news is that, unlike Good Time Charlie and Smith Cassamajor, Mr. Pierre Michel does not have a criminal record, so there’s that.

His company, however, has been paid a total of $45,017 since 2016.

According to the breakdown of vendor payments, GAF was paid $29,000 for “Contractual Services, Engineering/Other.”

But like Smith Cassamajor’s company, last year Mr. Michel Pierre’s GAF Professional Center was paid a total of $16,017 for “Miscellaneous Expenses” from the Office of the Mayor and Council.

We’re not exactly sure about the nature of those “Miscellaneous Expenses,” but we do know that a year earlier at the May 10, 2016 City Council meeting, Mr. Frandzdy Pierre Michel was appointed to two city committees by Mayor Smith Joseph.

Just saying.

But, wait!  There’s so much more to come.

Stay tuned …

Stephanie