In an explosive article about the recent firing of former Assistant Budget Director Terry Henley for exposing the fraudulent 2018/19 city budget, Biscayne Times reporter Mark Sell’s Another Fine Mess  uncovered even more sordid details of North Miami’s latest scandal.

The article recounts the September 21st letter from Mr. Henley’s attorney, William R. Amlong, notifying City Attorney Jeff Cazeau that City Manager Larry Spring and Deputy City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey” presented “what looks like a $70 million balanced budget, but one that really conceals $7 million to $20 million in deficits,” and that his client was fired “after he vehemently objected to the cowboy-style budgeting approach embraced by Messrs. Spring and Sorey.”

Although, Larry Spring categorically denied the allegations, and insisted that “Mr. Henley’s termination was due to poor work performance,” the article revealed that in 2015, Mr. Henley was offered the position of Budget Director  – not once, but twice! – when Sorey vacated it to become Deputy City Manager.  Mr. Amlong told the Biscayne Times that Henley “wisely declined two offers of promotion to the job in order to keep his civil service protections.”

Which makes Larry Spring’s false accusations that Henley’s job performance was “poor and substandard” all the more absurd.

Even more interesting, the Biscayne Times article pointed out, “In April, Amlong’s firm secured a $931,587 whistleblower verdict against the City of Miami on behalf of Victor Igwe, the city’s former top auditor.  Igwe alleged he was ousted in retaliation for uncovering shady financial maneuvers and for cooperating with a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into a 2009 $153 million bond issue.  Subsequent charges led to a fiscal meltdown.  (Spring, who was not charged in the matter, was Miami’s chief financial officer from 2007 to 2011.) The city settled with the SEC for $1 million.”

You will recall earlier this year we previously reported on this SEC investigation, when we divulged, “In a press release dated July 19, 2013, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had filed charges against the City of Miami and its Budget Director ‘with securities fraud in connection with several municipal bond offerings and other disclosures made to investors.’  After a five year investigation, the SEC determined that then-Budget Director Michael Boudreaux ‘made materially false and misleading statements and omissions’ in order to ‘mask increasing deficits in the General Fund’ when marketing the city’s bond to investors.”

The Biscayne Times article rightly made the comparison between the City of Miami’s fiscal fiasco to the current state of North Miami’s financial crisis – both of which just happened  to occur under Larry Spring’s watch!

But the best part of all – or the worst, if you’re a North Miami resident – is Mark Sell’s interview with Merrett R. Stierheim, a distinguished South Florida public administrator since 1959.  As Mark Sell noted, Mr. Stierheim is “long cited as Florida’s dean of public administrators with nearly 60 years of public service.”

During Mr. Stierhiem’s illustrious career, he served as the Manager of both Pinellas and Miami-Dade Counties, as well as the City of Clearwater, City of Miami, Town of Miami Lakes and the City of Doral.  He also served as the Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools from 2001 to 2004.

Most recently, Mr. Stierheim was appointed by the Governor to chair an oversight committee to fix the financial mess in Opa-locka.  He later resigned from his advisory position, citing a “deeply rooted culture of dysfunction among the city’s leaders” in his final report to the Florida Inspector General.

And now, the “dean of public administrators” has declared that North Miami is headed in the same direction!

Stierheim told the Biscayne Times, “It isn’t a pretty picture at all — with many similarities to Opa-locka and the City of Miami.”

Then again, no surprise there.  Larry Spring, the presumptive unindicted co-conspirator in the City of Miami’s fiscal meltdown, is now running the show in North Miami.

North Miami residents, and only one City Council member, are demanding an outside, independent audit of all of North Miami’s finances.  At the September 25, 2018 Council meeting (minute 26:26 of the video), Alix Desulme blasted the City Manager for keeping him in the dark about Terry Henley’s complaint (which is not the first time this has happened).

Councilman Desulme then declared that the public does not trust the administration or the elected officials, and that this council needs an independent, outside auditor “because I don’t know if I trust everything my administration says.”

Ya think?

Larry Spring protested (minute 37:35) that the internal auditor, Anthony Brunson, P.A., is “a third party, independent, by accounting standards and all other legal matters, independent of the city.”

Well, that’s all fine and dandy, except that Anthony Brunson, P.A. is contracted with the City of North Miami to the tune of up to $75,000.00 a year, courtesy of North Miami taxpayers, “to provide the City with internal auditing services on an as-needed basis.”

We’d hardly call that relationship a “third party, independent” by any standards, Mr. Manager.

Just saying.

In fact, the North Miami Mayor and Council might want to pay special attention to a recent comment posted by VotersOpinion reader, John:  “Make sure the special investigation is not done by McGladrey/RSM accounting firm. Larry Spring lies and RSM swears to it.  That’s what happened at city of Miami when budget director Mike Boudreaux took the fall for Spring’s malfeasance.”

According to Deputy Duke Sorey, it’s Terry Henley’s turn to be “the fall guy on this one.”

In the meantime, the City of North Miami is mired in yet another scandal, as well as potentially defending yet another lawsuit, in what is now a long list of employee complaints, thanks to Larry Spring’s and Duke Sorey’s special brand of mismanagement, corruption, fraud and complete lack of transparency.

They both need to go!

North Miami residents deserve better.

Stephanie