Imagine you’re a working class resident of North Miami, struggling to support a family on a paycheck that never seems to last until the end of the week.

Now imagine that your hard earned tax dollars were paying for an extended vacation to India for three members of your local government’s political elite.

Well, you don’t have to imagine … because that’s exactly what happened.

Biscayne Times reporter Mark Sell’s article, Passage to India, revealed that your Mayor, his Constituent Service Coordinator, and your Chief of Police took paid time off from serving the public to travel halfway around the globe for an eleven day Enlightenment Adventure that, in our opinion, served absolutely no public purpose whatsoever.

But they had a blast.

So there’s that.

According to Mayor Smith Joseph’s Travel Request dated August 20, 2018, he received an invitation to attend to a “World Summit on Countering Violence and Extremism” in honor of “Mahatma Gandhi’s 149th birth anniversary.”  The invitation stated that the registration fee of $2,999.00 included “all expenses in India (such as training, food, accommodation and travel within India),” but did not include international airfare.

Even though the Mayor was the only North Miami official invited, for some strange reason Constituent Services Coordinator Alberta Mathurin and Police Chief Larry Juriga tagged along.  Accordingly, on August 20, 2018 Mathurin and Juriga also submitted a Travel Request (here and here).

On September 25, 2018, they all flew off to exotic India on their Big Bollywood Adventure.

On your dime …

Where they spent eleven days searching for Enlightenment …

… And taking group pictures to promote Peace and Harmony.

According to a September 29, 2018 article in The Hindu, the World Summit on Countering Violence and Extremism “is the brainchild of the India-born Mandar Apte, who now lives in the US. Earlier this year, Mr. Apte started the From India With Love initiative to promote peace, non-violence and yoga, and later approached the US Police Foundation with the idea. Over the past several months, Mr. Apte has conducted sessions with a wide range of people, including police officers, community leaders and former gangsters.”

Or, in North Miami’s case, current gangsters.

On the payroll.

But, we digress.

As Mark Sell also pointed out in his Biscayne Times article, National Police Foundation Director of Strategic Studies Dr. Frank Straub, who leads the Center for Mass Violence Response Studies, was among the attendees at the global summit.

In a Foundation press release, Dr. Straub stated, “Participation in the Summit presents a unique opportunity to learn from our international colleagues and to identify responses to violence and extremism built on the principals of non-violence and compassion.”

Ironically, as Mark Sell also noted, “In late July and early August — two months before the India trip — the North Miami Police Department put all its employees through two-day “Blue Courage” training, incorporating many principles and practices Frank Straub champions.  So why journey to India after all that?”

Why, indeed!

All North Miami law enforcement officers and civilian personnel were required to attend the course, “Blue Courage: The Heart and Mind of the Guardian,” which is described as a “transformational two-day leadership development workshop designed for all levels of the organization.”

Furthermore, “This revolutionary educational process is a holistic approach to developing our people.  It will touch hearts, awaken minds and ignite spirits through dynamic presentations and learning processes. (Available for law enforcement, corrections/detention, and non-sworn personnel.)”

Taking its cue directly from the Blue Courage website – literally (which we call plagiarism, but whatever) – on July 10, 2018, the North Miami Mayor and Council passed Resolution 2018-R-83, authorizing the City Manager and City Attorney to enter into a contract with Blue Courage for a “transformational two-day leadership development workshop for all levels of the organization and targets those interested in self-improvement, increased engagement, stress-management, developing resilience, igniting culture change, combatting [sic] cynicism, while improving overall health and well-being.”

You may wonder what all this “transformation” cost North Miami taxpayers.

Well, wonder no more.  As always, we’ve got the scoop.

The cost of the Blue Courage “transformational two-day leadership development workshop?”

Short answer:  $49,180.00.

However, because this two-day training was required of “all sworn and civilian Police Department Employees,” this price doesn’t include salaries of the department’s 191 employees for the two days they were paid to attend this mandatory seminar instead of, well you know, actually working.

According to the North Miami Transparency Portal, the annual Police Department Payroll Expense for 2018 was $17,590,358 (or $48,192.76 per day).

Multiply that $48,192.76 by two, and the actual cost to taxpayers was $96,385.52.

All that “transformation” only cost you $145,565.52.

Such a deal, huh?

As for the Mayor & Company’s trip to India two months later, according to the final Travel Expense Reports, here’s what their eleven day Peace, Harmony and Enlightenment excursion cost you:

• Mayor Smith Joseph: $2,669.00
• Constituent Service Coordinator Alberta Mathurin: $4,850.51
• Police Chief Larry Juriga:  $2,516.00

Total cost of the trip:  $10,035.51.

This, of course, does not include the salaries of the three employees for the eleven days they were touring India instead of, well you know, actually working.

Let’s calculate.

According to the Budget for the 2018-19 Fiscal Year, Smith Joseph and Alberta Mathurin earn a total salary and benefits package of $149,105 and $102,032, respectively.  Larry Juriga’s salary (not including benefits) is $162,618.  Their combined earnings cost taxpayers a total of $413,755 per year (or $1,133.57 per day).

In essence, their eleven day “Passage to India” cost taxpayers an additional $12,470.27.

For a grand total of $22,505.78.

Even in honor of Mahatma Gandhi, “enlightenment” doesn’t come cheap.

We’ll leave you with this final puzzle.

You might be wondering why, at $4,850.51, the cost of Constituent Service Coordinator Alberta Mathurin’s trip was nearly twice the Mayor’s and the Police Chief’s.

For one thing, it appears that Smith Joseph and Larry Juriga paid for their own international transportation, while Alberta Mathurin’s airfare cost taxpayers $1,383.00.

More curiously, however, despite the fact that the registration fee of $2,999.00 included lodging, North Miami taxpayers shelled out an additional $787.48 for Alberta Mathurin to stay at the Taj, a 5-star luxury hotel for three nights in Bengaluru and one night in New Delhi.

Why?

The even bigger question is why this woman, whose only job is to act as a liaison between the Mayor and his constituents, even went to India in the first place.

Just asking.

Stephanie