Raise your hands if you’ve ever received a $45,843.20 raise less than two years after starting a new job?

Anyone?

Well, that’s because you’re not privileged enough to be in the inner circle of North Miami Deputy City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey.

Make no mistake, Deputy Duke’s Friends & Family Plan is very much alive and well!

The latest addition to the “family” is Code Compliance Manager Krystal Cordo, who was originally hired on February 17, 2016 as a part-time Code Clerk Contract Employee earning $10.00 an hour, or $15,080.00 a year.

A scant seven months later, she was hired by former NMPD Police Chief Lenny Burgess on August 21, 2016 as a Code Compliance Officer at a rate of $21.94 per hour, or $45,635.20 a year.

Fifteen months later on November 21, 2017, the Code Compliance Department separated from the Police Department.  Accordingly, on November 27, 2017, Krystal Cordo was promoted to Code Compliance Manager and given a raise to $29.29 per hour, or $60,923.20 a year, which amounts to an annual increase of $45,843.20 since she was first hired.

In order to help bail Deputy Duke out of the $22 million budget deficit, Krystal Cordo recommended a Code Compliance Ordinance revising Chapter 21 of the North Miami Code of Ordinances that will double the fines for code violations.

At the November 27, 2018 Council meeting, the Mayor and Council  approved the Ordinance on first reading.

Compare the current Sec. 21-76 – Schedule of civil penalties and fines to the new Sec. 21-76 on page 21 of the proposed Ordinance, and see for yourself.  Fines that previously ranged from $100 to $500 will now range from $200 to $1,000 per violation.

Can’t make this stuff up!

For some reason, the Mayor and Council did not bring the Ordinance back for a second reading at their December 11, 2018 Council meeting, so it’s possible they’ve since reconsidered.  We’ll know for sure at their next scheduled meeting in January.

Within the first year after she was promoted, Krystal Cordo proceeded to fire four employees:

• Jamisha Rogers was hired as a Code department contract employee on June 30, 2017, and on September 21, 2017 she took on the position of Contract Code Clerk.  On March 30, 2018, she was fired.
• Sofia Desilien was first hired on October 1, 2014 as a Contract Code Clerk.  Based on an August 24, 2017 recommendation by then-Interim Police Chief Larry Juriga, Ms. Desilien was hired as a full-time Code Compliance Officer on September 18, 2017.  She received a Satisfactory rating on her Employee Performance Evaluation for the period beginning September 18, 2017 through March 18, 2018, the end of her probationary period.  Six months later on September 14, 2018, Ms. Desilien was fired.
• Sandra Saint-Hilaire was first hired on May 23, 2017 as a contract employee in the Code department.  On July 10, 2017, she was hired as a Clerical Technician in the Code department.  In an April 3, 2018 email to the Personnel Department, Krystal Cordo recommended that Ms. Saint-Hilaire be promoted to a full-time Clerical Technician, which position became effective on May 21, 2018.  Curiously, she was fired on August 10, 2018, un-fired on August 15, 2018, and then fired again for the last time on September 20, 2018.
• Turron McCoy was hired as a Code Compliance Officer on June 11, 2018.  On October 30, 2018, he was fired.

While the head of a department has every right to hire and fire employees as he or she sees fit, we have our suspicions as to why Cordo fired Sofia Desilien and Sandra Saint-Hilaire.

But we digress.

More curious, however, is the fact that Cordo was promoted over two long-time employees with infinitely more experience than she had, one of whom was her immediate supervisor.

Pilar Diaz has been a loyal North Miami employee since she was first hired as a Clerical Technician in the Clerk’s office on April 26, 1999.  Her starting salary was $9.33 an hour.

For nearly 20 years, this employee has diligently worked her way up the ranks, consistently receiving merit raises every year.  On October 9, 2003, Ms. Diaz was promoted to Administrative Specialist.  On April 18, 2010, she became an Administrative Specialist in Code Enforcement, and on March 9, 2015, Ms. Diaz was promoted to Code Enforcement Coordinator.  She is currently earning $27.90 per hour, or $58,032.00 a year, as the Code Enforcement Administrator.

Ironically, before Krystal Cordo’s promotion on November 27, 2017, Pilar Diaz was Krystal Cordo’s supervisor.  In fact, Diaz was responsible for evaluating Cordo for two performance periods between August 21, 2016 and August 21, 2017, both of which reflected an overall rating of “Satisfactory.”

Incredibly, Ms. Diaz now has to answer to her former subordinate.

Another North Miami amazing success story is that of Ernst Baptiste, who began his career as a part-time soccer coach on September 14, 2003 at an hourly rate of $8.00.  On November 22, 2004, he was hired full-time as a Recreation Leader I in Parks and Recreation earning $10.93 per hour.

Mr. Baptiste continued to receive annual merit increases while moving up the ranks, first as a Recreation Specialist on October 26, 2008, and eventually being hired by former Police Chief Lenny Burgess as a Code Compliance Officer on July 6, 2014 earning $17.26 per hour.  Mr. Baptiste’s current hourly rate is $21.71, or $45,156.80 a year.

Until he began working under Krystal Cordo, Ernst Baptiste consistently received overall ratings of “Satisfactory” and “Above Satisfactory” by multiple supervisors, both in Parks and Recreation, as well as in Code Enforcement by his immediate supervisor, Commander Donald Blanchard, and subsequently by Pilar Diaz.

Strangely, for his evaluation period July 6, 2017 through July 6, 2018, during which Krystal Cordo became his supervisor, Baptiste was lucky to receive an overall rating of “Satisfactory” after she checked “Needs Improvements” in two areas in which he had consistently received ratings of “Outstanding” and “Above Satisfactory” on all of his previous evaluations.

It sure seems that Krystal Cordo was trying to undercut the competition.

Before relocating to South Florida, Ernst Baptiste earned a Diploma in Journalism from the Haitian Center of Journalism in 1993.  He then earned an Associate in Arts from Miami-Dade College in 2002.  In 2014 he earned a Bachelor of Applied Science from Miami Dade College, while simultaneously pursuing his career at the City of North Miami.  In addition, Mr. Baptiste also became a United States Citizen on September 16, 2005.

According to their resumes, as well as their seniority status as City of North Miami employees, Pilar Diaz and Ernst Baptiste were both highly qualified for the position of Code Compliance Manager.  In the real world, promotions are based on meritocracy, a system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead on the basis of their achievement.

In North Miami, however, only members of the Duke Sorey Friends & Family Plan are rewarded.

Apparently, Krystal Cordo is a member in good standing.

On May 30, 2018, the City of North Miami advertised the position of Code Compliance Director on its website.  The minimum requirements for this job are “Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or Public Administration or Criminal Justice or a closely related field, plus progressively responsible experience code enforcement and supervisory experience from a city or county government.”

Oddly, the position has been open for nearly seven months, even though it’s commonly believed that Krystal Cordo is a front-runner for the job.

The problem is that she still doesn’t have a four-year college degree, despite the fact that on the original job application she submitted three years ago, she claimed her Bachelor’s Degree was “in progress.”  (See page 55 of her personnel file.)

We can’t help but wonder…

• Will Ernst Baptiste, who does have a college degree, and is equally, if not more, qualified than Krystal Cordo, even be considered for the position (assuming he even applied)?
• Or is Duke keeping the spot open until the time Cordo manages to get her degree?

We suspect it’s the latter.

In the meantime, qualified, hard-working North Miami employees who are not members of the North Miami Friends & Family Plan will continue to be fired, demoted and passed over for promotions in favor of those who are far less qualified, but well connected.

While the North Miami Mayor and Council are prohibited by the Charter from interfering in the hiring and firing practices of city employees, they do hold sway over the City Manager, who seems to be turning a blind eye to the inequity going on right under his nose.

As long as City Manager Larry Spring retains Duke Sorey as his Deputy, the nepotism – and the corruption – will never end.

North Miami employees deserve better!

Stephanie