When North Miami City Clerk Michael Etienne received his per diem expense check in advance of his travel to a March 9, 2019 National League of Cities’ Congressional City Conference, it arrived too late for him to cash or even deposit it into his account. The check in the amount of $248.90 was issued on March 7th and delivered to Mr. Etienne late the next afternoon.
As you can imagine, Michael was a tad perturbed.
While it’s not as if he can’t afford to shell out the money and wait to be reimbursed, he shouldn’t be expected to do so. It’s the principle of the thing!
Historically, per diem expense checks to city officials traveling on official city business have been issued at least a week to ten days in advance of the trip. But ever since Larry Spring took over as City Manager, absolutely nothing has been done right.
The City Clerk wasted no time telling Larry Spring exactly what he thinks about him – and his damn check!
He promptly returned the check to Spring, but not before writing this response on the check stub:
FUCK THIS CHECK!
My flight to the National League of Cities Conference is tomorrow (Saturday) morning, but yet I received this per diem check today, Friday, March 8, 2019 – the day before my flight. It would take 2-5 business days for this check to clear my bank account, thus this check will not clear my account timely.
I have never encountered such an incompetent finance department in my eight years as the elected clerk here in North Miami. The finance department accelerated its descent into incompetency the second you brought in those 2 City of Miami rejects (your friends) to run our finance/utility department. Word of advice, when you find your next job (I heard you’re looking), do not bring with you rejects from previous cities.
Again, Fuck this check.
Michael A. Etienne
Gotta love it!
Miami Herald reporter David Smiley was the first to publish a copy of this voided check on Twitter …
… At the same time bitch slapping Larry Spring’s personal involvement in the “shady behavior” of his former finance department at the City of Miami, which resulted in an SEC investigation.
Spring, for background, was part of the city of Miami finance department that engaged in shady behavior deemed by a jury to have been engineered to dupe bond investors in the mid 2000s https://t.co/uOuBdFYUZL
— David Smiley (@NewsbySmiley) March 12, 2019
Oh, yeah. We love it!
We asked Michael Etienne his thoughts on the matter, and he told us:
In light of the shocking revelations we’ve learned from Terry Henley’s sworn testimony, we all know by now that our finance/budget departments are in peril and are managed by incompetent people. But when you put things in perspective, if those departments can’t even get this simple task right (timely issuing a $230.00 per diem check), just imagine how much trouble we’re really in.
BOOM!
We also make no apologies for loving it when an elected official has the stones to call out public corruption and incompetence …
… While tossing out a few F-bombs to make his point.
Well done, Mr. Etienne. Well done.
Now do Duke Sorey.
Stephanie
Happy St Patrick’s Day to all NoMi residents .. Our current city clerk, Michael Etienne, will fit in fine and dandy over in the Republic as a respectable barrister and citizen/resident . It seems like the F word is a popular word over the last 12 months in NoMi especially by the voters on their failed $ 120m dollars bond issue. Plus, it was used frequently by certain city administrators in dealing with hard working employees or in referencing to certain city residents.
Mr. Etienne …my Irish born dad taught me the right and dirty F word to use in these dysfunctional situations .. It is FORNICATE … Not a certain state university located in Gainesville ( it is a joke people … Mike and I are FSU alums … Go Noles …. Beat Mr Jefferson’s university (UVA) today in acc MBB tourney)
What is not a joke in NoMi … The level of services that we receive compare to the high property taxes that we paid as residents … Sixth highest property tax rate in Miami Dade County at $ 7.50 per $ 1,000 milage rate …FYI, Opa Locka is the highest rate at $ 9.90 with Biscayne park’s rate is at $ 9.80 per $ 1,000 milage rate
Mr. Etienne very well done. You sir did something that the Mayor and council don’t have the balls to do. And that is to address the obvious, the incompetence of finance dept.
It looks like Duke tought Larry well. He taught him about the friends and family plan. To hire Friends and Family regardless if they were qualified or had any experience.
Actually he didn’t teach him that. Larry picked it up by seeing how Duke did this all the time and the council especially Scott Galvin Mr. Ethics and I wore a wire….look the other way. So obviously he thought if the deputy city manager can do this for years with out any repercussion, surely he could too. We need a new council.
Yes, please do Duke Sorey next. Pretty please.
Who else did Sorey hire as a department leader? they should be exposed!
Oh you clearly have not been reading up on North Miami. There is a female that started out in the city as a temp I believe and in a short time promotes to manager of Code and Compliance Dept. Bypassing several qualified, and definitely more experienced employees, who have been with the city for years. But then again any female willing to sleep with Duke does deserve a substantial amount of money but it should be Duke himself that pays for her service not the residents. But the Mayor and Council believe otherwise as well as the city’s HR Department oh wait he’s buddies with Duke too. Duke made sure he got him in his pockets.
Personally, I find this humorous as Etienne was corrupt himself when he purposely failed to allow an opponent to his seat from filing on time for the election. I hope in the next time he is up, he will get booted as well. Then finally someone in the city would make the City Clerk a position that is hired with qualifications than a position anyone can run for.
His time is not up. He is giving up his chair to take over the chair of Council for District 3. He and I think two others are going to run for for that position once it opens up. Bien Aime hadn’t officially resigned yet.
All I know about Etienne is from what I have seen in council meetings. He was n at risk youth who joined the city’s PAL program, became a lawyer, is the elected city clerk (as we read for 8 years now) and was against the GO Bond. If there is he like Daniella B. has a colorful past please due tell.