Considering that North Miami city officials have been known to pass a fraudulent budget or two, it should come as no shock if they engage in fraudulent bidding processes.

This latest in a long line of NoMi scandals was exposed in today’s FRONT PAGE BOMBSHELL ARTICLE by Miami Herald investigative reporter Aaron Leibowitz, Virtual Office could have backdoor for city deal.

Here’s what happened.

For 17 years, the city’s agent for the employees’ insurance benefits plan has been Sapoznik Insurance & Associates, LLC.  Since Sapoznik’s Fifth (and final) Option to Renew Professional Services Agreement is set to expire on December 31, 2019, city officials decided to issue a Request for Proposals from “qualified and experienced firms to provide “Agent of Record” services for the City’s Employee Benefits programs.”

The first one, RFP 54-17-18, was issued on May 25, 2018, but was rejected by the Mayor and Council at the August 28, 2018 council meeting.

A year later on April 8, 2019 the city issued RFP 35-18-19 seeking proposals “from qualified and experienced firms to provide Brokerage and Consulting Services for the City’s Employee Benefit programs.”

On June 6, 2019 the Evaluation Committee presented the final scores and rankings of the six bidding firms:

The Miami Herald article reported:

When a committee in North Miami was reviewing applications to manage the city’s employee healthcare benefits, all five members gave one applicant the lowest marks: Gelin Benefits Group, a small firm run by Tamarac Commissioner Elberg Mike Gelin.

“They have limited staff so unsure if they have capacity to accommodate our demand,” Karen Muir, the city’s risk management director, said in handwritten comments on her evaluation form.

The rate the company proposed — a 3% commission on health insurance costs — was also higher than that of two other applicants, according to bid documents.

Interestingly, although Elberg Mike Gelin submitted the proposal on behalf of his firm, Gelin Benefits Group, LLC, on May 24, 2019, as evidenced by the Log In Sheet for RFP Submittals, a licensee search revealed that Gelin Benefits Group, LLC was not licensed by the Florida Department of Financial Services until June 20, 2019 – a full twenty seven days later!

That was his first lie.

It only got worse from there.

Sapoznik Insurance & Associates, LLC handily won the bid with a final score of 420 points.  At the July 9, 2019 meeting, a resolution to approve the Evaluation Committee’s results and select Sapoznick Insurance was placed on the Agenda under Tab F.

The passage of this resolution should have been a no-brainer.  After all, Sapoznik Insurance was by far the top point scorer.

Gelin Benefits Group, LLC came in third with 405.9 points, and only scored that high by qualifying for local vendor preference, or an additional 36.9 points added to his original score of 369.  Without those extra points added to its score, this firm would have ranked 6th instead of 3rd.  (More about local preference points in a moment.)

At the Council meeting when Councilman Scott Galvin moved to approve the resolution, he fully expected it to pass.

But Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime, who had other plans in mind, derailed everything and insisted on starting over with a brand new bid.

Beginning at hour 1:06:41 of the meeting video, Bien-Aime spent the next hour vigorously arguing against passing the resolution under the pretense of “saving money,” even at the risk of hiring a vastly inferior firm, while completely ignoring the much higher cost of issuing yet another RFP.

We can’t help but wonder about Bien-Aime’s ulterior motives, but we have our suspicions.

Just saying.

In the end, the resolution failed by a vote of 2-3.  Councilman Galvin and Councilwoman Carol Keys voted for the resolution to hire the top bidder, Sapoznik Insurance & Associates, LLC, but were shot down by Mayor Bien-Aime, his personal bootlicker Councilwoman Mary Estimé-Irvin, and Councilman Alix Desulme.

On July 16, 2019, the city posted a Notice to Reject All Proposals, and on July 22, 2019 the city issued a third Request for Proposals (RFP 71-18-19).

This time around the previous third place winner, Gelin Benefits Group, LLC, mysteriously ranked number 1, while Sapoznik Insurance slipped way down to the number 4 slot.

As you can see, Gelin Benefits Group, LLC received an additional 42.6 points by qualifying for Local Business Preference.  If not for those extra points, this firm would have ranked Number 4 and not Number 1.

Here’s how that works.

In North Miami, bidding vendors can score additional evaluation points by claiming to be qualified for Local Business Preference under Section 7-151 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, which states:

Local business means the offeror, supplier, or contractor satisfies two (2) of the following requirements:

(1) Has a business located in the city with a current city business tax receipt issued prior to the city’s issuance of the solicitation for supplies or services;

(2) Has at least ten (10) percent of its total workforce residing in the city prior to the city’s issuance of the solicitation for supplies or services; or

(3) Subcontracts at least ten (10) percent of the contractual amount of a city project with subcontractors who are physically located within the city.

The Requests for Proposals issued by the city specifically state, “This RFP is issued in accordance with the City of North Miami Code of Ordinances Sec. 7-151, which states that preference be given to local businesses, in the form of ten percent (10%) of the total evaluation points or ten percent (10%) of the total bid price. Respondents must submit Forms A-3 and A-3(a) (if applicable) with their submittal to receive local preference. Failure to submit required documentation may render the Respondent ineligible for local preference.”

Form A-3 is a Local Preference Affidavit which vendors must sign and testify under sworn oath to its accuracy in the presence of a notary public.

This Affidavit specifically states, “Business location means a permanent office or other site where the local business conducts, engages in, or carries on all or a portion of its business.  A post office box or location at a postal service center shall not constitute a business location.”

During the previous bidding process, Elberg Mike Gelin signed a Local Business Preference Affidavit on May 23, 2019 as “President” of Gelin Benefits Group, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability company.

That was his second lie.

Florida Limited Liability companies are not made up of officers, but members.  Elberg Mike Gelin is a Managing Member of Gelin Benifits Group, LLC, not its President.

But that’s the least of his problems.

According to the Miami Herald:

In the “Local Business Preference” section, the company writes:  “The Gelin Benefits Group maintains an office location in North Miami.”

Earlier in the proposal, the company says:  “Our staff will work from the office in North Miami which is located just minutes from City Hall.  We have a dedicated and experienced team ready to serve the City of North Miami.”

Furthermore, the Herald article noted:

At a City Council meeting in July, Mike Gelin, who goes by his middle name, told the councilors: “We are the only local North Miami firm that bid on this contract.”

But calling Gelin Benefits Group a “local business” in North Miami would appear to be a stretch. The company’s website lists a Fort Lauderdale address and makes no mention of North Miami. And it’s not clear that the company has any tangible presence in the city.

What it does seem to have is a “virtual office” — the right to an address and a mailbox in an office suite in a North Miami strip mall known as Causeway Square.

In order to satisfy the requirements of Local Business Preference, Elberg Mike Gelin produced an Online Virtual Office Agreement dated September 6, 2017 for the rental of a mailbox located at 1821 NE 123 Street, North Miami, Florida 33181, for the term of one year at a rate of $62.10 per month.

According to its own website, Gelin Benefits Group, LLC is not located in the City of North Miami, but is actually at located at 6750 North Andrews Avenue, Suite 200, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309.

As such, this firm does not satisfy the first requirement of Section 7-151 of the City’s Code of Ordinances.

This was his third lie.

Even more interesting, his one year Online Virtual Office Agreement for the rental of a mailbox expired on September 30, 2018 – eight months before he submitted his proposal to the city!

We made a public records request for an current agreement and were advised that none existed.

In essence, at the time Elberg Mike Gelin signed a sworn affidavit that his business was located in the City of North Miami, his firm had absolutely no presence in the city – not even a mailbox.

That was his fourth lie.

Like Broward County carpetbaggers who “rent” rooms in North Miami to run for office, this local preference bidding scam is an insult to all the businesses legitimately operating in and paying taxes to the city.  Those business owners should be absolutely furious if this Fort Lauderdale firm’s bid is accepted.

Gelin Benefits Group, LLC cannot satisfy the second requirement since absolutely none of its workforce resides in the City of North Miami, much less ten percent.

In fact, according to its own bid proposal, Gelin Benefits Group, LLC has assigned only six of its employees, including Elberg Mike Gelin and his brother, Bruce to service North Miami’s 417 employees.

Seems legit.

Furthermore, on August 12, 2019, the city issued Addendum No. 1 to RFP 71-18-19 for the purpose of providing the opportunity for bidders to “submit questions and/or requests for clarifications regarding this Solicitation is solely for the purpose of clarifying the scope of services, eligibility criteria, performance requirements and procedural matters related to the selection, award and expectations of the City for this contract.”

On page 3 of this Addendum, a question was asked if the city requires certain services to be included in the proposal and the minimum number of hours required to perform such services.  In its response, the city acknowledged that these services require between 1,416 and 1,630 hours during the one year course of the contract, most of which is to be performed on-site at the City of North Miami.

That would certainly be a daunting task to accomplish by a small firm of only a handful of employees located in the City of Fort Lauderdale.

With or without a mailbox in North Miami.

Just saying.

At the time he executed is first sworn affidavit, Elberg Mike Gelin also submitted a Statement of Intent, claiming that Gelin Benefits Group, LLC has subcontracted with Vessel Design, Inc., which is physically located within the city.

And which company will receive $18,000, or “at least (10) percent of the amount of the contractual amount,” according to the third requirement of Section 7-151 of the City’s Code of Ordinances.

As the Miami Herald reported, however, “North Miami’s local business preference program has been called into question before. In a review of the city’s operations released in 2017, Florida’s auditor general found that oversight was lacking.  ‘City officials should take more steps to verify the information companies provide, the report said, or else ‘risk that such preference will be afforded to respondents that do not qualify.’”

In the third Request for Proposals (RFP 71-18-19) issued July 22, 2019, Gelin submitted a Local Business Preference Affidavit on August 21, 2019, falsely claiming once again that his business was located in the City of North Miami.  In addition, the Statement of Intent he submitted was the exact same document he used in the previous bid.  All he did was white out the RFP number at the top of the page and type in the new one.

 

Gelin failed to obtain a new signed statement from Cynthia Ordaz, the President of Vessel Design, Inc., which makes us wonder if this contractor/subcontractor “partnership” is still in effect.

Seems legit.

While Gelin Benefits, LLC may or may not have a legitimate contractor/subcontractor “partnership” agreement with a North Miami business, this firm does not have a current lease for property – virtual or otherwise.

In essence, Gelin Benefits, LLC has not fulfilled at least two of the three requirements necessary to qualify for Local Business Preference.

We were also advised that there is no current Business Tax Receipt for this firm filed with the city.  A public records request for same is still pending.

As such, Gelin Benefits, LLC should not have received the additional bonus points as a local business.

In fact, the entire bid proposal submitted by Elberg Mike Gelin was based on complete lies, and his firm should be immediately disqualified as a bidder on this proposal.

But, wait!  THERE’S MORE!

Aside from submitting a fraudulent bid to “provide Brokerage and Consulting Services for the City’s Employee Benefit programs,” we can’t help but wonder how the 192 employees in the North Miami Police Department – nearly one half the city’s entire workforce – might feel about being serviced by someone who hates cops.

As the Miami Herald article reported, “Gelin, who was elected to the Tamarac City Commission last year, made waves in September when he publicly chastised a Broward sheriff’s deputy who had arrested him four years ago.  The deputy, Joshua Gallardo, had just been honored at a commission meeting when Gelin addressed him.”

WATCH!

We here at VotersOpinion find this despicable behavior unacceptable, especially to a law enforcement officer.

The North Miami Mayor and Council are scheduled to vote on this now-third Request for Proposals at the council meeting on Tuesday, November 12, 2019.

We here at VotersOpinion strongly encourage all the employees of the North Miami Police Department to attend this meeting, and send a message to city officials, and especially to Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime, that a cop hater has no business being the manager of their insurance benefits.

We also encourage residents to demand that their elected officials disqualify Gelin Benefits Group, LLC from this bid and send Elberg Mike Gelin back to Broward County.

North Miami residents, business owners, employees, and especially its police officers, deserve a whole lot better!

Stephanie