Just when you thought the tiny Village of El Portal couldn’t get any more dysfunctional, Village officials amp up the crazy!

If you need further proof, just watch the five hour Special Council Meeting held on September 5, 2020.  According to the Agenda, this meeting was called for the purpose of two, count ’em two, discussion items, as follows:

1. A settlement demand made by Village Clerk Yenise Jacobi; and
2. Filling the vacancy left by Ms. Jacobi’s resignation.

Aside from the fact that it took a bumbling Village Council five hours to get through a two-item Agenda, the bigger problem is the fiasco that created the need for this Special Meeting in the first place.

Due to the ongoing hostility directed at the now-former Clerk Jacobi, mostly by Councilperson Vimari Roman, who has consistently berated her charter employee for over a year, Ms. Jacobi finally had enough.

In fact, Ms. Roman’s animosity toward Yenise Jacobi is so glaring, she just had to slam her in absentia.  Forty minutes into the meeting, and with a complete lack of self-awareness, Vimari denied that Yenise had been subject to a hostile working environment.

Um, okay.

So, on Monday August 24, 2020, Yenise Jacobi tendered her resignation.  In accordance with her contract, she is required to give a 30-day advance notice prior to vacating her position.  On Tuesday, she went to work as always, but on Wednesday morning, August 26, 2020, she was advised through her attorney that she was fired and instructed to pick up her personal belongings from Village Hall.

The big mystery is exactly who made the decision to prohibit Ms. Jacobi from returning to work.  We’re told that at least three of the council members were completely unaware of this decision, as it certainly was not voted on by the governing body as required by Section 3.06 of the Village Charter.  Throughout the meeting, Councilperson Anders Urbom attempted to find out who was responsible for the Clerk’s abrupt dismissal.

It was eventually revealed that Interim Village Attorney Norman Powell and the outside labor lawyer, Gustavo A. Bravo, Esq., took it upon themselves to consult with Ms. Jacobi’s lawyer to demand that she not return to work, without ever bringing it before the Council for a vote.

When confronted about this by Councilperson Urbom, the lawyers claimed that Ms. Jacobi’s resignation was actually a “constructive discharge” for citing the hostile working conditions she had been working under.

They may not want to go that route.

By claiming that her resignation was not voluntary but forced due to unbearable treatment, the lawyers are insisting they had the right to fire her.

They are wrong on both counts.

Although Yenise Jacobi had been making it publicly known for at least a year that Vimari Roman had been making her life a living hell, she merely intended to resign from El Portal and get on with her life.

By contract, she had no choice but to give a 30-day notice, which she fully intended to fulfill by continuing her duties until the Village found a replacement.  By maintaining that Ms. Jacobi was constructively discharged, the lawyers are positing that she was actually fired.

Even if that were the case, Ms. Jacobi would be entitled to unemployment benefits and will also have the right to sue the Village for wrongful termination.

More importantly, even if that were the case, Interim Village Attorney Norman Powell had absolutely no right to make that call.

As a charter employee of the Mayor and Council, the position of Village Clerk can only be filled and vacated by a majority vote of the elected officials.

The Village Attorney, who is also a charter employee, had absolutely no authority to terminate her.  Period.

In the case of Ms. Jacobi’s assertion of workplace hostility, the appropriate action would have been to either allow her to continue working for the remaining 30 days, or place the Clerk on administrative leave until a special meeting could be held to appoint an interim Clerk so that there would be a smooth transition.

Instead, by overstepping his bounds –  once again – Interim Village Attorney Norman Powell created chaos in the Village of El Portal – once again.

Councilperson Urbom was not happy about it one bit.

An hour and a half into the meeting, Mr. Urbom relentlessly grilled the two attorneys.  He began by asking, “What was the plan for the coverage of the Village for the responsibilities of the Clerk when that became the course of action?  Delegation of the responsibilities of the Clerk.  I need an answer on this.”

After a very pregnant pause, Powell finally said, “I’m not quite sure I understand your question.”

Oh, really?  It sounded like a pretty simple question to us.

Mr. Urbom pressed on, “I was assured by both of you that this would not interrupt the business of the Village.”  He reminded Norman that three Committee meetings were canceled because the Village was missing its Clerk.

Unfortunately, the Village has no shortage of idiots.

Councilperson Urbom raised his voice and demanded, “There was no authority to cancel two of those Committee meetings.  We have a very serious problem here, and there needs to be an answer.  Why was the responsibilities of the Clerk not considered when this decision was made to allow the Clerk to not perform her duties for the next 30 days so that we can, in smooth circumstances, make the transition and not interrupt the business of the Village?”

Norman tried to squirm his way out of it by claiming that it’s not necessary for the Clerk to attend committee meetings.

At that point Mr. Urbom angrily said, “Then we have compounding problems because the reason for canceling all three of those Committee meetings was because of not having a Clerk.  That needs to be public record!”

Just as Norman started denying that he canceled the meetings, Mayor Cubillos interrupted.

Claudia said that according to her email she only canceled her Public Safety Committee meeting, and that the “Chairs can have their own meetings, call the Manager.  I didn’t cancel your meetings.”

Mr. Urbom angrily responded, “Then who contacted the IT department to tell them the meetings were off?  I didn’t call the IT department to tell them the Code Enforcement meeting was off.  THIS IS A PROBLEM!  We’re not going to gloss over this.  Where is the accountability to the responsibilities of the Clerk WHEN OUR ATTORNEYS MADE A DECISION ON THEIR OWN, if it was their decision on their own.  We need an answer to that as well.  WE’RE NOT MINCING WORDS HERE TONIGHT.  IT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN.  THERE’S GONNA BE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS!  WHERE’S THE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CLERK AND WHO MADE THE DECISION TO HAVE THE CLERK GO HOME INSTEAD OF SERVE HER 30 DAYS?”

Lawyer Bravo started to respond when Claudia once again interrupted to insist that she did not cancel the Committee meetings and that she never called IT to send out a notice to the community.

She then offered to read her email for the record, when Councilperson Urbom said, “The second half of that email is going to be problematic for you, Madam Mayor.”

In response, Claudia smiled like a Cheshire cat and said, “Not a problem, Councilperson Urbom.  Not a problem.”

Well, we’ll just see about that.

As expected, the two lawyers did their lawyer thing by trying to justify their illegally terminating a charter employee that they had no authority terminating, by claiming they had no choice but to let go of an employee who resigned due to a hostile workplace.

Once again, Councilperson Urbom wasn’t having any of it.

He reminded everyone that Ms. Jacobi had complained of hostility a year ago.

He continued, “A year later, this issue is raised again by the Clerk, we had many opportunities over more than a year to mediate and de-escalate whatever the issue was.  That didn’t happen.”  Mr. Urbom said it was “all well and good” if the Clerk decided to submit a 30-day resignation, but added that it should have been submitted to the Council.

Addressing Norman, he continued, “If you don’t have the authority on your own because you need the Council to sign off on … what level we’re gonna meet this demand, the Council’s input is required.  Am I correct?”

Once again, after yet another pregnant pause, Norman spoke up, “My opinion is that Yenise Jacobi resigned from the Village, she’s no longer under the authority of reporting to the Council.”

No, Norman.  That’s not how it works.

According to her contract, the Village Clerk is still on the Village payroll until 30 days after she submitted her resignation.  As such, she is still very much under the authority of the Mayor and Council.

More importantly, she is not under the authority of the Village Attorney, who, according to the Charter, is her peer – not her boss.

Oddly, while Norman was vehemently attempting to justify his illegal action, at hour 1:39:11 he inexplicably said, “You have to understand that I don’t represent you.  I don’t represent the Manager.  I represent the citizens of this municipality.”

No, Norman.  That’s not how it works.

A municipal attorney represents the municipality, and by extension, the elected officials.  He does not represent the residents.

More importantly, a municipal attorney is not an elected official and has no role in making policy decisions.  As such, Norman does not have the authority to decide what the best interests of the Village are.  That’s the job of the Mayor and Council.

But here is the real bombshell.

At hour 1:39:19, Norman said, “To the extent that an employee … puts on the record that she is poised to sue the Village, that is an adversarial step.  And to ignore that is malpractice.  More importantly, if the steps are not taken to protect the Village, and that particular employee then adds to their complaint [during those] 30 days because he or she was allowed to come back, and buttress whatever it is that they’re alleging the Village, there’s gonna be an argument, “well why did you let that person come back?”

EXCEPT THAT NORMAN FLAT OUT LIED!

Once again.

Let’s look at the timeline.

• Yenise Jacobi submitted her resignation on August 24, 2020.
• On August 26, 2020, she was told not to return to work, ostensibly because, as Norman stated for the record, she was “poised to sue the Village.”
• However, Ms. Jacobi’s lawyer never threatened a lawsuit until September 2, 2020 when he sent a letter to the Village, the last sentence of which attorney Gustavo A. Bravo read for the record at hour 2:23:11 of the meeting, and which stated, “Should an agreement not be reached, one or more lawsuits will be filed to protect my client’s rights.”

In essence, Interim Village Attorney Norman Powell decided to fire Village Clerk Yenise Jacobi on August 26, 2020 because she was “poised to sue the Village,” yet there was no mention of a lawsuit until seven days later on September 2, 2020.

It’s anyone’s guess how Norman still has a job after firing the Clerk without the authority to do so, and then lying to the Council that it was because she threatened to sue.

But, considering all the lies the Mayor has told on the record without being held accountable, nothing should come as a surprise.

Speaking of Claudia, throughout the meeting she pretended that she had no idea the Clerk was unhappy and was oh-so-surprised that she resigned.

Except she’s lying.

Again.

On May 21, 2020, Mayor Claudia Cubillos sent a letter to Yenise Jacobi, acknowledging that the Clerk felt “attacked, harassed, and that [she is] working in a hostile work environment due to comments made by Councilperson Vimari Roman” on two separate occasions.  First at the July 16, 2019 Administration and Finance Committee Meeting, and again at the Committee’s May 19, 2020 Meeting.

But somehow, Claudia had absolutely no idea.

Oh, okay.

The Mayor then launched into one of her predictable lectures by insisting she wasn’t lecturing.

At hour 1:48:08, Claudia continued her non-lecture lecture by announcing, “I’m gonna tell you this, Vice Mayor Nickerson, the decision of how you handle [this] is gonna be yours.  It’s not gonna be mine, I will not be here.  So, you, tonight, will talk about this with your members, and I will vote on the way that I think is best.  But, I am not gonna be here after November 3rd or whenever the installation is.  So I am not gonna make a recommendation.  It’s gonna be you tonight.  So, how you all go forward because it’s clear, and, um, I respect that you all believe you think you know how to make that decision, I will sit back because I have no problem doing it because I’ve been preparing for two years.  You will make the decision, Vice Mayor Nickerson, because it’s gonna have to be a decision that you all are gonna have to own and you’re all gonna have to work with it.  It is unfair for me to make any recommendation because as I said in an email I have exhausted all my resources to see what could come forward to help the Council, but it’s not gonna be, uh, I’m not leading that conversation tonight.  I believe the Council who will be here needs to have that conversation.  So the floor is yours, Vice Mayor Nickerson.”

Shockingly, Mayor Cubillos then gathered up her stuff and left the meeting.

No, Claudia.  That’s not how it works.

You are the duly elected Mayor of the Village of El Portal.  Whether you have two months – or two minutes – left of your term in office, you have a responsibility to lead the Council on behalf of the citizens who voted to elect you.

The fact that you decided to take your toys and go home when you didn’t get your way does not excuse you from fulfilling your official duties.

By barely participating in any discussion and refusing to vote on any item brought forth, the duly elected Mayor of the Village of El Portal abdicated her responsibilities.

Frankly, we say good riddance.  But that’s not our call.

We do, however, feel sorry for the residents of El Portal who are paying Claudia Cubillos to do the job they elected her to do, and are not getting their money’s worth.  If she continues her childish behavior for the remaining two months of her term, perhaps her salary for the year should be adjusted accordingly.

Just saying.

The Council spent the second half of the meeting discussing the “Clerk Vacancy” and reviewing resumes of a potential Interim Village Clerk.  In the end, the Council voted to appoint former North Miami Beach City Clerk Pamela Latimore as Interim Village Clerk, who is more than capable to do the job.

That was the only good decision made in El Portal that evening.

But not before Norman Powell managed to get in a gratuitous, petty, and completely unwarranted, dig against the media and this blogger.

And, as usual, he was wrong.

When discussing Ms. Latimore’s appointment at hour 4:20, Councilperson Urbom commented that he had concerns about “potential baggage” and the “rumor mill” about why she is looking for a job.  Mr. Urbom also noted that he was “taking into account public perception.”

In his infinite wisdom, Interim Village Attorney Norman Powell responded with, “Public perception is framed by what we say in these meetings.  We have the opportunity to clarify public perception in these meetings, that’s why we have them.”

Really?  I thought the Council held meetings to discuss official municipal business and legislate policy.

Silly us.

Then Norman just had to throw in, “Public perception is framed by social media, NextDoor and blogs, by individuals who have nothing but vitriol in their veins.”

Oh, so the problem is you – and me – for having the audacity to scrutinize public records and hold elected officials accountable for their actions.

Got it.

Norman went on to explain that there were issues concerning Ms. Latimore’s termination at North Miami Beach and that “she’s seeking judicial remedy.  That’s why we have the court system.”

And in the very next breath, he verbally trashed the Village Clerk he illegally fired.

Because, you know, “public perception” and “judicial remedy.”

The truth of the matter is that Norman is still trying to defend his own abuse of position when he violated the Village Charter, lied about it, and bypassed the authority of the Mayor and Council.

But, according to Norman Powell, if you dare criticize your government, you are the problem.

The good news for Village residents is that the two most toxic elected officials (and Norman Powell’s staunchest defenders), Claudia Cubillos and Vimari Roman, will be gone in less than two months.

The great news is that Omarr C. Nickerson will be sworn in as Mayor.

Did we mention that …

Hopefully, the new administration will finally take out the trash.

El Portal residents deserve better.

Stephanie