North Miami Beach residents, you are about to get taken to the cleaners.

On Tuesday, November 17, 2020 if Michael Joseph’s puppet candidate Daniela Jean wins the runoff election, NMB will officially be North Miami 2.0.

We are not exaggerating.

Ever since they were first elected in 2018, Michael Joseph and his comrades, McKenzie Fleurimond and Paule Villard, have been trying to rape the city’s coffers for their personal pet projects, none of which are remotely beneficial for the taxpaying residents of North Miami Beach.

In fact, most of the items on their wish lists for last year’s FY 2019-20 budget are the very same giveaways that have been bankrupting North Miami for the last six years.

• Commissioner Paule Villard proposed seven new items, including “NMB Food & Music Festival,” totaling $41,750.
• Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond’s initiatives went even further in that he proposed spending nearly half a million dollars on special events, executive salary increases, as well as increases in travel and discretionary fund allowances.
• Commissioner Michael Joseph, on the other hand, presented a list of EIGHTEEN items totaling A STAGGERING ONE MILLION NINE HUNDRED SIXTY SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!

Yes, you read that right.

As we reported on September 14, 2019 in NMB Commish Mike Joseph wants to be just like North Miami … broke, in debt, and corrupt!, “Although he’s been in office for only ten months, Michael has already traveled to Washington DC twice, greedily demanded a $22,000 raise, and now wants to increase the budget by nearly two million dollars on self-serving events and programs, most of which are designed to benefit his own child (a $50K toddler summer program) and his own campaign for re-election (a $30,000 citizen voter drive, $20,000 for a ‘free’ citizenship event, and $300,000 for minority outreach marketing).”

None of their “initiatives” had a public purpose or would be of any benefit to the residents of North Miami Beach … unless they enjoy watching their tax dollars disappear.

Fortunately, City Manager Esmond Scott put his foot down and put a stop to their foolishness.

Unfortunately, if their puppet candidate Daniela Jean wins the runoff on Tuesday, North Miami Beach residents can say goodbye to good governance … and their hard earned tax dollars.

Michael, McKenzie and Paule have repeatedly announced that once they get a majority on the dais, they will be able to take care of “their community” like North Miami does.  Their divisive radio campaign ad during the general election was just a foreshadowing of the racist identity politics they are playing now.

The three of them are maliciously telling their listeners that the “white people” on the commission have been preventing them from fixing their roofs, painting their houses and subsidizing their utility bills – just like North Miami does for its residents.  They are promising that if Daniela gets elected, they will control the city’s resources and “their community” will get everything they want.

Here’s what will really happen if they get their way.

Once they have a four vote majority, they will immediately fire City Manager Esmond Scott.  That’s a given.  They despise him for being fiscally responsible and not giving in to their whims.

They will then move to hire North Miami reject Lesly Prudent, or someone else of their choosing, who will give them the green light to go on the mother of all spending sprees.

Their new manager will proceed to dismantle every single department in the city, beginning with the award-winning North Miami Beach Police Department, so they can imitate North Miami’s infamous Friends & Family Plan.

North Miami Beach taxpayers will have absolutely no say in the matter.  Nor will they have any control over their own money.

For the past decade, the City of North Miami Beach has been operating on a comfortable surplus.  According to its Fiscal Year 2018-19 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), the city’s revenue exceeded its budget by $5,084,154, while its expenditures were $11,073,737 less than budgeted, resulting in a positive net change in the General Fund balance of $3,265,663.

North Miami, on the other hand, ended the year with a deficit.  According to its Fiscal Year 2018-19 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report CAFR, actual revenues were $645,085 less than projected, and while its expenditures were $5,185,513 less than its amended budget (which then-City Manager Larry Spring magically increased by $4,385,934 from its original adopted budget unbeknownst to the Mayor and Council), the city still ended the year with a negative net change in the General Fund balance of $6,514,694.

To make matters worse, at the start of Fiscal Year 2018-19, there was already a budget deficit of $6,514,694, so the City of North Miami actually ended the year with a total General Fund deficit of $14,697,136.

Then there’s the $14,334,387 loan from the Water and Sewer Fund to fund General Fund operating activities, which the auditor stated “could result in a state of financial emergency as defined in Section 218.503(1), Florida Statutes, if management and those charged with governance fail to establish financially sound budgets and implement a fund balance (deficit) reduction plan going forward.”

It does not appear that North Miami has made any payments toward that loan so far.

This year, North Miami’s gaping budget hole just keeps getting bigger.

According to its Open Gov Transparency Portal, as of today the City of North Miami is operating on a General Fund deficit of $15,700,135.

Needless to say, North Miami has a spending problem.  And the buck starts and stops with the Mayor and Council.

North Miami has only five elected officials, yet the budget for the Mayor and Council Office is a whopping $1,354,594, $311,520 of which is merely the base salary.

Each of them also receive a pension contribution equal to 49.18% of their salaries, fully paid health, dental and life insurance, a miscellaneous monthly expense account of $1,250 per month, a car allowance of $750, and cell phone allowance of $100.  On top of that, each of them have a travel expense allowance and a $30,000 “Discretionary/Outreach Fund” to spend any way they want with no limits or oversight.

The Mayor and Council’s office also employs four full-time “constituent coordinators,” each of whom get paid health, dental and life insurance, a pension and a $100 monthly car allowance.

And because that’s simply not enough staff to serve the pampered and spoiled ruling class, each of the elected officials are entitled to have a part-time “Constituent Service Aid” (each costing $31,170 a year) to cater to their every whim, including chauffeuring them to various and sundry events.  Because heaven forbid they have to drive themselves and be forced to [gasp] find their own parking space.

North Miami Beach, on the other hand, has seven elected officials with a budget for the Mayor and Commission at a reasonable $693,066, slightly more than half that of North Miami’s.  NMB’s seven elected officials suffer by sharing a small staff of 2.3 employees for the entire office.

Somehow, the North Miami Beach Mayor and Commissioners manage to get the job done without having a personal assistant to answer their emails, take their phone calls, and schedule their appointments for them.

For over a year Michael, McKenzie and Paule have been demanding that the City Manager give them their own “Constituent Service Aids” … because that’s how they do it in North Miami!

And that’s only the beginning.

While North Miami Beach has a healthy $30 million in reserves, North Miami’s reserve account is currently at … ZERO!

Miami-Dade County has 36 municipalities with an average millage rate of 5.08, the percentage of property values paid on real estate taxes.

North Miami Beach has a millage rate of 6.2000.

North Miami’s millage rate is 7.5000, the seventh highest in the county.  Other than the City of Miami’s (7.6600), and the nearly bankrupt Opa-locka’s (9.8000), the millage rates of Biscayne Park (9.7000), El Portal (8.3000) and Golden Beach (7.7200) are high because they have little or no commercial properties, which contribute more in taxes.

Once Michael & Co. have a majority on the commission, expect your millage rate to skyrocket … just like North Miami’s!

And just like North Miami, once Michael & Co. have a majority, get ready for the deluge of special events that will held be two, three and even four times a week.  They tried to implement this insanity for FY 2018-19 by submitting a Proposed Special Event Budget – to the tune of $901,800!

Thankfully, City Manager Esmond Scott put a stop to that foolishness and budgeted $529,861 for Public Affairs and Community Engagement, which includes Special Events.

By the same token, in Fiscal Year 2019-20, the the North Miami Mayor and Council approved a Special Events budget of $482,935.

However, two months later then-City Manager Larry Spring and Deputy City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey slipped in an Amended Budget behind closed doors to include an additional $200,000 for Duke Sorey’s Red Garden Sinkhole/“Uncle Luke’s World Superbowl Experience.”

Despite North Miami’s already bloated $682,935 budget, the city ended up spending a whopping $1,290,610 on Special Events last year.

Michael Joseph, McKenzie Fleurimond and Paule Villard want North Miami Beach to be just like North Miami!

If their puppet candidate wins on Tuesday, they will finally get their wish.

The biggest losers will be the city’s 45,000 residents who will foot the bill for the deliberate, reckless destruction by Michael Joseph & Co. of everything they have worked so hard to accomplish.

The only way to stop this pending disaster is to vote for Margie Love on Tuesday, November 17, 2020.

North Miami Beach residents deserve better.

Stephanie