Save your paper, save your ink, save your postage, save your sanity.

Don’t waste your time filing complaints against unethical public officials with the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust because after several implausible rulings of “no probable cause,” we here at VotersOpinion have lost all faith in the agency charged with holding them accountable for their actions.

More often than not, the Commission finds no probable cause regardless of how obvious the violation is to those of us who have the “privilege” of keeping the corruptocrats on the payroll.

On July 8, 2020, the Ethics Commission heard two complaints against public officials about whom we have blogged extensively – North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph, which I personally filed, and North Miami Parks & Rec Director Derrick Corker, which we had nothing to do with.  Despite the horrific behavior on the part of these two miscreants, as usual, the Commission determined no probable cause.

• Click here to read the Commission’s Investigative report on Michael Joseph
• Click here to read the Commission’s Investigative Report on Derrick Corker

The complaint filed against the Devil on the Dais, Michael Joseph, had to do with his histrionic claim that he received voicemail death threats over a Facebook post.  Of course, when I made a public records request for a copy of that voicemail, there was no such recording available since Michael conveniently claimed that it was deleted by his cell phone carrier.

What I do know, and what I alleged in my complaint, is that “if I received a voicemail recording by someone who threatened my life and the lives of my family members, as Mr. Joseph publicly stated, I would have immediately filed a police report.  I would have also preserved the evidence and delivered to the police to investigate.  Mr. Joseph, however, did neither, which leads me to believe that the alleged threat on his life and the lives of his family was either greatly exaggerated, or just another one of his lies.”

Since Michael Joseph has absolutely no proof of any alleged threats made against him or his family, we can only conclude that this entire “incident” never happened.

Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time he lied about something, and it certainly won’t be the last.  It’s what pathological liars like Michael Joseph do.

Believe it or not, lying is not the worst crime Michael has committed … nor is it his only gross abuse of public trust that the Ethics Commission has turned a blind eye to.

Last month the Commission gave him a pass – once again – despite overwhelming evidence and sworn testimony of corroborating witnesses to Michael Joseph’s abhorrent and unethical behavior.

On September 9, 2020, I filed another Complaint alleging that Michael Joseph “abused and exploited his official position for personal gain by improperly attempting to coerce the City Attorney and outside law firms to issue an incorrect legal opinion falsely stating Mayor Anthony F. DeFillipo cannot run for re-election.”

Michael’s ethical and legal lapses all began with his obsessive antagonism toward former North Miami Beach City Attorney Sarah Johnston for reasons known only to his depraved mind.

In our October 1, 2019 blog, Devil on the Dais! The twisted duplicity of Michael Joseph, Part 2, we revealed that he filed an “anonymous” complaint against her with the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, and then leaked the “story” to the Miami New Times.  Although Ms. Johnston was categorically cleared of all wrongdoing, Ms. Johnston wasn’t his main target.  Michael’s hidden agenda in this devious scheme was to prevent the Mayor and Commission from hiring the law firm of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman as the permanent City Attorney.

More importantly, however, as we revealed in Part 3 of the Devil on the Dais! series, Michael’s ultimate goal was to try to disqualify the Mayor from running for re-election.  He was livid that neither Sarah Johnston nor lawyers from Weiss Serota would go along with his scheme.

Needless to say, Michael’s behavior toward Ms. Johnston was so malicious, that she decided to resign as City Attorney as soon as the Mayor and Commission could find a replacement.  The fact that one of the law firms bidding for the position was Weiss Serota only served to enrage Michael even more than usual.  That’s when he decided to blackmail two of the firm’s lawyers into issuing a false legal opinion in exchange for his vote to hire them.

The Ethics Commission investigated the allegations by interviewing, and taking the sworn testimony of, Sarah Johnston, Weiss Serota attorneys Dan Espino and Brett Schneider, then-City Manager Esmond Scott, and Michael Joseph, as well as other individuals.

Despite the damning testimonies of Dan Espino, Brett Schneider, and Esmond Scott regarding Michael Joseph’s abusive behavior, Ethics Commission Advocate Michael P. Murawski inexplicably recommended “no probable cause.”

During the hearing, one of the Commissioners had asked to have the case continued so they could question the Weiss Serota lawyers personally, but Mr. Murawski put the kibosh on that.  He said it would not be necessary since the interviews were recorded and that the transcripts were included in his Investigative Report.

How did the Commissioners not know that?

Even more unfathomable, four of the five Commissioners agreed with his recommendation, which leads us to believe they never even bothered to read the interview transcripts.

Fortunately for us, we did receive those transcripts, and according to what we read, it’s even that much more astounding that the Commission issued a Press Release announcing:

No Probable Cause Found in Case Involving North Miami Beach Councilman

C 20-34-09: The Ethics Commission found No Probable Cause that North Miami Beach Councilman Michael Joseph violated the Exploitation of official prohibited section of the Miami-Dade County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics. The complaint alleged that Mr. Joseph exploited his official position for personal gain by improperly attempting to coerce the City Attorney and outside law firms to issue an incorrect legal opinion stating that North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo could not run for re-election.

On October 6, 2020, Ethics Commission Investigator Susannah Nesmith interviewed Weiss Serota attorney Dan Espino, who recounted the chain of events, under oath, that eventually led up to Michael Joseph’s attempted coercion.

The sordid tale began shortly after Michael was elected in November of 2018, when the City Commission was contemplating letting go of Sarah Johnston and hiring a law firm as City Attorney.  Weiss Serota was already the outside litigation counsel for the City, and also one of the firms bidding for the permanent position.

On December 18, 2018, Dan Espino and Brett Schneider had registered to lobby on behalf of their firm, and then set up appointments to speak with each of the Commissioners about the services they were offering.  Mr. Espino testified that in February or March of 2019, he and Mr. Schneider arranged for a meeting with Michael Joseph at a restaurant near his office in Miami.

Mr. Espino was the first to arrive at the restaurant, and according to his own words, he picked up on what can only be described as the childish, haughty arrogance that is Michael’s trademark attitude right down to his “body posture,” like a “student called to the principal’s office.”

“Let me demonstrate,” Mr. Espino testified.  “There was a lot of this, a lot of pockets, leaning back.”

Anyone who knows Michael Joseph can clearly picture his default angry demeanor, which only got worse from there.

Mr. Espino said that when he introduced himself, Michael was “very dismissive,” and began the conversation with, “I’ve got to give it up to you guys.  You guys really worked something.  Sarah really worked this up really, really well.  I’ve got to give it up to you guys.”

Oh, man.  That is so Michael!

Dan Espino continued his testimony with, “And at any rate, the tone of the conversation started off hostile, where this was essentially like a scheme we had cooked up.  And at that time, really, I can honestly tell you that we had no idea that the Commission was even going to be willing to do this.  So, in the 10 minutes before Brett [Schneider] arrives, you know, the conversation is about these little snide comments.  I was — honestly, I’ve never — I’ve dealt with a lot of elected  officials.  I’ve never dealt with somebody giving me that kind of attitude, simply since I didn’t know.”

This is the exact same loathsome attitude that resulted in a Florida Bar Complaint filed by North Miami City Attorney Jeff Cazeau against Michael when he unsuccessfully represented Police Commander Emile Hollant in a lawsuit.

Yes, Michael Joseph is that reprehensible.

The meeting with Michael Joseph got so bad, Mr. Espino finally said to him, “Commissioner Joseph, with due respect, we don’t have to have this meeting. We wanted to have a meeting to introduce ourselves, but if this is uncomfortable to you, if you find our disposition inappropriate somehow, we’ll stop the meeting and you can go on your way.”  Michael responded, “No, no, it’s fine.  We’ll have the meeting.”

Once Mr. Schneider arrived, the conversation turned to the services that Weiss Serota would offer the City of North Miami Beach, and that it could be a “seamless transition.”

Suddenly, the discussion took a strange turn, which can only be described in Dan Espino’s own words:

And at some point — and most of the conversation, as I mentioned, he leaned back and was talking like this.  I talk about his posture so much because it was important to me to see the shift in his posture when he raised up this other issue that he brought up to me.

And all of a sudden, he leans forward, he puts his hands like this — palms to each other, thumbs up — and says, “Look, I’d be willing to consider you guys for city attorney if you’re willing to reconsider the opinion about term limits for the mayor.”

And at that moment the first thought that came to my mind was — first of all, everything kind of slowed down, if that makes sense.  Everything kind of slowed down and I’m like, okay.  He just said that to us.  Right?

Right, Mr. Espino.  That’s exactly what Michael Joseph said!

And it is absolute, incontrovertible evidence of Michael Joseph’s exploitation of his official position and illegal coercion of a potential City bidder.

Unlike Michael Joseph, Dan Espino has ethical standards, and he responded with, “We are aware of the opinion and we intend — and we are in agreement with it.”

Mr. Espino told the investigator when he later mentioned this conversation to Sarah Johnston, she responded by telling him, “Well, that’s what he does.  He’s asked me for similar essentially quid pro quo circumstances … And you should let Esmond [Scott] know, because he’s done that to Esmond, too.”

The final highlight of Mr. Espino’s testimony was, “It’s certainly to me the friction point was the very clear message the only way you’ll have a shot [at the City Attorney job] is if you’re willing to take this position because I want to run for mayor.  And I don’t want to have to run against the mayor.  And that was clear to me.  And, you know, and Brett and I even talked about it afterwards.  Like, I can’t believe he asked us that.”

Knowing what deviousness Michael Joseph is capable of, we absolutely can believe he did.

On October 21, 2019, Investigator Nesmith interviewed Brett Schneider, who confirmed his lunch meeting with Michael and Dan Espino.  Mr. Schneider also said he knew Michael Joseph as “a lawyer who had sued the City of North Miami, and I represent North Miami, so I didn’t know him well but I had a case against him.”

That would be the same case I mentioned above that Michael had botched so badly he got his client fired.

And, as Mr. Espino had already testified, Mr. Schneider reiterated, “Michael said something like, ‘You know, I would be willing to consider, you know, going outside and hiring a firm and, you know, going with Weiss Serota if you guys were to reconsider a legal opinion that your firm had given about the current mayor’s eligibility to run again.'”

Mr. Schneider continued, “And I kind of like, was like, did I really just hear that, what I think I heard?  You know, I was almost like taken aback, but like I didn’t — you know, and I don’t know.  He’s kind of a — Michael’s sort of an interesting guy, and I wasn’t sure if that — he was — like if that was a serious comment, or if it was a joke, but I’m like, huh.”

And, like Mr. Espino, Mr. Schneider also got the same creepy vibes from Michael, as he recalled his impression:

I don’t care if you’re the mayor and you have a strong majority or you’re the one dissenter, you’re going to get the same answer.  We’re not — I’m not jeopardizing my — you know, my reputation to give some political answer that that’s expedient at the time.  So I said, you know, something like – I recall saying something like, “Yeah, I mean, it’s a pretty clear-cut issue, Michael.  The mayor has the ability to run again.”  And that was kind of it.  Like I was never — you know. But, I just — the whole meeting was sort of bizarre.

Michael’s sort of a weird guy.  Like he doesn’t say much.  He’s — a lot of the meeting he’s — you know, he’s kind of sitting back. Like, arms folded.  You know?

Yes, actually.  We do know.  Michael Joseph is as weird as it gets.

Mr. Schneider added that, “afterward I remember talking to Dan and saying like, ‘That — that really happened?’  Like that was just — ‘Did he really ask that, and is that serious?'”

Oh, yes, Mr. Schneider.  Michael Joseph was dead serious.

At this point in the interview, Commission Advocate Michael Murawski broke in and said, “I have met Mr. Joseph a couple of times.  And I agree with you, he does have like an unusual demeanor sometimes when he sits down to talk to you.”

He then pressed Mr. Schneider if Michael “was maybe just kind of not 100 percent serious?  Or was — did it sound like a real — you know, you do this for me, I’ll do this for you.”

In response, Mr. Schneider admitted he didn’t know Michael well enough to be certain, but added, “So like I don’t know — and he’s a little bit — you know.  If you’ve talked to him, if you’ve observed him at a commission meeting, I mean, he’s just a little bit different, or odd.  So it’s — I — you know, I certainly didn’t perceive it as a joke, but, you know — and, again, I mean, I — the other part of me also feels like he’s not — I mean, he’s a lawyer.  He’s not — you know, he’s not an idiot.”

No, he’s certainly not an idiot.  Michael Joseph is a sneaky, cunning, manipulative, lying piece of garbage.  But he’s no idiot.

As for the legal opinion that was the subject of Michael Joseph’s blackmail attempt, Mr. Schneider unequivocally stated that “it seemed like such an obvious thing” that the Mayor was allowed to run for re-election.  “It’s a really straight-forward like issue,” he continued.  “I didn’t even really like respond to the — you know, to the underlying quid pro quos.”

And, finally, on November 2, 2020, Ethics Investigator Nesmith interviewed former City Manager Esmond Scott.  From the moment Michael Joseph was first elected, he barely acknowledged the Manager’s presence.  Mr. Scott explained that he heard about Michael’s attempt to blackmail Weiss Serota into issuing a false legal opinion from both Sarah Johnston and Dan Espino, so he did not have first-hand knowledge about his evil scheme.

However, when Investigator Nesmith asked Mr. Scott, “Did what [Dan Espino] describe to you sound like a serious offer of my vote for changing your opinion?,” he responded with, “Absolutely.  Absolutely.  But then I dare say I’m not surprised.  Because I’ve heard some crazy stuff with him.  Him being Michael Joseph.”

When asked to explain, Mr. Scott divulged:

Well, I remember coming down to your office some time ago, just to speak about some of the things I’ve heard him ask for — the things that he has said, the things that he’s tried to influence, for example. Trying to tell us not to go ahead with annexation.

And I remember calling me personally and saying that he’s begging me not to proceed with annexation.  And it was a point where it would dilute the Haitian vote.  You know?  There’s been just from one thing to the next.  I’ve had, you know, an outside contractor calling me for advice because they’ve been asked by him to buy turkeys — you know.  Just various things.  Just continued various things where we were like, wow.  You know?”

Oh, yes.  We do know.

Especially about that whole annexation thing.

The large, white, irregular cutout parcel of land located on the northwest quadrant of the City of North Beach, which you can clearly see on its Official Zoning Map, is what is referred to as the “donut-hole.”

Most of the residents living in this “donut-hole” are members of the Orthodox Jewish community.

In Fiscal Year 2015-16, the City of North Miami Beach had begun “working on annexation of the unincorporated “hole-in-the-donut” Winward enclave.  Annexation of the subject area will have positive economic and fiscal benefit, by rationalizing city boundaries and increasing the City’s population and tax base.”

For Fiscal Year 2018-19, one of the Manager’s Key Initiatives was the “top priority of annexation of major holes, residential areas and/or square boundaries to create a more connected community and eliminate fragmented areas of unincorporated Miami-Dade County and/or other municipalities from the City’s zoning vicinities.

In Fiscal year 2019-20, the General Fund included “an increase of $295,364 because of increases to expenditures toward Census Initiatives; Annexation; Special Programs; and Security Services for City Hall.”

And most recently, in Fiscal Year 2020-21, one of the Manager’s Key Accomplishments cited, “We have re-launched our annexation effort; implemented a Census 2020 community awareness program designed to achieve maximum count of all residents.”

In other words, the proposed annexation, that has been in the works for over six years, is a TOP PRIORITY FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF NORTH MIAMI BEACH.

And, yet, Michael Joseph has been desperately trying to put the brakes on it because “it would dilute the Haitian vote.”

Michael had no problem sucking up to prominent Orthodox Jews, and “donut-hole” resident/Jewish activist Alan Sakowitz in particular, who endorsed this fraud in exchange for giving them surveillance cameras on every street corner – as long as they don’t become voting residents of North Miami Beach and “dilute the Haitian vote.”

It doesn’t get any more despicable – or racist – than that.

Not even his strong-arming a City vendor into buying turkeys for him to give away for votes.

Which brings to mind the time Ex-Commissioner/Convicted Felon Frantz Pierre extorted City vendor Dean’s Gold for $2,500 worth of “turkeys” for the Haitian Evangelical Baptist Church that mysteriously never appeared.

Not only is Michael following in Frantzie’s criminal footsteps, but he’s actually upped the game by trying to gouge $15,000 from the former operator of the City’s water plant, Jacobs Engineering for — turkeys!

The sworn testimonies of Dan Espino, Brett Schneider, and Esmond Scott have provided clear and concise evidence that Michael Joseph “abused and exploited his official position for personal gain by improperly attempting to coerce the City Attorney and outside law firms to issue an incorrect legal opinion falsely stating Mayor Anthony F. DeFillipo cannot run for re-election,” as I alleged in the complaint I filed with the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.

And yet, for some mysterious reason, the Commission determined “no probable cause.”

Ethics Commission Executive Director Jose Arrojo is doing the absolute best he can with the tools he was given.  Unlike his predecessor, Mr. Arrojo responds to public inquiries, takes citizen complaints seriously, and is determined to enforce the County’s Code of Ethics.   Unfortunately, he is not a voting member of the Commission, whose decisions are sometimes preposterous and often infuriating to those of us who are driven to hold public officials accountable for their actions.

In this particular complaint against North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph, however, we are completely baffled that Commission Advocate Michael Murawski recommended no probable cause when the evidence overwhelmingly supported our allegations.

Which only leads us to wonder why Michael Joseph is being protected from the consequences of his actions, and by whom.

In the final analysis, however, there can be no public trust if the public cannot trust those who are tasked to protect us from corruption.

Miami-Dade County residents deserve better.

Stephanie