Dear Mayor and Council, Elected Officials, Fellow Community Leaders and Neighbors,
First and foremost, I want to wish you each a happy holiday season. Whether you celebrate Hannakah, Christmas, Kwanza or nothing at all, I hope the last month of this year is a healthy and peaceful one.
I haven’t seen many of you lately. It has been a busy year. After a whirlwind of campaigns (Biden, the Georgia Senate races, and then mine), I have taken the past five months or so to rest and to evaluate the outcome of our City Elections. What I found was not pretty. I have been communicating with some law enforcement as well as federal agencies, but this issue is one that our community needs to be aware of.
I want to make it very clear that this information does not invalidate the May 2021 North Miami Municipal elections, nor is that something I am working on. I share this information as a fellow resident and an enthusiastic supporter of democracy both local and national, as well as international.
ADA DECLARATION TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE
The first thing I want to explain before I go further is a form called the American Disabilities Act Declaration to Provide Assistance. This form is a result of legislation on a State level that addresses a disabled voter’s right to participate in the electing of their representatives. State Statute can be found here: Florida Statute 101.051.
In practice, this statute means that a voter can be assisted by another person in order to effectively fill out their ballot if they are disabled. It is inherently a good thing that encourages participation for disabled people. But it can also be abused, weaponized, and turned into a campaign tool lending itself to manipulation. If unfairly used, it could allow a person to cast more than their fair share of votes. Each American citizen is entitled to only one (1) vote – their own. There are no exceptions to this rule in a free and fair democracy.
THE NORTH MIAMI MAY 11, 2021 ELECTION
In the May 2021 City elections there were 550 voters who voted with an ADA form. The ADA form allows the person assisting the voter to actually fill out their ballot for them.
In May, 24 people assisted 484 voters, 88% of the total ADA forms in the election. Herein lies the potential manipulation.
Of those 24 people, nine (9) work for the City of North Miami and those 9 employees assisted 213 voters collectively. These 9 city employees aren’t employed by the elections department, they work for the City of North Miami in the housing, sanitation, utilities and billing, and code compliance departments, as well as the Mayor and Council’s office.
In fact, nearly all Mayor and Council service aides participated in getting out the vote for the election.
Almost half of the ADA forms came from District 3. These 9 City employees didn’t receive a list from the City of the people who asked for assistance, so it remains a question how and under what pretext, they got in contact with these voters. Some of the ADA voters were taken by city employees to vote while that employee was on vacation time, others on leave without pay, or who called out sick during a pandemic to campaign. Some have no record of being on leave of any kind. Here are the forms from each City of North Miami Employee and the status of their official leave while they were “assisting” voters:
-
Keren Frederick, Housing Administrator: Keren Frederick 2021 ADA Forms
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Luckar Ferdinand, Sanitation “Clean Team Supervisor:” Luckar Ferdinand 2021 ADA Forms
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Maryse Benjamin, Code Enforcement:Maryse Benjamin 2021 ADA Forms
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Patricia LeVasseur, Mary Estime-Irvin’s Council Staff Assistant, Mayor and Council: Patricia LeVasseaur 2021 ADA forms
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Carolina Matamoros, Kassandra Timothe’s staff assistant formerly with Carol Keys, Mayor and Council: Carolina Matamoros 2021 ADA Forms
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Walon Saintill, Mayor Bien Aime’s Staff Assistant, Mayor and Council: Walon Saintille 2021 ADA Forms
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Johane Saintilus, Code Compliance: Johane Saintilus 2021 ADA Forms
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Cecilia Rojas, Social Services and assistant to Councilman Alix Desulme: Cecilia Rojas 2021 ADA Forms
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Yvette Petiote, Utility and Billing: Yvette Petiote 2021 ADA Forms
Here is the calendar of all time off, paid, unpaid, sick, absent with leave, absent without leave and vacation that came as a result of a public records request from the City of North Miami:
It should be noted that on our May municipal ballot, there were at most 2 questions: Mayor and Council. In Districts 1 and 4, there was only 1 question (Mayor)
Sample Ballot: North Miami May 11, 2021 Ballot
Here are the totals of all ADA forms submitted in the May 11, 2021 Election:
Total Turnout: 5,457 voters
Percentage Turnout: 16.01%
|
City Employee |
ADA District 1 |
ADA District 2 |
ADA District 3 |
ADA District 4 |
TOTAL ADA FORMS |
|
Lucknar Ferdinand |
3 |
5 |
29 |
13 |
50 |
|
Keren Frederick |
5 |
9 |
27 |
9 |
50 |
|
Johane Saintelus |
5 |
2 |
15 |
15 |
37 |
|
Walon Saintille |
0 |
1 |
3 |
19 |
23 |
|
Yvette Petiote |
1 |
2 |
10 |
4 |
17 |
|
Cecilia Rojas |
0 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
14 |
|
Patricia Lavasseur |
0 |
1 |
10 |
0 |
11 |
|
Maryse Benjamin |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
|
Carolina Matamoros |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
|
TOTAL |
15 |
24 |
99 |
75 |
213 |
Our state statutes and ethics rules place a strict limit on the kind of election activities that State and municipal employees are permitted because it is understood that those employees are working for the public. Many times they are the caretakers of our shared community resources such as rental assistance and other federal benefit programs. Much of their work is with municipal citizens and as such, it is of utmost importance to maintain the integrity of our election process by making sure undue influence is not leveraged onto voters. The Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust have set very clear Limitations on Political Activities of County and Municipal Officers and Employees.
In our City elections, many voters who were picked up by employees were also working with the same department to secure housing assistance. Here are 6 of those contracts, but more exist. Relationships made through official city business, especially transactional relationships where one is the giver of public goods and the other is the receiver, create an unequal power dynamic and makes the issue of a resident’s vote into a tangible item. Here are 6 contracts involving 6 voters that the current housing administrator (Keren Frederick) personally drove to the polls and assisted the filling out of ballots for:
- Shirley Thelemaque
- Glebert and Marie Cadet
- Denise St. Georges
- Margarette Brunot
- Macula Charles
- Joanel Lubin and Odette Lubin
NORTH MIAMI ELECTION VS. NOVEMBER 3, 2020 ELECTION
Sample Ballot: November 3, 2020 General Election Ballot
Percentage Turnout: 74.6%
Once I realized how extensive the use of ADA forms were in the North Miami May 11, 2021 election (550 forms), I felt strongly that I needed more information on the general use of this form. I was able to obtain, through considerable cost, the November 3, 2020 ADA forms from voters in North Miami (476). In total, during the 2020 general election 1.5 million voters cast their ballots.
The Election Department stated that COUNTYWIDE the use of ADA forms was 1%. North Miami had as high as 18% in some key precincts in 2021.
In North Miami, 74 fewer voters needed assistance in the General Election than in our own local election with 1 or 2 questions.
When I searched through each North Miami ADA form to see which voters used assistance in BOTH the 2020 General Election, which was 75% turnout, and the North Miami 2021 election which was 16% turnout, only 57 North Miami voters needed help in both elections.
In other words, the vast majority of the voters who were assisted by City of North Miami staff in the May 2021 elections did not require assistance in the 2020 General election six months previously for a far more complicated and wide-ranging ballot.
In addition to the extensive use of ADA Declaration to Provide Assistance, there are other things that occurred in the May 2021 North Miami Election that need to be brought to our community’s attention.
NORTH MIAMI CANVASSING BOARD
After all the polls close and the votes are in, each municipality has a process to examine those ballots that are questionable or unclear, such as signatures on the outside envelopes of mail in ballots that do not match what is on file, for example. The panel that examines those ballots, as defined in the municipal charter, is the canvassing board. Here is a link to the section in our Charter, which states that our canvassing board is composed of our municipal clerk, currently Ms. Vanessa Joseph, and the elected city council members who are currently not up for election during that cycle: Chapter 6, Article V, Sec. 6-96
Prior to the May 2021 election, one of these members of the canvassing board, including Alix Desulme, who is also the Chairman of the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON) made the decision to endorse a candidate for District 3. A flyer was sent to the voters of North Miami District 3 alongside the North Miami Votes logo of the Clerk’s Office. I inquired about the origins of the logo and it was found to be the work product of the City of North Miami.
The State of Florida says that if a canvassing board member is an “active participant” in a campaign involved in such activities as endorsing a candidate, displaying a candidate’s campaign signs, or soliciting votes for a candidate, that member should recuse himself or herself from the canvassing board. The above mailer to the District 3 voters explicitly telling them to vote for a specific candidate, using intellectual property and resources from the City of North Miami general fund (creation of logo and logistics, employee pay and time) certainly falls into this category.
It should also be mentioned that our municipal clerk is also a chairperson in the organization NHAEON, which was not disclosed during the election.
When I asked Mr. Desulme to recuse himself from the canvassing board, he declined. Many votes were rejected and some approved that he had direct dealings with.
LEAKING OF PRIVILEGED ELECTION INFORMATION FROM OUR CITY CLERK’S OFFICE
Earlier this fall, our City Clerk, Vanessa Joseph issued a reprimand and suspension to our deputy City Clerk Guerty Genosier for allegedly violating the Citizens Bill of Rights by deleting comments from residents that were supposed to be read into the public record in a council meeting.
Also included in the issues for this discipline was an undisputed allegation that Ms. Genisoir leaked confidential information to some candidates in the elections earlier than to other candidates. Specifically, she informed some candidates of their “punch number” prior to the Election Department giving the approval to do so. This advantage would allow some candidates an early opportunity to have their stickers made, print their campaign signs, and record their punch numbers on the radio prior to others having that ability.
Ms. Guerty Genosier exercised the right to a hearing which can be accessed here: Personnel Board Hearing November 8, 2021.
Obviously, this is concerning and inherently out of step with free and fair elections.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Neighbors and friends, there are other less offensive components of the election in our City of North Miami that I could add, but these are the most influential aspects of it.
Clearly, it is the practice of our City is to accommodate as much paid time off as possible, and when it is not available, grant a leave of absence or allow people to call in sick, in order to influence the outcome of our elections.
It is clear that our elected officials are not making good decisions on their own and so it is my suggestion that in order to preserve the integrity of our elections, or to create some integrity, we need to do the following things to prevent this from occurring again.
-
We must change our North Miami City Charter to move our elections to coincide with County elections. Our City is not capable of running free and fair elections and the voter turnout increase of a County election would provide a higher turnout that makes this kind of ADA manipulation mean less. The real intent of voters won’t be washed out by the corruption inside City Hall.
-
We must change our charter Canvassing Board to consist of the Miami-Dade Election Supervisor and Circuit Court Judge as opposed to our sitting electeds.
-
We must demand discipline and firm reform of City employees interfering with our local elections. Public trust must be guarded in order to regain faith in our systems and to maintain it.
- We must demand a certified ADA Advocate be present in our local elections to assist voters who require help in a way that doesn’t intimidate or influence their right to decide who and what to vote for.
As usual, I am happy to help with these endeavors because I want to live in a community that holds free and fair elections. I am not running for public office, and at this point until these issues are addressed, I am not convinced running for office in North Miami is a worthwhile endeavor.
But it is the right of mine and anyone else who is a United States citizen to run for office unencumbered by an inhouse campaign apparatus that obtains their resources from the public that they are supposed to be serving.
North Miami is entitled to free and fair elections.
I have copies of each of the documents that back up each statement in this letter. It’s all part of the public record. I will also be sending this to City officials and so this, too, will become part of the public record.
We can do so much better. And we should.
Sincerely,
Laura Hill
Our own version of the Wizard of Oz … We have a corrupt system in North Miami where our favored
local developers, local privilege political class, and their stooges make the decisions of who will be elected to serve on North Miami City Council in a rigged municipal election where the turnout is small on purpose by having the election scheduled for the month of May. Meanwhile, the taxpayers of North Miami will foot the bill for our elected city officials and their appointed administrators by their excessive salaries, generous pensions, outrageous benefits, special events, music festivals, street parties, movie nights, business luncheons, and award banquets branded by their own names and pictures all over the city in posters, banners, web emails, Facebook and Instagram posts, and signs (i.e. another form of electioneering). It is time for real reform in North Miami by moving our city elections to November general election date. Next reform is adopting same city regulations like the City of Miami Beach with banning political contributions from lobbyists, city vendors, and developers. Another reform is to reduce the elected official’s salary by 50% and tie any Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) increase to the rate of CPI index and successful result of our audit results being either break even or surplus if their annual increase is granted. Last reform is the extending the term of mayor from two terms of two years to two terms of four years where a “real mayor” can act and implement real policies and programs that can benefit all of our city residents instead of our current system where our mayor uses city taxpayers funds for electioneering purposes! Kudos to Laura Hill for taking on the dysfunctional North Miami’s political system!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyCCJ6B2WE
If your election is moved to the November general elections, what you will see is more uneducated voters now participating. Just look at North Miami Beach when the charter was changed to move elections to November. There are now so many people who don’t know the candidates, electing unqualified or corrupt people. I was a person who thought this was the best thing, to allow costs to be shared/absorbed, and a greater number of people participating. However, more people are deciding to elect due to the last name being a certain race instead of getting to know the candidate.
Stephanie is someone who does her research and lets everyone know the candidates’ background, but the question is what percentage of NMB voters actually read this blog and learn about all of these corrupt people.
I tend to agree with you. I was one of the biggest proponents for moving the NMB election to November when I lived there. The 2016 referendum election finally did just that and it good in that it saved the city about $100,000 by not holding a stand-alone election. In retrospect, however, I believe it did more harm than good for NMB, and the potential for election fraud increased exponentially.
Believe it or not, elections in North Miami Beach were at one time civilized. Paid and volunteer election workers respected the laws and the electorate. You could enter the polling place in a genteel and serene atmosphere, approach professional and courteous election workers, cast a vote in the peaceful privacy of the ballot box, and get on with your day. In those days, absentee ballots were lawfully used by those who, by reason of disability, illness, or travel, had no way of voting in person at the polls. There was never even a hint of absentee ballot abuse, especially during the watchful eyes of neighbors, who volunteered and made sure NMB had free and fair elections.
Then came Paule Villard’s good friend and mentor, Frantz Pierre, and his band of election fraudsters, who brought the circus to local elections replete with loud, intrusive music and bullhorn wielding carnival barkers, blocking your path and yelling in your face and demanding that you vote for their candidate. Frantz also introduced the thriving business of absentee ballot fraud into local elections. This obnoxious spectacle became the norm, and free and fair elections became a thing of the past.
The biggest problem with moving the election to November was during early voting, when NMB residents had to vote at precincts outside the city limits, especially at the North Miami Library, where rampant election fraud had been going on for years and had become an art form in and of itself. Not only was absentee ballot fraud big business in North Miami, but votes were being bought with bags of groceries and other enticements from people who either let fraudsters fill out their ballots, either by mail or in person by “assisted” voting.
As you now know, thanks to Laura Hill’s investigation has revealed that ADA Declaration abuse is the new absentee ballot fraud. The organized election crime ring of North Miami consists of city employees, city vendors (i.e., friends of Philippe Bien-Aime), and the usual election “workers” made up of the same group of grifters whose only job is to ensure the election outcome by any means necessary.
The election crime ring then discovered that the easiest way to do this was by using city databases to locate residents who had obtained public money in the form of rent or mortgage assistance and grants for roof repairs, property upgrades, and the like. The employees would then use intimidation techniques to make sure those residents “vote correctly,” and the only way to ensure this was to go into the ballot box with them. And the only way to do that is with the use of ADA Declaration forms. The biggest offender in the May 2021 election was Keren Frederick, the city’s housing administrator who had personal access to the list of grant recipients, who used that list to personally drive those residents to the polls, have them sign ADA Declaration forms, and personally take them into the ballot box where she would complete their ballots. (More on this corrupt public official in a future blog, so stay tuned.)
What Laura didn’t mention in her letter to the community at large, were the eight (8) ADA Declaration forms that Paule Villard signed during early voting at the North Miami Library for the November 3, 2020 election. Needless to say, we were surprised to learn that Paule “assisted” one (1) North Miami voter and seven (7) NMB voters in “voting correctly.” Since none of the NMB election watchdogs were at the NoMi Library during early voting, Paule’s actions would have gone undetected were it not for Laura Hill’s investigation.
All of which brings me back to the issue of the problems associated with NMB elections now being held in November. During early voting, Paule was able to “assist” eight (8) NMB voters to cast a ballot for her co-conspirators, Michael Joseph and McKenzie Fleurimond, who were running for re-election, and for McKenzie’s Puppet, Daniela Jean, who was running in the open seat when Phyllis Smith was termed out.
And that’s just the “assisting” she did at the North Miami Library during early voting.
We can’t help but wonder how much “assisting” she did on election day at precincts in the City of North Miami Beach.
And that’s all we’re at liberty to say right now.
I was very disappointed that in your great column on “Election Fraud,” there was no mention of the North Miami City Mayor nor Council possibly “BULLYING” during their May Elections. Or is this only a common practice in Bay Harbor Islands where allegedly “new” Candidates take the risk of either being run out of Town, an/or possibly going broke hiring an Attorney to defend themselves during (BHI) April Town Elections?
There was plenty of bullying during the North Miami election, which we fully intend to expose in a future blog.
This column was in meant to be an informational tutorial of how the corrupt North Miami election machine operates to get their preferred candidates elected. This is massive public corruption and election fraud, which every single voter in any city should be aware of. The cancer is spreading to North Miami Beach now, and it must be stopped.
This puts everything into perspective…. Something has to be done! My tax dollars are being wasted at city hall on rigged elections… WTF?!! We must have immediate resignations or terminations of the wrong doers!
The criminals will never resign. Either vote them out or move.
The person listed as Code Enforcement, M. Benjamin, does not work for North Miami Code.
According to the official public record received from North Miami by Laura Hill (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JKJ7vMLciaIjjM4V7tEdqgh3sd8ZsxtR/view), Maryse Benjamin is listed as an employee in the Code Enforcement Department. If that’s not the case, then the City’s information is wrong. Thanks for letting us know, though.
Thank you. I just went back through the list. Ms. Benjamin must be with the City’s Clean Team. Several of the names on the list, noted as “unclassified” are with the Clean Team.
Glad you cleared that up. Thanks!