Last August, we warned you that the four North Miami Beach Criminal Commissioners, Michael Joseph, McKenzie Fleurimond, Paule Villard, and Daniela Jean, were blowing through your tax dollars like it was monopoly money.

They were just getting started.

In the first six months of this fiscal year alone, they have spent more than any previous administration had during an entire twelve month period.  Even Ex-Commissioner/Current Convicted Felon Frantz Pierre!

For one thing, they increased their “discretionary fund” accounts from $7,000 a year to a whopping $20,000, $6,500 of which goes directly into their own pockets with zero transparency or accountability, and which the four Criminal Commissioners illegally voted to steal.

Nevertheless, let’s first take a look at how your elected officials are spending your hard-earned tax dollars, starting with Mayor Tony DeFillipo, who has spent ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Tony still has the full $13,500.00 at his disposal.

Commissioner Barbara Kramer only spent $795.00 on a tent that she didn’t ask for and didn’t want.

Barbara’s discretionary fund balance is $12,705.00.

It should be noted that the only reason Barbara received this tent was because we made noise when the City bought a $1,274.85 campaign-like tent for Paule Villard on September 30, 2021 so she could get an early start on her taxpayer-funded campaign for re-election.   Paule’s tent cost so much more because she had to have her ugly mug printed on the tent — the same way her face is plastered all over the City everywhere you look.

Commissioner Fortuna Smukler used $433.08 of her discretionary funds to pay for wifi service from Verizon, which she told us she needed to attend the Zoom meetings from home before in-person meetings began again.

Fortuna’s discretionary fund balance is still $13,066.92.

For some reason, the tent purchased for Fortuna by the City was not deducted from her discretionary fund account, which means some peon at City Hall has no idea what they’re doing.

We are not surprised.

Ever since City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey came on board, he made it known that he wouldn’t tolerate anyone smarter than him, which was pretty much everyone at City Hall except for Paule Villard.  So he quickly got to work either firing most of the qualified employees, forcing them to resign, or making their lives so miserable they outright quit.  He then replaced them with his own cronies, most of whom are completely incompetent.

As a result, almost no one at City Hall can do anything right anymore.

But, as usual we digress.

Surprisingly, Commissioner Michael Joseph has only spent $3,112.00 of his discretionary funds, although he’s more than made up for it in other ways, which we will explain in our next blog.

During this fiscal year, Michael “donated” $500.00 of your money to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, which is a worthy cause, and $300.00 to “Pearls of Wisdom,” which is not.

As we reported in April of 2021, the Spending Queen of North Miami, a/k/a Councilwoman Mary Estimé-Irvin, “donated” $1,000.00 of her City’s tax dollars to “Pearls of Wisdom,” an alleged “global women’s network” run by Mary’s bestie, Naomi Blemur and her husband Anis Blemur, who is currently serving seven years in federal prison for a real estate fraud scheme.  It should be noted that the “Pearls of Wisdom” organization is nowhere to be found in either the Florida Division of Corporations database or the Internal Revenue Service Tax Exempt Organization database.

But, hey!  Naomi is running for North Miami Mayor, so Michael’s $300.00 payment to her bogus organization is actually a campaign donation.

Sound familiar?

In any event, Michael’s $300.00 “donation” to Naomi is a direct violation of Resolution R2014-68, which requires, among other things, that:

• There must be a valid public purpose that directly benefits the residents of the North Miami Beach and property owners.
• Donations in excess of $100.00 must be made to a charitable non-profit 501(c) corporation as defined by the IRS.

Unfortunately, the only entity that can enforce violations of a City Resolution is — the City.  And, well, we all know how that goes.

Michael also had $2,000.00 deducted from his discretionary account for “XTR CONTIN TO INCREASE ACCOUNT.”

Of course, we have no clue what that even means, and we have no one to ask either because all the knowledgeable employees have left for greener pastures.  If we do find out, however, we will definitely let you know.

Commissioner Daniela Jean has already spent $7,170.00 of her discretionary funds.

Daniela spent a combined $3,350.00 on three events that she sponsored.  She also spent $995.00 and $2,825.00 on “promotional” items, neither of which is itemized.  In any event, she still has $6,330.00 in her account to spend any way she sees fit.

Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond, who also likes to spend other people’s money, has already blown through $8,031.00 of your money.

Here’s where it gets really interesting.

Whether you like it or not, McKenzie “donated” $300.00 of your money to the Florida Democratic Party.  Considering that North Miami Beach is a nonpartisan governmental body, we’re pretty sure that spending your tax dollars on a partisan political party is illegal.  Nevertheless, we already know there will be no consequences.  At least not from this administration.

For the “greater good” of North Miami Beach residents, McKenzie did manage to give $2,500.00 to the historic Spanish Monastery and $395.00 to the Sundevil Little League for award ceremony gift bags.  He also spent $380.00 on Constant Contact so that you can continue getting his self-promotional newsletters, and $950.00 to film his self-promotional “end of year review” video.

Then there’s the $1,000.00 spent to increase his “promotional account,” which we still don’t know what that means, and another $120.00 for a “BOD Meeting,” which we assume means Board of Directors Meeting.  What Board that might be is anyone’s guess.

Interestingly, the sum of $1,043.00 was deducted from his discretionary account to attend Miami-Dade County Days in Tallahassee, which he paid for on January 26, 2022 as evidenced by his Bank of America Purchasing Card (P Card) Statement dated February 4, 2022.

However, this event was also charged on the Purchasing Cards of Michael Joseph, Fortuna Smukler, Daniela Jean, and Paule Villard, yet none of those charges were deducted from their individual discretionary fund accounts.

Mayor Tony DeFillipo also paid for this trip, but it was refunded two days later when he had to cancel.

Paule Villard, on the other hand, also ended up not going, but taxpayers still shelled out $1,042.35 since she irresponsibly didn’t cancel in time to get a refund.

But, meh.  Why should she care?  After all, it’s not her money.

Speaking of Paule Villard, as you might imagine, her discretionary fund account is nearly depleted — and she’s only halfway through the fiscal year.

Paule has spent $10,641.00 so far, and only has $2,859.00 to campaign on for the rest of the fiscal year.

It appears that she spent $1,260.00 altogether on her “Thanksgiving Block Lunch” and $650.00 for her “funeral” where she committed an illegal balloon release.

North Miami Beach taxpayers also shelled out $562.00 so that Paule can send you a Christmas card.  Did you receive yours?

Paule also spent $300.00 of her discretionary fund account for a membership to the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON), which she charged on her P Card on November 11, 2021.

Three of Paule’s colleagues also charged their NHAEON membership fees on their P Cards.  Daniela paid $300.00 on December 7, 2021.  McKenzie paid $300.00 and $450.00 on December 1, 2021.  Michael paid $311.84 on November 10, 2021 and another $450.00 on January 20, 2022.

Yet, none of their NHAEON memberships were deducted from their individual discretionary fund accounts.

By now two things should be glaringly apparent to North Miami Beach residents.

For one thing, despite the fact that you’re paying 31% more for groceries than a year ago, and the price of gas has doubled in the last twelve months, and you probably have not gotten a raise in who knows how long, the four Criminal Commissioners of North Miami Beach are spending your money faster than you can earn it.

For another thing, based on all the clerical oversights and outright mistakes we’ve pointed out, the City employees responsible for keeping track of your money are completely incompetent and grossly overpaid.

You can thank Duke Sorey and his expert “management” for all of the above.

In our next blog, we will examine all the P Card expenditures by your elected officials, and especially the four Criminal Commissioners, which is nothing short of astounding.

Stay tuned.

Stephanie