In the two months since the November 22, 2022 runoff election, North Miami Beach Commissioners Michael Joseph and McKenzie Fleurimond still can’t accept the loss of their former co-conspirator on the dais, Paule Villard.

With only a three-criminal vote left, including their co-conspirator, Commissioner Daniela Jean, they no longer have the guaranteed majority they’ve enjoyed for the last two years enabling them to rip off taxpaying residents for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Their gravy train has derailed, and they are desperate to put it back on its tracks.

Here’s a brief recap about how the City of North Miami Beach ended up being run by an organized group of criminals who pillaged every last dollar from City coffers that they could get away with — and did it with impunity.

In November of 2018, Michael, McKenzie, and Paule got elected.  They immediately conspired to gang up on then-City Manager Esmond Scott, who refused to give in to their demands for wasteful spending on more costly vanity projects, among other ways to burn through taxpayer money for their own benefit.

In 2020, Michael and McKenzie had to run for re-election since the seats they had were only for two-year terms.  At McKenzie’s urging, the three comrades plucked North Miami employee (and sometime resident) Daniela Jean out of obscurity to run for the sole purpose of achieving a four-vote majority on the dais.

Thus began the insidious, premeditated infiltration of corruption into the City, courtesy of shady political operatives from North Miami.

 

With the help of former North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre, inarguably the most corrupt politician to ever preside in the Council Chambers, Michael and McKenzie commissioned a racist ad for Haitian Radio accusing Mayor Anthony DeFillipo of “silencing black voices” for the “crime” of supporting a Latino candidate.

The racist ad was allegedly paid for by a fake political committee, “Citizens for North Miami Beach,” that was neither registered with the State of Florida nor the City of North Miami Beach.

The real funding came from North Miami player/radio host Lesly Prudent, whose former position as North Miami CRA Director was created specifically for him by Andre Pierre under the North Miami Friends & Family Plan.  His real job, however, was shilling for candidates on his radio show while on the city’s dime.

According to a September 29, 2012 Miami Herald article, CRA employee’s show creates interest, and questions, Prudent hosted an afternoon radio talk show “while drawing a full-time paycheck as a North Miami official.”  At the same time, he was also making money selling advertising spots on his show to the City of North Miami.

Prudent also never submitted the required outside employment disclosure form to the city even though then-City Manager Stephen Johnson told the Herald that “no other city or CRA employees are allowed to work a second job during the city’s business hours.”

Johnson also told the Herald that “he did not know the city contracted with Prudent for ad space” on his radio show, even though “conflict of interest and ethics rules laid out by North Miami prohibit employees from doing business with the city.”

Although Mr. Johnson never acted on those violations, in June of 2014, the then-newly appointed City Manager Aleem Ghany handed Prudent his walking papers in a firing that was long overdue.

Lesly Prudent may have lost his sweet, overpaid government gig, but he was still very much a central figure in Andre Pierre’s Circle of Corruption.

With Lesly’s help, combined with his racist radio ad and dark money PAC, Andre Pierre helped Daniela Jean get elected and, thus, the raping of the North Miami Beach coffers began in earnest.

As we predicted, their first objective was to get rid of Esmond Scott, the last fiscally responsible City Manager in North Miami Beach.  To his credit, Mr. Scott saw the writing on the wall and was able to able to secure a fair separation agreement before he successfully escaped from the hellhole now known as North Miami Beach.

At the January 8, 2021 Commission Meeting, it became blatantly apparent that Michael, McKenzie, Paule, and Daniela, had already conspired behind closed doors in clear violation of Florida’s “Sunshine” Law, to hire Hans Ottinot, inarguably the most corrupt “attorney” in all of South Florida.

Paule Villard began a speech by insulting residents who “don’t know how government works”, whining about the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” spent on consultants, and complaining about not having money to give away to her constituents.

Never mind that in the last two years, taxpayers have shelled out over a million dollars on useless “consultants” more to Paule’s liking, i.e., ones who “look like her.”

The equally stupid McKenzie then “casually” mentioned as an aside that the City of Tamarac recently hired a “boutique firm” as interim attorney.  He added, “That firm to me is a possibility that we can consider.”

And like magic, he pulled out of a hat the “boutique law firm” belonging to one Hans Ottinot, Esquire who, according to the Florida Bar directory, is the “Managing Partner” of a one-partner “law” firm, Ottinot Law, P.A., who runs his practice out of a rented box at Parkland Pak Mail, a storefront mailbox store in the Sawgrass Center Shopping Mall.

Next door to a Hair Cuttery.

Seems legit.

Mind you, Mayor DeFillipo, Commissioner Barbara Kramer, and Commissioner Fortuna Smukler did not have any opportunity whatsoever to even meet with Hans Ottinot before he was shoved down their throats by their conspiring colleagues on the dais.

Mayor DeFillipo urged the Commissioners to have a workshop to discuss the hiring of a new City Attorney, but McKenzie wasn’t having any of that.

He ignored the Mayor and made a motion to hire Ottinot on the spot, which was immediately seconded by Paule and passed by four votes with zero discussion whatsoever.

In fact, when Mayor DeFillipo called for public comment, the four Criminal Commissioners, Michael Joseph, McKenzie Fleurimond, Paule Villard, and Daniela Jean, voted AGAINST allowing the public to comment.

They didn’t give a crap about you or your opinions.

But they sure loved spending your money!

Hans proceeded to commit legal malpractice on February 1, 2021 at an obscene salary of $55,000.00 a month, which the Criminal Commissioners increased a year later to an even more obscene $60,000.00 a month.

The grossly overpaid, and stunningly incompetent Hans Ottinot spent the next twenty-two months looking out for the best interests of the four co-conspirators who hired him, while literally ignoring North Miami Beach residents and gouging taxpayers for an astronomical $1,929,540.49!

In essence, Hans Ottinot billed the City of North Miami Beach the sum of $669,540.49 more than his contracted fee.

And, yes, we have the receipts!

Yeah, that worked out really well.

Just not for the taxpaying business owners and residents of North Miami Beach.

Then on February 22, 2021, as predicted, Michael Joseph made a motion to hire Arthur “Duke” Sorey, of North Miami infamy, as the new City Manager.  Their plot was briefly interrupted when three of their colleagues and residents demanded an official search for a new Manager, even though the fix was already in.

After pretending to search for and interview potential candidates for a month or so, as we predicted from the very beginning, the unprofessional, uncouth, unpolished, and undignified Duke Sorey was hired by a four-Criminal vote.

And lightening quick, everything went downhill from there.

Fast forward to the 2022 campaign season.

Paule was running for re-election and Duke’s people pulled out all the stops to make sure she retained her seat on the dais, including taxpayer-funded campaign “town halls,” taxpayer-funded campaign “Meet & Greets,” and of course, the infamous taxpayer-funded $225,000 Publix Gift Card Giveway campaign event.

Duke also put Code Compliance on notice that Paule Villard’s illegal campaign signs, and those of her slate mates, were to be ignored, while citing and removing the opposition’s campaign signs.

The ones that weren’t stolen or destroyed by Paule’s gang of thugs, that is.

Despite Duke & Co.’s best efforts, and hundreds of thousands of wasted taxpayer dollars later, Paule Villard’s bid for re-election failed!

North Miami Beach residents were jumping for joy that, against all odds, they were finally going to get their beloved City back on track in the nick of time before the North Miami Circle of Corruption could destroy it beyond all recognition.

Make no mistake.  The mastermind behind the two-year coup was none other than Andre Pierre, who stood to make even more money as a lobbyist/political operative in North Miami Beach than he even does in North Miami.

All of which brings us to the present state of chaos orchestrated and financed by Andre Pierre, Lesly Prudent, City “Attorney” Hans Ottinot, McKenzie Fleurimond, and especially the Devil on the Dais, Michael Joseph.

To be continued …

Stephanie