There is just too much happening. The hub of activity is dizzying, and it allows for all parties to be heard except a Collective Voice of Employees — past and present — in the City of North Miami Beach.

Not all employees, of course.

In this communication we are referencing the non-fourth floor and non-executive managers. The activity seems to be very self-serving. That has created a certain angst that has overcome us as we watch our beloved city become the embarrassment of Miami-Dade County as municipal pride has faded and diminished and spirits and hope crushed.

As painful as it may sound, however, we had expected it, but not in its current magnitude. It became evident on December 1, 2022 when a swearing in of new commissioners was announced. Usually, a time of extraordinary pride to highlight “what we got,” guests were invited, and the hosts were not in their full complement. We accepted …. nah …. we swallowed the excuses and figured that when the next regular Commission Meeting was called everyone would be there to do the City’s business.

But no! The next opportunity was also a sham.

At the December 20^th meeting when Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond sashayed from the dais as it became evident that an element of comeuppance had arrived, a semblance of hope remained. When he traipsed back onto the dais after his grand, unceremonious exit, hope was bolstered. When he slinked out, dragging quorum with him, hope was reassured. It was not a hope for the current and former employees of North Miami Beach. It was not a hope for the suffering taxpayers of North Miami Beach and its utility customers throughout Miami Dade County. Abundant hope remained for the base, brutish, boor who is the City Manager of the city whose moniker is – the City Where People Care.

How ironic!

While municipal managers are known and reputed on their histories, styles, and managerial accomplishments that uplift the communities they are charged to manage, our current City Manager is known for his crassness and notoriety as, among many other things, one who does not care. Ask anyone and they will tell you. He does not care.

So, we ask ourselves, how could we? How could we have ended up with someone like him?

Someone who sees employees in the streets and the first subject of conversation is his attire that spews out how much he makes. His every move reminds us that his contract over 4 years is $1 million++. We know this because he reminds us in sooo many different ways, in his customary braggadocious bane.

We, the Collective Voice of Employees past and present, thought for sure that Commissioner Fleurimond thought more of employees. However, just as we hung onto any shred of hope – a gesture that would trump the uncovered cinnamon buns that he and his “I concur” sidekick would bring around in large cardboard boxes/feeding troughs during the Christmas season – he showed that the current City Manager Arthur Sorry [not a sic] was worth more to him than we are.

You see, we thought that, of the remnants, he offered more. He had sat on that dais before when there were dissensions, but decency prevailed.  Employees were appreciated, and rules, regulations, Codes, Resolutions, Ordinances, and P-Card backups and verifications meant something. We had expected that in his second coming (no blasphemy intended) he would have pitied employees. That is how we regarded him. He is was different.

Hope was alive when upon ascending to the throne dais, he pronounced that when he thought of then City Manager Esmond Scott, he thought of him as “my City Manager” for a long time. We do not know what happened there but what was obvious was that when Mr. Scott decided to leave (for the record “they” could not garner a second vote to entertain termination) we did not hear a public statement from him asking “his” City Manager to stay.

Now it is unfair to lay Mr. Scott’s distaste for what was imminent at Mr. Fleurimond’s feet. The former manager who managed with style, grace, motivation, utmost respect, and inclusivity, had always spoken about writing and defending one’s brand as a leader. He would passionately speak about aligning character and reputation. Ironically, he would always speak of McKenzie Fleurimond as being different. Wonder how Mr. Scott feels now?

But, enough of Esmond Scott. We harbor hopes of him returning but understand that his was a good ending, and who wants to spoil their own good ending? Conjecturing, of course.

Back to the City Where People Care.

The City — our City, where McKenzie Fleurimond, Daniella Jean, and Michael Joseph are now throwing dust in the air, a la Michael Jordan, to cloud and add diversions from the disaster they have created through their association, collaboration, and a mutual all-hands-on-deck mismanagement by them and their million-dollar baby.  Their “savior” of a manager was brought to North Miami Beach after their long and exhaustive search (yes, Sheldon, that’s sarcasm) from the cash-strapped, corruption-plagued, high-salary-Commissioner-paying City of North Miami.

The latest distraction and dust throwing is now an oddly timed obsession in the current Mayor’s real estate portfolio, where he lays his head, and a deep dive into his personal marital affairs and home life even involving his spouse and children. How tacky! Who does that?

Anyway, unto moun fou.

There is a very simple premise that is being missed in our commissioners’ absences, at least from our standpoint. They clamored for several “salary” increases and insurance benefits and received them. I am sure they get their checks also. Maybe every week as employees. Yet they have not come to do their work since October? What message is being sent. Is it that we also have that luxury of not showing up while we are accepting taxpayer’s money?

With every passing day, and every missed commission meeting, while some celebrate the delay of government and opportunities to pontificate on local media, people on the fourth floor of City Hall are fixing and making things right for themselves. Yes, they are preparing their parachutes, laughing in the faces of honest, industrious staffers as each day brings additional reprieve. And make no mistakes, the maxim is evidencing itself every day: Amid war there is plunder.

We cannot deny that we are impatient to see him leave. We cannot deny that we are getting the popcorn in anticipation of a quorum. One would assume that this is akin to the feeding frenzy African Wild Dogs enjoy when a mighty prey is wounded and left alone. Such joy is tempered by trepidation. The City Manager is not injured. Slightly bruised. Not injured. And, far from being isolated. But now is when some of us fear him.

Yes, fear. A wounded animal must be feared. Feared because he has destroyed many careers in his brief time at the helm of something that was clearly out of his league in the first place.

And he is doing even more damage now. His Assistant Manager is at the helm terrorizing employees while he works on mending bridges and carving out his next move and managerial stop. All this while acclimating himself every given day to his brand-new Chevy Tahoe Premier decked out with panoramic sunroof and captain seats. Bullet proof? We do not know but that conversation was had,and request made.

Never has so much damage been done by a manager in such a fleeting period to a municipality, its residents, and us who are just decent professionals who know what it means to be honest, industrious public servants. Doubt it? Wanna bet? Compare this list of snafus.

The F word (not FREE Councilwoman Smith) defines the culture. He conjugates the word in every feasible way and regardless of whom he is addressing – males, females, subordinates, or otherwise, casually, or formally, they are subjected to his base language and limited vocabulary.

Trips to Columbia are described in depth and at length so that now, many of us are privy to the specialized “gentleman” tourism that delights frequent visitors, including those who may choose to exchange nuptials there. Not everyone needs to hear the details of such, and not everyone needs to know where the best strip clubs are. Certainly, our females should not be suffering in such an environment.

Raw Rap Rhetoric. Music at a decibel level that fills the parking lot and blares out of his office. We did the survey. Most of us love rap. None of us love loud, raw, rap music that invades others’ spaces in the workplace and echoes INAPPROPRIATE language. Or, what passes for “language” anyway.

Haircut in the Office? Better yet, bare-chested massage in the office? Yes. Done and he wears the T-shirt.

So, are we prudes?

Absolutely not. We are just cognizant of what elements constitute sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. In addition, we know of the many who have been subject many times over to these things that tend to obligate municipalities. Taught in Leadership 101 and remedial Diversity and Sexual Harassment Class.

We are also cognizant of the condoning and preponderance of nepotism and all its illegal ills. Paule Villard’s daughter, who enjoyed a long stint in the Public Utility, should not have worked there and certainly should have filled out an accident report and done a drug test when she got into an accident while driving the City’s vehicle.

But what is good for the goose is not always good or even necessary for the gander. At least, not under Sorry’s (yes, Sorry) administration. Had those standards been upheld, the employee (daughter of his friend) who was given the greenlight to be hired, would not think that smoking cannabis in the third-floor women’s bathroom with alarming regularity, is okay.

Did relatives work as aides? Ask the aides – on the occasions when they do come to City Hall. Check the employee’s files. See the backgrounds. See drug tests results. How about verification of credentials? Better yet how about requiring credentials? If things are missing, try to understand. Human Resources, a department that directly reports to the City Manager, has abandoned most standards and protocols. Instead, everything is done to accommodate requests and orders.

And how about just standing on principles and best practices within the science of Human Resources as hallmarks and crutches of pushback against the City Manager? How about telling him not to interfere and that:

• Hiring friends and family without performing background check, drug screening and verifying credentials is wrong
• Hiring non-qualified personnel for certain positions is wrong
• Hiring personnel without the approved Employment Requisition form is wrong
• Not having regards for employment law is wrong
• Giving preferential treatment to certain employee by giving them benefits to which they are not entitled nor have earned is wrong
• Maladministration of personnel policies is wrong
• Logging in while out of office on leave constitutes stealing time and is wrong
• Adjusting personnel payroll records without approval is wrong
• Not having a verification process for leave time is wrong
• Employees working out of class – civil service rules not applied is wrong
• Employees not paid for overtime worked is wrong

How about telling the City Manager’s direct reports on the fourth floor that attending Graduate School classes in the middle of the day while being paid by the city is wrong? But wait. Human Resources should not have to do that. The City Manager should know that is wrong. But sometimes we forget. He just does not care; and especially when it involves other people’s money.

We just cannot get over what he has been able to do in his short tenure. The ills he has created. The careers he has destroyed. In fact, sometimes we wonder why blind eyes are turned away from the fact that there is little if any acclaim and redemptive value in him. We have never had such poor leadership, decision-making, and a manager that just gave in to a commissioner’s greed, whims, and fancies.

Should not the City Manager know that:

• Violating Purchasing Card policy by abusive spending is not right
• Paying for wreaths or flowers with the city’s P-Card is not right
• Excessive compensation for friends and family who are hired above the salary range is not right
• Excessive traveling and food purchases that are unbudgeted are not right
• Deliberately delaying public record’s request is not right
• Allowing Paule Villard to employ vendors for events over and over without City staff’s knowledge is not right
• Presenting staff with invoices from numerous vendors for payment when staff is unaware of service provided is not right
• Mandating staff to pay vendors without invoice or appropriate documentation is not right
• Mandating staff to pay vendors without receipts is not right
• Vendors performing “consulting” services presenting invoices that do not include scope of work is not right
• The mountainous P-Card transactions without receipts is not right
• Bullying employees to perform unethical tasks is not right
• Disregard for City Ordinance, Resolution and Policies is not right
• Assistant City Manager bullying staff is not right
• Implementing Energov system and going live prematurely was not right
• Not reporting Business Licenses to the State is not right
• Special events budget used to fund events for Haitian commissioners is not right
• Chief of Staff receiving an auto allowance and driving city car to and from work was not right
• Instructing Customer Service staff to provide credit adjustments to certain residents’ water accounts is not right
• Information Technology tampering with records and in some cases deleting them is not right
• Giving preferential treatment to select employees to work from home is not right

If it would not be almost shameful and disgustingly plagiaristic to James Baldwin, the title of the upcoming novel could very well be If City of North Miami Beach Could Talk because there is so much more.

The turnover has been alarming. Those who have opted to endure have done so either because of years invested in the city and the pension plan, or they have not yet gotten the call they are awaiting from elsewhere. Even as we write, we have been reliably informed that there are a few such cases pending, specifically at the director level.

If City of North Miami Beach could talk it would tell of the Constructive Dismissals. What is up in the air is whether any of these employees will exercise their rights to make claims against the city. People tend to weigh their rights and claims in the context of future career and career offerings, and then determine whether being branded as litigious is worth it. Others have said they fear retaliations because he lacks social graces. And such are the sentiments of a great many of these employees who have departed – especially females. The half has not and will never be told. This genius of a City Manager who in the words of Commissioner “I concur,” allegedly “graduated from Harvard,” is a disgrace and a hot mess.

Awarding a contract to Country Bill’s is specious. My understanding is that this vendor was here before and the issues that contributed to their removal have returned. The difference this time around? You cannot even hold them accountable for the work they are doing without raising the ire of the manager and his goons. Now, nobody monitors that contract as it really should be. It is just open season.

There are the cases where misogyny is seconded only by a distaste for, and intolerance of recommendations to hire non-black managers. The cadre of folks whose voices have formed this correspondence are deliberately hesitant to document the specific cases. However, they are willing to bring this to the fore because in many of these cases, panel interviews are conducted, and records are kept in Human Resources. The “truths” they represent are/should be memorialized there. If, only if, the City of North Miami Beach could talk.

With the large turnover and a lot of fresh staff joining, the environment and culture of the city’s workforce has changed for the worst.

The city has lost its soul.

The City of North Miami Beach has become a place where people show up for work, because there is no other alternative, and they are biding their time. This City Manager has fostered and rules in fear.  Because he pays little attention to Directors and is incapable of nothing but expletives-laced communication, he is unaware of the culture that once existed, and that he has destroyed. NMB was truly a place where people cared. Instead, it has become a place where money is valued more than work ethic, honesty, integrity, and the willingness to get the job done without compromising any of the aforementioned attributes.

In any organization, attitude trickles down from the top. The level of disrespect to employees, created and fostered by City Manager Sorry has trickled down throughout the Departments. The Manager does not communicate clearly to staff, and he swears and insults at any opportunity. The F-word and the B-word are everyday staples and with rapid belief, the behaviors of some managers are almost unrecognizable. By osmosis they have been radicalized leaving line employees and lower-level managers disconnected, marginalized, and disenfranchised.

The City of North Miami Beach needs to regain its soul.

In so many ways there is a semblance of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus at play. This is more. It is a nightmare.

The city needs a new top-level experienced administration. The level of attrition of staff in the last year is extremely high. As a result, there has been a huge loss of institutional knowledge. It needs management who are uncompromising on principles and strong ethics. A culture of respect and fairness among employees needs to return.

The disparity in race also needs to change. NMB has been successful in the past because it embraced diversity and a multitude of races and cultures. Racial discrimination is not always against a minority group, it is any attempt to discriminate against another because of skin color.

And the City needs to recognize its mistake in choosing a manager who has essentially been a do-boy (intentionally not capitalized) for a now diminished quorum of four. There is no need to be sorry for what has occurred/is occurring. It is already done.

The city just needs to send Sorey and his sorry a** (donkey) packing.

We are just disgusted.

A Collective Voice of Employees