When Arthur “Duke” Sorey was regrettably hired as North Miami Beach City Manager, the first thing he did was bring all his cronies over from North Miami, where he was born, raised, and worked for most of his adult life while mismanaging the municipal budget and ripping off the taxpayers of his hometown.
One of those Friends & Family Plan members was the former North Miami Assistant Purchasing Director/current North Miami Beach Chief Procurement Officer Phillip Ford, who as it turns out, wears many hats and possesses many talents.
Like the uncanny ability to collect a taxpayer-funded paycheck in North Miami Beach while running his private business from the comfort of his home 105 miles up the coast in Port St. Lucie.
According to his job application dated December 7, 2021, this North Miami Beach employee resides at 1372 SW Ingrassina Avenue, Port St. Lucie, Florida. His application also states he asked for a “minimum salary” of $128,579, which just happens to be the exact dollar amount listed on his Personnel Transaction Form when he was hired to start “working” on January 6, 2022.
Eight months later, Phillip Ford, who was recruited by Arthur Sorey for a position that may or may not have been advertised, was the recipient of a very generous raise according to Duke’s Proposed FY23 Budget Expenses, when his base salary increased to $133,118, plus an auto allowance of $3,001, a cell phone allowance of $600, a 401A retirement contribution of $13,312, and a combined $10,901 for health, life, accidental death and worker’s comp insurance. Taxpayers also foot the bill for Mr. Ford’s payroll and social security taxes in the amount of $10,407, for a total salary and benefits package of $171,339.
Not a bad deal for someone who has the luxury of being overpaid to run a government procurement office, while actually spending his days at his real job running his business, Kutty’s Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a Styles by Kutty, “an online men’s retail store that provides custom clothing, hand made shoes, ties, bow ties, pocket squares, cuff-links and other accessories for the fashion conscious man,” according to its website.
In fact, this “public official” is so proud of his real position as Duke Sorey’s personal wedding clothier, he bragged about this accomplishment on Facebook when he traveled to Cartegena Columbia to attend Duke’s nuptials last October.
When Phillip Ford does manage to drive down to North Miami Beach, it’s probably just for Duke’s Weekly Taxpayer-Funded Food Orgy.
Because he’s definitely not doing the job a Chief Procurement Officer is supposed to do.
Case in point, on January 10, 2023, after finally receiving a response to my May 19, 2022 Public Records Request PRR-2022-499 for several invoices, I sent this email to the City Clerk:
Here are the so-called “invoices” I received for these payments:
Mr. Ford responded by email about an hour and a half later advising that the “request for payments are attached.”
Here are screenshots of the “payments” he attached to his email:
Gee, that was helpful.
Folks, we couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried.
Since we still had no idea what goods or services Daniela Jean charged a total of $375.00 with her taxpayer-funded Purchasing Card (a/k/a Procurement Card or P Card) on PayPal, we did a little research. We discovered that Aschvath Dalien is a performer and Alfrena Moosa Art is an artist.
That still didn’t solve the mystery of what was actually purchased.
For all we know, Daniela has a $300.00 piece of artwork hanging on the wall of her bedroom, courtesy of North Miami Beach taxpayers.
Nevertheless, the City’s residents deserve to know exactly what goods and services are being purchased with their money, so we tried again.
I sent another email to Phillip Ford:
He responded with, “The documents previously provided were the only documents in my department’s custody.”
Undaunted, we responded:
I never heard back from him.
Folks, this negligence is really not acceptable by the Chief Procurement Officer of a local government, who is responsible for the oversight of the City’s taxpayer-funded Procurement Cards. It is his job to require itemized invoices for all P Card charges including, and especially, PayPal purchases.
Then again, we shouldn’t be surprised.
In our research, we also discovered that Phillip Ford does not have the certification required for the position. According to the job description of Chief Procurement Officer we obtained from the City, the applicant “Must possess certification as a Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB).”
According to an email from Derrick Strand, Executive Director of Universal Public Procurement Certification Council (UPPCC), which governs Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) and Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) certification programs, I was advised that Phillip Ford “does not have an active certification with UPPCC.”
Mr. Strand also asked me to contact him immediately with documentation if Mr. Ford “is using the CPPO and/or the CPPB designation.”
On his LinkedIn page, Phillip Ford notes that he had those certifications at one time, but that they “Expired Oct 2014.”
The lack of active certifications, however, didn’t stop Phillip Ford from using these designations in his membership listing with the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, Inc. (NIGP), the purpose of which is for “developing, supporting and promoting the public procurement profession.”
We provided this information to UPPCC Executive Director Derrick Strand, who advised that he “will take the necessary steps to resolve this issue.”
Hopefully, there will be consequences.
As an aside, Phillip Ford’s membership in the NIGP cost taxpayers $480.00, per his P Card Statement ending November 4, 2022. (We will review all of his P Card statements in a future blog.)
Public employees, whose salaries are paid with public funds, should be held to higher standards of ethics, honesty, and transparency.
They should also be qualified for the positions they hold.
Of even greater concern, however, is the fact that on August 1, 2019, Phillip Ford filed for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida, a proceeding which is still ongoing. In fact, an Order Granting Debtor’s Motion to Modify the Chapter 13 Plan was filed only last month on January 24, 2023.
Considering that one of the many “Essential Functions” of the City’s Chief Procurement Officer, according to the job description, is to assist “in the development, supervision and preparation of the department’s annual budget and administers fiscal activities,” we have a problem with giving that job to someone who isn’t responsible enough to handle his personal finances.
Just saying.
By now, it’s patently clear that Duke Sorey doles out jobs to his Friends & Family members regardless of whether or not they are qualified.
When Duke fired the former Procurement Director for telling the truth at a Commission Meeting, he needed to fill the position quickly, so he hired his personal tailor and paid him six figures to stay home — and make his clothes.
The biggest problem of all is that the most unqualified employee in the City is Duke Sorey himself, who is clearly unfit to run anything, much less a government agency.
Chief Procurement Officer Phillip Ford is just one of the many, many, many reasons that Duke need to be fired IMMEDIATELY!
AND FOR CAUSE!
North Miami Beach residents deserve better.
Stephanie
Let’s just hope that Duke’s next job is not running a hospital or he may bring over his mechanic to be the chief of surgery.
No doubt!
If you did your research with any fairness or with any priority to present true and unbiased information, you would have vetted Mr Ford. You could have simply checked his linked in page to find evidence of his 30+ years of procurement experience, his many certifications and endorsements. Mr Ford has a documented stellar career in government and procurement. He is also a decorated veteran. You are obviously on a witch hunt, however, Mr Ford happens to be one of the best hiring decisions made by the former City Manager.
Remember that we are paying for duke’s bulletproof Brando SUV, so now he doesn’t have a mechanic so the hospital is going to work for will be pretty safe LOL
It is the most racist, (only wants to meet with certain residents from certain areas and his time) unresponsible individual. As a resident I have tried to set up a meeting one on one, he’s never had time for the last year to even respond.
His office has always had a reason why he cannot meet with me and my wife as a resident of the city he works for, but my neighbors were able to meet with him (according to their photos) there the same background and voted for HIS PEOPLE as they told me……
I’m sick of this type of behavior and this type of manipulation and using the racist card for everything that works on their benefit.
I never found proof that Duke had the vehicle bulletproofed. It might have just been a rumor or he might have hidden the invoice under another category. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did just that. I’ve had invoices magically appear in response to public records requests when I’ve asked for something else and was told “no records responsive to your request.”
The procurement and finance departments are a disaster! A forensic audit is desperately needed just to straighten out the mess Duke has made. Everything he touches turns to sh*t, and unfortunately, sh*t rolls downhill.
THERE NEEDS TO BE A FORENSIC INVESTIGATION AND THE FUNDS NOT RELEVANT TO THE
CITY’S OPERATION NEEDS TO BE PAID BACK. THAT GOES FOR THE COMMISSIONERS ALSO!!!
Lawsuits should be filed once the City is back to normal. Duke, Hans, and the Criminal Commissioners need to be held accountable for all the money they’ve stolen from the taxpayers of NMB.
Three commissioners are responsible for all of the mischief, inept hires, manipulation, raunchy behavior, and uncontrolled spending occurring here, as well as a fourth floor along with staff in other departments that don’t work.
Ford is just one example of the alarming amount of employees that were hired as part of the friends and family plan. Do you think Sorey paid for the clothes that Ford created for him for his wedding? It’s doubtful. I’m surprised it took voters opinion this long to report on this particular case of nepotism.
The firing of our previous procurement director which was designed for her to resign, couldn’t have been more obvious. Just the night before she was asked to resign, she spoke at a commission meeting where Sorey used her professional explanation on a landscape contractors qualifications against her.
And as a side note, watch that meeting and listen to Fleurimond and listen to him at a previous meeting where the particular contractors bid was scrutinized. Perhaps Fleurimond wasn’t part of getting rid of the previous procurement director, but he seemed intimately knowledgeable in the landscape bid. I’m sure Sorey had Ford lined up. And all procurement since Ford has been employed needs to be investigated, to be sure more nepotism hasn’t occurred.
Fleurimond, Jean and Joseph have allowed all of this dysfunction to occur in North Miami Beach. . They have no shame. They are the worst kind of politician. They have ruined what used to be a professional and cohesive place to work. They pontificate on how important the employees are here, but they are full of it.
Sorey and Ottinot can’t be fired soon enough. Joseph needs to be removed after playing games by not showing up to meetings. A forensic audit needs to be conducted and a deep dive into hiring processes and so much more needs to be investigated. The story here is way bigger than anyone thinks, and no one should get away with the malfeasance that has been perpetuated here.
This is what sometimes happens when corrupt minority managers are hired. Most feel they have an obligation and the authority to only hire people that look like them. Diversity goes out the window as exemplified by this administration. While there are many qualified minorities that could and should be hired, this manager and his racist commissioner bosses, have gone out of their way to hire staff based on skin color, family ties, and corruption. not on the content of their character or their ability to do a good job, The procurement director is a great example of this as are the manager’s executive staff and many of the commission aides. The current state of our City is proof of how these hiring practices, endorsed by the boycotting commissioners, have negatively impacted our city.
I feel confident that our voting residents have taken note of who is responsible for the current status and will choose new, trimmer, and healthier candidates to elect in next year’s election who will place priorities on reducing property taxes and water rates in lieu of these nefarious three who have made shoveling vast quantities of free food into their mouths their top priority on the dais.