We just reviewed the lists of Purchasing Card (P Card) transactions by ex-North Miami Beach City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey and his “Senior Staff” (a/k/a Special Friends & Family Hires), and it’s so much worse than we even imagined.

For starters, in our previous column, we reported, “The total amount of your tax dollars charged by and on behalf of Daniela by “Senior Staff” was $15,077.75.  Added to Daniela’s own P Card expenses of $27,217.61, the grand total of money spent on Princess Daniela was an unconscionable $42,295.36!”

However, after again reviewing all of the P Card charges of Duke and his cronies, we dug up even more charges that went under the radar, as follows:

Ashley Francois:

• 9/10/22 – Teen Chat lunch $400.00

Francisco Medranda:

• 4/13/22 – Earth Day Vest for Commissioner Jean Earth Day Event $809.31
• 7/28/22 – Emergency Preparedness Drive Lunch Recap (Recap? WTF?) $141.34
• 9/17/22 – Lunch for Teen Chat $264.50
• 9/24/22 – Breakfast for Teen Chat $54.89
• 9/24/22 – Lunch for Teen Chat $417.15
• 9/24/22 – Refreshments for Teen Chat $60.53
• 9/24/22 – Lunch (Extra) for Teen Chat $18.36
• 10/8/22 – Lunch for Teen Chat $427.58

These additional P Card charges of $2,593.66 bring Daniela’s total spending spree to an even more outrageous $44,889.02!

As much financial damage as ex-Criminal Commissioner Paule Villard, and her three co-conspirators, Michael Joseph, McKenzie Fleurimond, and Daniela Jean, have done in the last two years, nothing will prepare you for the sticker shock we are about to reveal, courtesy of Duke Sorey & Co.

The P Card transaction lists of Duke, Assistant City Manager Kemarr Brown, ex-Assistant City Manager Gedel Merzius, ex-Catering Director Senior Advisor Athalie Edwards, Executive Assistant Ashley Francois, Chief of Staff Francisco Medranda, and ex-Chief of Staff Willis Howard, read like a screenplay of a horror movie, City Employees Gone Wild.

Arthur “Duke” Sorey whipped out his taxpayer-funded P Card to make 218 purchases, only 106 of which could possibly be considered for a public purpose benefiting the residents of North Miami Beach.

Maybe.

His September 23, 2021 purchase of Adobe software for $850.00 is questionable — not because there aren’t Adobe programs available for that price, but because Duke hasn’t even mastered the fine art of sending an email, much less know how to use such a sophisticated, multiple-feature software program.  It’s almost like he bought it as an afterthought simply because he could.

Especially when he didn’t have to pay for it himself.

There is no question that the remaining 112 of those charges on his P Card had absolutely no public purpose for the benefit of NMB residents.

But they certainly benefited himself and his bank account.  Let’s take a closer look.

Before we begin, however, keep in mind that Duke was hired on April 20, 2021 at a base salary of $240,000.00 a year.  This is the highest salary of any City Manager in the history of North Miami Beach, and one that was gifted to the least deserving of them all.

Two months later at the June 15, 2021 Commission meeting, the four Criminal Commissioners placed on the Agenda a Resolution to give Duke even more stuff that he didn’t deserve.  Knowing full well it would pass by the usual 4-3 vote, the First Amendment to Duke’s Employment Agreement included, among other perks, a monthly $900.00 “Executive Allowance” to spend however he pleased with zero accountability.

It’s completely unclear what this alleged $10,800.00 a year Executive Allowance is supposed to pay for, but at an adjusted annual salary of $250,800.00, we’re pretty sure that Duke shouldn’t be charging an additional $96.29 a month at Prestige Auto Spa on his taxpayer-funded P Card for a car wash.

We’re also pretty sure that North Miami Beach taxpayers should not be footing the bill for:

• Flowers for the funeral of Edward Roosevelt Colebrook, who has zero ties to North Miami Beach, but who owned a Caribbean restaurant in Miami that went out of business nearly a decade ago – $96.28
• Flowers for the funeral of Michael Joseph’s cousin, Ilruck Dormeus – $85.98
• Flowers for the funeral of Willis Howard’s father-in-law, Floyd Lee Small – $85.00
• Flowers for the funeral of Gregory Williams’ mother, Florine Williams Kittles – $164.95
• Decor for City Manager’s Office – $278.16
• Welcome flowers for Assistant City Manager Kemarr Brown – $101.59
• Flowers for Daniela Jean’s birthday – $64.90

On top of all those flower purchases, Duke had his staff also charge:

• Ashley Francios:  Flowers for funeral of Tramaine Conley, with no known connection to North Miami Beach except when “he made his transition from this life,” according to his obituary – $237.52
• Athalie Edwards:  Flowers for Chief Harvette Smith – $189.99
• Gedel Merzius:  Flowers for Paule Villard’s birthday – $54.54
• Gregory Williams:  Flowers for Shirleem Lasieur from Michael Joseph – $181.84; and from McKenzie Fleurimond – $213.94
• Francisco Medranda:  Flowers the funeral of Reberta Jusme of Orlando, with no known connection to North Miami Beach – $193.00

In fact, the only flower purchase even remotely justified was for the funeral of North Miami Beach former Mayor Raymond Marin, which Duke personally put on his P Card.

Other than that, North Miami Beach taxpayers should be reimbursed the sum of $2,185.21 from Duke’s “Executive Allowance” for all those damn flowers since they had absolutely no public purpose for the benefit of the City’s residents.

The overabundance of unnecessary flowers Duke demanded are, unfortunately, the least of his and his staff’s problematic taxpayer-funded P Card purchases.  Since Duke Sorey took the helm, the following unnecessary P Card charges were made:

• Stock the City Manager’s Office and Public Affairs Department with refreshments:  $3,421.06
• Food for Directors’ meetings, staff meetings, and employees for doing their jobs: $8,487.53
• Registration, travel, and hotel room for part-timer Constituent Service Aide Pierrot Mervilier to attend the National Haitian American Elected Officials (NHAEON) Retreats: $1,788.95
• Registration, travel, and hotel room for non-Haitian, non-elected official Duke Sorey to attend the National Haitian American Elected Officials Retreats: $2,197.47
• Registration, travel, and hotel room for non-Mayor Duke Sorey to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors: $4,063.70
• Airfare only for Duke to attend the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) 2021 Conference in Portland, Oregon: $1.618.39 (Total charged for the trip: $4,135.77)
• Registration, travel, and hotel rooms for Duke and Gedel “Beelzebub” Merzius to attend the National Forum for Black Public Officials (NFBPA) 2022 Annual Conference March 30-April 3 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and graduation May 23-May 25 in Washington, DC: $6,280.98

Because priorities.

Then there were three costly, unnecessary, and unproductive taxpayer-funded vacations arranged by Duke.

Las Vegas

As we first reported in North Miami Beach Criminal Commissioner Paule Villard takes a fancy Vegas vacation on taxpayer dime. NO LIE!, her co-conspirator on the dais, Michael Joseph, had the pie in the sky idea to contact Elon Musk and tell him that he was interested in jumping on Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’ “broad vision for a Boring-built mass-transit system,” as reported in the Miami Herald.

Hey @elonmusk & @boringcompany beside MIA and FTL, consider a tunnel in @NorthMiamiBeach. Our city has the 163rd commercial corridor that runs from the I-95 interchange to the Beach. We have multiple possible sites for ingress and egress. DM me. Let’s talk. #NowMuskBuild (NMB) pic.twitter.com/z1XhD1u7at

— Michael Joseph, Esq. (@VoteMJoseph) February 23, 2021

As usual, Duke extended an open invitation to any of the elected officials who wish to fly to Vegas to tour the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Loop.  According to the invitation, “The tour will include an overview of the company and a ride in the LVCC Loop system at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Each attendee should anticipate approximately 1 hour for the duration of the tour.”

Well, that “1 hour tour” on August 4-August 8, 2021 ended up costing taxpayers a ton of money!

• Duke Sorey charged on his taxpayer-funded P Card a total of $2,351.91
• Gedel Merzius charged $1,518.37
• Jasmine Rivera, a former Assistant to the Mayor and Commission (who was pressured into going and who quit her job shortly afterward), charged $1,364.37
• Michael Joseph charged $720.23, and he also received a per diem check in the amount of $152.50

It should be noted that Gedel “Beelzebub” Merzius charged $28.42 at Javier’s restaurant in Las Vegas, according to his P Card statement for the period ending September 4, 2021.  This charge is illegal since every employee and/or elected official who went on this trip should have received a per diem check for meals.  Public officials who also charged taxpayers for meals for which they were already reimbursed are committing fraud.

Accepting reimbursement for meals and then charging those same meals on a taxpayer-funded P Card is a violation of Florida Statute 112.061 Per diem travel expenses of public officers…, specifically section (10), which states that any public employee who submits a fraudulent claim [for per diem reimbursement] “is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Whoever shall receive an allowance or reimbursement by means of a false claim shall be civilly liable in the amount of the overpayment for the reimbursement of the public fund from which the claim was paid.”

Then again, the former administration under the “leadership” of Arthur “Duke” Sorey regularly violated Florida Statutes with impunity, so we are not surprised.

Paule Villard did not travel with that group, but almost a year later on June 6, 2022, she decided to take the first of several taxpayer-funded summer vacations to Las Vegas with her “aide,” Nadege Etienne.  They turned a “1 hour tour” of the “Loop” into a five-day luxury vacation, and then billed North Miami Beach residents $4,783.96 for the privilege.

The grand total of these two Vegas vacations is $10,892.34!

We recently made a Public Records Request for the rest of the costs, including per diem checks issued.  We will update the total once receive those records.

Meanwhile, no tunnel is going to be built in North Miami Beach, or probably anywhere in South Florida, any time soon.

But we do know that this taxpayer-funded vacation had absolutely no public purpose for the benefit of North Miami Beach residents.

We also know Duke Sorey should have been fired for cause.

New Orleans

On June 28, 2022, Duke Sorery sent out a Memo with the subject line, “APEX CALL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE.”  He planned a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana to allegedly attend “an onsite demonstration of a new all-in-one emergency call management solution, APEX.”  According to his Memo, he received an invitation from Carbyne (APEX) “to the City and Police Administration to see the solution in action in New Orleans, one of the largest 911 centers in the US.”

Duke Sorey extended his “invitation” to the elected officials, and of course, three of the four Commissioners who have abused all travel privileges for the past two years, quickly accepted.  To the best of my knowledge, this APEX system was never purchased by the City.

Keep in mind that this total only includes charges that were made on the P Cards and does not include checks that were paid directly to vendors or per diem checks paid to any of the travelers.

Several problems stand out regarding this trip.

The former City “Attorney” Hans Ottinot went on this trip.  Hans was not a City employee, but an independent contractor.  He did not have a taxpayer-funded P Card because he was not an employee of the City.  We believe it was illegal for the City (i.e., the taxpayers) to pay for this or any other trip for any individual who is not an employee of the City.  Arthur Sorey charged $178.26 on behalf of Hans, and Kemarr Brown charged $417.36 on his behalf.  We do know that a City Manager and an Assistant City Manager should have known better than to bring a non-employee on an official trip and bill taxpayers for the cost.

Arthur Sorey charged $427.39 for “Dinner with the Commissioners in New Orleans” and Kemarr Brown also charged $68.30 for “Dinner with the Commissioners in New Orleans,” both of which are fraudulent charges and should be reimbursed to the taxpayers.  Again, a City Manager and an Assistant City Manager should know better.

Executive Assistant Ashley Francois also unnecessarily went on this trip.  Taking a secretary on what is supposed to be an official government trip is a complete waste of taxpayer money.  Kemarr Brown charged a total of $1,190.29 for her secretary to attend, including an additional $150.90 for an extra night at a hotel room because she was “unaware of hotels consturction [sic].”

And finally, there was absolutely no reason for anyone other than perhaps a City Manager and the Chief of Police to attend “an onsite demonstration of a new all-in-one emergency call management solution.”  The City of North Miami Beach is a taxpayer-funded government agency, not a private business entity.  No funds should ever be expended unless there is a definite public purpose for the benefit of the residents of the City.

The P Card charges made by Arthur Sorey, Kemarr Brown, Michael Joseph, McKenzie Fleurimond, and Paule Villard  regarding this trip came to a total of $5,951.89.

The fact that two Managers, a non-employee attorney, three elected officials, and a secretary all made a taxpayer-funded vacation out of a trip that was of no public purpose for the benefit of North Miami Beach residents is completely unjustified, and all of those individuals should be required to reimburse the City for these wasteful expenditures.

We also know Duke Sorey should have been fired for cause.

Denver

According to Duke Sorey’s August 3, 2022 Memo, he advised the Mayor and Commission that “members of the City and Public Utilities department will be visiting Commerce City, Colorado on Thursday, September 1, 2022, for an onsite demonstration of the Pellet Softening System.”

Once again, Duke extended an unnecessary invitation to the Mayor and Commission.  An entourage consisting of Kemarr Brown, Paule Villard, Michael Joseph, and McKenzie Fleurimond, left for Denver on August 28, 2022 and returned on August 31, 2022.

Once again Kemarr Brown’s secretary, Ashley Francois (referring to herself as “Assistant to the CM,”) attended this trip even though there was no public purpose for her or the Commissioners to attend.

Once again, there are serious problems with this trip.

On August 31, 2022, Athalie Edwards charged $223.00 for “Commissioner Jean flight change difference from Denver to Miami.”  Daniela Jean’s airline ticket already cost taxpayers an unnecessary $500.20.  If she decided to change her flight for whatever reason, Daniela should pay for it herself.  North Miami Beach taxpayers should not have to cater to her whims.

Ashley Francois also charged multiple “preferred seating” and “preferred zone” upgrades for the Commissioners, Kemarr Brown, and herself.  Any public employee who travels on taxpayer dime should fly as economically as possible.  Any and all preferred seat and zone upgrades should be paid for by the government employee, not the taxpayers.

And finally, Ashley Francois charged two meals on her P Card:

• $64.99 to Jamaican Jerk & Barbecue
• $169.60 to Hard Rock

I will assume that Ashley Francois, as well as everyone else who went on this trip, received a check for a per diem meal reimbursement.

As with the New Orleans trip, public officials who also charged taxpayers for meals for which they were already reimbursed are committing fraud.  Complaints should be filed.

As we reported in Paule Villard’s Rocky Mountain Taxpayer-Funded Vacation, the real reason the four Criminal Commissioners traveled to Denver was to present a Proclamation to the Mayor of Denver County, Michael B. Hancock, for being the “second African American to hold the position.”

Denver County Mayor Hancock has absolutely nothing to do with the City of North Miami Beach.  He’s probably never even visited North Miami Beach or couldn’t find it on a map without assistance.  Obviously, the four Criminal Commissioners had absolutely no interest in “an onsite demonstration of the Pellet Softening System.”  They merely used this trip as an excuse to pursue their own hidden agenda.

As usual, these four Commissioners have abused not only the travel policy, but also the policy regarding the issuance of Proclamations, which are only supposed to be presented to individuals who have made a contribution to the City for the benefit of its residents.

Once again, there was absolutely no need for any elected official to go on this trip whatsoever.  Even the Assistant Manager’s and especially, her secretary’s attendance was unnecessary as well.  The only employees who had any business going on this trip are the utility professionals and technicians.

The total wasted charges for these six non-essential world travelers came to a grand total of $8,817.70.

As with their trip to New Orleans only a month earlier, once again an exorbitant amount of money was spent on a taxpayer-funded vacation for a trip that had absolutely no public purpose for the benefit of North Miami Beach residents.

Just another reason why Duke Sorey should have been fired for cause.

Never forget that Arthur “Duke” Sorey was 100% responsible for this entire fiscal disaster!

It will take a miracle for North Miami Beach taxpayers to recoup their losses.

Stephanie