In Michael Joseph and McKenzie Fleurimond get their just deserts!, we reported that the two North Miami Beach Criminal Commissioners lost their Verified Emergency Motion for Injunctive Relief in Court on May 8, 2023.
Since the Honorable Peter R. Lopez denied their motion, the Mayor and Commission are now able to hold a hearing at the May 16, 2022 meeting regarding Michael’s 120-day absence, and vote him off the dais in accordance with Article II, Sec. 2.5 of the City Charter, if they so desire.
This morning they went to Court again to ask Judge Lopez to grant their Motion to Dismiss Commissioner Jay Chernoff’s lawsuit against them.
Their attorney, Benjamin H. Brodsky, began his defense of his client’s Motion by lamenting that if Michael is removed from office, he will lose his health insurance. Brodsky claimed that Michael is the sole breadwinner in his family, that he just had a heart attack, and he has two young children, so it would be a hardship if he didn’t have insurance.
Except that Michael Joseph has a day job with the law firm of Galbut, Walters & Associates, LLP, which most likely covers its employees with really good health insurance.
And considering that Michael and his three co-conspirators on the dais, McKenzie Fleurimond, Daniela Jean, and ex-Criminal Commissioner Paule Villard ILLEGALLY VOTED to cover themselves under the City’s health insurance policy, this is really a moot point.
Besides, as City Attorney John Herin immediately pointed out, if Michael Joseph is removed from office, at the very least he would be entitled to in accordance with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) “for a temporary extension of health coverage.” By law, COBRA extends health insurance coverage for 18 months, and in some cases, for 36 months.
Mr. Herin made a point of noting that it would be no different for any other City employee who resigns or is terminated, and who would then be entitled to a continuation of health care coverage.
Mr. Brodsky then fretted that under COBRA, Michael Joseph WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR HIS OWN INSURANCE!
You’ll find no sympathy for the Devil on the Dais around here!
Near the end of the hearing, Judge Lopez asked City Attorney Herin if the City Commission would consider holding off on Michael’s hearing for 60 days so he could review the Charter.
Mr. Herin said he would have to consult individually with the elected officials, but he reminded the Judge that it was Brodsky’s own pleading that stated the Commission’s hearing “must take place prior to Your Honor having jurisdiction.”
Oh, that pesky little “Pierre Precedent” again, right? 😆
Finally the Judge said he would wait until after the Commission meeting on May 16, 2023 and then see how this case would play out.
He attempted to end the hearing, but lawyer Brodsky had one more Hail Mary to throw out.
He first tried to walk it back by saying “Our position just to clarify Mr. Herin’s point is not that the Commissioner’s Motion for Injunction can’t proceed without the hearing happening, it’s that he could not be removed by a Court Order without the hearing happening first. It’s just two totally different positions.”
Brodsky again tried to get the Judge to agree to a Court hearing before the Commission meeting, and added that if the City would not agree to that, he asked the Judge to set a hearing now on a “renewed preliminary injunction motion” so his clients can come whining to the Judge as soon as the Commission makes its decision to boot Michael from the dais.
Judge Lopez responded that he doesn’t set hearings in advance, and that he is hoping the Mayor and Commission will come to some sort of agreement so that a Court hearing won’t be necessary.
“I will leave that up to the political branch of the City of North Miami Beach,” he judiciously opined.
His Honor then assured lawyer Brodsky that he will get a hearing within 48 hours of the vote, if necessary, and that he would schedule a final hearing in 60 days.
With that, Judge Peter S. Lopez ended the hearing.
Despite Michael’s and McKenzie’s best efforts to undo the results of the November 22, 2022 election by trying to kick the Mayor off the dais, shutting down the government for five months, and pretending that we can’t count to one hundred and twenty, they have fooled no one.
We hear that Michael and McKenzie have been busy running around trying to drum up support from outsiders and members of organizations that have nothing to do with the City of North Miami Beach, and asking them to storm the Commission meeting on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 and speak on their behalf.
Don’t let the pandemonium drown out your right to be heard!
As actual residents and stakeholders of your City, your voices are the only ones that matter.
You have a right and an obligation to attend your Commission meeting and demand that your elected representatives enforce the Charter that they took a sworn oath to uphold.
Stephanie
I can’t believe that they want to drain us dried, and without working for so long. I want this nightmare to end! If not, I will be the one having a heart attack . Do anyone remember, the commissioner that stole money from the city, and his excuse for not being able to do jail time, was that he had a heart attack? We never find out if was the truth. They will use any excuses, so they can’t be accountable when their racketeering is discovered.
This is a waste of our time. The Commissioners need to resign and stop embarrassing our city.
Will this mess ever go away, for good? This annoyed resident wants to know.
If they had any sense of decency, they would do the right thing and resign. But we all know they are shameless opportunists.
I was livid when I heard lawyer Brodsky try to keep Michael on the Commission because otherwise he’d lose his health insurance. Did Michael run to serve the residents of NMB? Or did he run for health insurance? This is a freaking part-time public service, not a full-time job!
It’s literally disgusting that they have absolutely no idea what public service is all about. Especially that Daniela, who actually said if she didn’t have a personal assistant it would be like she was just a “regular person.”
A REGULAR PERSON??? She has no freaking idea that she IS a regular person! They think they’re freaking royalty. What a twisted mentality they have.
Why is McKenzie not being mentioned for removal as well as Joseph at the 5/16/23 meeting. Also, even though it was supposedly “excused”, it still counts if Jean doesn’t show for 120 days. By removing these 2 commissioners, it would take Jean to show up to handle City Business umless the appoint an interim Commissioner.
I would suggest that all of us, all the constituents and the neighbors come to this very important meeting and express how we feel, and felt for the last few months ( 2 years) when our elected officials who got paid including their health insurance and many other bills paid by the city through that p card and had fun on our tax dollars.
We work hard for our money, we are also breadwinners.
They have not worked for 5 months and got paid,
Enough is enough.
What type of agreement can Judge Lopez possibly think this commission will agree on?
Three Commissioners held up City meetings for months upon months. Had a judge not intervened, Jean would be in the hot seat as well. Lucky for her, because she’s such a dummy, she was court ordered to attend a meeting and didn’t miss 120 days.
Joseph is an attorney for goodness sakes, and he fell into Ottinot’s hair brain idea not to show up at meetings because a random person hired a guy to follow the Mayor around. And what was really discovered?
Fluerimond just up and left a meeting one night with out caring one iota about this city.
Does this judge really think an agreement can be made?
After all this garbage, the commissioners better get rid of Joseph and Fluerimond. They need to go or we need to get rid of them all and start over.
Like most people who are not acquainted with the current state of politics in North Miami Beach, and the fact that it’s been run by an organized crime ring for the past two+ years, Judge Lopez has no idea of the evil that has been perpetrated by Michael Joseph hand his co-conspirators. In a normal city, elected officials do what they can to try to get along and keep the city running. Michael Joseph is not normal. McKenzie Fleurimond is not normal. Hans Ottinot and Arthur Sorey are absolutely not normal human beings. There literally is no way to “make nice” with evil, abnormal people.
But since Judge Lopez is normal, he is assuming everyone else is, too. He’s hoping that saner minds will prevail, but Tony, Jay, Phyllis, and Fortuna are not dealing with saner minds when it comes to Michael and McKenzie.
The Four good guys just need to take out the trash and declare both seats vacant. Jean will feign sickness again before the vote is taken and try and leave again.
Seems to me both need to be removed and their salaries repaid since they did nothing. That should be the vote.