North Miami Beach mayor Michael Joseph is already known for creating fake news stories and then leaking them to the local media.
Yes, the infamous Devil on the Dais is that duplicitous.
It seems that this cunning manipulator is up to his old dirty tricks once again.
In a painfully obvious attempt to detract from his alleged money laundering scandal and criminal involvement with the indicted EX-Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who is awaiting trial for all sorts of crimes and misdemeanors, Michael has been busy trying to get rid of North Miami Beach City Manager Darvin Williams by any means necessary.
As we previously reported, Mr. Williams was hired by the City Commission on January 20, 2026. According to the Minutes of a Special Commission Meeting held on February 2, 2026, Resolution R2026-13 was passed by a vote of 6-1, with Michael Joseph being the only dissenter.
Not one to accept defeat without plotting to destroy those who opposed him, Michael Joseph set his sights on not only ousting City Manager Darwin Williams, but to publicly trash his reputation throughout South Florida.
So he summoned his Surrogate Army of “victims,” and they answered the call.
As he has done many times over the years, Michael assembled a rag tag group of individuals, many of whom are also suffering from the same delusions of persecution that Michael exhibits. He then suggested that they file complaints against his “archenemy” for the “crime” of being hired by North Miami Beach without his consent.
As soon as Michael Joseph’s surrogate army gathered their arsenal of fictitious allegations, he contacted his go-to media connections at Miami Times, and made sure that Darvin Williams got the bad press Michael was aiming for.
In its latest article, North Miami Beach City Manager Darvin Williams faces lawsuits, EEOC complaints, self-dubbed “black newspaper” reported, “North Miami Beach City Manager Darvin Williams is being sued for more than $1 million by an elected official in Opa-locka and for backpay and other damages by a former assistant city manager in NMB. Williams is also facing complaints of discrimination and retaliation in two separate complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).“
The article went on to state, “In a lawsuit filed on May 20 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Opa-locka Commissioner Natasha Ervin alleges that Williams defamed her when he accused her of embezzlement and misappropriating public funds when he was Opa-locka’s city manager to cover up ‘his own improper conduct that resulted in his termination of employment.'”
Darwin Williams responded to the Miami Times saying “that he never spoke about Ervin publicly and the only allegations he ever made were outlined in a whistleblower complaint filed with the governor’s office in August 2024 when she was vice mayor of Opa-locka. That complaint accused Ervin of nepotism, creating a hostile work environment, interfering with investigations and embezzlement. Among other things, Williams reported that Ervin submitted an invoice of $20,867.94 on behalf of her niece for catering provided at a parks event.”
The two separate EEOC complaints referred to in the article were filed by Kerlyne McHenry and Frandley Defilie, both of whom are claiming that because they are Haitian, they were discriminated against.
By a black man.
Darvin Williams denied accusations of discrimination, telling the Miami Times, “We are all Black people… It’s ridiculous to me that another Black person is accusing me of being a racist.”
What’s laughably ridiculous are the frivolous complaints filed by Kerlyne McHenry and Frandley Defile in the first place.
For one thing, as Assistant Director of Public Works, Kerlyne McHenry’s Annual Evaluation dated May 1, 2026 clearly shows that she had serious deficiencies in Communication Skills, Developing Subordinates, Motivating Others, Encouraging Accountability, Managing Employee Performance, Building Team Environment, and Fiscal Responsibility. In a 5 Point Rating Scale, this employee was rated a 2, as explained by City Manager Darvin William, who wrote [emphasis ours]:
“Ms. McHenry has served as the Interim Public Works Director since my appointment as City Manager on February 3, 2026. Her performance has been a mixed bag of extreme highs and challenging lows. As noted in her evaluation, her knowledge, initiative, and productivity make her a welcome addition to the City. However, her often bombastic engagement with subordinates, laterals, and me, her superior, make working with or for her extremely challenging. The failure to follow the direction in which I am leading the City, specifically with regard to my placement of budgetary constraints and implementation of a solid chain-of-command, make it impossible for her to remain as the Interim Public Works Director at this time. I hereby am returning her to the Assistant Director role to afford her further evaluation and an opportunity to improve on noted challenges and deficiencies.”
What a gem.
Despite her claim that she was “demoted,” the Interim Public Works Director was a temporary position, and “returning her to the Assistant Director role” is merely ending the temporary gig.
We are also told that this woman was impossible to be around. She filed several other frivolous complaints against co-workers, all of whom were exonerated. At least five employees who worked under her demanded that she be removed as Interim, and no other employee wanted the Interim position because they’d have to work with her.
We fully expect that the complaint she filed against Darvin Williams was just as petty as all the others.
As for Frandley Defilie, the former Senior Management Analyst who also claims he’s a “victim,” he fell all over himself covering for Michael Joseph when interviewed by the Algo Law Firm. Despite the fact that multiple employees came forward to complain about Michael’s illegal and unethical actions, Defilie told the investigator that “he has not personally witnessed inappropriate conduct and affirmed a lack of direct evidence of Charter violations by elected officials.”
After filing his “whistleblower complaint” against Darvin Williams, Defilie told the Miami Times that “The issue with Darvin is Darvin can get intimated [sic] really quick… He gets paranoid.”
We have no idea what that even means, but we guess it’s not a good thing to get “intimated.”
It’s interesting to note that both of these disgruntled and fired employees attempted to blame the now-former North Miami Beach Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Tarik Rahmani, for their self-inflicted troubles. Mr. Rahmani had enough of the corruption in North Miami Beach, mainly perpetrated by Michael Joseph, and resigned in March as he blew his own whistle in a scathing email addressed to the City Commission.
It was a beautiful thing.
In addition to Natasha Ervin, the Miami Times article goes on to mention another lawsuit filed by Marline Monestime, the now-former city employee who was rightfully passed over for the position of City Manager.
You will recall that Monestime was Michael Joseph’s hand-picked candidate for the job as a reward for covering his ass during the Algo Law Firm’s public corruption investigation.
According to her own complaint, Marline Monestime served as “Interim Assistant City Manager from June 2025 to February 2026.” It also states, “In November 2025, Ms. Monestime applied for an open City Manager position with the City.”
Obviously, she did not get the job.
She went on to claim that she “initiated a meeting” with the new City Manager on February 6, 2026, at which time she claims that he told her that “several of the City’s Commissioners had been pressing him to have Ms. Monestime removed from the City Manager’s office.” She also said that they both agreed that she “would be appointed as the City’s Housing and Economic Development Director.”
About two weeks later the Algo Law Firm’s Interim Investigative Report was published and according to Marline Monestime’s lawsuit, City Manager Darvin Williams fired her after “he expressed ‘serious concerns’ about the contents of the investigation report.”
If Mr. Williams did, in fact, have “serious concerns,” it was most probably due to Monestime’s questionable manipulations to push through the shady no-bid contract between the City of North Miami Beach and Figgers Communication Inc. at the insistence of none other than Michael Joseph.
Ms. Monestime also claims that City Manager Darvin Williams fired her in violation of her “due process rights” as required by the City’s Civil Service Rules.
Oddly, as a member of the management class of employees, Marline Monestime would not be subject to Civil Service Rules, but would be considered an At-will employee. As such, she could very well be terminated due to an “organizational decision,” per the separation letter sent to her on February 27, 2026 from the city.
In any event, whether the procedure that the city followed to fire her was actionable or not, she and her co-conspirator, Andrew Plotkin, illegally pushed through through the no-bid contract with Figgers Communication at the insistence of Michael Joseph, who violated the law and the city’s own Charter by doing exactly that.
Both Marline Monestime and Andrew Plotkin deserved to be fired with cause for that alone. Unfortunately, Plotkin is still employed, but that’s a story for another day.
The Miami Times did note that City Manager Darvin Williams stated that “McHenry wasn’t demoted since her position as director of public works was only temporary. As for Monestime and Defilie, Williams said they weren’t fired. Rather their posts were created by the previous administration. And with the city looking to be more efficient, Williams was eliminating posts that weren’t ‘useful.'”
The article quoted Mr. Williams as saying, “We have significantly more employees than we need,” and added that “a five-square-mile city of 45,000 residents should have around 400 employees instead of its present 550.”
The Miami Times also brought up another Opa-locka employee who had filed a frivolous complaint against Darvin Williams in 2024 when he was still the City Manager there. The former Assistant Chief, now Chief of Police Robin Starks, “filed a whistleblower complaint against Williams and [then-]Police Chief Kenneth Ottley in September 2024.”
Starks, who also sued the City of Miami Gardens for wrongful termination in 2023, was not only retained by the City of Opa-locka but promoted to Chief after the Commission voted to terminate Darvin Williams.
Meanwhile, after leaking the story he created, the demonic Michael Joseph pulled out his ever present handy-dandy race card and sent the Miami Times a written statement that “he is ‘deeply troubled by the growing number of allegations being raised against City Manager Darvin Williams,’ especially since three out of the four people levying the charges are ‘accomplished Black women who have dedicated themselves to public service.'”
A resident of North Miami Beach, who happens to be black, told us, “Did Michael Joseph not vote to fire [former City Clerk] Pamela Latimore, a black woman, without even giving a reason? This was only six months after he first got elected. Michael loves to bring in the race card when it suits him. I’m fed up with his race talks!”
Michael also hilariously told the Miami Times, “I commend the courage of these women for speaking up and I want this matter to be fully investigated in a court of law without delay.”
Oh, Michael, it most certainly will be investigated. But you probably won’t like the outcome. So be careful what you wish for.
The best part of the Miami Times article is the penultimate paragraph, which reads:
For the time being, Williams might be more popular among commissioners than Mayor Joseph. At the May 19 city commission meeting, five North Miami Beach commissioners took turns reading a proclamation that honored Williams’ U.S. Army service with the 313th Military Intelligence Battalion and the 82nd Airborne. Joseph was noticeably absent.
Joseph is noticeably absent for almost all of the important North Miami Beach events, so this is nothing new. He is a total loser in every sense of the word.
The moral of this story is that Opa-locka’s loss is definitely North Miami Beach’s gain.
But that’s nowhere near the end of this story.
We have a lot more dirt to dish, including the entire 60-page Whistleblower Complaint filed by Darvin Williams in August of 2024.
And yeah, it’s wild!
Stay tuned for Part 2.
Stephanie
The photo of MJ (taken at the April Commission Meeting) at the top of your article shows that he was in distress, awaiting the outcome of the pending Commission item that was to censure MJ for his harassment of City staff. He was looking over to Commissioner Jay Chernoff, whom he had made a deal with, to see how he was going to vote. He looked worried that Chernoff might change his mind and vote to censure him, calling out to Chernoff (in violation of sunshine laws) “are you changing your vote?” Unfortunately, Chernoff came through for MJ and let him get away with his harassment of city employees.
It appears that the deal MJ made with Chernoff was that MJ would ensure no one runs against him if Chernoff votes not to censure him. So far it’s working for both of the scumbags.
Reading this article, everyone can definitely tell there’s no shortage of political theater in North Miami Beach.
Employees around City Hall used to talk about one of the former employees who seemed to have endless free time during the workday, yet nobody could ever clearly explain what his actual responsibilities were. Separately, another former administrator now being portrayed as a victim was overseeing millions in ARPA funds while staff quietly questioned the management behind the scenes.
People also still remember the city manager interviews where it looked like prepared notes were being read during the Mayor’s one-on-one interview. Maybe that’s part of why there was reportedly so much concern over the interview footage afterward.
And the narrative about the interim public works director being “demoted” doesn’t really line up with what employees were saying internally. From what many understood, she was simply returned to her prior position after temporarily filling the interim role. So what’s really going on with this picture?
At some point, residents have to ask whether this is truly about accountability or just another round of political score-settling helped along by press conference lawyers and grievance-for-hire tactics.
Wake up North Miami Beach. We’re finally getting back on track with Mr. Williams.
I think I did a pretty good job explaining your what’s going on here question. The same way Michael summons his minions to attend commission meetings when he needs the appearance that “residents” support him, he’s doing the exact same thing now to put pressure on Darvin Williams. To what end is anyone’s guess. Mr. Williams has done nothing wrong (unlike Michael), he’s not going to resigns, and barring an act of God, the six commissioners who hired him are not going to fire him.
It must be so painful to be Michael Joseph. One might even be inclined to pity him if he weren’t such a vile creature.
Mayor Michael Joseph’s behavior is disgraceful. What is especially troubling is the apparent use of lawsuits and legal intimidation as a political weapon against residents and critics. Ordinary citizens usually cannot afford to file lawsuits because attorneys typically require substantial retainers upfront. Most working people simply do not have that kind of money available.
That is why many residents are questioning how these lawsuits are being funded and whether political relationships or personal connections are playing a role. In my opinion, it strains credibility to believe that all of these legal actions are being pursued without some type of special arrangement or political favor involved.
Instead of trying to silence critics and opponents through legal tactics, elected officials should focus on transparency, accountability, and serving the people of North Miami Beach. The constant drama, intimidation, and political maneuvering are exhausting for residents who simply want honest government and a city leadership they can trust.
Well, they certainly cannot trust Michael Joseph or any of his cohorts and co-conspirators. This is the most corrupt group ever gathered in North Miami Beach’s history, bar none.
When I lived in NMB, we had different groups with differing opinions and took sides in elections. But at the end of the day, we united behind the Commission for the betterment of the city and all its residents.
Michael Joseph, et al, are the most divisive and despicable gang of miscreants, who only want to introduce racism, partisan politics, greed, and absolute power. Once they got a foot in the door, they proceeded to dismantle all that was good in the city, starting with the Police Department. Under Michael’s hand picked City Manager, the ultra corrupt Arthur “Duke” Sorey, the PD literally fell apart and turned to shit. It went from a three time recipient of the Excelsior Award, and was the only agency in Florida to achieve that recognition, to losing its accreditation altogether. Sadly, I had see what Duke did to North Miami and I predicted exactly what would happen, and it did.
I honestly believe there is no coming back as long as voters can’t permanently oust Michael, Daniela, McKenzie, Carpetbagger Linda, and “Pastor” Ariel, all of whom are official members of the North Miami Circle of Corruption. They have infected NMB with everything that is wrong with North Miami.