North Miami City Manager Stephen Johnson has a problem.  A really big problem.  As reported by The Miami Herald, Channel 6 and this blog, he’s under the gun for allowing mayor Andre Pierre to gouge the city for about $40,000.00, according to the latest calculations by Channel 6.

I imagine Mr. Johnson must have been stunned to learn that suddenly he’s smack in the middle of the controversy now known as Soccer Gate.  What he fails to understand is that a City Manager is supposed to manage a city.  This is not surprising since when he was the Chief of Police he barely knew how to run the department.  When he was promoted to City Manager, Johnson must have figured it would be a cake walk.  After all, committing crime is a whole lot easier than fighting it, right?  Now he’s in way over his head.

As The Miami Herald just reported, Johnson is apparently now scrambling to cover not only the mayor’s ass, but his own, too.  The article entitled, City to reconsider stadium-rental policy after mayor got freebies, states, “On Wednesday, city manager Stephen Johnson said the city should not have charged anyone except organizations who charge admission or generate revenue at the stadium or want to exclude the public for a period of time.  He said he hopes the city will change its policy to reflect that view.”

Isn’t that kinda like someone trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube after he squeezed it all over the bathroom sink?

Sensing that wouldn’t work, Stephen Johnson then decided to unilaterally rewrite the City’s laws to undo the damage.  The Herald reported, “However on Wednesday, Johnson said the group never should have been told they needed to form a non-profit organization.”

Um….no.  Sorry, Steve.  As much as it would help you wiggle out of a no-win situation, you simply cannot make up the rules as you go along.  As I reported yesterday in Nasty as I Wanna Be, North Miami City Resolution R-2010-33 specifically states that any organization requesting a waiver of fee for park usage “must be a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization and submit documentation demonstrating its status.”

I’d love to give you a link to the Resolution from the city’s website, but I can’t.  When I attempted several times to click “Government,” “City Charter/Code of Ordinances,” here:

I couldn’t seem to get the page to load up.  Instead I received this error message:

I even tried to access the page on three different browsers, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.  No luck.  Considering that North Miami’s is one of the most difficult municipal website to navigate – it doesn’t even have a search engine, for crying out loud! – I’m not surprised.

Oh, wait!  Maybe that’s why City Manager Stephen Johnson didn’t know about Resolution R-2010-33.  He couldn’t find it on his own damn website!  What a city, eh?

Luckily for the Gadfly, I have sources.  I obtained a copy of the Resolution yesterday, which is how I know what’s in it.  Psst, Mr. Johnson.  If you want a copy just shoot me an email.  I’ll even correct the typos and read it for you if you have trouble with the big words.

Nevertheless, in his infinite wisdom, Johnson decided that he would like to do away with charging any fees at all for the use of the stadium.  If he gets his wish, according to the Herald, “Johnson said the city will not reimburse groups that have paid to use the field for soccer or athletic practices in the past because they did not know the space was free as long as they allowed the public to walk on the track or sit in the bleachers.”

Let’s see.  The groups who paid to use the field didn’t know it was free, so if they already paid for it, well, I guess a sucker really is born every minute.

Johnson also “does not expect the city to lose revenue from his proposed change.”

Alrighty then.  There really is a money tree behind City Hall after all!

If you needed any further proof that Stephen Johnson isn’t cut out for the job, check out what I consider the best line in The Miami Herald article:

“Johnson called his proposal “aspirational” because he doesn’t know if it will need council approval.”

Yeah, about that pesky little “council approval” thing.   If the Resolution regarding fee schedules had to be voted on by the council members in the first place, I’m no expert, but it stands to reason that the council members are the only ones who can rescind their own legislation.  DUH!

I’m thinking North Miami City Manager Stephen Johnson is either the dimmest bulb in the chandelier or he’s merely counting on the collective stupidity of the residents to just go with the flow.  You know, the ones who re-elected Andre Pierre for mayor the last go around.

Yeah, that’s a toss up, but I’m leaning toward the dim bulb thing.

The current government of the City of North Miami is a perfect example of what can go wrong when people who should know better don’t get to the polls on election day.  Considering that only about 20% of North Miami registered voters bothered to elect their mayor last May, Plato’s adage rings truer than ever.  He said,

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

And then your inferiors hire a City Manager.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”