I caught some flack for my bloglet yesterday about North Miami Beach not holding its own America’s Night Out Against Crime event, and for giving kudos to North Miami for sponsoring two of them.  Those in NMB who took offense at my shout out to our sister city to the south should take comfort in the fact that North Miami is still rife with enough fraud, corruption and lawlessness to keep this column going for a while.  Are you happy now?

A bigger comfort to you should be the fact that, with the lone exception of L’il Frantzie P, our city council is not corrupt.  This is not to say that I don’t disagree with some of their collective decisions, but I honestly believe that six of them are incapable of committing fraud or other criminal acts.  At least not on purpose.  There is always the chance that at least one of them up there could accidentally do something criminally stupid, but we won’t go there right now.

It’s back to business as usual in North Miami, however, so here’s a follow up on the Burns v. Tondreau, et al, drama that’s keeping us in breathless anticipation.  Some of us anyway.

As I noted in Amateur Hour at the Courthouse, South Florida criminal attorney Benedict P. Kuehne is not only representing Private Citizen/former Mayoral Candidate Lucie Tondreau in a civil lawsuit filed against her by her former opponent, Keven A. Burns, but as I also reported, it appears that Mr. Kuehne claimed to be representing co-defendants, Penelope Townsley (Elections Supervisor), Michael A. Etienne (City Clerk), and the North Miami Canvassing Board, as “co-counsel” with City Attorney Regine Monestime.

According to a Standards for Legal Services document I obtained, my sources were wrong about one thing.  Kuehne is not sharing the spotlight with the City Attorney.  He’s getting top billing.

The document, of which I received an unsigned copy, refers to Kuehne’s law firm as “Outside Counsel.”  It does not state that he will be representing the defendants as “co-counsel.”

The City Attorney’s only role in this arrangement is that she retains the right to final approval of any “complaint, counterclaim, cross-claim, third-party claim, summary judgment motion or conducting depositions,” before Kuehne can file them.  He also has to ask her permission “before selecting a mediator/arbitrator or retaining and [sic] experts; and prior to arranging any use of couriers or express mail, outside printing and/or photocopying or out-of-town travel.”

The terms of the agreement are fairly standard with regard to the hundreds of other Independent Contractor agreements I’ve come across, which typically state the roles the parties agree to undertake, who does what, who pays for what, etc.  In this instance, the city takes responsibility for any “out-of-pocket” expenses, and thus places reasonable limits on what those expenses may include.

Surprisingly, Ben is settling for what appears to be about half (or less) the fee his law firm could and probably does charge clients, in a town where a good criminal attorney is not only in high demand, but worth his weight in gold.  At a mere $250.00 an hour, Kuehne is practically giving himself away.  The question is, “Why?”  Anyone wanna guess?

There is still one problem with this mess, however, in that neither this document, nor the attached “Engagement Letter” it refers to in the first paragraph, spells out exactly which of the four defendants Ben has been hired to represent.  The Engagement Letter merely reiterates that Kuehe’s firm has been hired.  It then states that “The representation is set forth in the retainer agreement.”  Based on this reference, I can only assume that a “retainer agreement” is yet another document to be attached as an exhibit.

How long it will take to get a copy of said “retainer agreement” is anyone’s guess.

It’s also worthy to note that neither of the two documents I have received are dated, and only the Engagement Letter has been signed.  Maybe it’s a work in progress.

The even bigger question, however, is this:  If Kuehne was hired to represent Lucie Tondreau, Michael A. Etienne and the North Miami Canvassing Board as appears to be the case right now (pending the details as specified in the missing and mysterious “retainer agreement”), WHY IS THE CITY OF NORTH MIAMI PAYING FOR LUCIE’S LEGAL FEES?

As we already know, Tondreau is being sued as a Private Citizen for actions she committed before she was “elected.”  As a Private Citizen defending herself in court, she should be using her Private Funds to pay a Private Attorney.  So far it appears that North Miami taxpayers are picking up the tab.

But, don’t worry your pretty little heads about it.  At least you guys get community events to keep your minds off such matters.

Enjoy!

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”