“In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate – look to his character…”
– Noah Webster, Letters to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education — 1789
The North Miami Beach City Council election is finally over and we have two winners. In Group 4, Councilwoman Beth Spiegel retained her seat with 1,148 votes to her opponent’s 690, and in Group 1, Anthony “Tony” DeFillipo got 1,174 to his opponent’s 516. They both clearly won their races by a long shot, but something about those numbers just don’t add up.
For starters, 1,838 voters cast ballots in Group 4, but only 1,690 voted in Group 2. On the surface, this means that 148 more people came out to only vote in the Spiegel vs. Dargenson race and couldn’t care less who occupied the other seat on the dais. This is troubling on so many levels.
Then again, the fact that Yvenoline “Yve” Dargenson received even one vote, much less 690, is not only troubling, it’s unconscionable. It also says a lot about why people vote the way they do.
In order to understand this anomaly, we must lay out the facts, analyze them thoroughly and hopefully come up with a rational explanation. In order to cast a vote for Yvenoline “Yve” Dargenson, you must have believed either one of two scenarios:
1. That she really did NOT live with her husband in their MIRAMAR HOME, gave birth to his three children, but never left her parents’ home in North Miami Beach; or
2. That she really does live in MIRAMAR, but lied about it in order to run for office in North Miami Beach, and you are one of the 690 people who didn’t care.
If you fall into the first category, then you are either really stupid or really naive. According to the transcript of Judge Darrin Gayles’ ruling from the hearing on Monday, he was neither stupid nor naive. Good thing he’s sitting on that bench instead of at least 690 voters in North Miami Beach.
Judge Gayles’ scathing commentary says it all, but he had me at “I do find substantial evidence to contradict the defendant’s testimony.” He didn’t stop there. From his statement, “I simply do not find Ms. Dargenson’s testimony credible,” to “From the outset, the difficulty that I had was the belief that the 5-year-old child would have lived with the father for, I guess since birth as opposed to Ms. Dargenson,” to “There are statements for which a reasonable person would be expected to know that she could not provide an answer,” it is quite apparent that Yvenoline Dargenson wasn’t able to pull the wool over the judge’s eyes. Good for him!
Judge Gayles went on to point out the fact that the evidence she herself produced, such as the car registrations and insurance, life insurance, and that her children go to school in MIRAMAR, proved to him that “there really is no other evidence, substantial evidence as to her domicile in North Miami Beach.” He was also not impressed by her “neighbors,” who the judge found to “have a motive certainly to skew their testimony in favor of the defendant,” one of whom actually said under oath that he thought the three minor children lived with Dargenson in her parents’ North Miami Beach home, and neither of whom had ever “been inside the house” nor “seen any of the defendant’s belongings.”
In other words, Judge Gayles apparently somehow got the impression that Yvenoline and her witnesses were all liars.
Ya think?
But, he didn’t stop there.
His final order was that the election would take place as scheduled, but that he will “enter an appropriate ruling, if necessary, on Wednesday,” and that the city will certify the results after his ruling. His final statement on the record was, “I’m simply ordering that the election not be certified until I’ve entered an order, but effectively you know what my ruling is going to be, if necessary.”
The key words here are “if necessary.” For all intents and purposes he may as well have said, “If by some miracle this lying #%*!^&$@ scares up enough votes to win, I will overturn the election.”
Yep, that’s exactly what I heard him rule.
The most troubling thing of all is that 690 allegedly intelligent and educated voters heard essentially the same thing and voted for her anyway.
Of course, none of us in North Miami Beach believe for one minute that all 690 of those votes were legitimate. The fact that the unscrupulous, unethical and allegedly criminal Council Weasel Frantz Pierre was involved in this candidate’s campaign already raised the question of how free and fair this election was going to be from the get go. As we already know, L’il Frantzie P himself has eight registered “voters” allegedly living in his house. Who knows how many of The P Man’s associates also have convenient “voters” occupying their homes?
On top of those questionable ballots, Dargenson paid known, and self-admitted, ballot broker Volney Nerette the sum of $500.00 on March 29, 2013, and suspected ballot broker Carline Paul the sum of $1,000.00 on May 8, 2013. One can only imagine how many absentee ballots fifteen hundred bucks can buy. Just saying.
You know what they say about smoke:
Even assuming that a large portion of those 690 ballots for Dargenson were cast by legitimate residents who actually intended to vote for her, that’s almost as scary as voter fraud.
What that tells me is that far too many people in North Miami Beach do not care that their elected officials lie, cheat or steal (how else can you explain Frantzie’s re-elections?), but that maybe, just maybe, Identity Politics were at play here.
I certainly hope this is not the case, but my gut is telling me otherwise.
I certainly hope that Yvenoline “Yve” Dargenson did not get votes by Haitians or blacks merely because she is Haitian and black.
That would be just as bad as my voting for Hillel Hellinger over Tony DeFillipo just because I happen to be Jewish.
Or, God forbid, if I had voted for Myron Rosner over George Vallejo for the same reason.
But since I do not engage in Identity Politics – in fact, I abhor race baiting by ANYONE – I not only supported, endorsed and voted for Tony and George over their opponents, but I consistently vote for principle over race, color, nationality and religion.
Otherwise, I would be a racist.
There is no doubt in my mind that Tony was the best candidate in his race regardless of his opponent’s religion.
There was also no doubt in my mind that, Jewish or not Jewish, Myron was one of the most corrupt elected officials South Florida had ever seen. (Turns out, I wasn’t alone in that assessment.)
I would love for there to be no doubt in my mind that Dargenson didn’t get 690 votes because of the color of her skin.
Because THAT would be RACIST!
The fact remains is that a Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge, who just happens to be black, did not believe a word Yvenoline “Yve” Dargenson said, and he had no problem telling her so. He based his rulings so far on the evidence presented at the hearings and not on her race or nationality. In fact, not only did he not appear to see the color of her skin, he saw right through her.
As Judge Gayles opined, I also know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Yvenoline “Yve” Dargenson is not credible. I also believe that, like her “mentor,” she can look you in the eye and lie with the straightest of faces. Like her “mentor,” she is a fraud and a lawbreaker. Like her “mentor,” she is not qualified by any standard to sit on the council in the City of North Miami Beach.
I find it incredibly sad to think that any citizen in North Miami Beach may have voted for Dargenson merely because of the color of her skin without once considering the content of her character.
I also find it incredibly RACIST.
If that is the case, then Martin Luthor King, Jr., will have died in vain.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
Stephanie, I am not surprised. A relative of mine who voted in the general election, but was out of the country for the run off, told me she voted for Hellinger because she saw a Jewish name and did not know any of the candidates. This just shows that the candidates need to do a better job in getting their name, face, and ideas out to the general public.
I find that deplorable! The candidates in this case did get out their names, faces and platforms to the voters. Unfortunately, almost 95% of the voters in North Miami Beach didn’t pay attention. Worse, people like your friend cast a vote without having a clue what the candidates were offering in order to earn her vote. I do not blame the candidates. I blame the electorate! Either they chose not to inform themselves about the issues, (or didn’t care about the issues) and simply voted based on Identity Politics, or they just didn’t vote. To paraphrase Plato, those who do not involve themselves in politics end up being governed by their inferiors.
Frantz Pierre comes to mind…
Congratulations to the winners. Can we now get to the business of making our city safer? The last gang drive-by shooting was a mere twelve blocks from my house. Are we going to get the gang unit back? It’s not just bad politicians coming our way from North Miami, it’s bad gangs too. While a break-in can happen in the best of cities, gang violence is the exclusive issue of low-end cities. You never read about drive-by shootings in Aventura or Coral Gables, and while I know we are no Aventura, we are no Opa loka either. We all have the right to feel safe in our neighborhoods and frankly, after you fought so hard to stay in (Beth) and get in (Tony), the least you guys can do is show your appreciation to the voters who supported you by making our city a safe place to live, work and shop.
Surely by now her superiors at the Social Security Administration have been made aware of the kind of individual they have working for them. She made the grave mistake of lying under oath. She either has a lot of nerve or she’s incredibly, incredibly dumb for seeing this through. She made it 100 times worse for herself. She’ll never be able to clear her name after this, and will always be associated with what she did during this election. Buh-bye to her and the Gang Of Five.
Have no fear I shall run the numbers once again when I get a hold of the precinct by precinct breakdown. The results shroud be revealing or should I say interesting. My gut bet is that Uleta (precinct 116) will stick out like a sore thumb. Stay tuned.
As some are busy congratulating our politicians for their victory, our city is beseiged with gun violence caused by gangs that have grown bolder and stronger unfettered by a police department stripped of the ability to combat them. Stripped by the same politicians whose victory we are celebrating. Not for nothing, but it seems to me our biggest problem is the plague of murder and shootings and not a faux resident who just might make better decisions than the current group who stupidly and needlessly fired 15% of our police officers rather than make smart cuts in spending.
I have to disagree with you on the point that if a non-resident runs and, worse, gets elected, it would be on par with violating our US Constitution. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the decisions of any council member, one has to be legitimate in the first place. Council members can be voted out of office, but even one fraud sitting on the dais endangers the legitimacy of the entire government. Dargenson was a complete fraud and she needed to be shown the exit door. Now we have to work on getting the Charter Review Committee disbanded and re-formed. The Charter IS our Constitution and it must be reviewed, and eventually amended, only by residents who actually live here!
Sorry, Stephanie…but on this one you and I have to disagree. Like your health, without safety and security your diatribe aimed at residency is a luxury none of us can afford to indulge. It is not that I am disagreeing with you on the legality of your point, just your priorities. There was a shooting just a few blocks from your home last week. My point is this….if a bullet shatters your window and your skull, then who really cares about the rest. Right? Our city, mine and yours, is becoming a war zone. You know why. You know the role the mayor and council play in the surging gun violence. I am not quite sure whether you have grasped how avoidable it was. And that, that is the part that angers me so. This gun violence was avoidable. The layoffs were avoidable. They could have chosen another path, but they chose this one. They chose this pension-reform-at-all-cost and the consequences have been violent, and fortunately for them the cost in human life has not become politically unaffordable and so the political seige continues. Meanwhile, the morale gets worse and worse and I am telling you that if it hasn’t passed the point of no return already, then it soon will. And ultimately it WILL be you and the other residents that pay the highest price. So spend 10 more days ranting about where a candidate lives, that is your prerogative, but if your computer is near a window you may want to keep your head down….just in case.
That’s okay. We don’t have to agree on everything. On most issues, I’m right along there with you.