Two months ago, we reported on the outrageous $39,703.83 that North Miami Beach City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey spent on special events during the month of May.
We also reported that we suspected Duke was still hiding invoices. As it turned out, we were absolutely right about that!
After almost two months of trying to extract the additional public records from this corrupt City Manager, Mayor Anthony DeFillipo was finally able to get his hands on eight more invoices totaling another $18,515.41!
Of this amount, $1,360.41 was spent on food and refreshments ($904.30, $42.11, and $414.00) for the swearing in of the Deputy Police Chief on May 20, 2021.
The remaining amount of $17,155 was spent as follows:
- $65 to La Bakerie for food for Daniela Jean’s “Patties on the Plaza” to celebrate Haitian Flag Day
- 2,800 to Lex Promotions & Marketing Group for “Social Media Marketing, Dj Service, Talent Booking Dj Griot” for Daniela Jean’s “Patties on the Plaza” to celebrate Haitian Flag Day
- $5,840 to One Show Pam for “Voice Over / Translations & Recordings, Social Media mentions once per day, Media buys” for Paule Villard’s Haitian Heritage Festival
- $400 to Telemasters TV for “EVENT CORVRAGE [sic] & BROADCAST” for Paule Villard’s Haitian Heritage Festival
- $1,500 to Ad-Mazin Media, LLC for “MOBILE DIGITAL DISPLAY ADVERTISING, TRAVELING LOCAL AREAS, COMBINE SLIDE SHOW / AUDIO” for Paule Villard’s Haitian Heritage Festival
- $4,500 to KSE Group, Inc. for “Disip- Performance” (musical group) for Paule Villard’s Haitian Heritage Festival
- $300 to Chef Louisa’s Corner for food for Paule Villard’s “Unity” Breakfast
- $1,750 to Guerrier, Inc. for “Video Production / Content Creation / Graphics / Streaming / Editing” for Paule Villard’s “Unity” Breakfast
So we updated our spreadsheet to include all these newly discovered invoices, which brought the total spending on special events for the month of May, 2021 to a WHOPPING $57,808.38!
No one should be surprised by this out of control spending.
On November 6, 2018, the unbelievably corrupt Michael Joseph, McKenzie Fleurimond and Paule Villard were elected to the City Commission. The budget for Fiscal Year 2018-19 was already in place, which limited their spending habits.
According to the City’s FY 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), “At the close of the current fiscal year, the City’s governmental funds reported combined ending fund balances of $48.3 million, an increase of $3.7 million over the prior fiscal year. Approximately 60.5% or $29.2 million of this amount is available for spending at the City’s discretion (unassigned fund balance),” known as Reserves.
During the budget process for Fiscal Year 2019-20, Michael Joseph and his emboldened colleagues made unreasonable demands on then-City Manager Esmond Scott to budget millions of dollars on special events and other fiscally irresponsible, deficit-inducing policies.
As a result of their outlandish and unsustainable spending, in just one year, “the General Fund unassigned fund balance was $18.0 million, a decrease of 38.4 % below the prior year of $29.2 million,” according to the City’s FY 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).
The FY 2019 net change in the government-wide Fund Balances (page 42) was a positive $3,754,589 over the previous fiscal year.
In FY 2020, after Michael, McKenzie and Paule were elected, the net change in the government-wide Fund Balances (page 41) was a negative $1,750,595!
Even more disturbing is that in Fiscal Year 2019-20, the year-end Governmental Fund Balance (page 134) decreased for the first time in TEN (10) YEARS.
Of course, this is not surprising considering the fact that on September 29, 2019, they passed a Resolution giving themselves an annual raise of $20,751, or 76.9%, from $26,999 to an outrageous $47,750.00!
FOR A PART-TIME JOB!
And then passed a FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget that increased the Mayor and Commission’s budget (page 44) by $293,207 over FY 2019, or 67.7%, from $433,056 in FY 2019 to an astronomical $726,263!
It’s important to note that Resolution R2019-87 was passed for the express purpose of modifying “the executive expenses of the Mayor and Commission, which includes the cost of health benefit[s] in accordance with City Charter Section 2.3.”
Ever since the greedy Commissioners got a fourth co-conspirator last November when Daniela Jean came out of nowhere and “won” a seat on the dais, their spending habits increased exponentially.
If the astronomical increases they voted to gift themselves on September 29, 2019 weren’t heinous enough, on June 15, 2021 they decided to give themselves another raise for their “medical, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits,” even though they already receive a generous expense allowance which was expressly designated to cover the cost of health benefits!
Essentially, the Pirates are double dipping by paying themselves TWICE for their health insurance premiums.
If you think a 38.4% decrease in reserves, a $1,750,595 loss in Government Funds, and spending nearly $60,000 in one month on parties is bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Budget hearings for Fiscal Year 2021-22 are just around the corner. With the grossly overpaid, and colossally unqualified, Arthur “Duke” Sorey at the helm, be prepared for spending on steroids.
Keep in mind that Duke is the creator of fraudulent budgets and the author of North Miami’s $14.6 million deficit.
In North Miami Beach, he’s already wreaking havoc.
Since Duke was hired on April 20, 2021, 50 employees were either fired for being the “wrong” race or nationality or quit because he’s that much of an asshole to work for.
He replaced them with his personal North Miami Friends & Family members, who are “ethnically correct,” paying them a hell of a lot more, and increasing the City’s payroll by $633,448.14.
And, he’s just getting started.
Oddly, there hasn’t been one freaking peep from NMB’s resident pain in the ass, Bruce Lamberto, who never missed an opportunity to complain about the previous two City Managers, Ana Garcia and Esmond Scott, despite the fact that they always ended the year under budget and continuously maintained the City’s healthy reserves.
We hope you’re happy now, Bruce.
One of those new hires is the the son of Paule Villard’s “Chief of Staff”/political operative, Willis Howard, who was hired for the sole purpose of making sure she gets re-elected in November, 2022.
That would be the same Willis Howard, who is the Manager of North Miami Beach Public Affairs, and who couldn’t be bothered to publicize the magnificent two-day Peruvian Bicentennial Celebration, which attracted almost 2,000 attendees, because the racist Pirate Commissioners and Duke Sorey’s administration couldn’t give a shit about NMB’s Hispanic population, which represents almost 39% of the City’s residents.
Yes, folks. North Miami Beach is now officially THE most corrupt City in Miami-Dade County.
Bar none.
The four corrupt NMB Pirates and their corrupt, hand-picked administration are out to deliberately destroy the City of North Miami Beach.
Don’t be surprised if the new FY 2021-22 budget includes another round of raises and additional benefits for the four Commission leeches.
Don’t be surprised if they hand Duke his third raise in less than six months.
Don’t be surprised if your award-winning NMB Police Department loses its accreditation and its rare, third-in-a-row Excelsior status.
Don’t be surprised if your world class trolley system goes to hell. Oh, WAIT! It already has. (Stay tuned…)
Don’t be surprised if they spend the hard-earned tax dollars of North Miami Beach residents to repair the roofs and driveways of their freeloading, parasitic personal friends, who are too greedy and ignorant to know that the maintenance and upkeep of the homes they managed to buy are their own personal responsibility.
Yes, Paule Villard actually made that promise at the July 27, 2021 Town Hall Meeting.
By the time the Fiscal Year 2020-21 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report is published next spring, be prepared to see:
- Your dwindling reserves to completely disappear.
- Your negative Net Fund Balance to double.
- Your year-end Government Fund Balance to decrease for the second time in a row.
- Special event spending to explode!
Elections have consequences.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
If you want to stop the madness — and the bleeding of your tax dollars, get rid of the racist Paule Villard, and support candidates who will represent the best interests of ALL THE RESIDENTS of North Miami Beach.
Even better, step up and run for office yourself!
Apathy is no option if you want to save your City from total destruction.
And from throwing another $5,840 of your tax dollars at One Show Pam.
Stephanie
So much for the community melting pot. I don’t remember all this nonsense with past commissioners and I certainly don’t see your past blogs (newer subscriber) reflecting this great divide. Thanks for another enlightening blog Stephanie.
There is no more melting pot because these four are racists. This bullshit never happened when Philippe DeRose and John Patrick Julien were on the Council because they cared about the entire City, not just Haitians. Frantz Pierre tried to pull the racist crap a few times, but no one paid attention to him because everyone knew he was an asshole. He was also a criminal who eventually got charged and convicted on multiple felonies, so there’s that.
In addition to being racists, Michael, McKenzie, Paule, and Daniela are just as corrupt as Frantz ever was. They have violated a multitude of Florida Statutes, such as Sunshine laws, elections laws, balloon release laws, and others. These criminals have no moral compass, zero ethics, and no understanding of fiscal responsibility. They’re also stupid AF. So are the two morons they installed as City Manager and City Attorney (much more to come about that).
But because there are four of them, they know they can do whatever the hell they want regardless of the consequences. Along with Duke Sorey, who cosigns their bullshit, and Hans Ottinot, who covers their assess when they break laws, they are drunk with power right now. All six of them arrogantly ignore the residents and even their own colleagues on the dais. They refuse to respond to phone calls and emails from “ethically incorrect” residents, yet have no problem spending those taxpayers’ money.
As long as these four criminals sit on the dais, there is absolutely no hope for the future of North Miami Beach. Unless you can vote out at least one of them — Paule is next in line — and elect qualified candidates for the other seats, you may as well sell your house and get the hell out while the getting is good.
There is a desperate need for an in-depth investigation by the Miami Herald and the State Attorney’s office. There must be a forensic audit of every department in the city of NMB!
This is what the taxpayers of North Miami Beach got for not getting off of their collective butts and voting. You are paying for this with your tax dollars. Your city is going to suffer from this pathetic group of dictators!
Unfortunately for the taxpaying residents, there will be no investigation, no audit, and no consequences. This is why criminals who get elected do whatever the hell they want. The “authorities” don’t fucking care.
The ONLY solution for NMB is to vote these criminals out of office, but you and I both know that is a long shot. Paule especially, has already figured out how to commit election fraud (she learned from the best — her mentor, Frantz Pierre). She will do it again and again and again. It doesn’t matter how much evidence we collect to prove her crimes, the State Attorney doesn’t give a shit.
#RIPNMB
I’m dumbfounded. How is it that the SAO does nothing?
It’s incredible what you describe. On the outside we see a fairly normal city, (although my neighbors complain about the garbage, which is really unreliable, pick up schedules are all over the place) but on the inside of city hall, it’s mayhem. You say incompetency is running rampant. Something needs to be done about this.
All I can do is blog and file complaints against the rampant corruption that is now taking place.
The residents of North Miami Beach are the only ones who can fix this mess. The corrupt four won’t listen to you, so don’t bother wasting your breath. What you all need to do is find quality candidates to run, and do everything in your power to get them elected. You will be up against a well financed election fraud machine, of course, but there are ways to beat them at their own game if you’re savvy enough.
Just saying.
Another fabulous blog by Stephanie.
The time and concentration to detail in all of your editorials is mind-blowing, Stephanie. And you’re absolutely correct: the only way to put an end to the chaos is to vote them out but people don’t seem to care. As another commenter stated, her neighbors are only concerned about the garbage. It’s unbelievable the amount of arrogant corruption at the local level of government. Thanks, as always, Stephanie, for Fighting the Good Fight. YOU ARE APPRECIATED!
After reading of North Miami Beach having “Party Line” corruption in numbers of (4) four, I realized this “LOYALTY AMONG THIEVES” (the “MAJORITY VOTE”), and threat to “DEMOCRACY,” is an alleged pattern originated over history with “hiring” and teaching of how to beat the system by “White Boy” Politicians and their “circulating” Attorneys (including Bay Harbor Islands)?