In Part 1 of this never ending saga of ex-Commissioner Paule Villard’s taxpayer-funded vacation to Haiti, accompanied by your North Miami Beach Deputy Police Chief Ervens Ford, we were still trying to piece together all the costs.

Since July 30, 2022, we have been patiently waiting for responses to our Public Records Request for:

1. All documentation, including emails, memoranda, travel requests, all invoices for air fare, hotel, transportation and meals, for Paule Villard’s and Deputy Chief Ervens Ford’s recent trip to Haiti.
2. An accounting of the regular and/or overtime pay for Deputy Chief Ervens Ford with respect to this trip to Haiti.
3. All documentation, including emails and memoranda, regarding a “partnership and cooperation” between the North Miami Beach Police Department and the government and/or police department of Cap-Haïtien, per the attached screenshots of Facebook posts.

Obtaining these records from City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey’s tightly clenched fists has not been easy, but we’ve been persistent.

So persistent, in fact, that we literally had to go through back channels by painstakingly combing through the Monthy Check Registers that Duke has reluctantly posted on the City’s website (he still hasn’t posted the December, 2022 register!) in order to investigate potential payments to vendors that city officials conveniently “forgot” to include in our document requests.

Once again, we caught the miscreants in the act of omission while reviewing their latest document dump on January 24, 2023 — six months after we made our initial request.

As we previously told you, we first waited four months and six days to receive a “partial response” to our request, which only included the “Program Agenda” and travel expenses for Deputy Chief Ervens Ford, who accompanied Paule on her vacation as a bodyguard.  The cost of his trip alone was $2,368.46, not including his pay for the eight (8) days he spent in Haiti “protecting” his charge.

While we still don’t have that dollar amount, we do know that his base salary is $146,631, according to Duke’s Proposed FY23 Budget Expenses.  In addition, North Miami Beach taxpayers also shell out on Ford’s behalf an annual $600 cell phone allowance, $14,543 retirement benefit, $14,532 in payroll taxes, and $27,206 in health, life, accidental death and dismemberment and worker’s comp insurances, for a total compensation package of $203,512 a year.

Since we don’t have the actual amount he was paid to be Paule’s bodyguard in Haiti, we’ll take a low ball guess that he received eight days of regular pay worth approximately $4,460.54.

Of course, this does not account for whether or not he received any overtime pay, but since Ford is a salaried employee, he may not be eligible for OT.  We will hopefully have an exact figure sometime in, oh, maybe the next six months or so.

It also doesn’t account for the eight days Ford was collecting a North Miami Beach taxpayer-funded salary while not actually serving the North Miami Beach taxpayers.

In the meantime, we’ll estimate that Deputy Chief Ervens Ford’s bodyguard services during Paule’s taxpayer-funded vacation to Haiti cost North Miami Beach taxpayers at least $6,830.00.

Moving right along.

The newest public record we received is Paule’s Travel Package, which includes her Pre-Travel Authorization form signed on July 19, 2022 by Paule Villard, Finance Director Agnew Jean-Pierre, and Assistant City Manager Gedel “Beelzebub” Merzius for Duke Sorey.

According to the Authorization, the alleged purpose of “The Congress National De La Pastoral Des Jeunes,” which translates to “the National Congress of the Youth Ministry.”

Also included in this package is an undated letter from Father Audigène Bayard of the Diocèse de Fort-Liberté, Nord-est; Haïti inviting Paule to attend the annual conference of the Congrès national de la pastorale des jeunes à Fort-Liberté.  He advised her she was scheduled to speak “on July 28 and July 29,” so that she could “inspire and empower” the youth of Haiti.

 

What the letter did not say is that one of those “youths of Haiti” is PAULE VILLARD’S OWN NEPHEW!

So, let’s connect some dots here.

• Paule Villard’s nephew, who lives in Haiti, is a member of The Congress National de La Pastorale Des Jeunes.”
• He planned to attend its “5th Youth Ministry Congress” in Fort-Liberté, Haiti.
• He then finagled an invitation to his dear aunt Paule, who just happens to be an elected official in the United States.
• And voilà!  Paule Villard’s taxpayer-funded vacation to Haiti became a reality!

Father Bayard closed his letter by saying “we would like to have a partnership with you.  Because we need a lot of financial help to make this youth ministry work.”

In other words, “Send money.”

According to Paule’s Travel Package, her vacation cost taxpayers a grand total of $2,451.29, including the alleged $800.00 for “lodging,” $469.50 for airfare, $499.29 to rent a car, and the $682.50 “per diem” check paid directly to Paule for the eight days of meals while visiting her family.

Paule’s “lodging,” including tax, actually cost $920.00, which she paid for with her taxpayer-funded Procurement Card (P Card) when she arrived on July 23, 2022, as evidenced by Paule’s August 5, 2022 P Card Statement.

We also couldn’t help but notice that Paule’s reservation in a “Superior Queen Room” was for two adults!

Who was the second adult who stay in her taxpayer-funded hotel room?

Her nephew perhaps?

We intend to find out.

Assuming no more invoices mysteriously appear, the total cost of Paule’s second taxpayer-funded summer vacation of 2022 to $2,571.20.

Plus the cost of her personal bodyguard’s the Deputy Chief of Police’s travel in the amount of $2,368.46.

Plus the eight days of salary he received while not doing his actual work in the approximate amount of $4,460.54.

And you’re looking at a grand total of $9,400.20 flushed down the toilet so ex-Commissioner Paule Villard could visit her nephew in Haiti.

And finally, we’re still waiting for the final item of our July 30, 2022 Public Records Request for “All documentation, including emails and memoranda, regarding a “partnership and cooperation” between the North Miami Beach Police Department and the government and/or police department of Cap-Haïtien, per the attached screenshots of Facebook posts.”

Since we’re pretty sure Paule just made up that whole story to justify this taxpayer-funded vacation (and to make herself look important), we expect to receive the usual “no records responsive to your request” reply any day now.

Florida’s Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees, adopted by the Legislature as Part III of Chapter 112, Florida Statutes, specifically Section 112.313(6) MISUSE OF PUBLIC POSITION states, “No public officer, employee of an agency, or local government attorney shall corruptly use or attempt to use his or her official position or any property or resource which may be within his or her trust, or perform his or her official duties, to secure a special privilege, benefit, or exemption for himself, herself, or others.”

Article I, Sec. 2-11-1(g) of the Miami-Dade County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance states, “Exploitation of official position prohibited. No person included in the terms defined in subsection (b)(1) through (6) and (b)(13) shall use or attempt to use his or her official position to secure special privileges or exemptions for himself or herself or others except as may be specifically permitted by other ordinances and resolutions previously ordained or adopted or hereafter to be ordained or adopted by the Board of County Commissioners.”

Complaints should be filed.

Just saying.

Stephanie