North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph was removed from office by his peers during Tuesday night’s commission meeting, triggering a special election expected to occur within 35 to 90 days.
The matter before the commission last night was whether Joseph violated the city charter for being absent from three consecutive commission meetings in December, January and February. Talks of race and political retribution inevitably arose during the public hearing, however, which follows a chaotic period for the city wherein a stream of Black officials have been replaced by white counterparts and Mayor Anthony DeFillipo’s questionable residency status remains unaddressed.
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Michael Joseph while still a sitting North Miami Beach Commissioner.
Joseph himself was absent during the hearing. His attorney, Max Eichenblatt, said that the now former commissioner had recently suffered a heart attack and was on medically advised bed rest.
The commission voted 3-1 to find that Joseph had violated the city charter, which states that “if any Commissioner has failed to attend a meeting of the City Commission for a period of 120 days, the seat of such Commissioner shall automatically become vacant.”
Arguments from both sides surrounded when exactly the law intends for the clock to begin for an absent commissioner. Attorney Michael Pizzi, representing Vice Mayor Jay Chernoff in a lawsuit against Joseph for the same matter, said that the period of 120 days begins after the last meeting that a commissioner attends. In Joseph’s case, that meeting was Oct. 18, leaving 153 days until the next meeting he attended March 21. There was no meeting in November due to elections.
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Michael Joseph when he was first sworn into office as a North Miami Beach City Commissioner.
According to Eichenblatt, however, the clock begins at Joseph’s first absence. From the Dec. 20 meeting to March 21, only 91 days passed. He emphasized that a commissioner cannot be accused of having “failed” to attend a city commission meeting that did not occur, in the same way that a child would not be punished for “failing” to attend school during summer break.
Commissioner Fortuna Smukler took Pizzi’s side, drawing an analogy to pregnancy, where the clock of conception begins from the last day of menstruation and not at the first day of a missed menstrual cycle.
(Samantha Morell for The Biscayne Times)
Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond, a defendant in Commissioner Jay Chernoff's lawsuit, asks the public to speak in the name of democracy before recusing himself from the hearing and vote on Commissioner Michael Joseph's removal.
Smukler, DeFillipo and Commissioner Phyllis Smith voted to remove Joseph. Commissioner Daniela Jean, the only Black commissioner who voted, was alone in her opposition. Chernoff and Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond, who is another defendant in Chernoff’s lawsuit for also being repeatedly absent, were asked to recuse themselves from the vote.
Before Fleurimond left the commission chambers, he asked those who got the opportunity to speak to “do so in the name of democracy.”
What ensued was four hours of public comments, riddled with references to race and religion in a city where Haitians and Jews dominate a large part of the population.
(Samantha Morell for The Biscayne Times)
State Rep. Dotie Joseph attended the May 16 North Miami Beach commission meeting to defend Commissioner Michael Joseph's seat.
“We need inclusion,” said resident Linda Noel. “We need to be heard. That’s why we voted for him, and that’s why we stand with him today. You have a mayor who does not live in the city … The assault on Black politicians – it has to stop, because we’re not going nowhere. We demand inclusion.”
“In May, we are celebrating both Haitian Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, and these are communities that have a longstanding relationship,” said Rep. Dotie Joseph among scoffs and interruptions. “We’ve had a good relationship and sometimes trying relationship in the city of North Miami Beach, but we’ve always been able to remain cordial and respect one another.”
(Samantha Morell for The Biscayne Times)
Resident Linda Noel uses her three minutes to defend Commissioner Michael Joseph's record on issues like minimum wage and affordable housing and to call for Haitian inclusion in the city.
Other Black elected officials came to defend Joseph’s seat, including North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme and North Miami Councilmembers Kassandra Timothe, Mary Estimé-Irvin and Pierre Frantz Charles. Timothe said the commission’s decision is an “abuse of power,” aimed to retaliate against Joseph for protesting the legality of the commission and DeFillipo’s residency status.
The majority of the speakers, however, called for Joseph’s and even Fleurimond’s removal for their failure to attend meetings, insisting it has nothing to do with race.
“I am uncomfortable with unseating a duly elected commissioner, and I’d like to know why they were comfortable with unseating a duly elected mayor, because that’s what this amounts to,” said resident Trish Miller. “It was an attempt at a soft coup to stay away, to keep us from having a quorum, to stop the business of the city for months … You had one job, and that job is the city of North Miami Beach, and our mayor never failed us in that – not once – but our commissioners did.”
The move is done for now, but the lawsuit persists. Eichenblatt reminded commissioners that the court will still make a final decision on both Joseph’s and Fleurimond’s fate. Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Peter Lopez reserves the right to intervene and allow Joseph to keep his seat pending the progression of the litigation.