The city of North Miami Beach may have to wait until next year to secure a new mayor, after the commission chose the latest of three potential election dates proposed within the last two months.
Commissioners voted 4-2 in August to hold a special election Dec. 5, 2023, to fill a seat left vacant by former Mayor Anthony DeFillipo. The qualifying period runs Oct. 23-28. If a runoff is needed, another election will be held Jan. 23, 2024.
At that meeting, John Herin, interim city attorney, also proposed Nov. 7 as a possible election date which could be accommodated by the county’s elections department. Commissioners Fortuna Smukler, Phyllis Smith and Jay Chernoff all preferred that date, but Commissioners Daniela Jea
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
North Miami Beach Commissioners McKenzie Fleurimond, Daniela Jean and Michael Joseph (L-R) voted against a November mayoral election.
n, McKenzie Fleurimond and Michael Joseph did not. The discussion on the November election, held prior to the consideration of the December date, resulted in a tied vote and therefore failed.
The same dissenting commissioners voted no on an Oct. 10 election the previous month.
“I can’t in my wildest mind think what’s the purpose of the delay,” said Smith.
Initially failing to provide a clear reason for his vote, Fleurimond eventually said a later election date will provide ample time for DeFillipo’s trial to be held and settled. If DeFillipo is found not guilty and returns to office after an election is held, Fleurimond said, the city would have wasted the approximately $67,000 it costs to hold an election.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Commissioner Jay Chernoff has been acting North Miami Beach mayor since former Mayor Anthony DeFillipo was suspended in June. A special election has now been set for Dec. 5, 2023, to fill the seat.
The former mayor was criminally charged with voter fraud in May and subsequently suspended from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June. A trial on the matter is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 5.
Fleurimond’s approval of the Dec. 5 date was a concession, however, as he truly believes that an appointment should be in order according to Florida statute, either by the commission or by DeSantis himself. Herin, on the other hand, insists that an appointment is not an available option.
Smith and Chernoff joined Fleurimond and Jean in approving the Dec. 5 election, but Smukler did not concede to the later date.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
An appeals case and trial are pending to decide the fate of North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph, who was removed from office by his peers and then temporarily reinstated by a judge.
Joseph refused to approve either date as the commission is already in violation of a city charter requirement that states a special election must be held between 34 and 90 days after a vacancy is announced. The Miami-Dade County Elections Department was unable to organize an election within that time frame.
“I’m looking at it from a legal standpoint,” said Joseph. “I’ve gone through the gauntlet as far as how this commission has voted and people had to step in, from a judge to the governor, and I just want to be consistent and that’s basically what I’m doing.”
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Commissioner Phyllis Smith voted with the majority to pass the December election date after initially expressing shock at the further delay.
Residents have repeatedly spoken in favor of an election to be held as soon as possible, especially as the divided six-person commission resulted in three tied votes at the July meeting. Prior to that, city business had been halted completely as Jean, Fleurimond and Joseph repeatedly missed meetings earlier this year to protest DeFillipo’s questionable residency status.
The commission has also been trying to come to terms with paying attorneys for litigation brought forth regarding those absences. At the August meeting, commissioners voted 4-1 to pay Fleurimond’s attorney fees in a lawsuit that was brought against him by Chernoff in February and has now been dismissed.
Smukler was the dissenting vote. Joseph recused himself, despite being advised by Herin and Jose Arrojo, executive director of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, that he did not have to.
The payment of Joseph’s attorney fees in the same lawsuit, however, was deferred until after the case is settled and the special mayoral election is held. Chernoff has not dropped the lawsuit against Joseph, which resulted in the latter’s removal by his peers on the commission until he was temporarily reinstated in a June ruling by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Peter Lopez.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Commissioner Fortuna Smukler voted against paying Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond’s attorney fees.
Chernoff and his attorneys have since appealed that decision to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, but the case has not progressed.
Joseph’s attorneys have otherwise notified Lopez that they are ready for an official trial to settle the matter once and for all.
Meanwhile, Sen. Jason Pizzo made a quick appearance at the beginning of the August commission meeting for a legislative update to the commission. While there, Pizzo, who is an alternating chair for the state’s joint legislative auditing committee, assured commissioners that they should expect the city of North Miami Beach to be audited by the state of Florida in due time.
(Florida Politics)
Sen. Jason Pizzo
A forensic audit has been long anticipated by the city as accusations have run amok against its spending habits in recent years. Andrew Bejel, former human resources director, and Jennifer C. Hillmon, former public affairs assistant, were charged with counts of fraud and theft in May. Meanwhile, attorney Michael Pizzi, who was hired by the city to investigate misspending and has also been separately representing DeFillipo and Chernoff in their respective cases, in July accused the city’s former manager, Arthur “Duke” Sorey III, of misusing city funds.
Also in July, Sorey filed a lawsuit against the city – as well as Smith, Chernoff and DeFillipo in their individual capacities – for reversing the cause of his termination without notice or proper procedure, and for not paying him his severance benefits in time.
Given all the chaos that has followed the city in the recent past, Pizzo left commissioners with one remark: “The world’s watching. Tallahassee has been watching … It’s been an embarrassment, and you guys won’t get any money or any funding or any concern or any care from Tallahassee if you continue to make headlines, all of you. That’s where we are.”