Clean Up City Charters to Solve Dodgy Voting

Moving along from this fraught half-year of national and local elections, let’s start with these immortal words from the late political prankster Dick Tuck, conceding a 1966 California state election:

“The people have spoken, the bastards.”

Or this, from the great satirical cartoonist Walt Kelly of “Pogo” fame, commissioned for the first Earth Day in 1970:

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Such rueful humor sprang to mind during the sour May 15 recount of the May 11 North Miami District 3 election at the Miami-Dade Elections Department. Suspicion and a spirit of self-destruction hung heavy in the room, complete with charges of election fraud, dead voters, fake addresses and conflicts of interests. Undergirding all this was the usual toxic and barely repressed stew of neighborhood, class, and ethnic and racial division – the dark side of these varied and crazy towns.

Isn’t there a simple solution to this nonsense, true or false? Why not put ironclad guardrails in the city charter and city employee code with rules for municipal elections? Keep city employees away from canvassing for the officials to whom they report. Make the three-member canvassing board truly disinterested parties, rather than the current city council members not running for office.

If you want good trouble, start with this. If elected officials push back, make them look ridiculous. Resistance is hypocrisy, playing right into the hands of the MAGAstan vote-suppression media ecosphere, and yet another fine demonstration by the Chinese Communist Party of the uselessness of American democracy.

We know the old saw, “All politics is local.” Here’s mine: “Most politics is tribal.” That certainly seems true here, locally and nationally, even for us issue nerds. Pick your tribe, follow your herd, accuse the other tribe of identity politics. You’ve got MAGA tribe, progressive tribe, Haitian American tribe, gated community tribe, Hispanic tribe, rich tribe, poor tribe. Or contrarian tribe for you Libertarians.

North Miami Beach Vice Mayor Paule Villard showed up on Caribbean TV May 14 calling for more “unity” in “diversity,” explicitly meaning more Haitian Americans in City Hall, displaying George Orwell “Animal Farm” logic. That’s fine, as long as competence and professionalism overshadow tribe, which alone won’t help in dealing with pipes, potholes or public safety.

Whether locally or nationally, the way out of this morass will take grit, persistence and determination. Otherwise, just hand the keys to developers, special interests and self-serving politicians doing the tribal thing and enjoy the ride. Or show some moxie, meet other tribe representatives and call out your own tribe when necessary. It’s harder than being a lemming – any fool can do that – but you’ll be happier, maybe.

It’s time to wake up, for big doings are afoot in Northeast Miami-Dade in this post-pandemic hurricane season. Developments large and small are on the boards and getting ready for shovels in North Miami, North Miami Beach, and – watch for it – unincorporated Biscayne Gardens, that sprawling territory of 34,000 souls between I-95 and NE 18th Avenue. Expect incorporation pressure there soon, and in unincorporated hole-in-the-donut sections within North Miami Beach.

Turnout May 11 was predictably uninspiring.

The three races for mayor, central District 3 and southeast District 2 produced turnouts of 16%, 19% and 22%, respectively.

Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime won 64-36 over former City Clerk Michael Etienne. District 3 Incumbent Mary Estimé-Irvin dodged a June 1 runoff against community activist Laura Hill by just two votes. But unlike most defeated candidates, Hill is not going away. Among her fans: State Sen. Jason Pizzo, who backed her.

In District 2, former North Miami Public Information Officer Kassandra Timothe gathered just under 34% of the vote, while No. 2 candidate and former Mayor Kevin Burns pulled in 24%, moving both to runoff June 1, after this is written but before you read this.

Challenging the District 2 result: No. 3 candidate Dr. Hector Medina, 63, a Puerto Rican-born retired medical administrator, activist, two-time mayoral candidate and occasional spoiler.

After the May 16 recount Medina narrowed his vote gap with Burns from 23 to 22 points behind him, and threw his support to Timothe.

It looked like a Timothe head-fake all along. This could prove significant. Medina polls well among Hispanics who lack representation on the council. Hispanics make up 35% of North Miami’s population and are growing.

Next door, North Miami Beach is reaping a whirlwind as a direct result of the Nov. 17 runoff that changed everything – thanks to newcomer Daniela Jean’s 3-2 victory over Margie Love – with a measly 11.45% turnout.

The new 4-3 Haitian American majority is in firm command, with a top-to-bottom purge and exodus in City Hall that promises to resonate for years. City Manager Arthur H. Sorey III, who came from North Miami, is in the saddle on a four-year, $240,000 annual contract, with omnipresent political operative Willis Howard as his $127,000-a-year chief of staff.

That said, there’s plenty to watch and lots of good trouble to have.

Finally, a word of celebration and mourning for one of the good guys, Bob Pechon of North Miami, who passed on May 3 at age 70. He was a leader in Keystone Point, builder of alliances among vastly different neighborhoods, creator of scholarships for striving kids. Bob worked hard, dug deep and disagreed without being disagreeable. He didn’t seek money, glory or publicity, and his mind was one sharp blade. He was a source, occasional partner in crime and friend. Our political registrations were different, but I cannot recall one time we talked national politics. Every town needs less tribe and more Bobs, and North Miami was lucky to have him.