Let’s talk about North Miami and NMB, shall we?

It’s spring, and the political toxins are blooming.

How do we extinguish or reduce them, as North Miami Beach lurches from last November’s election and North Miami grapples with its own May 11 vote and June 1 runoff?

North Miami Beach commission meetings have turned into six-hour screaming matches, with the mayor, city attorney and councilmembers baring their rattlesnake fangs. Civic glue is fraying. During the week of April 12 alone, the city lost its chief financial officer and water director, less than two months after the departure of a popular city manager and police chief (depending on who you talk to), followed by a rushed and limited search for a new manager.

That search culminated in the unsurprising April 20 selection of Arthur H. “Duke” Sorey III, now the former deputy city manager of North Miami. Commissioners Michael Joseph and McKenzie Fleurimond telegraphed that result in February. We wish everyone success and hope that hiring in haste does not mean repenting at leisure.

Calling for civility lately seems to work about as well as chanting “om” and lecturing on chakras during a painful childbirth or massive coronary. Clearing the toxins will take more than a pill or friendly word, or a surrender flag. At the Sorey hiring, the two “no” votes, Mayor Anthony DeFillipo and Commissioner Barbara Kramer, balked at Sorey’s $240,000 annual salary and four-year contract, but otherwise barely raised a peep. Two days later, DeFillipo mistakenly indicated in a Spanish-language Facebook livestream broadcast for a Colombia audience that tourists could get vaccinated in North Miami Beach. The news rippled across the hemisphere and the city had to walk it back. Time for some breathing exercises.

North Miami is heating up nicely, too, as the May 11 election advances the city’s hallucinogenic traditions. Remember the mayoral candidate in 2013 who handed out flyers saying she was endorsed by Jesus Christ?

District 3 candidates Jean Marcellus and Wancito Francius went at each other outside Café Crème April 17, campaign volunteers fought turf wars and candidates said they were being stalked by city employees. “This city sucks!” said one helpful candidate at an April 13 forum at the café, before the debate stopped as a quartet choir serenaded a 95-year-old birthday girl with some lovely Brahms.

“Fiscal responsibility” is the slogan of the day, especially with challengers. Separately leading charges for root-and-branch systemic reform: self-funded mayoral candidate and former City Clerk Michael Etienne, District 3 candidate and activist Laura Hill, and District 2 candidate and former Mayor Kevin Burns. Hint to all: Keep it classy and please be constructive and precise. Temperament and moral courage count.

Incumbent Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime, eight years on the council, is running as the pro who knows the system and champions downtown development and affordable housing. District 3 incumbent Council-woman Mary Estimé-Irvin, just two years in and looking for a cause, is pitching her history of community involvement. Developer money backs both. Bien-Aime and Estimé-Irvin have backing from former North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre and allies.

As early voting starts, the field is down to 13. Failing to qualify: the Ali brothers for District 3 and Evens Bien-Aime for District 2, where attorney and former social worker Esther Blynn, wife of former Councilman Michael Blynn, jumped in late to run.

Kassandra Timothe, former North Miami public information officer, is knocking on doors in District 2, offering youth, energy and a passion for public service.

Michael McDearmaid, a lobbyist and longtime board member in North Miami, touts his native son status and active volunteer work as his claim to the District 2 seat. Other candidates for that spot include Hector Medina, a retired medical administrator and longtime activist; William Welsh, a semiretired stockbroker and community leader in Sans Souci; and Jessica Wolland, daughter of former Mayor Frank Wolland.

Both cities have big divisions over the role of city government. That’s especially clear in North Miami Beach, with its $29.5 million reserve, a rainy day fund North Miami doesn’t have. Exactly what should be done with it? Let’s pray there is no hurricane this year or next.

While we are on the subject of greenbacks, as in real money, Dezer Development in North Miami Beach – through lobbyist Ron Book and others – and developer Jimmy Tate in North Miami gave big money, swinging elections toward incumbents.

It’s telling that before last November’s election, Dezer Development easily got what it wanted in clearing the zoning for the $1.5 billion Intracoastal Mall project, with the blessing of incumbent candidates DeFillipo, Fleurimond and Joseph.

Nor is it a coincidence that the North Miami Council voted 5-0 April 13 to lease three acres of city land at $125,000 a year so Tate can build two towers totaling 350 units at 1810 NE 146th St., over the objections of neighboring businesses and without a public hearing with formal notice. Tate contributed around $50,000 to the reelection campaign of Bien-Aime and at least $10,000 to Estimé-Irvin. Tate is a well-regarded developer and longtime city resident, so this may just be the perfect project pushed by Bien-Aime in time for the election. But, as with the Sorey selection, speed impedes trust.

Perhaps both cities could use one or two workshops – in the sunshine, with no binding votes – to clear the air with an independent facilitator and a minimum of grandstanding or speechifying. They could happen in May or June, before the August/September budget workshops, when it’s all over but the shouting.

Start with straight talk on water, garbage, sewer rates and taxes, because that is what residents care about.