Noticed the high casualty rate among South Florida city managers lately?
You know, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Doral, Fort Lauderdale … we can go on. And now, after a brief interlude of apparent sanity, it’s North Miami’s turn, with city manager Rasha Cameau on the chopping block.
Beware answered prayers.
(City of North Miami)
Kassandra TimotheNorth Miami Councilmember
District 2 Councilperson Kassandra Timothe sprang this surprise under “council reports” right at the end of an April meeting. District 3 Councilperson Mary Estime-Irvin seconded it “for purposes of discussion.” Appointed District 4 Councilperson Pierre Frantz Charles voted to set the firing in motion, providing the fateful swing vote. They’re now on track to all-but finalize Cameau’s firing 5:30 pm May 7.
Folks, these things don’t just happen. And there’s more.
Remember Hans Ottinot, the attorney who resigned on the eve of being terminated himself by the city on fire, North Miami Beach? Ottinot has now surfaced in North Miami, as he was retained April 12 as “conflict counsel” to manage Cameau’s departure at the request of Estime-Irvin.
North Miami is close to broke, with next to zero reserves for rainy days like hurricanes, and Cameau, who shuns publicity, is struggling to right the city’s fiscal house and correct a long-standing structural deficit.
Developers and businesses are eager to come in. North Miami’s water and sewer system is a mess, with more pipes bursting every month; yawning bill delinquencies, which Cameau has made big landlords cough up; and a 1962 water plant held together with baling wire, rubber bands, chemical treatments and staff heroism. Inaction risks building moratoriums or state receivership. This is no time for unbudgeted parties, council pay raises, foreign trips or fancy hotel stays.
So, you’re looking at no city manager, no assistant city manager, no public works director and no Plan B in this election year – unless people like Ottinot and political kingmaker and former North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre know something we don’t. And this comes just as the EPA has formally cleared the city to apply for a $200.9 million WIFIA loan toward water plant and infrastructure replacements and upgrades estimated at $410 million, and just as deputy city manager Aneisha Daniel, the application mastermind, is leaving to helm Miami-Dade County’s Department of Solid Waste Management May 7.
Who’s going to manage all of this and how? If there’s any time for aggressive citizen involvement and professionalism over politics, that time is now.
Timothe started her remarks at last month’s meeting by saying that she was about to go on maternity leave for a high-risk pregnancy. Then she put her master’s degree in public administration to work and set the room agog, moving to fire Cameau. She cited various irregularities at the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency, which Cameau used to run.
Reaction in the room ran the gamut from perplexed to outraged in nearly an hour of comment.
Longtime city attorney Jeff Cazeau said councilmembers had to come up with a list of precise written reasons for Cameau’s termination by the May 14 meeting, and that she could meanwhile continue to go to work, interview for the newly vacant position of assistant city manager and try to manage this city of 58,906.
That wasn’t enough for Timothe, so she hustled on April 15 to call for a special April 18 emergency meeting at 5:30 p.m. – rush hour – to get Cameau out of her office right away and remain on paid administrative leave pending formal discharge. That fell through the following day, but on May 3, they succeeded in scheduling a special 5:30 pm meeting this Tuesday, May 7, which Mayor Alix Desulme and Councilman Scott Galvin do not plan to attend.
After a little over a year on the job, residents and business owners alike give Cameau good-to-great reviews. Her mandate is to reverse an underlying deficit, improve flagging staff morale, restructure departments, and speed efficiency and responsiveness. She often says no to unbudgeted items, thus annoying councilmembers.
After running North Miami’s CRA, which covers 70% of the city, Cameau oversaw all 11 of the county’s CRAs, created by the state in 2005 to use extra tax revenue from new developments to reduce urban blight. She’s tight with District 2 Commissioner Marleine Bastien and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
To make an omelet, Cameau breaks eggs. At 8:20 a.m. on April 5, Wisler Pierre-Louis, North Miami’s well-liked public works director, wrote Cameau that he was resigning that very day after 10 years on the job and 16 in the department, saying “your leadership style has created a toxic work environment that has adversely affected my health and well-being.”
For whatever reason, there had been holdups in communicating the momentous EPA loan news to the council, which may have resulted in an unpleasant conversation or two.
That very day, the phones started going crazy, although Timothe said Pierre-Louis wasn’t the reason. Under the city charter, personnel decisions are the city manager’s province, not the council’s.
Folks, back off from this ledge for the rest of this year, now. Otherwise, why even stay incorporated?
Editor's note: This piece was updated on 5/3 due to the scheduling of a meeting on 5/7 to vote on the termination of the city manager.
Mark Sell is a public relations professional and award-winning journalist who has worked for numerous, major South Florida daily newspapers over the span of 40 years.
