There’s evidence civic trust is in retreat all over. Democracy is not a spectator sport and earning trust starts on your block rather than on cable news or Facebook. Today, I’m holding up three encouraging if preliminary examples of trust-building in North Miami and North Miami Beach, of all places.
On May 8, The Miami Herald Editorial Board won the paper’s 24th Pulitzer Prize for “Broken Promises,” a devastating series documenting the failure of public officials to deliver on promises from parks to transportation to respecting ancient Indigenous sites.
We can take the guts, brains and persistence of the Miami Heat in its gritty rise from eighth seed to NBA finals and possible championship as inspiration for the needed work of holding officials accountable.
And let’s face it: In North Miami and North Miami Beach, trust has taken dings.
After giving themselves big raises by a vote of 3-1 (Kassandra Timothe was the no vote in October), the North Miami City Council in December voted to extend their terms by a whopping 18 months to November 2024, thus making Alix Desulme the unelected $89,880-a-year mayor and Pierre Frantz Charles an unelected District 4 councilman at $77,910 a year.
The purported reason was to streamline elections, save money and increase participation. Candidates and residents sued in February over the extended terms and on May 8, lost in court – at least for now, as they have vowed to appeal the decision.
Nearby in North Miami Beach, recent head-spinning chaos culminated May 16 with the 3-1 sacking of Commissioner Michael Joseph for allegedly being absent from commission meetings for 120 days. That stemmed from a three-month walkout of three commissioners over Mayor Anthony DeFillipo’s disputed residency. DeFillipo’s voting residence is certainly fair game if the walkout isn’t, and a judge ordered the commissioners back to work in March.
Joseph’s lawyer said he was confined to bedrest after a heart attack. He’s filed an injunction to prevent a citywide special election.
Amid the drama, three provisionally encouraging signs have emerged – two from North Miami and one from North Miami Beach, reflecting the spirit of the Biscayne Times’ two-parter on citizenship in the May and June 2022 issues.
Rasha Cameau
On March 13, Rasha Cameau started her new job as North Miami city manager with the blessing of most of the council and particularly Desulme, a longtime “people’s councilman” turned “people’s mayor.” Her mission: to restore broken morale among city employees, keep politics away from staff, formally seek $39 million in thrice-delayed state funding to replace the city’s 1962 water and sewer plant, and force water delinquents an astonishing $18 million in arrears as of last year to pony up, so the city can get its new plant.
The big scofflaws are multifamily condo and rental developments – and, being a former North Miami and North Miami Beach CRA director and assistant county manager, it’s familiar territory for Cameau.
“I am passionate about North Miami and we have to get this right,” said Cameau. “The city is leaking money and leaking pipes. I hope to make huge changes in the first year and will meet some resistance. I intend to be here for 10 to 15 years.”
She is hiring an efficiency manager to curb waste, a public engagement officer to address complaints and a grants administrator to get money. Incoming North Miami Beach City Manager Mario Diaz, late of Biscayne Park, might want to compare notes with her when he reports for duty June 15.
North Miami Homeowners
In NIMBY news, the oft-flooded residents of North Miami’s NE Third Court thanked the usually developer-friendly North Miami City Council May 9 for its 4-1 denial of Abreu Development’s request for 24 townhomes just south of its vintage-2018 Citadel Plaza on 135th Street, between NE Third Avenue and NE Third Court.
That site, dominated by a new monster Public Storage, includes a Family Dollar, coin laundry and day care center. Since Citadel broke ground and elevated the land, NE Third Court has repeatedly flooded, with sewage burbling into the pavement.
That night, residents faced ace zoning lawyer Jerry Proctor and super-lobbyist Ron Book, who’s also the chair of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. The new management had earlier invited the residents to join in talks with the city, the South Florida Water Management District – which oversees the nearby Biscayne Canal – and the county’s Department of Environmental and Resource Management. The council listened and the residents prevailed – for now.
Resident Eileen Bicaba knows this is a gut fight.
“I have been flooded 30 times in the last six seasons,” she said. “I have had to walk through a block of sewage water to get to my house. [The developers] will be back because they have always come back.”
North Miami Beach Residents
Crisis breeds opportunity. At recent meetings, North Miami Beach residents have been showing up for hours on end and saying their piece about their neighborhoods and the city, particularly since last November’s election and the three-month staged walkout, when city business essentially froze. That prompted a necessary debate over city services and responsiveness. Sometimes, it got ugly. That’s fine. We’ve gotta talk.
May they all stay on it. Speaking truth to power and getting into good trouble is worthwhile, especially when you don’t try it alone. Trust takes work.