North Miami Beach looking for a way forward after a string of controversies
When North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo was arrested last month, he became the city’s third elected mayor to be arrested in 11 years.
It was the latest sign of turmoil in a city where commissioners have boycotted meetings, the city manger was fired, government employees have been arrested for stealing gift cards meant for the public and a judge reinstated a commissioner who was ousted.
Some residents are tired of the tensions and want the city to move on.
At a commission meeting Tuesday, after reinstated Commissioner Michael Joseph launched into a ten-minute tirade against the mayor and interim city attorney, some in the audience expressed dismay that not much had changed.
“I’m totally disappointed in what’s been going on here,” said Irene Pilinger, a longtime North Miami Beach resident who frequents commission meetings. “I don’t know how they’re going to come together. When even tonight, Michael Joseph was accusing people of protecting the former mayor.”
For the past six months, the city has been embroiled in controversy stemming from allegations DeFillipo lives in the town of Davie in Broward County rather than North Miami Beach as required by the city’s charter. That issue came to a head when DeFillipo was arrested and charged with three counts of voter fraud on May 31 and then suspended from his position by Gov. Ron DeSantis days later.
READ: Governor suspends North Miami Beach mayor following arrest on voter fraud charges
The controversy over the mayor’s residency led to three members of the commission refusing to attend meetings, which in turn resulted in Joseph being ousted from office on a determination that he failed to attend commission meetings for more than 120 days as required. He was ordered reinstated by a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge on June 13.
Also last month, two city employees were arrested for abuse of the city’s Publix gift cards giveaway. Former Human Resources Director Andrew Bejel and former North Miami Beach public affairs assistant Jennifer C. Hillmon were charged with one count of organized scheme to defraud. Hillmon was also charged with one count of grand theft and Bejel was charged with two counts of petit theft.
A new city manager is now hoping to create unity. “I think overall, we need to take a breath,” Mario Diaz told the Miami Herald days before he was sworn into office. “We need to kind of recollect and see where we are together as a team and what path we take together to move forward and to move the city forward for the benefit of our residents and businesses.”
The Herald spoke to business owners, former and current elected officials, and residents about how they viewed the turmoil in the city. And while some were frustrated with the current circumstances, some said they believe the city can move past it. And others, such as Pilinger, aren’t too sure.
“I really don’t know what the resolution is,” she said while attending the recent commission meeting. “I don’t know what the future is gonna bring. But after tonight, there was no Kumbaya here.”
‘It was embarrassing’
Before DeFillipo, two other North Miami Beach mayors were arrested. In 2018, then-Mayor George Vallejo agreed to resign from office and accept house arrest as part of a plea deal for violating state campaign finance laws. Vallejo pleaded guilty to filing a false report on a $5,000 expenditure by a political action committee and authorizing an illegal expenditure in that amount by the committee during his 2015 reelection campaign.
In 2012, former Mayor Myron Rosner was arrested and pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful compensation related to campaign advertising and was sentenced to serve three years probation.
DeFillipo’s attorney, Michael Pizzi, said his client’s charges shouldn’t be compared to his predecessors. “What’s unique about the mayor’s arrest is that, unlike some of the other cases, there’s been no allegation here that the mayor benefited financially,” he said. “It’s purely a ridiculous allegation about whether or not he voted in the correct precinct.”
RELATED: North Miami Beach mayor arrested on charges related to ‘voting irregularities’
Former Florida State Rep. Joseph Geller, whose law practice focuses on government relations, said the city shouldn’t be defined by the history of its past mayors. “I’m not in favor of people not remembering your history, but history doesn’t control your actions moving forward,” he said. “You should learn from it but it doesn’t control you.”
Longtime North Miami Beach resident Melissa Winchester said she was involved with Washington Park Community Center’s Teen Program when DeFillipo’s father, Kenneth, was a commissioner and recalled a time when he made a donation to the program. “I feel as if the mayor has disgraced his father’s name,” she said.
“I love my city. This is a great city but all you see is mess every time you turn around,” she said. Winchester, as a Miami-Dade County corrections officer, said she was at the jail on the day DeFillipo was being booked.
“I was shamed to hear that I had to lock the building down from my mayor,” she said. “I had to release my mayor. I work in booking and release. I didn’t book him, but I processed him out. It was embarrassing.”
Winchester said she hopes he can rebound from the situation. DeFillipo has an arraignment hearing scheduled June 30.
Community reaction
Of the North Miami Beach residents the Herald spoke with, many said they did not know about the mayor’s arrest, or the events leading up to it, but once made aware said they were disappointed.
Hector Villarreal expressed concern about DeFillipo potentially living outside of the city. “As a resident of the area, I just hope that we are able to find somebody else that lives here and that’s more involved.”
READ MORE: Embattled North Miami Beach mayor acknowledges he took a seat on Davie homeowners board
Business owners and employees across the street from North Miami Beach City Hall also did not know about DeFillipo’s arrest. Some had been there a few months and others a few years.
“If it’s illegal and you know it’s illegal and you know that if you do it, you have consequences then you shouldn’t do it at all,” Rosie Lucero, a manager at AMPM Smoke Shop, said. “Because I don’t know if you’re my mayor and you’ll do things to jeopardize everybody here.”
She also wondered if perhaps it was a mistake and whether he had time to update his license in time to change precincts and vote. “I’m also human, and I know what humans do,” she said. “I don’t judge because maybe he did forget.”
Elected officials are aware the city has an image problem and the government needs to rebuild trust in the community. “The general consensus is that you know, there is uncertainty and a disappointment in city government,” North Miami Beach Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond said. “I think that it happens to be that all of these things happen consecutively. And the city’s image at this point is one that is not a good one. But we’re working to gain that trust back.”
Joseph said he plans to work to move the commission forward. “I think every community has its growing pains,” he said. “I think North Miami Beach is very unique in a way that the demographics are unique and beautiful, and we have various different points and ways of really interacting with our government or being active. And you’re gonna have these sort of flare ups.”
Commissioner Fortuna Smukler said the allegations surrounding DeFillipo, the city having three mayors who were arrested and the employees arrested over the gift cards were upsetting.
“It gives a bad impression,” she said. “I know it’s embarrassing and it’s embarrassing to the good residents that care. I’m hoping that can change but every time we take a step forward, we go two steps backwards.”
Turning the corner
For now, Vice Mayor Jay Chernoff is serving as acting mayor on the six-person commission.
To move forward, J.C. Planas, an elections attorney and government consultant, said ongoing litigation among commissioners, in which Chernoff is appealing the decision to reinstate Joseph should be dropped. “Chernoff appealing a very rational decision by a very well-respected judge, I think, doesn’t help,” Planas said. “I think Chernoff should obviously try to make peace.”
Planas said that with a six-person commission, instead of the usual seven, there will likely be more 3-3.
For Former Florida State Rep. Joseph Geller, the resolution is simple: “They just need to work together and look to the future,” he said. “Everyone needs to not allow difficulties to control their actions. And they just need to cooperate and move forward.”
Despite the frustration, residents and commissioners are hopeful things will turn the corner with Diaz coming on board as city manager, months after former city manager Arthur Sorey III was ousted.
RELATED: North Miami Beach fires city manager. All commissioners attend meeting after judge order
Diaz was most recently village manager at Biscayne Park, and before that, he was chief of staff at North Bay Village, where he shepherded the city through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diaz said change won’t happen overnight: “You can’t always be hasty to act for the sake of acting, and that’s where things tend to start to fall apart.”
Geller said right now, it’s key for Diaz to unite the commission. “Any good manager has to help by building consensus among elected officials. That’s not unique to this situation where there’s been some dysfunction. That’s what a good manager does,” he said, emphasizing that a city manager does not set policy.
In his first few months on the job, Diaz plans to assess ongoing projects such as upgrades to Washington Park Community Center. He said he plans to hold a town hall meeting with residents on how to address the needs of the center.
But the biggest priority is the budget. “We’re working with the departments to be able to create that and bring that to the commission so that they can discuss and identify what their priorities are,” Diaz said.
He told the Herald he was not afraid to dive into the turmoil that has swallowed North Miami Beach in the past weeks. “I came into this opportunity with my eyes wide open.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2023 at 11:26 AM.
