NORTH MIAMI BEACH (Le Floridien) — Just one month after he was removed from office by a 3-1 vote, after “failing to attend commission meetings for more than 120 days,” North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph has been reinstated, at least temporary, according to a court that has ruled in his favor. Le Floridien received a copy of the court’s decision.
Tuesday afternoon, the Honorable Peter R. Lopez from the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida issued a written ‘Order on Commissioner Michael Joseph’s Renewed Verified Emergency Motion for Temporary Injunctive Relief’ stating that the commission failed to have the necessary five-member quorum when it voted 3-1 to oust the Haitian-American commissioner.
Even if the quorum requirement had been met, the City Commission did not have the power or authority to vote to expel a member from the City Commission, nor does it have the authority to resolve a dispute about whether commissioners have vacated their offices. The commission’s power is regulated by the city’s charter.
On May 16, former Mayor Anthony DeFillipo and Commissioners Phyllis Smith and Fortuna Smukler voted to oust Joseph. Commissioner Daniela Jean was the sole nay vote. Commissioner Jay Chernoff, who filed a lawsuit against Joseph claiming he did not attend any city commission meetings for the past 120 days, recused himself from taking part in the vote. Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond was prevented from sitting at the dais because his name was later added to the lawsuit.
The judge ruled that Joseph’s due process rights were violated when he was ousted during the special vote because he had not, in any case, breached the 120-day rule for absentees in the city charter.
After former commissioner Paule Villard lost her reelection bid in a runoff race last November, therefore losing the 4-3 majority at the dais, the other three Haitian-American commissioners had for months refused to attend commission meetings in protest of allegations surrounding Mayor DeFillipo’s residency.
The three were questioning whether the mayor lived in the town of Davie, instead of North Miami Beach, as required by the city’s charter. DeFillipo repeatedly denied that allegation. Last March, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge ordered Joseph, Jean and Fleurimond to attend the March meeting.
Last week, former Mayor Anthony DeFillipo, one of the architects of Joseph’s removal, was arrested and suspended from office after investigations determined that he was indeed living in the city of Davie (Broward County) while he listed a North Miami Beach residency on his voter registration. DeFillipo was charged with voter fraud by the Miami-Dade County’s state attorney’s office.
Elected officials and concerned citizens of North Miami Beach have long debated how to start counting the 120-day rule for absentees in the city charter. Tuesday afternoon, Judge Lopez stated his final words on the dispute. While Chernoff’s attorney, Michael Pizzi, held tight to his view that the clock began at the time of Joseph’s last attended meeting in October, the judge ruled against the lawyer’s interpretation of the charter (which, according to many, is not quite clear on the subject). According to the judge, the clock began in December because there was no meeting in November. “One cannot fail to attend a meeting that does not exist,” stated the magistrate in his ruling document.
“The City of North Miami Beach and its City Commission are enjoined from preventing Commissioner Michael Joseph from functioning as a duly elected City of North Miami Beach Commissioner. The City and the Commission are further enjoined from holding a special election to replace Commissioner Joseph pending the disposition of this case. Commissioner Joseph shall be obligated and entitled to all the duties and obligations of the office until further order,” reads the document.
The view of the magistrate reflected the method used to oust former Commissioner Frantz Pierre in a 2018 precedent for violating the rule allowing only 120 days of absences.
The judge refrained the city from moving forward with a special election to replace Michael Joseph, pending the disposition of his case. Now, with a 3-3 tight representation between the Haitian-American commissioners and the other group of commissioners, there is no doubt that Joseph is likely to keep his position until November 2024. The lawsuit filed against him by Chernoff may be put to rest soon.
Vice-Mayor Chernoff stepped up as acting-mayor, replacing former mayor DeFillipo. He will lead the next commission meeting scheduled for June 20. The ‘battle’ for the majority will continue. The city must hold a special election to permanently fill DeFillipo’s seat. Let’s wait and see if the Haitian-American can get back the majority at the commission by winning the upcoming mayoral special election.
Politics can be an ugly business, but it doesn’t have to be that way. The people we elect to office are there to serve us, not their own interests. It seems as though too often some forget this simple fact, and it is our hope that despite the ugliness exhibited by this commission, they can come together and work for the people and ensure progress for the people of this great South Florida city.
Dessalines Ferdinand
