By Dessalines Ferdinand
The dream of many concerned Haitian citizens in North Miami to witness the historical journey of one of their own becoming, for the first time, the city manager of the fifth largest city in Miami-Dade County collapsed last Tuesday (February 23), when a Haitian majority council chose a non-Haitian to occupy the longtime vacant position.
With the resignation of former city manager Aleem Ghany last October (Deputy City Manager Arthur Sorey III served as interim city manager since then), the city of North Miami finally took steps last January to start the process of hiring a new city manager to replace him.
With a 3/5 Haitian majority council, many expected that Haitian-born Marie Paule Woodson would make history by becoming North Miami’s first Haitian top administrator. Woodson was among the top-3 candidates in a final cut list of 11 to be considered for interview.
During the long process of hiring, many Haitian citizens made the case that it was time for a Haitian majority city council to choose a competent professional Haitian as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the city.
Many observers agreed that she (Woodson) was capable enough to run the supervision of the day-to-day operations of all city departments and staff through department heads. Woodson is actually Director of Human Services Division Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Department. She oversaw an operating budget of $118 million in 2015 for that department with more than 500 employees.
Before the selection of the candidate to occupy that position, the Haitian community in South Florida was not too optimistic about finally having a Haitian-American represent them as City Manager. This was one of the reasons many concerned citizens took to the radio to address the issue and indirectly pressure the three Haitian-American council members to choose Mrs. Woodson.
The City Council meeting
A discussion regarding the city manager was assigned as [TAB P] , last in this February 23 North Miami council meeting. Mayor Dr. Smith Joseph, DO, first made a motion to hire Mrs. Marie Paule Woodson for the position. Surprisingly, none of the other four members seconded it, which caused the motion to fail instantly. It was a shock at that particular moment of the meeting for the Haitian audience in the room.
Based off their facial expression, council members Philippe Bien-Aime (District 3) and Alix Desulme (District 4) clearly showed no remorse/embarrassment for their ‘negative action’ toward the Haitian community. Unfortunately, Mrs. Woodson didn’t even get the chance to be heard.
The meeting proceeded. Councilwoman Carol Keys, Esq. made a motion to hire interim city manager Arthur Sorey III. Her motion was seconded by council member Scott Galvin for discussion. Mr. Sorey had to answer some tough questions from the sponsor of the item regarding an HUD loan he received years ago from the city through the city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. As Sorey is today a high-ranking employee, Galvin interpreted that his (Sorey) old loan makes him unsuitable for the position. The interim city manager said if he knew that it would be an obstacle for him today, he would not get the loan. He tried to explain his past action, saying he was earning $23/hour that time and claimed that he received two legal opinions approving the deal. When city clerk Michael Etienne called for the vote, Sorey failed by a vote of 2 to 3. Galvin and Keys voted ‘Yes’ for him and the three Haitian-American council members voted ‘no.’
At a certain point of the discussion to appoint the permanent city manager, Councilman Alix Desulme opted for the choice of a candidate from outside North Miami with no political connections to anyone. The representative of District 4 added that he would prefer to start the process from the scratch. This was a sentiment also echoed by Councilman Scott Galvin. Councilman Philippe Bien-Aime, who wanted to be able to choose a city manager and a city attorney at the same meeting, insisted that he was not going to vote for anyone that night.
What followed was like a movie scene for the audience in the room. Like a boss, Galvin ‘reprimanded’ Bien-Aimé by reminding him the law says he must vote one way or the other. Councilman Bien-Aime replied politely that he intended to vote, but many had the impression that he would vote “no” for all candidates that night.
The process proceeded and Galvin made a motion to hire North Miami’s Finance Director Larry Spring. Councilman Bien-Aime seconded it for discussion after a little hesitation (seemingly like another movie scene bent on creating drama). Mayor Smith Joseph asked for Mr. Spring to come to the podium to answer questions regarding his position as Miami’s former chief financial officer (CFO) during an SEC civil securities investigation. Mayor Joseph asked Spring some tough questions, the candidate was not too convincing in his answers.
When the city clerk called for a vote, Councilwoman Keys, who noted that Spring was her second choice, gave him a ‘yes.’ Of course, Councilman Galvin who made the motion for Spring also gave him a ‘yes.’ With no surprise, Mayor Joseph voted ‘no,’ as did Councilman Desulme who stood firm in his position to choose someone from the outside with no political connection to the city. With a 2-2 tight score, Councilman Philippe Bien-Aimé became the only actor in the dead silence room. He had the option to vote for or against Larry Spring. After creating suspense in the room, Bien-Aimé said ‘Yes.’
Newly hired City Manager Larry Spring then addressed the Mayor and Council and thanked them for the opportunity to serve as the top city administrator. Arthur Sorey was promptly back to the budget department. He promised that he would continue to work hard for the city and looks forward to working with the new appointed city manager. Marie Paule Woodson was in the City Hall building that night, but for some unknown reason watched the meeting live through the North Miami’s television station.
When contacted by Le Floridien, despite her repeated sentiment of dissatisfaction for the community, Marie Paule Woodson acknowledged the fact that everyone needs to respect the decision of each elected official in the City of North Miami.
“I am a professional. I have been with Miami-Dade County for over thirty years now, where I have been overseeing budgets of hundreds of million dollars. I know that I am competent for the city manager job. But, as a true democrat and partisan of non-violence, I have no hard feelings against the other two Haitian-American council members (Desulme and Bien-Aime) who unfortunately didn’t even give me the opportunity to be heard. Yes, it would be a good opportunity to serve the City of North Miami where there is a large Haitian population. I think the community needs to let it go. I thank everyone who supported me during that process,” Mrs. Woodson said with great humility.
If members of the community are critical about both Desulme and Bien-Aimé, it might very well be the council member of District 3 who could be the one who pays the price of the ‘non-consideration’ of the Haitian-American candidate for the city manager position.
According to many critics, Bien-Aimé – by his actions since elected – has favored ‘business interests’ over community requests. Before the February 23 council meeting, an upset citizen of North Miami has already taken steps to launch a recall effort to oust the council member of District 3. According to anonymous sources, the upset citizen is seeking to eject Bien-Aimé for a long list of reasons, including misuse of city money.
Sources revealed that the citizen has evidence in hand and even suggested that it would better for Bien-Aimé to abandon his seat to avoid another situation of embarrassment for the Haitian community.
To oust Bien-Aimé, the recall proponents would need to first gather more than 4% of the signatures of the registered voters in District 3. City Clerk Michael Etienne did not return a call seeking confirmation from Le Floridien.
According to the Charter of the city of North Miami, if the office of a councilmember becomes vacant more than one half (2 years) of his or her term plus one day after he/she takes office, then the remaining members of the council shall choose a successor and such appointee shall fill the vacancy for the balance of the term. In this particular case, Bien-Aimé is very removable. If Bien-Aimé would happen to be recalled, the city would not need to hold a special election – which usually costs money – to replace him.
In the meantime, the group of concerned citizens who voiced their opinions on radio prior the February 23rd council meeting meeting regarding the issue of hiring a Haitian-American as a permanent city manager, are already making plans to make sure the actual council member of District 3 will fail in the next election (May 2017), if he decides to run for another term.
Dessalines Ferdinand
ferdinand@lefloridien.com