Friction as North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph returns to city hall
MIAMI - A once-ousted city commissioner returned with friction to North Miami Beach City Hall Tuesday evening.
Commissioner Michael Joseph accused the city's interim city attorney of allowing the city to pay legal fees without approval. The payment covered attorney costs for suspended Mayor Anthony DeFillipo in his lawsuit against the city.
"(Payment) on lawsuits that they lost and we won," Joseph said during the commission meeting Tuesday. "These actions should have never taken place."
The Miami-Dade State Attorney charged DeFillipo with voter fraud nearly two weeks ago.
"Help us find a temporary city attorney who is not part of covering up Mr. DeFillipo's bad acts," Joseph said.
"(Interim city attorney John Herin) definitely wasn't given permission from the commission to (authorize payment)," McKenzie Fleurimond, a North Miami Beach Commissioner said during the meeting. "Either way, some members of this commission felt that Mr. Pizzi (DeFillipo's attorney) should be paid and to pay for Mr. DeFillipo's lawyer fees."
"I'm going to listen to what a judge says," North Miami Beach Commissioner Fortuna Smukler said during the meeting. "The judge said that (DeFillipo) was the mayor."
"The interim city attorney unilaterally without a vote of this commission (acted)," Joseph said.
"The accusations are incorrect factually and legally," Herin said during the meeting.
"I hope we can work together and do what's best for the residents that elected us to take care of them," North Miami Beach Commissioner Phyliss Smith said.
"This is not how I want everybody to react on the council," Acting Mayor and North Miami Beach Commissioner Jay Chernoff said to the audience at the meeting. "When I was elected I promised you transparency and to move forward. In that, I'm asking the city manager and the (human resources) director to put out a bid for the city attorney position."
Herin is an interim city attorney. So, the commission ordered city staff to research options. The commission also asked staff to consult with the Florida League of Cities for guidance on potentially bidding the position out.
Commissioners could make a decision at their next meeting in July.