North Miami - Haiti Observer Blog

Frantz Pierre, a Haitian-American Commissioner in North Miami Beach Florida was indicted Wednesday July 25, 2018, charged with accepting bribe from a strip club owner.

According to Miami Herald, Commissioner Frantz Pierre and his non-profit organization received more than $20,000 from the owner of Dean's Gold strip club in North Miami Beach in exchange for his vote for a special operating license allowing the club to serve alcohol after-hours. He offered his commission vote in exchange for money to a strip club owner in an attempt to renew a business license.

He was charged with one count each of bribery, unlawful compensation, organized scheme to defraud and grand theft and seven counts of money laundering.

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As you may remember in the previous article, North Miami police shot Charles Kinsey, a black therapist who was trying to calm an autistic patient while his hands were up in the air. A union official called it an accidental shooting. However people on the side of Charles Kinsey do not quite buy this story of accidental shooting. According to Kinsey's boss, that explanation doesn't add up. Mr. Clint Bower who runs the center for the developmentally disabled where Kinsey works stated this is "just outrageous". "They are now saying they intended to shoot my client, and instead they shot my employee"

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Another incident of police shooting of an unarmed black man took place in North Miami where the Police chief is Haitian-American Gary Eugene. Kinsey, 47, who is a worked at a Group Home for mentally disable people in North Miami was shot by the police when he went to retrieve an autistic man carrying a toy truck that was wandered from a mental health center. He was shot even after he throws his hands up in the air and says, 'Don't shoot me.'

Police Chief Gary Eugene who is new in the position is looking for answers. He stated that no weapon had been recovered after one of his officers shot an unarmed mental healthcare worker. It was later revealed by a representative of the Police union that the bullet that struck the caregiver was meant to protect him. The North Miami police officer actually took aim at the autistic man next to him, but missed

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Gary Eugene was sworn in Tuesday as North Miami new chief of Police. The Haitian-American Police chief has a tgotal of 30 years of law enforcement experience. He has been with the North Miami Police Department for three years or since 2013. Gary Eugene started law enforcement as a detective with the city of Miami Police Department in 1985. In 1996 he became very engaged with the Little Haiti community as he was promoted lieutenant within the City of Miami Police department.

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At a local Democratic meeting that took place last Monday night, Miami Herald reported that someone who was present, Gwen Margolis belittled three of her opponents by referring to them as "Haitians" and dismissed two others as "some teacher and some lawyer" . Margolis referred to her Haitian-American competitors such as businessman Anis Blémur, former state Rep. Phillip Brutus and state Rep. Daphne Campbell as "Haitians". She later added: "I have unlimited funds, and I'm going to spend every penny, and I'm not going to lose to those three Haitians or some teacher or lawyer."

State Senator Gwen Margolis who is the longest-serving sitting lawmaker in the Florida Senate is running for Miami-Dade district that runs from Miami Beach to Aventura.

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Former Principal of North Miami Senior High adult education program, Jean Coty Ridore, has some hard thinking to do as he was arrested Monday and charged with unlawful compensation, grand theft and official misconduct. The Haitian-American former principal is accused for accepting $1,000 to put a fake employee on the payroll of the School system. That particular fake employee turned out to be an undercover Miami police detective.

The State attorney's office in charge of the investigation believes that Ridore was not acting alone but rather was part of a network that was involved in a well organized process to record the paperwork input false information in the school system.

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The Haitian American School Principal who has been in charge of the North Miami Adult Education Center since July 2005 was arrested on On Monday, October 5, 2015 hiring employees and then demanding illegal kickback.

His arrest came after authorities say Ridore took $1,000 in cash to hire a man, then demanded illegal kickbacks from him. What the Haitian Principal did not know was that the man he hired was actually an undercover from Miami police detective unit who was secretly recording their conversations.

According to authorities, this is not something that happened for the first time. Investigators uncovered several similar cases where School Principal Ridore had been taking advantage of his position to make illegal gains. They also discovered two ex-employees received more than $14,000 for work they did not do

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Here is something for the Haitian diaspora to think about. Former North Miami Mayor Lucie Tondreau was sentenced this Tuesday in Miami to spend five years and five months in federal prison. The 55 year old Haitian-Amercican Lucie Tondreau was convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud charges back in December 2014.

The Former Mayor will likely spend quite a number of years thinking about this. Following her prison time, Tondreau will also be required to serve three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay restitution of which the actual amount has not yet been determined.

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North Miami has voted for Dr. Smith Joseph to finish out the mayoral term of Lucille Tondreau, charged with mortgage fraud. Joseph ran against two-time former North Miami mayor, Ken Burns, winning by a small margin. Talk is it is tough for a Caucasian to win the mayor's office due to the fact an urban black voting bloc makes up the majority of voters. But some say otherwise, that Burns, having already run the city twice is a known commodity ". . . and we know his work, but the situation of the city is changing."

If Joseph wants to hold onto the mayor's office he will need to run again in another six months when Tondreau's term expires. As a neophyte politician, is he going to be able to work effectively with the City Council to push through civic improvement projects citizens are anxious to see happen? Two projects in particular the city is working to move forward are the Biscayne Landing site, to be developed by Oleta Partners, and the downtown redevelopment plan to include a new Museum of Contemporary Art.

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Can a White Man Win in Haitian-Dominated North Miami? Two-time former North Miami mayor (2005 and 2007) Kevin

Burns is doggedly trying to beat out Dr. Smith Joseph in a second runoff race for a third term as the city's mayor. Unfortunately for Burns, he happens to be white, and the black electorate makes up 59% of North Miami (35% Haitian-American) citizens. Last year, 2013, Burns faced black candidate Dr. Smith Joseph and Haitian-American Lucille Tondreau in a mayoral special election. He pushed Joseph out of the race and entered a runoff against Tondreau, who defeated him with 56% of the vote.

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