Who are these people calling to "Make NMB Great Again!"
One of the reasons why this blog was started was because the North Miami Beach political elites and their friends for over 3 years have turned the truth upside down. If their opposition said the sky was blue, they in turn would call them “liars” and say they were somehow breaking the law with the mere suggestion of sky being blue. If they say that Paule Villard despite being a 28-year law enforcement veteran is a criminal, repeat it enough times, they expect enough people to believe the claim or any other claim they say enough to get their candidate to win. If they say the city has the biggest budget and greatest reserves in its history, then they say the city is going through "budget" problems and even has to cut public services. It might be shocking to say, it is to me, but almost everything they claim has been counted to be the exact opposite.
They Don't Want You To Know What They Did When They Were in Charge
At no time do I claim the previous “Black” majority on the commission elected in 2020 was perfect. However, there is no comparison to how filthy the history of public corruption was that existed long before 2020 and would continue through those opposed to the historic election of Paule Villard as the first Black mayor of North Miami Beach. I also believe that the commission from 2020-2022 did a lot of great things including bringing back the NMB Water plant to city control, creating a payment assistance program for residents and during the COVID-19 emergency provided public assistance such as door to door grocery delivery for seniors, drive thru food giveaways and never stopping water service for those who had fallen behind on payments. By comparison, do you ever hear about the opposition's accomplishments or how they would have done differently when confronting the challenges of the past? It's always silence.
Naming Names Behind Attacks on Paule Villard
First, the elephant in the room, disgraced former Mayor Anthony Defillipo has been telling people for months that he lives in North Miami Beach, the criminal charges against him are “fake” not based on his residency and that he will be back soon. Even before Defillipo was arrested, he was known for a combative and MAGA leadership style often stoking racial tension which caused him to be formally denounced by the commission. You may also remember that he was the target of a new ethics ordinances to stop him from abusing his public office to make real estate deals.
Second, the 3 Defillipo-led commissioners currently elected, Jay Chernoff, Fortuna Smukler and Phyllis Smith who protected Defillipo from an official review of his residency fraud allegations, joined him in a purge of Black city staff and continue to serve as part of his defense in his criminal trial according to court documents (Chernoff deposition, Smukler deposition, Smith deposition). In these depositions, these 3 commissioners suddenly forgot how sure they were about where Defillipo lived all this time but they vaguely remember him "coming from the direction of Eastern Shores" whenever they saw him last year.
These commissioners were also responsible for the city paying over $110,000 for the attorneys he shares with the former mayor that are also providing the former mayor’s criminal defense.
And of course, these commissioners regularly refer to a 28-year law enforcement veteran a criminal for helping the community during the COVID-19 emergency with grocery card giveaways that were properly voted for twice although opposed by them which you can see here in the meeting minutes (R2021-40 on Apr. 20, 2021 and R2022-118 on Aug. 16, 2022 where they didn’t bother to show up to this meeting). Similarly, these commissioners called wasteful and abusive the use of purchase cards (P-cards) from 2021 and 2022 by making the ridiculous comparison to zero dollars spent in 2020 spending for schools still closed due to COVID-19. Back-to-School events and related purchases in 2021 and 2022 by the Parks and Recreation department make up most P-card purchases.
One last example when the annual budget came up for approval this year, these commissioners were silent when the city’s budget consultant (the city’s immediate past financial director) resigned in protest over how the administration was pushing to unlawfully restructure the budget including defunding NMB police (see Emails from Marcia Fennell).
Third, WakeUp NMB, Inc., the “501c4” special interest group that has organized to support Defillipo and “Make NMB Great Again.” The founding members of this group includes Defillipo and former Commissioner Barbara Kramer, who is also candidate for mayor in 2024 (more on that later).
The People running WakeUp NMB
President
Barbara Kramer, former city commissioner who was denounced for racist comments by the commission. Rabbi Kaplan, a longtime resident of the city also came to his wife’s defense after Kramer targeted her for verbal abuse (see video below).
Kramer is also a candidate for mayor in 2024 (she was prevented from running in this special election due to term limits according to Biscayne Times story).
“Former Commissioner Barbara Kramer is also a candidate in the 2024 regular mayoral election. She does not qualify for next month’s special election due to a provision in the city charter that requires former elected officials to wait two years after leaving office to run again. Kramer was termed out of office in November 2022.”
Interesting question: Is Evan Piper only a placeholder candidate for Barbara Kramer or Anthony Defillipo???
Kramer also joined Defillipo on the only NO votes to bring back NMB Water into direct city control (Special Meeting Aug. 4, 2020).
Vice President
Keith Myers, a self-described hacker and IT specialist. He's the one likely designing the disgusting mail and text messages we've all seen. Here are his other designs targeting Paule Villard (notice how he switches the face on the cartoons):
Compared to the racist recent mail and text message design we have seen recently… looks familiar!
Treasurer
Lyn Su (Sutjapojnukul), a former republican candidate for state house who is now running for city commission. The Miami Herald editorial board was disturbed by her support for Proud Boys:
Unfortunately, candidate Lynn Su Sutjapojnukul, 51, a mortgage professional, couldn’t meet that standard. When asked about the Proud Boys, she answered, “I haven’t seen anything extremist” at Republican Executive Committee meetings. She added that while “some of them are very extreme,” many are “just about bringing masculinity back to families.”
“I do know some of them who are Proud Boys, they wear their shirts and they seem pretty peaceful to me,” Sutjapojnukul told the Editorial Board. “I haven’t met the hardcore-type people, so it’s really difficult to speak about, because some of them, I know them. I’m an acquaintance of theirs.”
Other prominent members of WakeUp NMB
Jeffrey "Jeff" Mishcon, a mayor for a very long time (1989-2004). Under his leadership, the city’s water plant fell into disservice. He gave himself and other elected officials including Commissioner Chernoff publicly-funded healthcare for life. His time in office began the city's now long history of public corruption.
Remember this Wise Saying?
"If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."
Evan Piper also uses “Make NMB Great Again!” language as a dog-whistle to the political MAGA right (See video below excerpted from a recent interview).
REJECT EXTREMISM
Vote LAW AND ORDER
Vote Paule Villard!
28-year law enforcement veteran (with City of Miami Police Department)
Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Barry University
Former City of North Miami Beach Commissioner (2018-2022)
And for those who have heard Paule Villard’s opposition say the record in law enforcement was faked? Check out what it posted on social media and the replies from former colleagues verifying her record.
