The cause: Letter writing campaign to ask the County Miami-Dade County Commissioners to put members on the North Miami CRA board
Send the letter on the left to the County Commissioners requesting appointments to the North Miami CRA board:
City of North Miami Council members spent more than $1.2 million on events during the 2023-2024 fiscal year, and Councilwoman Mary Estimé-Irvin, the representative for District 3, wanted to spend another $100,000 on a festival in Downtown Miami. Wasteful spending and mismanagement recently plunged the City into a $14 million deficit, which was then covered by a loan from the water and sewer fund to avoid a “state of financial emergency as defined in Section 218.503(1), Florida Statutes.”
The city then used COVID pandemic funds and the sale of City assets to repay the water and sewer fund. The City of North Miami operates with a single bank account, in which the enterprise funds are mixed in with the operating fund. This allows uncontrolled spending, with the enterprise funds being used for overdraft protection for the general fund. Ms Rasha Cameau, who has only been in office as City Manager for a year, was working hard to clean up these financial deficits and irregularities, which she inherited from the City Council and previous City Managers.
Removal of Rasha Cameau and appointment of someone who will rubber stamp this type of uncontrolled spending is a problem. Oversight is needed. Florida Statutes sections 163.356(2) and 163.257(1) allow the county commissioners to appoint members to the City’s CRA board as well as to select both the Chairman and the Vice Chair.