North Miami council members violated city charter, judge says. Will they be fired?

Three North Miami city council members violated the city charter by asking third parties to pressure the city manager to intervene in the public works director’s termination, a judge ruled Wednesday.

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The decision comes two years after North Miami resident Eileen Bicaba filed a lawsuit alleging the three council members – Pierre Frantz Charles, Mary Estime-Irvin, and Kassandra Timothe – contacted Larry Spring and Ringo Cayard in March 2024 to convince then-city manager Rasha Cameau to not fire then-Public Works Director Wisler Pierre-Louis.

According to the lawsuit, Pierre-Louis resigned on April 5, 2024, the morning he was scheduled to meet with Cameau about his termination. Four days later, Timothe called for Cameau’s firing at a city council meeting. Cameau was subsequently fired during a May 2024 city council meeting.

The judge found that the three did, in fact, violate the charter, which states that council members may not interfere with appointments or removals in the city manager’s office, or give orders to the city manager’s subordinates. Council members must deal with administrative services solely through the city manager, the charter states.

The lawsuit also alleged the council members violated Sunshine Law, but the judge determined there was not enough evidence to rule they did.

“This is a win for community advocates, community standing up for their rights,” Bicaba told the Herald. “We have had a huge problem with North Miami not respecting the charter, completely violating it, and this was vindication.”

An attorney representing the council members did not respond to a request for comment. Estime-Irvin did not immediately return phone calls requesting comment. Charles declined to comment and instead directed a reporter to contact his attorney.

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In a statement to the Herald, Timothee said she has acted in good faith throughout her public service career, has followed the advice of counsel and remains committed protecting North Miami residents and institutions.

“My legal team will carefully review the court’s written order in the coming days to evaluate every available option to challenge any improper court finding should the order contain any finding that exceeded the scope of the complain,” she said.

Estime-Irvin and Timothee are up for reelection in November.

While Tuesday’s ruling didn’t result in immediate action against the council members, they could face consequences down the line. A council member found in violation of that section of the charter could be charged with a misdemeanor and upon conviction will be removed from office, according to the city’s charter.

David Reiner, the attorney representing Bicaba, said next steps for them are to present the order to the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office, who investigates such crimes. Typically, Reiner said, once an indictment is handed down, they would be removed from office by the governor.

“Our intent is to go to the state attorney’s office next when we get a copy the order, regardless of whether they appeal it or not,” Reiner said. “We’re going to see what we can do about having them taken out.”

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