April 21 commission meeting<\/a> in North Miami Beach, the money still had not been repaid, prompting Vice Mayor Fortuna Smukler to introduce a resolution to reprimand the mayor.<\/p>\n\u201cI brought this forward because the city has been asking for and I\u2019m going to round it up by 10 cents, for $3,002 for a travel upgrade that was never approved when the trip to Japan was approved. It is not something the city has ever done, at least to my knowledge had never done in the past,\u201d Smukler said.<\/p>\n
She pressed the mayor directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Mayor Joseph are you going to pay this back or is this\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph said he does not oppose repayment, but objected to how the issue is being handled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell the request was made on the first of April. Then you made this resolution for today for 30 business days. This is related to that investigation. I gave that initial request to my attorney, who said this can have further implications.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added he did not want repayment to be seen as an admission of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no problem putting money in escrow because I have no issues with that, but what I don\u2019t want is to have us make it appear like I am admitting to something that I know I didn\u2019t do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Joseph also disputed any suggestion he refused to pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter says I refused to pay but that hasn\u2019t even happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Commissioners made clear they believe repayment should have already occurred.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe point is we shouldn\u2019t have to ask you, you should just pay it back,\u201d Smukler said. \u201cRegardless, it doesn\u2019t matter of the outcome. The money still needs to come back to us.<\/p>\n
\u201cEither way the money belongs to the city of North Miami Beach. Either way the money is ours. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Phyllis Smith pointed to public reaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I find to be unsettling is you hear the rumble, you are not deaf,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have been out in the public. You hear the rumble of the disdain of spending $3,000, not 30, not 300, but $3,000 on quite a luxury.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was something that maybe you should not have done and the public thinks you shouldn\u2019t have done so pay it. Just pay it and be done with this conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Jay Chernoff said the issue comes down to policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe, as commissioners and mayor, know the policy of travel. The policy of travel is to travel in the middle, in coach, not in first class,\u201d he said. \u201cYou paid it out of your pocket, I understand. You asked for it to be reimbursed. You should have said no. It was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Joseph questioned that, Chernoff responded, \u201cTechnically you have,\u201d later adding the issue is \u201cnot paying it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph said he initially paid for the upgrade himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI myself used my Amex card to pay for the upgrade because of the long hours, 14-plus hours between Atlanta and Seoul,\u201d he said. \u201cI paid that up front.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph said the reimbursement came later after being told it might qualify.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen finance tells my aide because it\u2019s a 14-hour flight you can possibly get this reimbursed,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m like whatever, here are the receipts. I get reimbursed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Law and policy at issue<\/p>\n
Florida law does not explicitly require officials to choose the absolute cheapest airfare, but it does require travel expenses to be authorized, necessary, and reasonable under Florida Statute 112.061.<\/p>\n
City policy goes further, requiring the use of the most economical travel options and placing the cost of upgrades for personal convenience on the traveler.<\/p>\n
Commissioners said the upgrade was never approved and should not have been submitted for reimbursement.<\/p>\n
Questions about the trip<\/p>\n
Commissioner Lynn Su said more than $9,000 in taxpayer funds were spent, but she still does not know what was accomplished.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have a new sister city. We don\u2019t know what the mayor did while he was in Japan,\u201d Su said, calling the upgrade \u201cexcessive luxury under the taxpayers dime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ongoing investigation<\/p>\n
Joseph confirmed during the meeting that he is under investigation, though details have not been publicly released.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is related to that investigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to reporting<\/a> by the Miami Times, an interim investigative report commissioned by the city includes allegations from employees accusing the mayor of bypassing government procedures and attempting to influence procurement decisions.<\/p>\nThat report has been referred to the Miami-Dade State Attorney\u2019s Office and the Florida Commission on Ethics for further review, and the matter is also being examined by the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office Public Corruption Unit, according to the same report.<\/p>\n
Joseph has denied the allegations and has pushed for the release of supporting documents, arguing the lack of transparency undermines public trust.<\/p>\n
Joseph said he intends to repay the money.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no issues, let me be very clear, paying though,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He later indicated repayment would be made by the end of the month.<\/p>\n
Commissioners voted to table the reprimand resolution until then, but made clear their position that the reimbursement was improper and should already have been returned.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
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