The North Miami Beach City Commission is scheduled to select a new city manager on Jan. 20, looking to stabilize leadership during the city’s centennial year.
Since March 2023, four individuals — Arthur “Duke” Sorey, Mark Antonio, Mario Diaz, and current interim manager Andrew Plotkin — have filled the top administrative role. Tenure lengths have averaged under a year, which residents say has stalled the city's progress. North Miami Beach recently settled a years-long dispute with former manager Sorey.
During last week's public workshop, commissioners interviewed finalists Marline Monestime, Darvin Williams, Rasha Cameau, and Ricardo Mendez.
Here is what they said.
Marline Monestime
Monestime, the city’s chief of staff and interim assistant city manager, presented herself as the candidate requiring no transition period. Citing nearly four years of service in economic development and executive leadership, she emphasized her immediate familiarity with internal operations and fiscal risks.
Her first 90 days would focus on correcting budget practices, reassessing organizational structure, and addressing resident complaints.
“I think we've spent too much in this fiscal year without realizing our threats already,” Monestime told commissioners, citing a water surcharge issue and potential property tax reform at the state level.
She proposed reassessing departmental staffing, for example, automating the building department to reduce redundancies and shifting personnel to understaffed departments, such as code compliance and neighborhood beautification. Regarding the city’s $5.5 million structured operating deficit, she emphasized revenue generation and cost controls.
Monestime said she previously identified millions in potential reserve savings during the budget process.
“I want to say it was 2.2 million just in the first exercise that I did, an opportunity to keep funds in the reserves,” she said, adding that she would also consider a hiring freeze to allow time for a full organizational review.
"We need to look at opportunities where we can generate revenue. Economic advantages need to be explored thoroughly.” -Marline Monestime, Candidate
To counter potential losses in revenue if property taxes are abolished statewide, she advocated expanding economic development through cultural and recreational facilities rather than traditional funding sources.
“We need to look at opportunities where we can generate revenue,” Monestime said. “Economic advantages need to be explored thoroughly.”
READ MORE: Lawyer, activist in Lake Worth to challenge Democratic Congresswoman Lois Frankel in August primary
Darvin Williams
Williams, the former city manager of Opa-locka, positioned himself as a specialist in stabilizing challenged organizations. A former healthcare executive and military intelligence officer, Williams noted he was Opa-locka's second-longest-serving manager before his 2024 ouster.
His first 90 days would focus on rebuilding organizational structure. He said the city should prioritize filling vacancies and interims, particularly for departmental head positions, and conduct early leadership performance reviews tied to budgets and spending patterns.
“You cannot move a team forward unless you have a structure by which to execute,” he said. “When you’re interim, you’re not going to take full ownership of certain things until you know that this is your role.”
Williams pledged to keep all seven commissioners informed about major issues through weekly written updates. Addressing financial challenges, he proposed strict adherence to Government Accounting Principles (GAAP) and transparent interfund loans.
“We want to adhere to the GAAP principles, and one way to do that is how you book it,” he said. “Let’s say the water and sewer fund is going to loan $100,000 to the general fund. You do that documentation.”
Williams argued that budget balancing should not rely solely on cuts or taxes, suggesting creative revenue generation like the Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) utilized in Opa-locka, saying the city generated significant revenue by leasing land rather than selling it.
Addressing potential conflicts regarding NMB Water — which he uses as a resident of Miami Gardens, where his wife is also a councilwoman — Williams used a military analogy.
“Whatever the division that you put in, you serve that division,” he said. “I would never allow a general from another city to give me directives or orders that were against the general that I serve.”
He suggested the city should be more aggressive in leveraging the water utility, expanding its vision as a regional training facility.
Ultimately, Williams appealed to the city’s unique demographic strength as a driver for economic development.
"We have to sell the city," he concluded. "I think that I have a vision and a process by which we could work together.”
Rasha Cameau, former North Miami city manager, explains her 90-day plan if selected.
Williams asked for a minimum annual compensation of $250,000.
Rasha Cameau
Cameau, a former North Miami city manager, presented herself as a systems-oriented leader. Her tenure would begin with an intensive assessment phase.
"Part of my first 90 days is to assess the staff and the departments and even meeting with each commissioner," Cameau said. "I meet with them individually to understand their issues, their challenges, what they're working on.”
Acknowledging the city’s financial position, she noted she had already reviewed audited statements and identified “deficiencies that need to be addressed."
“Your next year’s budget is going to be higher than this year just by function of inflation and raises,” Cameau said. “I would be looking at how I’m going to make the savings not just on the $5.5 million, but a little bit more, so we can have a little bit of leeway.”
Cameau said North Miami Beach has lagged behind its neighbors in development, recalling stalled discussions dating back to 2014 about a train stop and redevelopment.
"It feels like North Miami Beach has been in a haze or a standstill, and I'd like to be that person to help you move ahead and move along so that when you do retire, you can say I was part of the team that helped the city move along,” Cameau said.
She emphasized her reliance on project-management tools and dashboards — including systems she used in North Miami before she was fired in 2024— to align departments and ensure accountability.
“If you want to know where you are on Washington Park or the Highland Village project, you don’t really have to call me or ask me because it’s there on the dashboard,” she said.
Regarding NMB Water, she emphasized the need for capital improvements but cautioned against repeating past legal disputes.
“There are funding opportunities for that,” she said. “We have to look at it at a policy level and look at it legislatively to make sure that our rights as a city are not being infringed.”
Cameau asked for a minimum annual compensation of $270,000.
Ricardo Mendez
Mendez presented himself as a turnaround specialist with extensive experience in utilities, capital planning, and financial recovery. His first 90 days would focus on earning trust and conducting a forensic-level assessment of the entire city.
“I plan to do an assessment of the community, go throughout the entire city, identifying strengths, areas of improvements opportunities, and challenges,” he said.
Mendez said he would immediately review audits to catch critical compliance issues that could “come back to haunt the city.”
A central priority, he said, would be NMB Water, warning against deferred maintenance.
“There are projects in modernization of the aging infrastructure, for instance, that need to take place because we must be proactive and exercise foresight toward anything, any project, that is going to avoid — god forbid — the placement of a consent decree,” he said. “This infrastructure is old. It needs modernization. It needs expansion.”
Addressing the city’s $5.5 million deficit, Mendez proposed identifying underlying drivers such as pensions and staffing.
Commissioner Daniela Jean asks the candidates about their 90-day plan.
“Our reserves should be increasing, not decreasing, from operations,” he said.
Mendez asked for a minimum annual compensation of $300,000.
What residents want
While commissioners deliberate, residents say they are seeking stability above all else. Barbara Kramer, a longtime resident and former commissioner, said residents are weary of the “revolving door” of leadership.
“We need a very strong manager,” she said. “Someone who’s able to look at our budget and look at our expenses and look at our audit and see where our deficiencies are.”
Kramer said she would be comfortable with either Cameau or Williams, but criticized the process after Mayor Michael Joseph did not attend the public interview workshop in person and instead conducted interviews via Zoom.
"It just doesn't look good when you have the titular head of your city not even there," Kramer noted.
Wrendly Mesidor, a member of the North Miami Beach Redevelopment Advisory Board and a resident for two decades, listed his top priorities:
“Restoring public trust, ensuring efficient city operations, and focusing on long-term planning and fiscal responsibility.”
Ketley Joachim, a longtime resident, lamented the cost of turnover for taxpayers.
"We don’t need someone that’s just looking for a job and thinking that, OK, if this doesn’t work out, they’re going to get a payoff, because that’s all the city’s been doing for years," Joachim said. "Who is it costing? Us, the residents."
Joachim also voiced a preference for female leadership.
“I think a woman should be a hand of our city,” Joachim said. “We’ve given a lot of men a lot of chances, and they've either messed up or have let us down.”
This story was produced by The Miami Times, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. Read more at miamitimesonline.com.
