NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – It’s back to business in North Miami Beach after a judge ordered three no-show commissioners to return to City Hall.
Once the meeting began Tuesday, however, it became clear they are still plagued with problems.
With the dais finally full, residents begged commissioners for normalcy, for unity.
The tone turned testy when the time came to fire city manager Arthur Sorey.
Sorey, who has avoided answering Local 10 News’ questions, and city attorney Hans Ottinot, who ran from news crews last month, are both now gone.
The manager was terminated and the attorney resigned rather than be fired. Both have been under scrutiny by colleagues and state observers for misspending and malfeasance.
The formerly no-show commissioners are now questioning the city mayor’s residency in court, while the other commissions insist two of the three no-shows missed too many days to keep their seats, according to the city charter.
Ultimately, commissioners decided to allow the new city attorney to take some time to look into the charter language and to wait for the court opinion on the matter.
The meeting lasted well past midnight.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning regarding the mayor’s residency case, and whether to accept or reject the recusal of the outside attorneys hired by the now-terminated city attorney.