NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Newly elected North Miami Beach Mayor Evan Piper says it’s time to move on from the city’s past scandals and to start rebuilding trust.
He’s ready to roll up his sleeves and work with city commissioners.
“I know that my city needs me now and I want to be here for the city,” he said.
Piper was raised in North Miami Beach, has multiple businesses, was a former commissioner and most recently is the North Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce President.
He beat former city commissioner Paule Villard with 57% percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election.
“After the situation with the last mayor, I saw there was an opportunity where things could start could going in the wrong direction and that’s where I felt like I really had to step up,” Piper said.
Piper is filling the seat vacated by former mayor Anthony DeFillipo, who was removed from office after being charged with three counts of voter fraud.
DeFillipo was arrested, and days later Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended him.
“It never looks good when an elected official gets arrested,” said Piper.
That wasn’t the only drama and dysfunction for the city. Three commissioners didn’t show for meetings earlier in the year, leaving city business at a standstill.
One commissioner in particular, Michael Joseph, was removed by his fellow commissioners who say he skipped out on too many meetings within a 120 day period, a violation of the city charter. He has since been reinstated.
So how does Piper plan on rebuilding city trust and getting commissioners on the same page?
“We had a lack of quorum so we weren’t able to conduct the meeting and in those cases business of the city doesn’t get conducted and we don’t want that to happen again,” he said. “I’ve developed a trust with all of the commissioners that are there, and I feel like I can bring everyone together so that we can become unified as a commission, we can get business done.”
Piper will be sworn in next week.
As for DeFillipo, Local 10 News reached out to his attorney for a comment on the results of the election, but have not heard back at the time of this story’s publishing.
His trial is set to begin in February.