A Miami-Dade circuit judge has ruled that three North Miami City Council members violated the city charter while attempting to remove former City Manager Rasha Cameau in 2024, though the same judge found insufficient evidence that the council members broke Florida's Sunshine Law. The ruling came after a three-day civil trial over a lawsuit filed by longtime resident Eileen Bicaba.
According to WPLG Local 10, the judge found that Council members Kassandra Timothe, Mary Estimé-Irvin, and Pierre Frantz-Charles violated Section 19 of the North Miami City Charter while trying to remove Cameau from her post. Bicaba, who serves as president of the NoMi Neighbors Association, filed the lawsuit in June 2024 alleging that the council members interfered with Cameau's management of city employees and privately coordinated city business outside a properly noticed public meeting. The Sunshine Law, per the same report, requires certain government business to be discussed in public and prohibits elected officials from privately conducting that business outside noticed meetings.
The dispute traces back to Public Works Director Wisler Pierre-Louis, whom Cameau wanted to discipline over department performance issues, according to Local 10's reporting. Pierre-Louis resigned on April 5, 2024, after Cameau moved to discipline him, according to The Haitian American. The judge determined that council members tried to intervene through third parties in that public works discipline matter, and attorney David Reiner said the judge concluded the council members conveyed a threat to Cameau that she would be terminated.
What the Charter Actually Prohibits
Section 19 of the North Miami City Charter mandates that the city council and its members deal with administrative services solely through the city manager, and it explicitly bars elected officials from giving direct or indirect orders to any subordinate of the city manager, per the City of North Miami. The charter's penalty clause states that a council member found guilty of violating that restriction commits a misdemeanor and shall cease to be a council member upon conviction. It remains unclear whether the civil judge's bench ruling automatically triggers forfeiture of office, or whether criminal charges or a separate removal proceeding would be required to enforce that provision.
North Miami has operated under a council-manager form of government since adopting its municipal charter in 1953, a structure designed to prevent political patronage by concentrating administrative power in an appointed city manager rather than elected officials, according to background compiled from Wikipedia. That structural divide is precisely what Section 19 was written to protect, making the judge's finding a direct rebuke of how the three council members handled the personnel dispute even without a Sunshine Law violation.
Sunshine Law Claims Fall Short at Trial
During the trial, Timothe was questioned about whether she discussed a motion to terminate Cameau with an attorney before presenting it to the council. She said, “I don't recall,” and denied having the three votes needed to pass the motion before the meeting. Despite that questioning, the judge ultimately ruled there was insufficient evidence to find the council members violated Florida's Sunshine Law, even though the claims had survived a defense motion for summary judgment back in October 2025 that sought to dismiss them before trial, per The Haitian American.
The case, filed in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County under case number 2024-010788-CA-01, was assigned to Circuit Judge Beatrice A. Butchko and took roughly two years to reach trial. No immediate word was available on whether Bicaba plans additional legal action, and any further steps depend on the plaintiff, per Local 10's report.
A Fight That Reshaped City Hall Leadership
Cameau served as North Miami City Manager from March 2023 until her ouster in a 3-1 vote in May 2024, a decision led by Timothe and supported by Estimé-Irvin and Charles, as Hoodline's earlier coverage of her firing detailed at the time. Her removal sparked public outcry, with community members protesting at City Hall and alleging a political coup. The council quickly appointed Anna-Bo Emmanuel, who also serves as Executive Director of the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency, as interim city manager following Cameau's departure, according to the City of North Miami.
The city later hired Theresa Therilus as permanent city manager in August 2025, returning her to a post she had previously held from 2020 to 2022, per city records. The two-year legal battle over Cameau's ouster played out in the background throughout that leadership transition, culminating in this week's ruling that found the council's conduct crossed a legal line even as it cleared them of the more serious Sunshine Law allegation.
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