Ex-Cap-Haïtien mayor Michel Saint-Croix appointed again after 15 years

CAP-HAÏTIEN — Former Cap-Haïtien Mayor Michel Saint-Croix has been appointed to lead the city again, returning to office 15 years after the end of his first term as officials struggle to contain worsening sanitation, flooding and infrastructure crises. 

Saint-Croix was appointed May 6 to replace Mayor Angie Bell, whose administration faced mounting criticism over deteriorating environmental conditions and limited progress in addressing chronic waste accumulation and flooding. 

Speaking to reporters May 7 at Collège Regina Assumpta, Saint-Croix said he accepted the position only after demanding greater authority and stronger support from the central government.

“I gave them two conditions,” Saint-Croix said. “First, give me the power to make unpopular decisions. Second, give me the means to deliver results. If I don’t have those two things, I will resign.”

Authorities have not yet announced when he will officially take office.

Returning to a city in crisis

Saint-Croix previously served as mayor from 2006 to 2011, a period many residents remember for cleaner streets and more active municipal management.

Since then, Cap-Haïtien has undergone rapid population growth fueled by displacement following the 2010 earthquake, gang violence in Port-au-Prince and migration linked to perceived economic opportunities in the main northern city. Local officials estimate the metropolitan area’s population has grown to roughly 700,000 residents, tripling in less than two decades and placing enormous pressure on drainage systems, roads and waste management infrastructure.

Bell, appointed in August 2025, had entered office with strong public support, particularly among young residents, because of her environmental advocacy work through Pou Bèl Ayiti or “For Beautiful Haiti,” an organization focused on cleaning public spaces.

However, her administration struggled to deliver lasting improvements as flooding intensified, roads deteriorated and garbage continued piling up across the city.

Bell and members of her municipal team repeatedly blamed a lack of financial and logistical support from the central government.

Vice-Mayor Patrick Almonor previously said the city needed significant state funding to dredge canals and reduce flooding in neighborhoods such as Vertières, where residents staged demonstrations from April 27 to April 30 demanding road repairs and drainage restoration.

Questions over past allegations and pressure to deliver

Saint-Croix’s return also revives controversy surrounding allegations of financial misconduct during his first term.

He has previously been accused by Haiti’s Superior Court of Accounts of embezzlement linked to his earlier administration. Speaking to reporters, Saint-Croix denied the allegations.

If formally confirmed, such accusations could complicate his installation as mayor. The Superior Court of Accounts had not responded to requests for comment from The Haitian Times as of publication.

The current municipal council — composed of Bell, Almonor and Isaac Pierre-Louis — is expected to be replaced by Saint-Croix, founder and director of Rescue Training School (EFOSA), nurse Edeline Jean and attorney Mircado Vréus.

Saint-Croix acknowledged that expectations are high, especially among residents who had openly called for his return.

But he also stressed that the Cap-Haïtien he once governed is very different from today’s city, now strained by overcrowding, deteriorating infrastructure and repeated environmental emergencies.

“I can’t shy away from this,” he said. “If people are asking for you and you don’t deliver, you will look foolish. They are expecting results from me.”

The post Ex-Cap-Haïtien mayor Michel Saint-Croix appointed again after 15 years appeared first on The Haitian Times.