Congrats to John Dubios and Tim Schaffer

Hello,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Well it’s back to work for me and the first thing I would like to do is congratulate John Dubois and Tim Schaffer on winning the election.   I hope that this will be the first step to normalcy on the Palmetto Bay Village Council.

Numerous people have emailed me over the last couple of days and asked where we are on the Recall effort and if in fact we are going to forward.  I’ll get to that bit of information at the end of this email.  Let me first address what I plan on doing in the immediate future with the email names I’ve obtained from the Village.  Please remember if you do not wish to receive any future emails please just let me know and I will delete your email address.  Alternatively, if you know someone who you think should be on the list, please reply to any of my emails with their email address.

I still plan to send out emails either weekly or bi-weekly reporting a fiscal analysis of Village expenditures.  I will also be reporting on any ordinances that the Council is planning on passing that affects the citizens who live in Palmetto Bay.

Some of the items I plan on addressing:

• Litigation occurring in the Village and any associated costs on a monthly basis
• Losses incurred for Coral Reef Park, or other parks in our Village including tennis courts
• Village operating deficits
• Any planned Capital Expenditures 
• Positions on items to be voted on by the board
• Land use related actions by the Council

Please note that any information I disseminate will have appropriate supporting documentation available on the recallpalmettobay.com website.  I pledge not to send any emails addressing the finances of Palmetto Bay unless I have fully reviewed financial information received directly from the Village.  There has been numerous emails that have been sent by other who will not be named with eregious misinformation regarding the Village of Palmetto Bay finances.
In regards to the Recall effort, I presently have petitions that are ready to sign.  I was hoping that these petitions would not have to be used, but feel there is still an opportunity to improve the Village by recalling one additional Council member in January.   I don’t take this decision lightly and neither do any of the individuals who are working with me on the Recall.  We feel if this individual is left on the Council the Village will still be headed down the wrong path.

In January, we plan to start the Recall effort.  The Recall effort shall be performed under the auspices of the Statutes of the State of Florida.  The same laws that allow us to have elections in our municipality allow us to have a recall.  It has neither positive nor negative attributes, it’s just a tool afforded us as part of our political process.   So in January, please do your part to direct the Village of Palmetto Bay down the right path by signing the Recall petition.
David Singer

Recallpalmettobay.com

Remember to Vote Tomorrow, November 20th

To All,

Tomorrow, Tuesday,  November 20^th  is the day that voters will set the direction the Village of Palmetto Bay will move for the next four years.  We as a community can stay where we’ve been for the last four years or we can move in a much more positive direction. 

A direction where the word “COMMUNITY” actually means something to the individuals who represent us on the Council.     A direction where the phase “FISCAL RESPONSBILITY” is not just a phase batted around by those who have wasted and will continue to waste your hard-earned income.  A direction where “OPINIONS” are actually listened to at the Village, not just brushed aside by a group of “condo commando” types who dictate to you how this Village needs to be run.

As you vote tomorrow please remember how we got to the point where we are at this time - it has all been caused by the current Mayor Shelley Stanczyk, the Vice Mayor Brian Pariser and Councilwoman Joan Lindsay.  Here’s a list of their failings to date:

·         Over 1.65 million dollar in losses over two years at the Coral Reef Tennis Courts since the Jane Forman contract was canceled.  Prior to that there were no losses.

·         A  1.1 million dollar hot dog stand, the cost of which exceeds the value of 99% of the homes located in the Village of Palmetto Bay

·         Over $800,000 and counting for attorney fees paid to the Village Attorneys Eve Boutsis and White and Case to fight Palmer Trinity expansion over the last four years.  This equates to a $3,200 attack on each student the Mayor and Vice Mayor tried to disapprove.

·         A 2.3 Million dollar operating deficit for the Villages 2012-2013 fiscal year budget.

·         Over 10 Million dollars of taxpayer’s money spent out of reserves over the last 3 years. 

·         A possible 12 million dollar judgment against the Village in Palmer Trinity’s favor.

Please remember this is the damage they have accomplished over the last four years, can you imagine what they can and will do in the next four?  We all will pay the financial price with “INCREASED REAL ESTATE TAXES” if Brian Pariser and Tim Schaffer are elected to the Council and the wasteful financial shenanigans continue.

Numbers and facts don’t lie, but rhetoric does.  Please tell all your friends and neighbors to get out and Vote tomorrow for John Dubios and Jim Araiza.

Hello From Canada

Hello, from Canada . (No, I’m not trying to escape the Neighborhood Protection Ordinance by moving to the Great White North.)

I will have very little internet access for the next couple of days and as my friends keep asking me “Why So Serious David?”, I’ve decided to have some fun with the characters of Star Wars.  I must tell you that the Star Wars series are my favorite Science Fiction movies because my father took me to see the original and I’ve luckily had the opportunity to share these movies with my children.

Therefore, for giggles, I have recast Palmetto Bay political lumimaries, (thank you South Dade Matters for indirectly giving me the idea) as Star Wars characters.  Some people will agree with my recasting and some won’t, but please remember it’s all in good fun.

Five main characters, which were very easy to recast;

Darth Sidious – Joan Lindsay, I think this recasting speaks for itself.  There has been a direct correlation between her appointment on the Council and the downward spiral of the Village.  She and her band of misfits have allured Mayor Shelly Stanczyk to the Dark Side.

Darth Vader – Shelley Stanczyk,  Shelley’s inner-turmoil between the Force and the Dark Side.  It’s unfortunate that the Dark side seems to be winning with no possible redemption.

Luke Skywalker – John DuBios, along with the silent majority of Palmetto Bay residents, he will defeat the Dark Side in the end.

Princess Leia – Who else could play the part besides the lovely Karyn Cunningham

Han Solo - Howard Tendrich, I’m hoping with a little prodding that Howard will realize the only way to avenge his election defeat will be to continue to fight the Dark Side, whether he’s on the council or not.  I’m rooting for you Howard.

Supporting cast of characters;

Obi Wan Kenobi -Jim Araiza, in my version of events Obi Wan is the final nail in Darth Vader’s coffin, not the other way around.

Grand Muff Tarkin  - Brian Pariser, commander of the first Death Star, which is destroyed with him on it by Luke Skywalker.

Anakin Skywalker - Tim Schaffer, his character is at the crossroads in life but he eventually decides to be transformed to the Dark Side by Darth Sidious…… or does he?

Jar Jar Binks  - David Zisman, just as Jar Jar Binks couldn’t keep his mouth closed for any extended period of time in the movie, Zisman appears to have the same issue.

Chewbacca –  JB Harris, serious who yells louder than JB Harris?

Yoda - South Dade Matters, for his/her brilliant writing and insight.

Ok, so there you have it, my not so serious blog for the day.   If I’ve missed any characters please send me your thoughts, I’d be interested in feedback.

All joking aside, please remember we must do our part and vote for John Dubois and Jim Araiza on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. 

David Singer

Who is the person that keeps sending me all these emails?

Who is the person that keeps sending me all these emails?

I would be asking that same question too, if I kept being bombarded with emails related to the politics and financial integrity of Palmetto Bay. 

First off, my name is David Singer.  I was born and raised in what is now considered the Village of Palmetto Bay.  I attended Coral Reef Elementary, Palmetto Middle and Palmetto Senior High.  I also graduated from Florida State University and the University of Miami.  I am a CPA who practiced public accounting for approximately 10 years focusing on auditing.  I now run (CEO/CFO) a Real Estate Development Company, located in Coconut Grove, which specializes in large retail Shopping Centers averaging over 200,000 square feet in size.

      

The only reason I mention what I do for a living is there is misinformation or, as the Mayor said to me, “just rhetoric” being disseminated that I am an evil developer who has his eyes on Palmetto Bay - this is completely inaccurate. There is absolutely no available land within the Village of Palmetto Bay to develop the type of Shopping Centers the firm I work for develops. 

I have received many, many emails from individuals wondering why I’ve taken such an active interest in the politics of the Village of Palmetto Bay.  I must tell you until about six months ago I honestly had no idea or interest for that matter, to the extent of the problems, which were occurring in the Village.  It was an eye-opening lesson. Once I realized the political and financial integrity of the Village was on the line, I decided to get involved.

My dad, who was a holocaust survivor, always taught me to defend those who needed to be defended, fight against discrimination and to stand up for principles and ethics.  I would hope he would be proud of the stance I’m taking.

I have met Mayor Stanczyk, Vice Mayor Pariser and Councilwoman’s Lindsay’s supporters. I find a majority of them to be narrow-minded, prejudiced and intolerant, if not bigoted.    Why should we tolerate this type of behavior in our Village?

Having spoken to and received emails from residents of Palmetto Bay, I know that there is a silent majority who are just tired of the nonsense.  They are tired of the litigation, tired of the operating deficits, tired of the constant lies, tired of wasted tax $$$$, tired of the misinformation, tired of the rhetoric and tired of being represented by individuals with questionable ethics.

I've done a lot of research and have found misdirected public spending at the Village.  I draw this conclusion from analysis of documents I received from the Village of Palmetto Bay.  For your reference they are all scanned onto my website RECALLPALMETTOBAY.COM.  I have requested repeatedly to meet with Village Manager Ron Williams to review these various documents, but he has repeatedly rebuffed me.

The Village has not been receptive to citizens like me lately.  John DuBois, Jim Araiza, Karyn Cunningham and Howard Tendrich have all done their part trying to make the Village of Palmetto Bay a nicer and friendlier place to live.  It’s time for us to do our part and vote for John and Jim on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my Emails.

If you would like to be removed from the blog, please email me at info@palmettobayrecall.com

David Singer

Excerpts from the 11-20 Miami Herald with Commentary

To all, please find excerpts from the November 20th Miami Herald with my commentary below;

Palmetto Bay’s Village Council could witness a power shift when voters return to the polls Nov. 20 to cast ballots in a runoff election for two council seats.

Since none of the six candidates broke the 50-percent threshold required by village charter, four candidates remain on the campaign trail.

First casualty of the polls: incumbent Howard Tendrich, who, from his district seat, often clashed with the council majority led by Mayor Shelley Stanczyk, Vice Mayor Brian Pariser and council member Joan Lindsay on issues like the Palmer Trinity School expansion legal fight, a divisive Neighborhood Protection Ordinance and a similarly-titled Neighborhood Protection Amendment that Palmetto Bay voters overwhelmingly supported Tuesday.

Tendrich finished about 10 percentage points behind challengers Jim Araiza, a businessman who previously ran unsuccessfully against Stanczyk in 2010 for the mayor’s seat, and political newcomer and financial advisor Tim Schaffer who finished first by 57 votes. Nearly 10,000 votes were cast in that race.
Tendrich expressed anger Thursday, saying Stanczyk and others spread false information about him.
“When you have people who don’t tell the truth you can’t win against them,” Tendrich said. “If you have a mayor and a council person’s spouse [Lindsay’s husband Jerry Templer] who are recommending someone else — two people as a slate — it’s hard to win. I can’t be at every poll trying to fight their lies. It’s sad but when you have a mayor who sends out an email through the village’s email list telling people to look at sites that aren’t true, she doesn’t care. She wants her control. You think the mayor is not going to give out misinformation but the people accepted it.

“It will be an interesting race,” Tendrich continued. “In my seat you have the one the mayor put up, Tim, and Jim who is on the completely other side. No matter who the village picks, it’s going to be bad. For vice mayor you have Brian, who she supported, and John, who she doesn’t support. I’m hoping for the best for the village, more than for myself. …When Gene [Flinn] was mayor, he wasn’t a perfect person but the town went forward for eight years and in two years this mayor has brought dissention and bitterness to the council and the town. I’ll miss sitting up there. I know I did a good job.”

Stanczyk said she used her personal email list to discuss her views on the race and didn’t endorse anyone until the final days of the campaign.

“I’m very sorry Howard feels that way,” she said. “I have a lot of respect toward the many years he’s been a strong supporter of our community and the Deering Estate and the parks — his commitment has always been especially strong there. Howard has donated his time over the years to the village in many different ways and has shown his worth. I would never have said anything about Howard in a negative way. My focus was on the charter amendments and the use of my personal email, not the village’s, was something I chose to do in the last couple of days of the campaign. I’m a voter and I did that.”

MY COMMENTARY

What the Miami Herald is not reporting is the Mayor Stanczyk is lying once again. When she and Councilwoman Joan Lindsay realized they could not control the way Howard Tendrich voted (he has principles), they and their supporters approached Tim Schaffer to be their shill to run against Howard in this year’s Council race.

Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsay ultimately want four controllable votes on the Council. They already control Councilman Brian Pariser, since he has voted in lockstep with the Mayor and Councilwoman 99% of the time in the past two years. This is fact, just look at his voting record.
The Mayor, Councilwoman and their group will stop at nothing including lying and deception to control the council. They appear to have a master plan that includes continuing to divide this community, which needs to be stopped.

Please don’t consider voting for Brian Pariser or Tim Schaffer unless you want;

• Higher Real Estate Taxes and Village fees
• Operating Deficits (The Village has run with Operating Deficits the last two years)
• Needless Litigation and Legal fees
• Wasted taxpayers dollars

I implore everyone to please vote on Tuesday November20th, and don’t be mislead at the poles.
Next, find out if the Tennis Courts at Coral Reef Park have really lost over 1.65 million dollars in the past 2 years?

David Singer
Recallpalmettobay.com

Palmetto Bay is certainly lacking where Village of Pinecrest isn't

A good friend of mine, who lives in The Village of Pinecrest asked me yesterday why I thought there was such a disparity in politics and leadership between Palmetto Bay and Pinecrest. I thought it was a very acute observation since this individual doesn’t live in Palmetto Bay and doesn’t necessarily follow politics. It was also a very interesting question since Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay have relatively close demographics in regards to education and income and we both incorporated at basically the same time.

To start, I’ve had the pleasure to know the Mayor of Pinecrest, Cindy Lerner, for the last couple of years. Mayor Lerner is a beautiful human being inside and out. She is also extremely, extremely professional in her position as Mayor.

Regarding the remaining Pinecrest Council members, I’ve only had chance meetings with them, but my observation is that they too are very professional and represent all Pinecrest residents, not just the minority. With Mayor Lerner at the helm, the Council’s main objective is to resolve the issues of their constituents rather than inventing problems that don’t exist.

The leaders of Pinecrest appear to genuinely love children and families and they are very welcoming to religious organizations, schools, outside events and all the things the current leaders of Palmetto Bay seem to detest due to noise, dust and traffic. The Pinecrest leadership is also welcoming to non-residents, while the Palmetto Bay leadership has repeatedly proven not to be.

Visit one of Pinecrest numerous parks on any weekend and you’ll find children of all ages playing soccer, baseball (the Howard Palmetto Khoury league that was kicked out of Coral Reef Park), football, tennis, basketball all hours of the day. In fact, a large majority of children playing organized sports in Pinecrest live in Palmetto Bay. Can you imagine?

I hate to publically disclose this, since I’ve lived here for over 50 years, but if I had to recommend a “Village” which was family-friendly, I’d recommend Pinecrest due to the shortcomings of Palmetto Bay’s current leadership.

You might wish to compare all the warmth you feel in Pinecrest versus that of Palmetto Bay’s leadership. If Palmetto Bay Councilwoman Joan Lindsay spoke to you, would you feel all warm and fuzzy? Is she a person who would talk to you in a way that engages you as an equal and is interested in your concerns? Would she have a tone of camaraderie and cordiality or would she seem distance and condescending? I think the answer is obvious. How about Councilman Brian Pariser? Is he the kind of Leader that represents friendliness or warmth in our Village? Those two alone, with the power they wield in our Village, create the feeling that the Council is anything other than warm, inviting and inclusive. That is just a fact.

Therefore, my analysis to my friend is just that, the Majority of our Leaders in Palmetto Bay have their own agenda. They really could care less about being inviting, and are certainly not family-friendly.

The way a City, or in our case a Village, carries itself starts with the Mayor and Elected officials. They have made our Village just the opposite of Pinecrest, our sister Village. For now, there’s only one good sister. Hopefully, one day in the near future, if the run-off election turns out like it should, our sister Villages will become twins.

November 1st - Lunacy at Coral Reef Library Early Voting

I spent a little time over the last couple of days at Coral Reef Library observing the lunacy at Dade County’s busiest early voting location. My recommendation is that you DO NOT go to Coral Reef Library for early voting - it has the longest wait time of any polling facility in Dade County.  The average wait time has been three hours, which is an hour or two longer than any other early voting location in the county. 

I would recommend that you cast your early ballot at the Kendall Branch Library at 9101 SW 97^th Avenue - it’s an extra 10-minute drive but definitely worth the time.  I suggest that you go to an alternate location so you won’t be accosted by the zealots who are trying to convince you to vote for all of the Palmetto Bay Charter Amendments they are trying to pass. 

In my opinion, and once again it’s my opinion, I would recommend you vote “NO” on every single Palmetto Bay Charter Amendment - especially the Neighborhood Protection Charter Amendment which really should be called the “Property Rights Reduction Act” It has all the elements necessary to bring more land-rights litigation to our Village and restrict freedoms.

Observing the antics of Charter Supporters at Coral Reef Library was reminiscent of cabdrivers in Caribbean cruise ports overwhelming tourists demanding to drive them to the closest t-shirt shop.  It was a little disconcerting to see citizens of our Village acting that way. 

It has been reported that Jerry Templer, Councilwoman Joan Lindsay’s husband, has had the Miami-Dade police called on him twice in four days,  once for physically abusing an opponent’s political sign (kicking and punching it, to be exact,) and once for a verbal confrontation with Councilmember Patrick  Fiore.  Patrick did the appropriate thing and walked away from Jerry three or four times before he had no choice but to summon the police for his own protection.  It’s nice to see that at least one of our Councilmember’s has a little class and decorum.

Speaking of class and decorum, or lack thereof, apparently the Mayor has been seen and photographed wearing the official seal of the Village of Palmetto Bay while canvassing at Coral Reef Library polling location.  Apparently, this is a big “no-no.” Rumor has it that a complaint is in the works to be filed with the ethics board.

While this might seem to be a petty reason to file a complaint, the Mayor has repeatedly claimed the high-ground on ethics.  In the generally accepted definition of ethics, there is no wiggle-room.  Maybe the Mayor has her own definition.  Apparently there are rules against an elected official publicly campaigning for an issue as an official representative of the government. 

Also troubling is that the Mayor has admonished citizens at public hearings for wearing emblems on their shirts.   The people she admonished were wearing shirts that represented groups that she had, at times, been politically at odds.  So certainly, she is aware of the power of institutional association.  Maybe she should brush up on the definition of rules of ethics as Mayor.

So remember, the titles of the Charter Amendments do not reflect their content.  I suggest that you know the issues, use your judgment and find an alternate polling location to save time and avoid the Palmetto Bay circus.  Maybe if we all vote intelligently, the circus will become the fading memory of an insignificant sideshow and we can move towards a productive harmonious future.