My Top Ten List

Six things you should know prior to the July Council Meeting;

1.  Mayor Shelley Stanczyk is facing 6 possibly 12 ethic violations which are now being investigated by the State of Florida.  These violations relate to the website pbchekstherecord.com that she is accused of setting up and paying for which vilified and slandered Village of Palmetto Bay residents along with her political revivals she was not supporting in the last year's election.   Will the Mayor finally address these violations to the citizens of the Village?

2.  Vice Mayor John DuBois will once again address the Council about release of the Palmer Trinity Shade transcripts.    Will it finally be verified that Councilwomen Lindsey, Mayor Stanczyk, and their Merry Band of mentally misfit followers have essentially cost the Village of Palmetto Bay up to Five Million Dollars for which there is absolutely no insurance coverage? 

3.  When is a Post Office a Library?  Apparently, when the Village Attorney and the Village Zoning Director are reviewing a zoning application.  The embattled Village Attorney, Eve Boutsis, has apparently written a letter denying permission to the owners of the former Village Hall (the Sontag Building on SW 152^nd street just east of US-1) to Lease their building to the US Postal Service as a Post Office.  Her justification: the facility can't be used as a Library. (Yes, you read it right.)  I believe it's time for the Village Attorney to bone up on her vocabulary.  A library contains books, periodicals, etc. for people to read and borrow, while a Post Office is where postal business occurs -- two totally different uses.

 4.  The Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) has confirmed that it has initiated an investigation into the audited Village Financial Statements.    A complaint was filed against the Village of Palmetto Bay auditor's Cherry Bekaert LLP.  The complaint was filed against the auditing firm for the potential understatement and nondisclosure of liabilities associated with both the Palmer Trinity and Shores Litigation which could, as stated before, cost the Village up to Five Million Dollars.  The DBPR found the complaint worthy of investigation (this is no small thing.)  Cherry Bekaert LLP, might be in trouble for taking Village staff's and the Village Attorney's word that there were no potential liabilities.  Staff seems to spin things to look favorable regardless of the potential hazard. 

 5.  Does anyone in the Village of Palmetto Bay hierarchy care about the potential FPL easement lines which are proposed to be 100 feet in height and 4 feet wide and are schedule to be installed down the US1 corridor?   While the cities of Coral Gables, South Miami, Pinecrest and Miami, headed by Mayor Cindy Lerner, are litigating to stop installation of these horrendous transmission lines, our Village Mayor is nowhere to be found.     Mayor Stanczyk is too busy fiddling while the Village of Palmetto Bay burns to address a serious risk to various property owners and business community on the US1 corridor.   I can't think that anyone who could be doing a worst job as Mayor.

6.  South Dade Matters has bought to our attention that the Village Manager plans on reintroducing an Art in Public places agenda item that has already been defeated at June's Council Meeting.  I for one would appreciate it if Mr. Ron Williams, or as I like to call him Palmetto Bay's own tax and spend bureaucrat, would focus on reducing the Village expenses since we will soon have a rather large legal settlement to pay along with Palmetto Bay's falling taxable home values. 

You can say a lot of things about the Village of Palmetto Bay and one would be it's never a dull place
to live.