October 18, 201 - The $600 toilet seat and the $500 hammer

To all,

I finally got the opportunity to speak with the Village Manager Ron Williams and Director of Finance Desmond Chin over the phone Wednesday.  All I can say is the Village Manager was not very forthcoming.  In fact, after five minutes on the phone, I got the feeling that the only way I was going to get a truthful answer was by contacting the CIA for a little water boarding.  The Village Manager evaded my questions as of he was avoiding Ebola.   I assume he has learned from the best – Mayor Stanczyk, Vice Mayor Pariser and Councilwoman Lindsay. 

As I hung up the phone, the only thing I could think was “WHAT ARE THEY HIDING”.   I started reviewing documents that I received earlier in the day and I found a spreadsheet that was titled “Village of Palmetto Bay Capital Assets Schedule 9/2011”. 

I guess, I’ve come to the point where I have to explain why I’ve titled my email “The $600 toilet seat and the $500 hammer”.   If you remember back in the 1980’s the Pentagon was involved in a scandal that uncovered their purchase of various items at over-inflated costs.

Well this is the story of Palmetto Bay’s $600 toilet seat and $500 hammer. 

Executive chairs for Council Members     -             $15,065.10

Gym Equipment for Village Hall               -             $33,487.77

(apparently the council doesn’t  

realize there is a gym at Village Hall)                                                                                     

Audio Visual Equipment                            -          $220,434.00

The 168^th Traffic Circle                             -          $350,179.32

Brick Pavers on 152^nd & Old Cutler          -          $293,339.00

Cashier system                                          -          $  56,538.00

Nikon D90 Cameras (2)                             -          $    2,278.00

These are just a few of the item’s I’ve decided to reference.  There is much more and, after repeated requests, I still have not received the 2012 Capital Asset Schedule - can you imagine what I’ll uncover?   No doubt it will be more Government waste. 

Now to be candid, a couple of these items were purchased in the last quarter of 2010 before Ms. Stanczyk was Mayor, but she was a Councilmember with Vice Mayor Brian Pariser both of whom voted on the budgets that Manager Williams prepared.   

Based a track record of wasteful spending,  it’s not difficult to see how the current council has reduced the Village’s reserves by $10 million in the last three years.  The $10 million figure is easily verified by reviewing the official Village finances obtainable on the Village website.

So don’t be fooled:  Mayor Shelly Stanczyk, Vice Mayor Brian Pariser and Councilwoman Joan Lindsey are not fiscally responsible.  Waste at every level is being perpetrated by a majority of the Council (only Patrick Fiore has voted against the budget two years in a row.) The residents of Palmetto Bay deserve to have services delivered efficiently with the balance of the money as a healthy reserve for a rainy day.

No one wants to foot the bill for our equivalent of a $600 toilet seat or a $500.00 hammer.