Recall Annoucement

I’ve received more emails from my last blog than ever before.  Some disparaged the present Village Attorney for the blatant error she made at the last Council meeting and some were requesting an update on the Recall since there has been very little information released lately. 

Currently, we have two individual petitions drafted which call for the removal of both Mayor Shelley Stanczyk and Councilwoman Joan Lindsey.   These petitions can be used at any time to put the Recall in motion by collecting signatures.  Counsel has advised us that petitions are bulletproof.

I, along with other individuals who are involved in the Recall, agreed to put the Recall on hold until we could make the judgment call whether Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsey have actually learned anything from the last election.  I think it was just obvious that the Citizens of Palmetto Bay have had enough of the infighting, games, attacks on Schools and Churches, etc. Somehow all of this is unbelievably still continuing.

You will recall that two incumbents were voted out of office in November. If you go back to a prior election an additional incumbent was booted.  That makes three incumbents who have lost in two elections.  What more could clue Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwomen Lindsey to the fact that the Village is not conducting itself in a way that represents its constituents?  

We were also hoping that the new Council could bring some professionalism to the Village deliberations. It seems to be somewhat balanced at this time and we’re hoping this helps the Village heal from some of the wounds inflicted over the past two years. 

I’ve received a few hate emails since I’ve started blogging and it really doesn’t faze me because I believe everyone has a right to their opinion.   My favorite phase is “let’s just agree to disagree”.  In other words, a disagreement should not impede an honest civil discourse.  For instance, both Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsay have totally different opinions that I have when it comes to how this Community should be run.   I can accept that.  What I can’t accept is the constant misinformation they both disseminate to reach their goals.  Waste a couple hours of your time and watch any of the Council Meeting – you may not be able to detect it as a casual viewer, but if you check their “facts” -  they most often are not true.

It seems as though some individuals will vote for any candidate no matter how morally bankrupt or dishonest they are as long as they have the same political agenda.  It’s purely a means to an end.   There are people out there that have, would and will vote for both Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsey again because they have the same goals and don’t really care how dishonestly they are achieved. 

I would like to think that any damage that has been bestowed upon the Village of Palmetto Bay by Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsey will be reversed in two years by a New Mayor and Council once these individuals have been unceremoniously elected out of office.

Isn’t that what Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsey are currently attempting to do, reverse an agenda implemented by former Mayor Gene Flynn and the prior Council?  The Village built a Skate park in 2006, now it’s time to tear it down and spend $250,000 for mini soccer fields in 2013.  The Mayor would misinform you that it’s a litigation nightmare, but, a public information request for all litigation associated with the Skate Park so far reveals nothing.

To my point, the Mayor can basically state anything she wants on the dais, but she very rarely has real facts to support her position.  They just aren’t there. Now is that considered lying or putting out misinformation? I’ll let you be the judge.  It is what I wrote “a means to the end”.   

 

As for the Recall, we stand ready to start the process of collecting signatures and commencing the process at a moment’s notice.  In the spirit of fairness, new council members Tim Schaffer and John DuBois deserve some time to find their bearings to see if they can right a ship that’s been listing for an extended time. Maybe they along with Patrick Fiore will help steer our Village back down an honest and moral path.

David Singer

Goose Eggs for the Citizens

It’s a good thing that Easter is right around the corner because Mayor Shelly Stanczyk, Councilman Tim Schaffer and Councilwoman Joan Lindsey are doing an excellent job hiding those Easter eggs. Back to this later.

Monday night’s Council meeting, from its start at 7pm to its conclusion at 12:15am, should be considered the Mayor Shelly Stanczyk show. If you’re buying crap she was selling, I have some land in the Everglades at a special price for only you. I’ve never seen anyone avoid and disseminate as much misinformation as the Mayor did last night. From her agenda of converting the much loved Palmetto Bay Skate Park into soccer fields to her success in perverting the NPO ordinance, that she and Councilwoman Joan Lindsey fought so hard to pass in November of 2012, so that it doesn’t apply to the Village Parks but only the Schools and Churches that she so inexplicably despises.

The Mayor would like you to believe that the Palmetto Bay Skate Park, which is now closed due to Village mismanagement, is a blight on the Village. According to her, juvenile delinquents, hooligans, criminals who don’t actually reside in the Village hang out there causing damage to the surrounding business, are an insurance risk and, horror of horrors, lean again the fence that separates the skate park from the roadway. Funny thing is that no one, not even the Village Park Manager, had any information to support her position. If it was really a litigation nightmare don’t you think she would have referenced a lawsuit in her 15 minute soliloquy? The parks been open since 2006 and not one lawsuit being filed against the Village was mentioned.

As far as the NPO is concerned, the former Council, spearheaded by Councilwomen Joan Lindsey and supported by Mayor Shelly Stanczyk, passed a restriction on the height of light poles in the Village. This restriction relates to single family homes, Churches and Schools, but apparently not Coral Reef Park. I agree the tennis lighting at the park is in need of repair or replacement, but at a cost of 250,000 dollars? What’s even more absurd is, as was mentioned last night, that no one from the Village (and we have a lot of Park Staff on the payroll) has even attempted to change any light bulbs. This reminds me of when I was a kid and my friend’s mom called the TV repair man just to find out the television wasn’t plugged in. The fact is that if two new tennis courts were built at both Coral Reef Park and at a School or Church in Palmetto Bay, the park would be able to have taller light poles. I would assume by the actions of the Council that what is good for the goose is definitely not good for the gander. Or can we just say that the Churches and Schools got “goosed.”

In regards to my opening comment regarding Easter eggs, even though there continues to be no legal reason to keep the Shade Session of concluded litigation private per the Village Attorney (stated numerous times at the Council meeting,) Mayor Stanczyk, Councilman Schaffer and Councilwoman Lindsey voted to hide them from their constituents. I’ll give Councilman Schaffer a pass for voting against an open and honest government since I’ve come to the conclusion he still doesn’t get it. In fact, I’m starting to believe he doesn’t get much of what’s going on while he’s on the dais. He’s an honest soul, but he’s apparently lost.

As far as Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsey are concerned, they are simply covering their behinds. They have said repeatedly that they will attempt to hide these matters for as long as possible. Rumor has it that they didn’t even listen to their own outside attorney’s advice in ending the litigation against Palmer Trinity’s zoning approval. It is said that the former Council were told they had a 20% chance of winning but still voted to continue with costly appeals. And who was the attorney that advised them of this? Raoul Cantero, a former Supreme Court Justice who now works for the distinguished firm of White and Case who billed the Village over $650.00 an hour for his informed expert opinion. I love it when Politicians gamble with my hard earn tax dollars – it sure gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling – especially when someone with the experience of a pit boss advises them that the house odds are so stacked against them and that they can’t win unless they pull a rabbit out of a hat. If you were Mayor Stanczyk or Councilwoman Lindsey who ignored that advice, would you want that ugly little Easter egg found? Probably not. So the shade sessions will probably remain in the dark until somebody besides John Dubois and Patrick Fiore get some backbone.

I walked away from the meeting last night very tired and with a major headache wondering why can’t these people just stop all the madness and concentrate on things that municipalities are supposed to do – simple stuff – like fixing potholes. We did not incorporate to get into litigation with friendly private Village institutions and then have our anti-transparency Council hide all the facts when it turns out to be a major screw up. Maybe this Easter we can wish for something new, maybe a basket full of coherence, sensibility and good governance. Or next election maybe some good eggs.

David Singer

Missteps and misinformation given by the Village Attorney

If you can’t rely on the Village Attorney to give proper procedural instructions during a monthly commission meeting who can you count on?    SouthDadeMatters.com broke the story on Monday March 5^th, that Village Attorney Eve Boutsis made a major mistake and incorrectly informed the commission on a procedural process dictated under Roberts Rules which permitted a very unnecessary and expensive Resolution to pass when it was originally stopped dead in its tracks.

This resolution created a master plan that permits new batting cages, the replacement of tennis lights and new benched seating areas at Coral Reef Park.  These are all necessary improvements but this resolution takes away the approval process of electing to spend in excess of $275,000 away from the Council and gives it to our fiscally challenged Village Manager, Ron Williams.

The Resolution needed a super majority vote of 4-1 to pass.  It passed 3-2 because the Village Attorney incorrectly directed one of the commissioners, Patrick Fiore, who voted against the resolution, that he was required to vote for it under Robert’ Rules of Order since he had seconded the motion.  Who could have known whether this was correct or not at the time?  Eve Boutsis should have known, its her job.

I would assume anyone with a law degree should know in a Country where democracy is King, a Council member should be able to vote either for or against an item.  No one on the Council questioned her analysis of Roberts Rules.  Fortunately, she has since admitted her error. 

As far as I know the Mayor Shelly Stanczyk would like to error to stand since it was her Resolution which passed.  Not very honorable and extremely deceitful if true.

What else was disturbing was the fact that the Village Attorney stated numerous times that there is no Master Site Plan for Coral Reef Park.   This is complete misinformation and inexcusable on her part.     There is a standing Master Site Plan that was created by Miami-Dade County detailing six tennis courts with lighting which was recorded prior to the creation of the park in 1974.   I was a small child attending Coral Reef Elementary while my parents were involved in the planning of the park.

In my humble opinion the batting cages do need to be moved, benches are necessary and the lighting requires either repair or replacement.  Experts I’ve spoken with all say that all this work could be accomplished for under $100,000 not over $275,000 as planned.

All of this reminds me of the $1.1 million snack bar at Coral Reef – it was too much money, it’s in the wrong place and it’s almost impossible for a vendor to operate because of its absurd interior layout.  It’s not even a snack bar – it’s an out-of-the-way useless sculpture- the council could have bought over  four hundred commercial-grade hot dog stands for that price (don’t get any ideas Mr. Williams, you would only have needed two.)

It’s time for the Council and the Village Attorney to stand up, admit their mistakes and revote on the Coral Reef Master Plan with the correct information at hand.  I’ll tell the Council the same thing I tell my kids -  it’s imperative to do what’s right instead of what’s easy in order to be a better person, or in this case a better Council and a better Village Attorney.   

David Singer