A Hat Trick at the April Council Meeting

Last night's Council meeting was relatively uneventful with the exception of Mayor Shelley Stanczyk scurrying out of the chambers so fast that she forgot to close the session.  In fact, she left so quickly after the final vote that she looked like a roach being chased by a can of RAID.    Besides the fact that I reminded the Mayor and the Village Attorney that they repeatedly disregard Roberts Rules at Council Meetings, which is required by the Village of Palmetto Bay Code of Ordinances, the only stimulating portion of the meeting was during "Other Business".   There were five items brought forward for discussion during "Other Business" which benefit the residents of Palmetto Bay greatly when passed.  Both Mayor Shelly Stanczyk and Councilwoman Joan Lindsey voted or would have voted against the majority of these items.   Three of them were passed and two were tabled.  The first two that were passed were revisions to the NPO that would give residential and non-residential structures the right to rebuild using the same zoning codes originally in place when the structures were built if they were to be damaged more than 50%.   In other words, as I have been discussing for the past six months, if your home, school or a church were to burn down you could in theory build the exact same structure on your property.     Why Mayor Shelley Stanczyk and Councilwoman Joan Lindsey voted against either of these two items I have no clue, unless they are hoping that a major hurricane will destroy either a private school or a church in the community, and they would like to have a law in place preventing them from rebuilding.  It's just their blatant disregard for property rights.   One of the items which was tabled, which I can't imagine why Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsey were prepared to vote against it (it will be brought up again at the next meeting), is the creation of a Financial Advisory Committee made up of Palmetto Bay residents who are CPA's, and CFO's.   In case you don't know, the Village has a bevy of committees: Educational; Special Events; Zoning; Thalatta Estates; Historic Preservation and even a Tree committee.     When John DuBois introduced the idea of having residents, who are seasoned professionals, specializing in Finance, Accounting or Business give advice to the Council, Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsey were so repulsed by it you would think that they were being asked to join a swinger's club.    It's mind boggling that they spent a good deal of time discussing members of a tree committee last night but refused to even consider formation of a financial advisory board whose objective would be to help the Council in auditing selection, budgeting and other financial matters that could have a material impact on the residents of Palmetto Bay.    So much for the Mayor's "open and transparent government."   What exactly are Mayor Shelly Stanczyk and Councilwoman Joan Lindsey trying to hide from the public that the other three Councilmembers are willing to disclose?      The final vote was related to a solicitation of proposals for the position of Village Attorney. We all remember Ms. Eve Boutsis, our current Village Attorney, as she is the one responsible for overseeing procedures, including Robert's Rules, during Council Meetings and, in my opinion, has done this Village a grave injustice by fighting the release of the Palmer Trinity shade sessions that will eventually damage both Mayor Stanczky and Councilwoman's Lindsey's credibility.    Attorney Boutsis continues to play politics in her position instead of looking out for the residents of Palmetto Bay interests.   Fortunately the final vote was tallied and the request for solicitation for proposals for Village Attorney was passed. Mayor Stanczyk, without further adieu, "exited stage left," "adios'ed like a ghost" and left the building before you could spell "RAID".  I guess there was no reason for her to hang around and chit-chat after a 0-for-3 night.  Hooray for the Citizens rights. David Singer