I broke down a few days ago. I try to resist Publix-brand Chocolate Trinity ice cream, and ginger snaps to go with it, and I'm usually moderately successful. But not this past week. It was night time, and I went where I go: the Publix on 6th Avenue at 128th Street. It's closer than the one in Miami Shores, and the one at Biscayne and 126th, and I just like it. (I know Gaspar Gonzalez likes the Miami Shores store, but he's more high class than I am.) I especially like the people who work there, and I most especially like "Early," who is the seafood manager. How that guy is not the manager of the whole store is beyond me. He told me he used to work making food at some upscale place downtown, but he settled into doing what he's doing now, about 30 years ago. And the woman who makes tiny plates of food in front of the bakery and deli. What a desperately charming person. It's like it's her greatest personal pleasure to give you this little plate, with a taste of this, a taste of that, a less-than-bite-size helping of salad, and a scrap of dessert. And if you like it, she has recipes that encourage you to buy stuff from the store. And the guy in produce. A first class gentleman. This is why I can't stay out of that Publix, and it's part of why I have to go there for my occasional Chocolate Trinity and ginger snaps fix. (I really only wanted Stauffer's ginger snaps, but while I was looking for it, I stumbled onto Murray's and Archway, and I decided I had to compare all three.) I used to go to Costco for a while, but I decided I like Publix better, that Publix, and I don't care if the deals aren't quite as good. At least you don't have to pay to be a member of Publix.
So what's the problem, right? On May 1, our area goes big time. At the corner of Biscayne and 122nd, where Office Depot used to be, Whole Foods has its opening. Or, as Tim Horner calls it, Whole Paycheck. That's what it costs to shop there. There are the three Publix stores I mentioned, and one a little further up Biscayne (about 140th), and now the big dog, or the big shark, threatens to put a dent in their business. I wonder if it will even put one of them out of business. I guess we'll see.
Now I have to say, I do like Whole Foods. It's the same as Wild Oats, which I think it owns, and Fresh Market, which is on Biscayne at 170-something. These are beautiful stores. They have very good selections of food that's more upscale than Publix carries. The produce is better, and there's a sizable choice of organics, more than at Publix. The meat section is top notch. Well, if Proper Sausages is the real top, which it is, then Whole Foods, etc, run second.
So Whole Foods is coming. I'll stop in, but it will never be my go-to store. They sell certain brands you won't find elsewhere. And I'll always be a bit curious. Janey Anderson says the last Biscayne Times had a Whole Foods grand opening coupon, so if you still have your copy, or you can get another one, you might as well make life easier for yourself, at least the first time. And besides, you might see Gaspar there. He says he never sees any of us at the Shores Publix, and I'm sure he'll make himself seen at Whole Foods.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Revales is Dead. Long Live Biscayne Diner.
The new place in town calls itself Biscayne Diner. It's at the corner of 86th and Biscayne, where Revales used to be. It's set up like a diner, including a short row of counter seats, which Revales didn't have. It has two TVs, which you can't hear, and on which it's hard to read the captions, providing a somewhat frustrating news track. Other restaurants do this, too, and I really wish they wouldn't. I don't go to restaurants because I want to watch TV.
There are three star attractions at Biscayne Diner. The first is the food. Breakfast is first rate. It's the usual run of breakfast food, but it's very good, presented hot, and not at all expensive. I've eaten breakfast at BD a few times. Today, I had lunch, of sorts. It was a Greek salad and their chicken wings special. I was not there alone, and what they served was more than enough for two people. The salad was huge and contained the standard array of ingredients. The BD could work on the dressing, but the balsamic vinaigrette they served was very good. The salad was worth more than the $10 they charged. The wings special was 8 wings, fries, and a drink, all for another $10. The wings were excellent. The spicy dipping sauce is not as spicy as you want it. (I'm assuming that if you ask for spicy, then you don't want it mild.) It tasted great, though. The bleu cheese dip was good. The fries, of which there was a large helping, were exceptional. More or less as good as The Blue Collar's.
The second attraction is the decor. Charming, funky, and fun. Distinct diner, south Florida style. There's lots of ceramic tile, and lots of old photographs. Not too many, and not too few.
The final attraction is Julie. She's Welsh, friendly, laughs a lot, is solicitous and unrufflable, and is herself as charming as the day is long.
The Biscayne Diner is a homey place, as it should be if it calls itself a diner, and you won't go wrong if you eat there.
There are three star attractions at Biscayne Diner. The first is the food. Breakfast is first rate. It's the usual run of breakfast food, but it's very good, presented hot, and not at all expensive. I've eaten breakfast at BD a few times. Today, I had lunch, of sorts. It was a Greek salad and their chicken wings special. I was not there alone, and what they served was more than enough for two people. The salad was huge and contained the standard array of ingredients. The BD could work on the dressing, but the balsamic vinaigrette they served was very good. The salad was worth more than the $10 they charged. The wings special was 8 wings, fries, and a drink, all for another $10. The wings were excellent. The spicy dipping sauce is not as spicy as you want it. (I'm assuming that if you ask for spicy, then you don't want it mild.) It tasted great, though. The bleu cheese dip was good. The fries, of which there was a large helping, were exceptional. More or less as good as The Blue Collar's.
The second attraction is the decor. Charming, funky, and fun. Distinct diner, south Florida style. There's lots of ceramic tile, and lots of old photographs. Not too many, and not too few.
The final attraction is Julie. She's Welsh, friendly, laughs a lot, is solicitous and unrufflable, and is herself as charming as the day is long.
The Biscayne Diner is a homey place, as it should be if it calls itself a diner, and you won't go wrong if you eat there.
Baynanza, or Bust.
Today was the 31st annual Baynanza bay clean-up. So announced Harvey Ruvin, who was on hand with Sally Heyman at the event on Haulover. Also on hand were Councilpeople from North Miami Beach and Aventura. In fact, a lot of people were on hand. There was a large volunteer contingent wearing FPL shirts, a Target contingent, and a group wearing Lan/Tam shirts. There were other groups, largely kids and other young people, whose affiliations were not clear to me.
There were so many people, volunteers to pick up refuse along the bay on the Haulover section, that it took a while of standing on line just to get the plastic bags. There were so many people, and so little trash, that most volunteers had little to do. There just wasn't much trash to pick up. Harvey Ruvin said the trash truck on site could hold 44 tons, or that the record had been 44 tons, and he wanted to break that record. Frankly, I'd be surprised if they collected 44 pounds.
I got there at 9:00, which was the advertised starting time, stayed for the preliminaries, got my plastic bags, and tried in vain to find much of anything to collect. I left at 10:00. The event was scheduled to go until 12:00. I can't imagine what all those volunteers found to do that long. Perhaps they did what I did.
I didn't see anyone I knew. Not the Commissioner who sent the e-mail yesterday encouraging participation. Not any of the other BP eco-freaks. Come to think of it, we have two Commissioners who talk a lot about preserving the general ecology. The other one never comes to anything anyway, so it's no big surprise he wasn't there. I was a little surprised not to have seen the first one, though. The one who sent the e-mail yesterday.
So the bad-appearing news is that it appears very little was accomplished at Baynanza today. Between that and the almost absent BP turnout, it appears the event was a bust. But the good news, perhaps only by inference, is that it appears people aren't throwing refuse in the bay much, so there was essentially none to collect today. That's good.
There were so many people, volunteers to pick up refuse along the bay on the Haulover section, that it took a while of standing on line just to get the plastic bags. There were so many people, and so little trash, that most volunteers had little to do. There just wasn't much trash to pick up. Harvey Ruvin said the trash truck on site could hold 44 tons, or that the record had been 44 tons, and he wanted to break that record. Frankly, I'd be surprised if they collected 44 pounds.
I got there at 9:00, which was the advertised starting time, stayed for the preliminaries, got my plastic bags, and tried in vain to find much of anything to collect. I left at 10:00. The event was scheduled to go until 12:00. I can't imagine what all those volunteers found to do that long. Perhaps they did what I did.
I didn't see anyone I knew. Not the Commissioner who sent the e-mail yesterday encouraging participation. Not any of the other BP eco-freaks. Come to think of it, we have two Commissioners who talk a lot about preserving the general ecology. The other one never comes to anything anyway, so it's no big surprise he wasn't there. I was a little surprised not to have seen the first one, though. The one who sent the e-mail yesterday.
So the bad-appearing news is that it appears very little was accomplished at Baynanza today. Between that and the almost absent BP turnout, it appears the event was a bust. But the good news, perhaps only by inference, is that it appears people aren't throwing refuse in the bay much, so there was essentially none to collect today. That's good.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Let's Take Some Examples, Just for Fun. (Part II)
At the top of our list of priorities should be the Boards. It's not that they themselves are more important than anything else, like the medians, or the Codes, or the range of activities and features that define our Village. It's that the Boards take the leading and defining roles in shaping all these other considerations. Or they should. So those Boards need to be full, often with available Alternates, and they need to be full of dedicated, knowledgeable (or at least experienced), and generally personable members. Board members need to deal effectively with each other, and in many cases, they need to deal with their neighbors, the "public." It is the job of the Commission to find, or cultivate, or simply accommodate appropriate BP residents. Experience shows that these discoveries and accommodations are not always easy, and they are what make it important that Commissioners are well-connected, and have their fingers on the pulses in BP. Most of our most dedicated neighbors are already on Boards, but not all available ones are. There are one-time Commissioners out there, and they need to be tapped. Some people, like me in 2006, would never have thought of it, or never knew Boards existed, but a Commissioner with a hunch makes a call... People with known expertise in related areas need to be leaned on, for the good of the neighborhood. And just people known to be decent, caring people who are pleased to be Park residents. But the bottom line is that those Boards need to be full, and they need to operate reliably and well. Setting the stage for that is the job of our Commissioners. Whether they do it or not is up to them. Whether it's their job or not is not.
Our medians are our treasure. They are the central distinguishing feature of our neighborhood, and they are our consolation for Arthur Griffing's not having cared about sidewalks. Considering the space required, he gave us medians instead. I will confess to having an ongoing disagreement with some of my friends about the medians. Not to mention names or inflame the disagreement, but some of these friends are in decision-making positions about these medians. The disagreement is this: I think the medians look generally crummy or terrible. My friends, who are no doubt feeling defensive, say they don't look bad. Whether they look bad or they don't, I don't think there could be any disagreement that they are spare, poorly developed, and the ground cover, or "understory," is largely lacking. Many of the medians feature thin grass, lots of weeds, and expanses of dry dirt as an "understory." There are three things that could be done to improve them. If all we want is mismatched trees, and a modest and nominal understory, we can keep what we have, and fill in the ground cover with a nice-looking carpet of grass. It takes money, labor, and resources to keep it looking as nice as it could, but it's the minimal improvement. The next level of improvement is to exchange what's there for a more proper and deliberate understory. This would include various low shrubs, and then a finish, like low grass. Not the kind you have to mow every week, but the kind that's like low monkey grass. Trimmed properly, this begins to create a respectable median design. Finally, since the trees that are there are mismatched anyway, we could scrap the whole plan, and replace it all with something classy, measured, manicured, and purposeful. We're talking about more formal medians, like the few in Miami Shores, Miami Beach, and the plantings done on State and County roads. I see these in several places, and one that I encounter frequently is at the place where 826 turns into the Shula Expressway south of Bird Road.
There are other ideas that create improved medians. One idea is to convert a larger one into a dog park. This idea didn't get traction when it was actively considered, but it was a thought. Another idea is to install bits of exercise equipment in some of the medians, to make a "vita course." There's a course like this in a patch of public land on Indian Creek Drive, just north of 63rd Street on Miami Beach. Similarly not a bad idea, and worthy of someone's consideration. Medians are also a good place to feature modest examples of public art.
One approach to the expense that would be involved is to dedicate Village funds to a project. Another is to have interested BP neighbors provide the funding themselves. I mentioned this in a previous post, and my thought was that neighbors who share a median might like to pitch in to improve it. Neighbors of other medians might do the same. I even envisioned a friendly competition, to see who has the best median. This approach would have to be controlled, however, so that a theme of sort would be kept. In the interest of that goal, I thought Parks and Parkways should set out a theme for all the medians in the Village, so ambitious residents would know how to proceed. The fact is, this would be a perfect effort for a combined P&P and Ecology, and depending on what anyone wanted to do, might even include input from the Recreation Advisory Board. But any of this requires direction, yes, from the Commission. The Commission would have to recognize that the medians are a weakness for the Village, that they should be its greatest strength, and that activism from them is required. What we need is the dynamic called leadership.
We talk admiringly about Miami Shores, or Coral Gables. We refer with some disdain to Hialeah, or parts of North Miami. The difference between the municipalities we like and the ones we don't is their Codes. We have Codes, too, as does every municipality. There may be some question as to whether ours, at best, set out the style of neighborhood we want. And clearly, this preferred style is not the same for each of our residents, and it may change over time. This is why there is periodic, if infrequent, review of the Codes. The other question is whether the Codes as we agree to them are being enforced. The former matter is a fair issue for opinion. The latter matter is not. If we have Codes, that were crafted by a Code Review Committee and codified by a Commission, they must be enforced. They represent what the neighborhood has stated it wants. There is no room for autocratic ignoring of a Code, because a Mayor or Commissioner feels like doing a friend a favor. Our Codes do not permit front yard fences, and they never have. There are many front yard fences in BP. Each one got there because a past Mayor or someone, likely Ed Burke, took it upon himself personally to override the Code and give someone something he wanted, but wasn't supposed to have. Frankly, I like front yard fences, and I think prior Code determiners were wrong to exclude them. But rules are rules. It's OK to change them. It's not OK to ignore them. The same goes for metal roofs. They're great, and they look just fine. To me. But they're excluded by the Codes. At last count, we have about four houses with metal roofs. And Code Enforcers have to enforce the Codes, on everyone. The purpose is to establish a standard and a style. These have been agreed to by a Code Review Board and a Commission. We can move to tighten the Codes, or loosen them. We cannot decide to disregard them, or even argue defensively that they are illegitimate.
The other special Code-related feature of BP is that the Codes are a product of a dedicated and experienced group of our own neighbors. Because this is a very small community, because these neighbors are property-owners and real stakeholders in this Village, and because there is a level both of devotion and actual expertise among these Code Review Board members, their suggestions should be given controlling weight in any consideration of what Codes should be codified. These people have worked extremely hard, for nothing but devotion to the neighborhood, and there should be no room simply to write them and their advice off, especially if the reason is that someone is offended. Someone will always be offended, no matter what Code is accepted. And as usual, it falls to the Commission to take a role of responsibility and leadership in affirming the legitimacy and importance of the Codes, and to insist they be honored.
The foregoing describes some ways the neighborhood needs and can experience improvement, and what the mechanisms of improvement should be. They all depend on a responsible Commission, which should want and demand the best for and from this Village. And because the neighborhood is small and uses the input of Boards to direct policy-making, or it should, it is all but imperative that Commissioners attend various Board meetings, at least from time to time, both to learn what the Boards are thinking and doing and to provide input of their own. Obviously, I am presenting only my own opinion. I welcome, as always, any other opinion, even if, or perhaps especially if, it differs from mine. Leave a comment, or if you have more to say, ask me for a guest post. It's all yours.
Our medians are our treasure. They are the central distinguishing feature of our neighborhood, and they are our consolation for Arthur Griffing's not having cared about sidewalks. Considering the space required, he gave us medians instead. I will confess to having an ongoing disagreement with some of my friends about the medians. Not to mention names or inflame the disagreement, but some of these friends are in decision-making positions about these medians. The disagreement is this: I think the medians look generally crummy or terrible. My friends, who are no doubt feeling defensive, say they don't look bad. Whether they look bad or they don't, I don't think there could be any disagreement that they are spare, poorly developed, and the ground cover, or "understory," is largely lacking. Many of the medians feature thin grass, lots of weeds, and expanses of dry dirt as an "understory." There are three things that could be done to improve them. If all we want is mismatched trees, and a modest and nominal understory, we can keep what we have, and fill in the ground cover with a nice-looking carpet of grass. It takes money, labor, and resources to keep it looking as nice as it could, but it's the minimal improvement. The next level of improvement is to exchange what's there for a more proper and deliberate understory. This would include various low shrubs, and then a finish, like low grass. Not the kind you have to mow every week, but the kind that's like low monkey grass. Trimmed properly, this begins to create a respectable median design. Finally, since the trees that are there are mismatched anyway, we could scrap the whole plan, and replace it all with something classy, measured, manicured, and purposeful. We're talking about more formal medians, like the few in Miami Shores, Miami Beach, and the plantings done on State and County roads. I see these in several places, and one that I encounter frequently is at the place where 826 turns into the Shula Expressway south of Bird Road.
There are other ideas that create improved medians. One idea is to convert a larger one into a dog park. This idea didn't get traction when it was actively considered, but it was a thought. Another idea is to install bits of exercise equipment in some of the medians, to make a "vita course." There's a course like this in a patch of public land on Indian Creek Drive, just north of 63rd Street on Miami Beach. Similarly not a bad idea, and worthy of someone's consideration. Medians are also a good place to feature modest examples of public art.
One approach to the expense that would be involved is to dedicate Village funds to a project. Another is to have interested BP neighbors provide the funding themselves. I mentioned this in a previous post, and my thought was that neighbors who share a median might like to pitch in to improve it. Neighbors of other medians might do the same. I even envisioned a friendly competition, to see who has the best median. This approach would have to be controlled, however, so that a theme of sort would be kept. In the interest of that goal, I thought Parks and Parkways should set out a theme for all the medians in the Village, so ambitious residents would know how to proceed. The fact is, this would be a perfect effort for a combined P&P and Ecology, and depending on what anyone wanted to do, might even include input from the Recreation Advisory Board. But any of this requires direction, yes, from the Commission. The Commission would have to recognize that the medians are a weakness for the Village, that they should be its greatest strength, and that activism from them is required. What we need is the dynamic called leadership.
We talk admiringly about Miami Shores, or Coral Gables. We refer with some disdain to Hialeah, or parts of North Miami. The difference between the municipalities we like and the ones we don't is their Codes. We have Codes, too, as does every municipality. There may be some question as to whether ours, at best, set out the style of neighborhood we want. And clearly, this preferred style is not the same for each of our residents, and it may change over time. This is why there is periodic, if infrequent, review of the Codes. The other question is whether the Codes as we agree to them are being enforced. The former matter is a fair issue for opinion. The latter matter is not. If we have Codes, that were crafted by a Code Review Committee and codified by a Commission, they must be enforced. They represent what the neighborhood has stated it wants. There is no room for autocratic ignoring of a Code, because a Mayor or Commissioner feels like doing a friend a favor. Our Codes do not permit front yard fences, and they never have. There are many front yard fences in BP. Each one got there because a past Mayor or someone, likely Ed Burke, took it upon himself personally to override the Code and give someone something he wanted, but wasn't supposed to have. Frankly, I like front yard fences, and I think prior Code determiners were wrong to exclude them. But rules are rules. It's OK to change them. It's not OK to ignore them. The same goes for metal roofs. They're great, and they look just fine. To me. But they're excluded by the Codes. At last count, we have about four houses with metal roofs. And Code Enforcers have to enforce the Codes, on everyone. The purpose is to establish a standard and a style. These have been agreed to by a Code Review Board and a Commission. We can move to tighten the Codes, or loosen them. We cannot decide to disregard them, or even argue defensively that they are illegitimate.
The other special Code-related feature of BP is that the Codes are a product of a dedicated and experienced group of our own neighbors. Because this is a very small community, because these neighbors are property-owners and real stakeholders in this Village, and because there is a level both of devotion and actual expertise among these Code Review Board members, their suggestions should be given controlling weight in any consideration of what Codes should be codified. These people have worked extremely hard, for nothing but devotion to the neighborhood, and there should be no room simply to write them and their advice off, especially if the reason is that someone is offended. Someone will always be offended, no matter what Code is accepted. And as usual, it falls to the Commission to take a role of responsibility and leadership in affirming the legitimacy and importance of the Codes, and to insist they be honored.
The foregoing describes some ways the neighborhood needs and can experience improvement, and what the mechanisms of improvement should be. They all depend on a responsible Commission, which should want and demand the best for and from this Village. And because the neighborhood is small and uses the input of Boards to direct policy-making, or it should, it is all but imperative that Commissioners attend various Board meetings, at least from time to time, both to learn what the Boards are thinking and doing and to provide input of their own. Obviously, I am presenting only my own opinion. I welcome, as always, any other opinion, even if, or perhaps especially if, it differs from mine. Leave a comment, or if you have more to say, ask me for a guest post. It's all yours.
Monday, April 15, 2013
How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm? Somebody's Got to Deal With the Crops. (Part I)
I think we need a mission statement. My suggestion, just off the top of my head, is that it should have something to do with the success and welfare of Biscayne Park, Florida. I know Biscayne Park, Florida, is only a tiny and seemingly inconsequential neighborhood, barely appropriate to be called a municipality, but it's a nice place, and we especially might feel a fondness for it.
Biscayne Park is small, only about 1300 homes and a population of only about 3000, and it's purely residential. The populace is representative of the broad area of the County: Anglos and Hipanics, some Haitians, the occasional European immigrant, blacks and caucasians, average or low average income, last calculated at about $67K. Politics range from the very liberal to the very conservative, with all maintaining a nice friendship. There are retirees, lawyers, doctors, (no Indian Chiefs), teachers, secretaries, artists, musicians, builders and architects, policemen, other professionals, entrepreneurs, students, and kids. The streets are narrow and quiet. There is one non-residential and non-administrative building, which is a church that has been in "The Park" since soon after its incorporation. The big attraction, at the center of "town," is a recreation center, with a meeting house, a ball field, a basketball court, and some climbing toys. This little burg holds events of one sort or another a few times or so a year. They're just modest get-togethers for "Park" residents and residents of surrounding areas, and they include a couple of holiday events and other seasonal fetes, and the occasional movie night or music soiree. It's nothing much, but the residents seem to like it. They even hold contests, for the best decorated house around Christmas time, and the best Easter costume. And "The Park" does love its Halloween bash.
An important distinguishing feature of "The Park" is its low key and "natural" ambiance. It fashions itself a kind of bird sanctuary, and it has earned the distinction of "Tree City USA" for three years running. Unlike some other nieghborhoods, it has a concentration of medians in a number of the streets and avenues. Some of these are thin and poorly developed, and do little more than sport some mixed trees, while they separate single traffic lanes providing travel in opposite directions. Others are much more spacious, almost the size of small parks themselves, and rimmed with trees. A number of these larger medians are particularly charming, in that they are situated in their own tiny sectors, often contained within culs-de-sac. They, too, are undeveloped.
"The Park" governs itself with a Commission of five people elected at large. Much of the work of the neighborhood is done by employees, under the direction of a professional manager, and a number of managerial and advisory groups of residents who volunteer their time. There are perhaps five or so of these groups, and each one is manned by about five residents. Although only about 30 devoted residents could do all the non-professional work needed to be done to manage "The Park," it seems devoted residents are not easy to find. The Commission might at times have its hands full just trying to keep the few groups of volunteers adequately filled. Keeping the signature medians well-planted and cared for might also occupy much of the neighborhood's attention. And planning and executing the occasional Village event requires cooperation and work. To complicate matters, because "The Park" has no commerce, and generally modest homes, with tax revenues that are likewise modest, the Village has to depend on the extra efforts, and often the extra contributions, of its residents.
But not only are some "Park" residents not necessarily interested in making their neighborhood the best it could be, and are frankly not generous about supporting it, but at times, the governing Commission loses sight of what the neighborhood is, and what it's about. In that Biscayne Park is situated in Greater Miami, some get caught up in the dynamics of the larger environment, and they forget to cultivate their own garden, so to speak. Some Commissioners find themselves more interested in neighboring municipalities, or even non-neighboring municipalities, than they are in Biscayne Park. They imagine that their interests are in Coral Gables, or South Miami, or the Port of Miami. They are concerned with the ecology of these other jurisdictions, and they forget that the medians right in Biscayne Park are often inadequately kept. While they claim to prefer the look and ecology of native Florida plants elsewhere, they object to the removal of dead trees, and they move to protect invasive and destructive species, in Biscayne Park.
They forget that Biscayne Park is their responsibility, and should be their primary interest. The Mayor, whose name is not Mr Smith, does not attend local County meetings, claiming he doesn't have time, but instead, he made a trip to Washington DC, where he seemed to imagine he was somehow representing Biscayne Park. As far as I know, he did not address the Congress, and he did not meet with the President, but he says he had some reason to go to Washington DC on behalf of the Village. One would think that with that level of ambition, he would attend local seminars on the administration of government. One would be wrong if one thought so. This same Mayor also decided that he should tell the government of the State of Florida how he thinks they should regulate firearms. But when it came to turning in some vouchers to get Thanksgiving turkeys for lesser financially endowed residents of "The Park," he either forgot, or he lost the vouchers. The Mayor also recently moved to handicap one of the two most important volunteer resident groups by removing a dedicated member, and replacing him with a completely disinterested resident who refuses to attend group meetings.
And while all this highfalutin showboating and grandstanding is going on, the medians are without adequate development, and the volunteer work groups are not adequately manned. Some Commissioners not only don't bother to meet this minimum responsibility, but some don't contribute anything at all to the neighborhood, and some don't attend neighborhood events. And maintenance and preservation of the neighborhood, through commitment to the Codes, is neglected by some Commissioners, who seem too uninterested or too lacking in devotion to remind residents that this is the foundation of their neighborhood.
Either some Commissioners have lost sight completely of the scope of their mission, or they have invented a mission "The Park" doesn't know about, or their interests and ambitions are elsewhere than "The Park." Although the residents of Biscayne Park might regret that they are not in a fiscal position to pay their Commissioners more than nominally, it might be just as likely that they're glad they're not wasting more money than they are, since the people they pay seem to be trying to represent almost anyone except the residents of Biscayne Park.
Biscayne Park is small, only about 1300 homes and a population of only about 3000, and it's purely residential. The populace is representative of the broad area of the County: Anglos and Hipanics, some Haitians, the occasional European immigrant, blacks and caucasians, average or low average income, last calculated at about $67K. Politics range from the very liberal to the very conservative, with all maintaining a nice friendship. There are retirees, lawyers, doctors, (no Indian Chiefs), teachers, secretaries, artists, musicians, builders and architects, policemen, other professionals, entrepreneurs, students, and kids. The streets are narrow and quiet. There is one non-residential and non-administrative building, which is a church that has been in "The Park" since soon after its incorporation. The big attraction, at the center of "town," is a recreation center, with a meeting house, a ball field, a basketball court, and some climbing toys. This little burg holds events of one sort or another a few times or so a year. They're just modest get-togethers for "Park" residents and residents of surrounding areas, and they include a couple of holiday events and other seasonal fetes, and the occasional movie night or music soiree. It's nothing much, but the residents seem to like it. They even hold contests, for the best decorated house around Christmas time, and the best Easter costume. And "The Park" does love its Halloween bash.
An important distinguishing feature of "The Park" is its low key and "natural" ambiance. It fashions itself a kind of bird sanctuary, and it has earned the distinction of "Tree City USA" for three years running. Unlike some other nieghborhoods, it has a concentration of medians in a number of the streets and avenues. Some of these are thin and poorly developed, and do little more than sport some mixed trees, while they separate single traffic lanes providing travel in opposite directions. Others are much more spacious, almost the size of small parks themselves, and rimmed with trees. A number of these larger medians are particularly charming, in that they are situated in their own tiny sectors, often contained within culs-de-sac. They, too, are undeveloped.
"The Park" governs itself with a Commission of five people elected at large. Much of the work of the neighborhood is done by employees, under the direction of a professional manager, and a number of managerial and advisory groups of residents who volunteer their time. There are perhaps five or so of these groups, and each one is manned by about five residents. Although only about 30 devoted residents could do all the non-professional work needed to be done to manage "The Park," it seems devoted residents are not easy to find. The Commission might at times have its hands full just trying to keep the few groups of volunteers adequately filled. Keeping the signature medians well-planted and cared for might also occupy much of the neighborhood's attention. And planning and executing the occasional Village event requires cooperation and work. To complicate matters, because "The Park" has no commerce, and generally modest homes, with tax revenues that are likewise modest, the Village has to depend on the extra efforts, and often the extra contributions, of its residents.
But not only are some "Park" residents not necessarily interested in making their neighborhood the best it could be, and are frankly not generous about supporting it, but at times, the governing Commission loses sight of what the neighborhood is, and what it's about. In that Biscayne Park is situated in Greater Miami, some get caught up in the dynamics of the larger environment, and they forget to cultivate their own garden, so to speak. Some Commissioners find themselves more interested in neighboring municipalities, or even non-neighboring municipalities, than they are in Biscayne Park. They imagine that their interests are in Coral Gables, or South Miami, or the Port of Miami. They are concerned with the ecology of these other jurisdictions, and they forget that the medians right in Biscayne Park are often inadequately kept. While they claim to prefer the look and ecology of native Florida plants elsewhere, they object to the removal of dead trees, and they move to protect invasive and destructive species, in Biscayne Park.
They forget that Biscayne Park is their responsibility, and should be their primary interest. The Mayor, whose name is not Mr Smith, does not attend local County meetings, claiming he doesn't have time, but instead, he made a trip to Washington DC, where he seemed to imagine he was somehow representing Biscayne Park. As far as I know, he did not address the Congress, and he did not meet with the President, but he says he had some reason to go to Washington DC on behalf of the Village. One would think that with that level of ambition, he would attend local seminars on the administration of government. One would be wrong if one thought so. This same Mayor also decided that he should tell the government of the State of Florida how he thinks they should regulate firearms. But when it came to turning in some vouchers to get Thanksgiving turkeys for lesser financially endowed residents of "The Park," he either forgot, or he lost the vouchers. The Mayor also recently moved to handicap one of the two most important volunteer resident groups by removing a dedicated member, and replacing him with a completely disinterested resident who refuses to attend group meetings.
And while all this highfalutin showboating and grandstanding is going on, the medians are without adequate development, and the volunteer work groups are not adequately manned. Some Commissioners not only don't bother to meet this minimum responsibility, but some don't contribute anything at all to the neighborhood, and some don't attend neighborhood events. And maintenance and preservation of the neighborhood, through commitment to the Codes, is neglected by some Commissioners, who seem too uninterested or too lacking in devotion to remind residents that this is the foundation of their neighborhood.
Either some Commissioners have lost sight completely of the scope of their mission, or they have invented a mission "The Park" doesn't know about, or their interests and ambitions are elsewhere than "The Park." Although the residents of Biscayne Park might regret that they are not in a fiscal position to pay their Commissioners more than nominally, it might be just as likely that they're glad they're not wasting more money than they are, since the people they pay seem to be trying to represent almost anyone except the residents of Biscayne Park.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Something Old is New Again. Proper Sausages.
(Adjustments made, per comment from Freddy Kaufmann.)
When I was in college in the Boston area, and for years after that, there was a uniquely charming feature of the North End. This had been for years, and largely still is, the Italian section. When I worked in the local clinic, I took Italian lessons at night school, because some of the North End residents, who had lived there for decades, did not speak English. The North End, like few neighborhoods in this country any more, had various shops that sold only produce, or meat, or baked goods, or deli offerings. The meat markets--old time butcher shops--had poultry and rabbits dressed and hanging in the windows, and trays of the various meats. These were not pre-weighed, wrapped, and priced, like they are in Publix. You saw what you wanted and negotiated to get the right piece or amount. And the floors had sawdust on them. Probably none of this meets hygiene codes for food handlers now, but that's how it was then and there. It was a distinctly European model.
You rarely see butcher shops any more. Part of the reason is that so many fewer people eat meat, or at least not as much as Americans used to. And so many fewer establishments of many kinds specialize. The closest we come now is farmers' market stores, which have actually made a kind of resurgence, with the focus on produce and organics. Laurenzo's has a produce store. Aaron's produce is about two blocks away. And there are the CSA's, one of which is distributed by a BP resident on 118th Street, and another of which operates in Little Haiti. Also, there are several pop-up farmers' markets around. One of them happens on Thursdays in front of MOCA. It started as a very well-represented bazaar, but it has dwindled, mainly through lack of enthusiasm of the possible clientele. It was at that market that I met Freddy and Danielle Kaufmann, the owners of Proper Sausages. Do you want to guess what they sell?
Freddy and Danielle met in a restaurant. Freddy was in the kitchen, and Danielle ran the dining room. But being tied to the restaurant business didn't suit either of them, so they found their way into the business of devising recipes, especially for sausages.
Two things distinguish Proper Sausages. One is that Freddy and Danielle are brilliant chefs. I know, "brilliant chefs," right? Like what chef isn't claimed to be "brilliant" these days? Well really, they are. I know, because I've eaten what they cook. They used to serve it for lunch at the farmers' market. Sausage sandwiches. If you didn't have one, you don't know. You can take my word for it or not. And I've bought their sausages to take home and cook for myself. They have several sausage recipes, including The Proper, The Dub, Whisky Cherry Venison Sausage, one with stout beer, one with harissa, one with figs and cheese, and various other flavors, each with its own recipe, concocted by Freddy and Danielle.
The other distinguishing characteristic of their sausages is that they do not get their pork from Publix. Or Costco. Or a restaurant food supply company like Sysco. They get Berkshire pork from a farm in Iowa. These are pigs that live the lives pigs should live, roam freely, and eat the wonderful delicacies pigs love to eat. The good news is that you can definitely tell the difference in the taste. The bad news, for the pigs, is how you know. Either deal with it, or don't.
Anyway, Freddy and Danielle were itinerant butchers until they got the idea to go old school. So they opened an old fashioned butcher shop, sans saw dust, in the 9700 block of NE 2nd Avenue in Miami Shores. It's on the west side of the street. They sell their sausages, of course, but they also sell whole cuts of pork, as well as Florida Wagyu beef cuts. Wagyu beef is to beef what Berkshire pork is to pork. It does not taste the same. We're talking about cattle that have lived the good life cows should live, though they didn't die of old age. They were happy, and they ate as well as cattle were meant to eat. I have other beef from grass fed, free-roaming cattle, and it's not as good. Wagyu is different. May I say, you have no idea.
I went to the actual store today for the first time (I'm embarrassed to say), and I got myself dinner of a Wagyu hamburger and a lamb hamburger. Each was specially seasoned, per Freddy and Danielle. Freddy also gave me two rolls: the very same rolls used by Dan Serfer of The Blue Collar (one of Freddy and Danielle's customers). I very lightly broiled my dinner, as instructed by Freddy, and I was richly rewarded. Here's another bad news/good news dilemma: my two hamburgers were expensive. They cost me $11 together. But boy, were they worth it. I wouldn't eat this way every day, but when I want to treat myself or someone else, you bet I would splurge.
Proper Sausages also sells a very small selection of wines and beers, some salads the Kaufmanns make (they had three-bean salad and rice salad today), and a tiny selection of other artisan foods, mostly provided by people Freddy and Danielle know. But this establishment is largely a butcher shop, in the old style. Proper Sausages is low key, but upscale. You won't find meat like this anywhere else.
By the way, last year I wanted to make a dish with rabbit. Freddy didn't have any, and he didn't have a connection with anyone to get any. Now, he does. He tells me he can get me rabbit, or any other meat I want. (I wound up using what they sell frozen at Publix. Or did I go to Markey's? I can't remember. Whatever it was was OK, but not the best rabbit I've had, and I wouldn't in future go anywhere but Proper Sausages.) So if you're interested, and you don't see what you want, it appears you can request. If Freddy or Danielle isn't there, Mike will be. Enjoy. Not to gild the lily, but these are very nice people as well as exceptional chefs.
When I was in college in the Boston area, and for years after that, there was a uniquely charming feature of the North End. This had been for years, and largely still is, the Italian section. When I worked in the local clinic, I took Italian lessons at night school, because some of the North End residents, who had lived there for decades, did not speak English. The North End, like few neighborhoods in this country any more, had various shops that sold only produce, or meat, or baked goods, or deli offerings. The meat markets--old time butcher shops--had poultry and rabbits dressed and hanging in the windows, and trays of the various meats. These were not pre-weighed, wrapped, and priced, like they are in Publix. You saw what you wanted and negotiated to get the right piece or amount. And the floors had sawdust on them. Probably none of this meets hygiene codes for food handlers now, but that's how it was then and there. It was a distinctly European model.
You rarely see butcher shops any more. Part of the reason is that so many fewer people eat meat, or at least not as much as Americans used to. And so many fewer establishments of many kinds specialize. The closest we come now is farmers' market stores, which have actually made a kind of resurgence, with the focus on produce and organics. Laurenzo's has a produce store. Aaron's produce is about two blocks away. And there are the CSA's, one of which is distributed by a BP resident on 118th Street, and another of which operates in Little Haiti. Also, there are several pop-up farmers' markets around. One of them happens on Thursdays in front of MOCA. It started as a very well-represented bazaar, but it has dwindled, mainly through lack of enthusiasm of the possible clientele. It was at that market that I met Freddy and Danielle Kaufmann, the owners of Proper Sausages. Do you want to guess what they sell?
Freddy and Danielle met in a restaurant. Freddy was in the kitchen, and Danielle ran the dining room. But being tied to the restaurant business didn't suit either of them, so they found their way into the business of devising recipes, especially for sausages.
Two things distinguish Proper Sausages. One is that Freddy and Danielle are brilliant chefs. I know, "brilliant chefs," right? Like what chef isn't claimed to be "brilliant" these days? Well really, they are. I know, because I've eaten what they cook. They used to serve it for lunch at the farmers' market. Sausage sandwiches. If you didn't have one, you don't know. You can take my word for it or not. And I've bought their sausages to take home and cook for myself. They have several sausage recipes, including The Proper, The Dub, Whisky Cherry Venison Sausage, one with stout beer, one with harissa, one with figs and cheese, and various other flavors, each with its own recipe, concocted by Freddy and Danielle.
The other distinguishing characteristic of their sausages is that they do not get their pork from Publix. Or Costco. Or a restaurant food supply company like Sysco. They get Berkshire pork from a farm in Iowa. These are pigs that live the lives pigs should live, roam freely, and eat the wonderful delicacies pigs love to eat. The good news is that you can definitely tell the difference in the taste. The bad news, for the pigs, is how you know. Either deal with it, or don't.
Anyway, Freddy and Danielle were itinerant butchers until they got the idea to go old school. So they opened an old fashioned butcher shop, sans saw dust, in the 9700 block of NE 2nd Avenue in Miami Shores. It's on the west side of the street. They sell their sausages, of course, but they also sell whole cuts of pork, as well as Florida Wagyu beef cuts. Wagyu beef is to beef what Berkshire pork is to pork. It does not taste the same. We're talking about cattle that have lived the good life cows should live, though they didn't die of old age. They were happy, and they ate as well as cattle were meant to eat. I have other beef from grass fed, free-roaming cattle, and it's not as good. Wagyu is different. May I say, you have no idea.
I went to the actual store today for the first time (I'm embarrassed to say), and I got myself dinner of a Wagyu hamburger and a lamb hamburger. Each was specially seasoned, per Freddy and Danielle. Freddy also gave me two rolls: the very same rolls used by Dan Serfer of The Blue Collar (one of Freddy and Danielle's customers). I very lightly broiled my dinner, as instructed by Freddy, and I was richly rewarded. Here's another bad news/good news dilemma: my two hamburgers were expensive. They cost me $11 together. But boy, were they worth it. I wouldn't eat this way every day, but when I want to treat myself or someone else, you bet I would splurge.
Proper Sausages also sells a very small selection of wines and beers, some salads the Kaufmanns make (they had three-bean salad and rice salad today), and a tiny selection of other artisan foods, mostly provided by people Freddy and Danielle know. But this establishment is largely a butcher shop, in the old style. Proper Sausages is low key, but upscale. You won't find meat like this anywhere else.
By the way, last year I wanted to make a dish with rabbit. Freddy didn't have any, and he didn't have a connection with anyone to get any. Now, he does. He tells me he can get me rabbit, or any other meat I want. (I wound up using what they sell frozen at Publix. Or did I go to Markey's? I can't remember. Whatever it was was OK, but not the best rabbit I've had, and I wouldn't in future go anywhere but Proper Sausages.) So if you're interested, and you don't see what you want, it appears you can request. If Freddy or Danielle isn't there, Mike will be. Enjoy. Not to gild the lily, but these are very nice people as well as exceptional chefs.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Even Less Power to You. Too Good to be True?
I just had another energy survey. This one was from a private company called Sun Star Energy. You can look 'em up at sunstarenergyllc.com. Their approach was different from FPL's. They don't just tell you how you can reduce your electric usage by turning off lights when you're not in the room, keeping your house less cold during the summer, etc. They sell stuff that's designed to lower your usage, and your bill. Here's what they proposed to sell me, and why it was presented as an offer I had no rational reason to refuse. Pretty much.
The current program is for a solar water heater, special "NASA" insulation applied under the roof, not over the ceiling, and an electricity regulator. The latter is designed to prevent the surge of power usage that reportedly happens when you switch something on. Not only can these items "not be purchased in stores," and are based on the many patents owned by the company's owner, but "for a limited time only" there is "no purchase required" at all. I'm quoting here not because this is what the salesman said to me, but because this was the idea, as silly and trite as it sounds. So, "if purchased separately," these three improvements would cost $11,289. But because of federal government incentives, and a $1000 incentive from FPL, there is no cost at all to homeowners. What you have to do is promise to turn over to Sun Star Energy all the incentives that will start appearing in your mail. In case this sounds like the most blatant scam in the world, the work will already be done by the time you start receiving the incentives, and you couldn't receive them if they were not, in reality, available. And Sun Star Energy is licensed, etc. By the way, of course I asked, and a program to install solar panels to produce electricity for the house begins in June. Stay tuned, I guess.
There are a few peculiarities. One is that the program is available to everyone, regardless of need. So if you thought it was worthwhile, and you could easily afford to pay for all or part of the improvements yourself, you would still get all the incentives. In that sense, it's a waste of government money. Second, the total of the incentives is $12,000, which is $711 more than the improvements cost. But I'm told they'd be happy with the $11,289. If you keep the $711, no one will come after you. Also, because of the generous incentives, the costs of the improvements are no doubt inflated. Finally, the profit margin is presumably so luxurious that the company will give a fee of $200 to anyone who refers another customer. It appears the program is only in Florida at the moment.
There's one other peculiarity. And it's a cause for concern. This program is presented as costing homeowners nothing. The incentives will cover all the costs. They'll cover more than all the costs. All you have to do is remit them to Sun Star Energy. Sun Star is quite sure about this. Is the homeowner quite sure, as sure as Sun Star is? The FPL incentive is in the bag. I checked, it's for real, and the money is already committed to me if I decide to go ahead. But what about these storied government incentives? Suppose they're not what Sun Star says they are. Or suppose the pool dries up, or the government ends the program. No possible way, says Sun Star. OK, well how about this, then, I propose: you write into the contract that you agree to accept whatever the incentives are as full satisfaction of my obligation to you. If all the incentives come through, you're fully paid. More than fully paid. If for some reason they don't, you don't come after me. Nope, we can't do that, they say.
So there it is. They do not put their money where their mouths are. They were right about FPL. Are they right about the rest of it? Maybe. But they're only willing to bet your money, not their own.
The good news, if you, or I, want to do this is as follows: if you believe in these energy-saving measures and appliances, and you would be willing to pay for them if you had to, you can contract with Sun Star. The worst that could possibly happen is that you would get $11,289 worth of green upgrade for $10,289. If you don't get the electricity regulator, which even Sun Star admits only saves you 9% of your electric bill, you can save $1500. So now, your maximum exposure is down to $8789, for a solar hot water heater and extra good insulation. If any of the other incentives come through, you would pay less. If they all do, you pay nothing. So they're risking your money, but you do get something good for it, if worse comes to worst.
Is this interesting? If it is, call Paul Buzzella at 888-377-3111. The home office is in Boca Raton. Don't mention my name, since I don't want the $200. Tell him to deduct it from your costs. If you have any, of course. Which he will reassure you you don't.
The current program is for a solar water heater, special "NASA" insulation applied under the roof, not over the ceiling, and an electricity regulator. The latter is designed to prevent the surge of power usage that reportedly happens when you switch something on. Not only can these items "not be purchased in stores," and are based on the many patents owned by the company's owner, but "for a limited time only" there is "no purchase required" at all. I'm quoting here not because this is what the salesman said to me, but because this was the idea, as silly and trite as it sounds. So, "if purchased separately," these three improvements would cost $11,289. But because of federal government incentives, and a $1000 incentive from FPL, there is no cost at all to homeowners. What you have to do is promise to turn over to Sun Star Energy all the incentives that will start appearing in your mail. In case this sounds like the most blatant scam in the world, the work will already be done by the time you start receiving the incentives, and you couldn't receive them if they were not, in reality, available. And Sun Star Energy is licensed, etc. By the way, of course I asked, and a program to install solar panels to produce electricity for the house begins in June. Stay tuned, I guess.
There are a few peculiarities. One is that the program is available to everyone, regardless of need. So if you thought it was worthwhile, and you could easily afford to pay for all or part of the improvements yourself, you would still get all the incentives. In that sense, it's a waste of government money. Second, the total of the incentives is $12,000, which is $711 more than the improvements cost. But I'm told they'd be happy with the $11,289. If you keep the $711, no one will come after you. Also, because of the generous incentives, the costs of the improvements are no doubt inflated. Finally, the profit margin is presumably so luxurious that the company will give a fee of $200 to anyone who refers another customer. It appears the program is only in Florida at the moment.
There's one other peculiarity. And it's a cause for concern. This program is presented as costing homeowners nothing. The incentives will cover all the costs. They'll cover more than all the costs. All you have to do is remit them to Sun Star Energy. Sun Star is quite sure about this. Is the homeowner quite sure, as sure as Sun Star is? The FPL incentive is in the bag. I checked, it's for real, and the money is already committed to me if I decide to go ahead. But what about these storied government incentives? Suppose they're not what Sun Star says they are. Or suppose the pool dries up, or the government ends the program. No possible way, says Sun Star. OK, well how about this, then, I propose: you write into the contract that you agree to accept whatever the incentives are as full satisfaction of my obligation to you. If all the incentives come through, you're fully paid. More than fully paid. If for some reason they don't, you don't come after me. Nope, we can't do that, they say.
So there it is. They do not put their money where their mouths are. They were right about FPL. Are they right about the rest of it? Maybe. But they're only willing to bet your money, not their own.
The good news, if you, or I, want to do this is as follows: if you believe in these energy-saving measures and appliances, and you would be willing to pay for them if you had to, you can contract with Sun Star. The worst that could possibly happen is that you would get $11,289 worth of green upgrade for $10,289. If you don't get the electricity regulator, which even Sun Star admits only saves you 9% of your electric bill, you can save $1500. So now, your maximum exposure is down to $8789, for a solar hot water heater and extra good insulation. If any of the other incentives come through, you would pay less. If they all do, you pay nothing. So they're risking your money, but you do get something good for it, if worse comes to worst.
Is this interesting? If it is, call Paul Buzzella at 888-377-3111. The home office is in Boca Raton. Don't mention my name, since I don't want the $200. Tell him to deduct it from your costs. If you have any, of course. Which he will reassure you you don't.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Freedom of Speech. It Isn't Easy Being a Hypocrite.
Some time ago, Chuck Ross and I started a petition. We wanted the Biscayne Times to stop dumping the paper on every lawn in Biscayne Park every month. And for the purpose of this discussion, I intend to be as open and honest as it is within me to be. There were two issues. I don't know whether to say they were of equal value, or whether one was more offensive than the other. It may well have been a toss-up.
One issue was Gaspar Gonzalez. As you remember, he used to be assigned to cover BP, and he was called the Biscayne Park Correspondent. That was back in the days when Jim Mullin could be bothered to pretend to have any interest in BP. Gaspar was deeply slanted, and he was ruthless in attacking everything about the Park, except Steve Bernard, Bryan Cooper, and Noah Jacobs. And once, he said he thought the police did a good job. It was painful to read Gaspar's harangues, and occasionally to be the brunt of them. To make matters worse, Jim, the owner/publisher/editor of the BT, was himself quite slanted in his approach to us, seeming to enjoy the trashing of our neighborhood. He was lavish in providing plenty of space to people who wanted to accuse and criticize, people like Gaspar and Steve Bernard, but he would generally become quite stingy about space when someone had "the rest of the story," or some sort of effort to defend himself, to present. Only on one occasion for each, he allowed Bob Anderson and Roxy Ross space to defend the Park and themselves.
The other issue was the fact that the BT was delivered, whether it was requested, wanted, or not, to every property in the Park every month. The paper was not placed at the front door, or even close to the entrance to the house. Generally, it was in driveways or lawns, relatively near the street. Sometimes, papers could be spotted at the side of the road, sometimes in the bushes, where homeowners were unlikely to see them, and sometimes even in medians. Papers were left at properties which were uninhabited. That fact should have been obvious to the distributor, since there would commonly be a collection of such debris, clearly old, at these properties. Not only did this degrade the appearance of the neighborhood, but it also signaled to prospective burglars that no one was home, or at least no one with a modicum of strength, so the light was green for invasion.
The petition, which was signed by about 85% of randomly chosen property-owners (presented door-to-door), asked that our Commission ask the BT to make other arrangements for distribution. We suggested using the US Mail, or placing a distribution box, like the ones used for other papers, in a convenient place, so interested residents could easily get one, and uninterested residents would not be bothered. And there would be no more papers lying around in the grass and bushes for weeks or more. The Commission declined to make this request of the BT, and the BT itself challenged the initiative, largely on the basis of a claim of freedom of speech, or freedom of the "press." Of course, no one suggested curtailing these freedoms, only slightly adjusting the distribution process. But sensitivity to the ideas of these freedoms was so acute that the Commission could not bring itself to make even the slightest request for relief on the part of BP residents.
I recently submitted a proposed advertisement, for which I was prepared to pay $150, in the BP newsletter. My issue is that I have a very limited opportunity to inform BP residents that this blog exists, and I wanted to try to get more exposure. All I wanted was for BP residents to know the blog is here, and how to access it. I clearly understand that my thoughts and my style are not for everyone (whose are?), and there will be people who will not want to bother to look, or people who will look once or twice and not be interested to look again. But since the content of this blog is very specific to the interests of residents of Biscayne Park, my feeling was that if more people knew about it, more people would read it. And I was willing to spend $150 of my own money to get that to happen. FYI, this blog is my pleasure. I get neither money nor anything else for doing it. At most, what I want is feedback: that people agree with me, that people think I'm out of my mind, or that people have their own opinions, similar or different, that they, too, would like to share. And I make room for anyone who wants to express his or her own opinion.
So I composed an ad saying the blog exists, what it's about, and how to find it, submitted it to the Village Staff, and guaranteed to pay $150 for a "1/2 page" newsletter ad. What caught me completely by surprise is that the Staff did not automatically accept my ad. They accept other ads, and they have accepted from me quotes I like, which are not identified in the newsletter as coming from me. But not this ad. Instead, a legal ruling was sought from the Village Attorney, and the matter was taken up at the Commission meeting on April 2. There was no clear conclusion, but after some song and dance, it appears the Mayor unilaterally decided that the Village has a policy (it doesn't), that the policy is that there is no policy (you can see how the meeting went), and that somehow it's possible to prevent me from having my ad placed.
So it appears we have a conflict here. When it comes to the Biscayne Times, which was, as it coincidentally happens, very sympathetic to the current majority of the Commission, freedom of speech is the overriding principle. They are not to be confronted in any way about anything, even in ways that have no practical impact on their wish to be widely distributed. They are to be given complete access, and any access they want, to every home in BP. Their interests are to be placed above the interests of the Village and its residents. But when it comes to a Village resident placing a superficially informational advertisement in the newsletter, about something far less provocative than the one-time BP column in the BT, there is great concern for the possibility of offending someone's sensibilities. So much so, that such communication should be blocked. This is the very same Commission that decided Commissioners should be welcome to write their own newsletter columns, containing provocative material, divisive material, and outright lies.
As I said to the Village Staff, I am different from the BT in that I don't lie, and I don't create debris and eyesores. And I'm open and transparent.
One issue was Gaspar Gonzalez. As you remember, he used to be assigned to cover BP, and he was called the Biscayne Park Correspondent. That was back in the days when Jim Mullin could be bothered to pretend to have any interest in BP. Gaspar was deeply slanted, and he was ruthless in attacking everything about the Park, except Steve Bernard, Bryan Cooper, and Noah Jacobs. And once, he said he thought the police did a good job. It was painful to read Gaspar's harangues, and occasionally to be the brunt of them. To make matters worse, Jim, the owner/publisher/editor of the BT, was himself quite slanted in his approach to us, seeming to enjoy the trashing of our neighborhood. He was lavish in providing plenty of space to people who wanted to accuse and criticize, people like Gaspar and Steve Bernard, but he would generally become quite stingy about space when someone had "the rest of the story," or some sort of effort to defend himself, to present. Only on one occasion for each, he allowed Bob Anderson and Roxy Ross space to defend the Park and themselves.
The other issue was the fact that the BT was delivered, whether it was requested, wanted, or not, to every property in the Park every month. The paper was not placed at the front door, or even close to the entrance to the house. Generally, it was in driveways or lawns, relatively near the street. Sometimes, papers could be spotted at the side of the road, sometimes in the bushes, where homeowners were unlikely to see them, and sometimes even in medians. Papers were left at properties which were uninhabited. That fact should have been obvious to the distributor, since there would commonly be a collection of such debris, clearly old, at these properties. Not only did this degrade the appearance of the neighborhood, but it also signaled to prospective burglars that no one was home, or at least no one with a modicum of strength, so the light was green for invasion.
The petition, which was signed by about 85% of randomly chosen property-owners (presented door-to-door), asked that our Commission ask the BT to make other arrangements for distribution. We suggested using the US Mail, or placing a distribution box, like the ones used for other papers, in a convenient place, so interested residents could easily get one, and uninterested residents would not be bothered. And there would be no more papers lying around in the grass and bushes for weeks or more. The Commission declined to make this request of the BT, and the BT itself challenged the initiative, largely on the basis of a claim of freedom of speech, or freedom of the "press." Of course, no one suggested curtailing these freedoms, only slightly adjusting the distribution process. But sensitivity to the ideas of these freedoms was so acute that the Commission could not bring itself to make even the slightest request for relief on the part of BP residents.
I recently submitted a proposed advertisement, for which I was prepared to pay $150, in the BP newsletter. My issue is that I have a very limited opportunity to inform BP residents that this blog exists, and I wanted to try to get more exposure. All I wanted was for BP residents to know the blog is here, and how to access it. I clearly understand that my thoughts and my style are not for everyone (whose are?), and there will be people who will not want to bother to look, or people who will look once or twice and not be interested to look again. But since the content of this blog is very specific to the interests of residents of Biscayne Park, my feeling was that if more people knew about it, more people would read it. And I was willing to spend $150 of my own money to get that to happen. FYI, this blog is my pleasure. I get neither money nor anything else for doing it. At most, what I want is feedback: that people agree with me, that people think I'm out of my mind, or that people have their own opinions, similar or different, that they, too, would like to share. And I make room for anyone who wants to express his or her own opinion.
So I composed an ad saying the blog exists, what it's about, and how to find it, submitted it to the Village Staff, and guaranteed to pay $150 for a "1/2 page" newsletter ad. What caught me completely by surprise is that the Staff did not automatically accept my ad. They accept other ads, and they have accepted from me quotes I like, which are not identified in the newsletter as coming from me. But not this ad. Instead, a legal ruling was sought from the Village Attorney, and the matter was taken up at the Commission meeting on April 2. There was no clear conclusion, but after some song and dance, it appears the Mayor unilaterally decided that the Village has a policy (it doesn't), that the policy is that there is no policy (you can see how the meeting went), and that somehow it's possible to prevent me from having my ad placed.
So it appears we have a conflict here. When it comes to the Biscayne Times, which was, as it coincidentally happens, very sympathetic to the current majority of the Commission, freedom of speech is the overriding principle. They are not to be confronted in any way about anything, even in ways that have no practical impact on their wish to be widely distributed. They are to be given complete access, and any access they want, to every home in BP. Their interests are to be placed above the interests of the Village and its residents. But when it comes to a Village resident placing a superficially informational advertisement in the newsletter, about something far less provocative than the one-time BP column in the BT, there is great concern for the possibility of offending someone's sensibilities. So much so, that such communication should be blocked. This is the very same Commission that decided Commissioners should be welcome to write their own newsletter columns, containing provocative material, divisive material, and outright lies.
As I said to the Village Staff, I am different from the BT in that I don't lie, and I don't create debris and eyesores. And I'm open and transparent.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Is the World Shrinking, or Is His Head Getting Bigger?
The word of the day is arrogant. It was taken to a new level in tonight's Commission meeting. Noah Jacobs was quite full of himself, pointing at those who were allowed to speak, shutting off those he'd had enough of. He'd lost sight of his usual allies. Tonight, he had one ally: himself. Even Bryan Cooper was shut down when Noah tired of his babbling. But Cooper asked for it. When he was joining Jacobs in trying to stifle Roxy Ross, he told her Noah runs the show. But when Cooper thought his master gave him carte blanche, and he started in with some of his nonsense, he resisted Noah's telling him he could not, in fact, continue his rant. Cooper then decided he had to reject the master's directive. The master wouldn't let him. I have no idea whether that was the reason Cooper left at 9:30.
Cooper, before he left, gave us a dazzling display of the combination of his lack of knowledge about boat maintenance, and his willingness, perhaps eagerness, to speak authoritatively about it.
And on the subject of boats, we were asked to consider that permitting boats on residential property, something apparently few or no municipalities do, makes us a haven for boat owners, who might, we're further told, pay top dollar for their properties. We'd quickly fill vacant properties with them. We're also asked to imagine that people who own boats are well off. Why these rich folk leave rotting, unused hulks of one-time watercraft in their yards for years and decades was not explained. But I do appreciate the logic here. We can be creative. We're considering being more restrictive than the rest of the County or the State regarding gun ownership. Perhaps we can get less restrictive regarding things like, let's say, prostitution and drug manufacture. If we can move to legalize those two pursuits, I'm guessing we can have a neighborhood full of brothels and meth labs, with not a vacant house in the Village, and there's great money in it for us. These can be treated as businesses, like ALFs, and we can tax them.
Noah produced some remarkable statements and postures tonight. Directing and instructing speakers, Noah declared "I'll hear..." as if there was no one else there. No one else who mattered, anyway. It wasn't "there's a motion and a second," or "we have a motion and a second." It was "I have a motion and a second." When Cooper suggested items be taken out of order, for reasons that were never clear, Noah picked right up on the idea, declaring imperiously "I'll take 8b before 8a," having already essentially shut Roxy Ross down by simply talking over her. At one point, Noah wanted to make a motion of his own, and he passed the gavel, with obvious pain, to Roxy, his Vice Mayor Cooper having already gone off to fry bigger fish. He made his motion, and when it was seconded, he declared "I've got a second." He couldn't give up the throne for even a minute. Not to Roxy, anyway.
Noah had his way with the residents in attendance, too. He had seemingly generously, and in a conciliatory way, offered to sit down with Linda Dillon after last month's meeting, to craft better language related to the gun issue. But as Linda pointed out, he never contacted her. It appears he had no use for her after all. He did allege having sent Gary Kuhl an e-mail about a Code, but Gary didn't remember having received one from him. It seemed as if Noah relinquished any sense of needing to be honest at all. He would simply say whatever he wanted.
Noah got himself in surprisingly high gear tonight, especially after Bryan Cooper jettisoned himself. The loss of that dead weight seemed to have accelerated Noah, who was increasingly irrepressible. He had the Commission fly through issues, all the while impressing himself with his repartee. He seemed to have considered himself immensely clever. And he clearly felt most imperial. "I can talk fast if I have to," he twittered.
There was one point during which Noah became somewhat subdued for this meeting. The discussion was over what to do with Dale Blanton and the Code Compliance Board. It seems Roxy and Bob Anderson both had ideas about how to get Dale back involved. There was way more discussion than was needed, in part due to Roxy's tortured effort to create for Dale a status that was as an Alternate, but somehow not phrased that way. Roxy was working way too hard to accomplish something that was frankly simple. But the underlying problem, as we discussed in a previous post, was that Noah had irrationally pulled Dale in favor of Carmen DeBernardi, who had a prior stint on the Board and never showed up, and has now begun her newest stint by failing to show up to the only meeting scheduled since her reappointment. Noah wasn't really much a part of this discussion. Although I will say frankly that it seemed painfully clear and simple to me how to solve this problem of finding a way to include Dale, it was apparently not one bit clear to Noah. So he listened while others talked. But in case I'm failing to understand important nuances here, let me ask: suppose you have to choose one team member. One possible choice has shown long and consistent dedication to the team, and has great wisdom and equanimity. The other possible choice has shown consistent disinterest in the team, fails to come to meetings of the team, and has written publicly about how much she dislikes the other team members and the prospect of working with them. Am I missing something to say my instinct would be to choose prospect number 1?
Truth be told, the wind really did catch the sails, especially after Bryan's departure. Bryan seemed to feel as witty (and pretty? and bright?) as Noah did, but he really was ponderous. And both of them were a bit more blatantly hypocritical than usual. They're not supposed to confer outside Commission meetings, but they may have been drinking the same Koolaid. For a little while, they acted like two attack dogs.
So it was a disturbing evening, though occasionally comical when either of the lads went a little further off the deep end than usual.
On the other hand (you bet there was another hand), Rosemary Wais dazzled us, too. She made her usual and wonderful apple crumb cake, but this time, she also made a cherry crumb cake. She wanted a verdict. I'll tell you what I told her: they were both terrific, but I gave a very slight edge to the apple.
Cooper, before he left, gave us a dazzling display of the combination of his lack of knowledge about boat maintenance, and his willingness, perhaps eagerness, to speak authoritatively about it.
And on the subject of boats, we were asked to consider that permitting boats on residential property, something apparently few or no municipalities do, makes us a haven for boat owners, who might, we're further told, pay top dollar for their properties. We'd quickly fill vacant properties with them. We're also asked to imagine that people who own boats are well off. Why these rich folk leave rotting, unused hulks of one-time watercraft in their yards for years and decades was not explained. But I do appreciate the logic here. We can be creative. We're considering being more restrictive than the rest of the County or the State regarding gun ownership. Perhaps we can get less restrictive regarding things like, let's say, prostitution and drug manufacture. If we can move to legalize those two pursuits, I'm guessing we can have a neighborhood full of brothels and meth labs, with not a vacant house in the Village, and there's great money in it for us. These can be treated as businesses, like ALFs, and we can tax them.
Noah produced some remarkable statements and postures tonight. Directing and instructing speakers, Noah declared "I'll hear..." as if there was no one else there. No one else who mattered, anyway. It wasn't "there's a motion and a second," or "we have a motion and a second." It was "I have a motion and a second." When Cooper suggested items be taken out of order, for reasons that were never clear, Noah picked right up on the idea, declaring imperiously "I'll take 8b before 8a," having already essentially shut Roxy Ross down by simply talking over her. At one point, Noah wanted to make a motion of his own, and he passed the gavel, with obvious pain, to Roxy, his Vice Mayor Cooper having already gone off to fry bigger fish. He made his motion, and when it was seconded, he declared "I've got a second." He couldn't give up the throne for even a minute. Not to Roxy, anyway.
Noah had his way with the residents in attendance, too. He had seemingly generously, and in a conciliatory way, offered to sit down with Linda Dillon after last month's meeting, to craft better language related to the gun issue. But as Linda pointed out, he never contacted her. It appears he had no use for her after all. He did allege having sent Gary Kuhl an e-mail about a Code, but Gary didn't remember having received one from him. It seemed as if Noah relinquished any sense of needing to be honest at all. He would simply say whatever he wanted.
Noah got himself in surprisingly high gear tonight, especially after Bryan Cooper jettisoned himself. The loss of that dead weight seemed to have accelerated Noah, who was increasingly irrepressible. He had the Commission fly through issues, all the while impressing himself with his repartee. He seemed to have considered himself immensely clever. And he clearly felt most imperial. "I can talk fast if I have to," he twittered.
There was one point during which Noah became somewhat subdued for this meeting. The discussion was over what to do with Dale Blanton and the Code Compliance Board. It seems Roxy and Bob Anderson both had ideas about how to get Dale back involved. There was way more discussion than was needed, in part due to Roxy's tortured effort to create for Dale a status that was as an Alternate, but somehow not phrased that way. Roxy was working way too hard to accomplish something that was frankly simple. But the underlying problem, as we discussed in a previous post, was that Noah had irrationally pulled Dale in favor of Carmen DeBernardi, who had a prior stint on the Board and never showed up, and has now begun her newest stint by failing to show up to the only meeting scheduled since her reappointment. Noah wasn't really much a part of this discussion. Although I will say frankly that it seemed painfully clear and simple to me how to solve this problem of finding a way to include Dale, it was apparently not one bit clear to Noah. So he listened while others talked. But in case I'm failing to understand important nuances here, let me ask: suppose you have to choose one team member. One possible choice has shown long and consistent dedication to the team, and has great wisdom and equanimity. The other possible choice has shown consistent disinterest in the team, fails to come to meetings of the team, and has written publicly about how much she dislikes the other team members and the prospect of working with them. Am I missing something to say my instinct would be to choose prospect number 1?
Truth be told, the wind really did catch the sails, especially after Bryan's departure. Bryan seemed to feel as witty (and pretty? and bright?) as Noah did, but he really was ponderous. And both of them were a bit more blatantly hypocritical than usual. They're not supposed to confer outside Commission meetings, but they may have been drinking the same Koolaid. For a little while, they acted like two attack dogs.
So it was a disturbing evening, though occasionally comical when either of the lads went a little further off the deep end than usual.
On the other hand (you bet there was another hand), Rosemary Wais dazzled us, too. She made her usual and wonderful apple crumb cake, but this time, she also made a cherry crumb cake. She wanted a verdict. I'll tell you what I told her: they were both terrific, but I gave a very slight edge to the apple.