Sunday, November 17, 2013
Who Could Imagine?
Who could imagine that a sitting Commissioner of Biscayne Park would post videos on YouTube of portions of Commission Meetings and write comments to ridicule and humiliate other Commissioners? It came as quite a surprise to me to read that then Commissioner, Steve Bernard, had posted such videos and had written very disparaging comments to accompany them.
I came upon these videos not long ago. It was suggested I watch a YouTube clip of your current Mayor, Noah Jacobs, (09/13/2011) rambling about his disapproval that a concrete pole had been erected in his yard by FPL. This is a bit confusing to me for two reasons. If I lived in a state where hurricanes were expected, I would want power lines carried on structures that could withstand the strongest winds. The other confusing thing for me was that Mayor Jacobs seemed to be very surprised by the whole idea of power lines carried on concrete poles. I watched a YouTube video dated April 5, 2011 where this topic was discussed at the Commission Meeting. Maybe Noah missed that meeting.
If you haven’t seen any of these videos, search YouTube and you will easily find them by using the phrase “Biscayne Park Florida Commission Meeting”. As ridiculous as Noah Jacobs sounded, Steve Bernard’s behavior can only be described as disgusting. He interrupted his fellow Commissioners on numerous occasions, mumbled under his breath, was extremely rude, sarcastic, and taunting, and very, very negative. Here is an example of a man who posted videos of himself with no realization of how insulting and nasty he appeared.
The videos are worth watching as you prepare to vote on December 3rd for your new Commissioners. From his own postings of portions of Commission Meetings, I know that Steve Bernard wanted to fight. He was not looking for the common ground among the Commissioners on behalf of the Village. Instead, he wanted to “expose” some imagined impropriety – meeting after meeting after meeting. The topic changed, but his point was always the same. He alleged that some Commissioner or member of the Village’s administrative team had acted in a manner that was illegal or grossly unethical. Bernard’s harassment of his fellow commissioners increased each time Ross, or Anderson, or Childress countered his accusations. In each video, he presented himself as if he knew all of the facts, and he consistently blocked any information presented that was contrary to his theory. Why he would take such a negative position and behave in such an inappropriate manner is a mystery. Maybe someone should ask him.
Sadly for the well being of the Village, Bernard’s legacy has continued these past 2 years. How do I know this? Yes, I follow this blog. But, more importantly, I had the opportunity to attend a Commission Meeting during one of my visits to the Village. It was everything described in this blog. I witnessed a battle over allowing you, the residents of Biscayne Park, to make a change through a referendum. Commissioners Jacobs and Cooper did not want you to be allowed to do this. The reason I heard expressed in that meeting was the same one voiced by Steve Bernard in the videos he posted: it changes the unique quality of the Village. But isn’t the Village the residents? And don’t the residents have a right to make changes that move their community forward?
Please meet the candidates, ask questions, do whatever you can to make an informed choice for yourself. And, by all means, get out to vote and invite a friend from the Village to join you.
Mimi D’Angelo
Wellesley, MA
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ReplyDeleteIf, as you point out, Jacobs did not know about the 4/5/11 Commission meeting where this issue was discussed, and he apparently did not know the issue had been a hot topic of discussion in the Village for the months before he made his uncontrolled gripe, and he did not know about the workshop about it, and he did not know about the two letters FPL sent to all property-owners (of which Jacobs is not one, but his landlord/in-laws are) along the route, then how and why would he have known about a P&Z meeting to consider the installation, or whether permits had been taken? Jacobs was so out of touch with the Village that he had never even voted in a Village election before.
ReplyDeleteThis whole story had nothing to do with Jacobs. The list of three questions were not Jacobs' questions. They were Bernard's. All of this was Bernard's material. Bernard simply used Jacobs. Bernard trotted Jacobs out to deliver Bernard's own complaints. He used Jacobs as he uses many people. And part of his method is to make people feel important and valuable and legitimate. He made Jacobs imagine that he was substantial enough that with no experience, no perspective, no frame of reference, and clearly no connection, Jacobs was fit to function as a Commissioner, even as Mayor. Where Jacobs the person comes into this is that he was willing. There is no indication he asked any questions or resisted in any way. And keep in mind that he first appeared at the Commission meeting to read out Bernard's gripes in September. He declared himself a candidate the very next month. Bernard got him elected and had him installed as Mayor two moths later. This is all on the strength of nothing. If someone approached you and told you to go to the Massachusetts legislature, make an accusation of legislators (about which you knew absolutely nothing, but the person would write you out a speech), and the person would then see to it you quickly became Governor of Massachusetts, wouldn't you feel just a little bit apprehensive, or unsure of your credentials and preparedness for the task? Any chance you would even decline? Think of the person who wouldn't. That's an unusual person. And the fact that Jacobs' attempt to occupy an office for which is completely unfit has gone as badly as it has, and he very much doesn't get it, doesn't at all see it, throws the whole fault into painful relief.
Now that you've seen Bernard in action, it might also intrigue, amuse, or nauseate you to know that one of his complaints is BP residents who speak disrespectfully and disparagingly about other BP residents, especially when the criticized residents are elected officials. That's a level of hypocrisy people don't often see.
The reference you made to an episode of suppression of the BP public by a few individuals who like to parade themselves as "champions of the people" is certainly one such example, but there are many more. Bernard, Cooper, Jacobs, and Watts actually have a pretty firmly fixed and unwavering pattern of disregard and even disdain for what their neighbors think and want. I've catalogued much of it in my own posts in this blog, whether the examples are the fence Ordinance, the request that the Biscayne Times alter its distribution method, the right of BP residents to post non-commercial ads in the Village newsletter, the best opportunity for residents to express themselves at the polls, or use of Village funds. This group positions itself invariably against the will of the people. If representation and protection of the Park and its residents are not their mission, they have never made clear what they consider their mission to be. Unless, as Jacobs says, they don't have a mission. They simply "react." Against...
Fred