Now…About That Petition

Last week we had the second reading/hearing on the proposed outsourcing of our sanitation services. And this issue [as others have in the past and potentially will in our future] has served to divide our community and in my opinion, unnecessarily so.

Grassroots petitions in Biscayne Park generally have a history of failing to receive much traction. This one was no different.

Now… about that petition. It was neither accurate, complete, nor based on real discovery and honest representation. Based on a preliminary review of the petition this has already been found to be evident. For starters, the count was exaggerated. The sanitation billing structure is based on each residential unit, not each member of said household. The petition's language was also deceiving in that it was typed “to outsource our Public Works Dept.” [mentioned twice] which was clearly never the case. There was a handwritten addition of “sanitation” which looks to have been added after the fact, and only on some of the pages. Very misleading. Moving along… there were cases of signatures from those who do not even live in our Village, and then additional added relatives that also, you guessed it, do not live in our Village. Should renters count? They are not responsible for the sanitation bill, and who knows how many renters were listed. There were some very large signatures taking up several spaces yet counted as each space and so on and so forth. It was suggested that “residents stood up and their voices were ignored.” Simply not true. Not getting the results you wished for doesn’t indicate that anyone’s “voices were ignored.”

But the most obvious omission was the fact that there was no explanation as to why the majority of our Commission voted in favor of outsourcing or the cost saving realized by outsourcing and other tangible benefits for both our residents and the Village. This petition was simply too one-sided and incomplete.

So, with this in mind, let’s look at this topic [petition] from another view:

Dear Biscayne Park Taxpayers,

A group of our residents want to force our Commission to raise your garbage rates by 59%-75% with no cost control for future years! We have rights and our voices should be heard! They also are willing to walk away from new revenues and benefits which our Village desperately needs.

Did you know that we have been told from our finance director that our Village reserves might be consumed in 5 years? That's right, no more financial reserves or community identity. It's up to you to make a stand and protect us from this action before it's too late!

Neighbors, do you see my point?  Every comment made was the truth and factual.

How long do you think it would take me to get 327+ signatures on this petition? As well, with this "other side" explained, many of those who signed would potentially re-think their position.

There were reports of Commissioners (past AND present) who either deliberately misinformed or outright lied to the resident they sought a signature from. Just to list two such examples; when asked about “what was the cost difference” between outsourcing and keeping the program in-house, one current Commissioner said that she “didn’t know.” Really? Was it even ethical for a sitting Commissioner (who had to vote on this issue) to be so involved? There was also the case of her signing the petition for another resident. The other example is of a past Commissioner who stated that the outsourced rate would increase soon after the contract was signed and endlessly harped that the contract would not be honored. This was a clear omission of truth in deceiving the resident of the fact that we have a contract that is price-guaranteed for the first year and has a guaranteed cap for potential future increases of no more than 5% for the remaining four years. Many other safeguards have been worked into the contract to protect our Village. It is shameful that those who have some degree of trust from our residents would resort to lies and deception in an attempt to support their views. But, this has now become a rather common offense. And as mentioned, these are just a couple of examples of what was discovered.

 If we want to be fair, honest and, heavens forbid, "transparent," don't you see the hypocrisy in how this petition was designed?

So, if you must hold onto your ire over this, be sure to aim it at the proper target. And that would be every past Commission that avoided dealing with this issue before the 11^th hour was upon us. This problem did not happen overnight. Ask them why no money was set aside for the purchase of new equipment, or to pay our workers a decent wage …nothing was done.

Knowing that our sanitation department lost $91,397.00 [last audited year] tells me that we really don't do a good job in managing this service ourselves. Never have. This fact proves the problems and inefficiencies of our in-house service. There was a plea of delaying (per usual) and trying to revamp the department ourselves. Tell me, who do we have in-house that can manage it in such a way to compete with WastePro's bid? Because that would have been the only other viable alternative to consider. And if we do have such a person, then why have they withheld this much needed assistance up until now?  Again, no concrete alternative plans were ever disclosed as you all well know. We cannot at this stage bank on “hope” and “good intentions.”

I will state that over most of the 22 years I’ve lived here I was the “model of apathy” as I abhor politics. Why? Well, for all the reasons that we’ve now seeing in our small little Village. Yes, we have now become as corrupt and disingenuous as any other larger branch of Government. And it sickens me. I reached my limit of apathy in what I was seeing transpire within my own community by a small toxic element whose main mission seemingly was to spread contrarian disinformation and create disruption at every opportunity. I could no longer sit back and watch this malignant corruption grow unheeded.

You will not find me writing to only a selected group of Commissioners, instructing/demanding them on agenda policy. You will certainly not see any Commissioner step down from the dais to hand me a folded note as was witnessed during the 5/21/14 meeting.

It is really a shame that it has become necessary to follow up behind this “noxious element” but as long as the lies, misinformation and deliberate community divide is evident, we all need to remain diligent. There must to be a balance of truth and also consequences for those offenders.

To question the integrity and motivations of our three Commissioners and Administration staff that, after careful thought and deliberation made the best decision for the Village is simply unjust.

Yes, I understand that some of you feel that your voices were not heard. There was simply not enough substance behind the position versus the fiscal responsibilities facing our Village at this time.

Again, if you feel compelled to hold on to your ire, just make sure that it is not misplaced.

 Milton Hunter   
miltonhunter@gmail.com