Dan either offered to let me post this, or he requested that I do. Although Dan didn't specifically highlight the discrepancy between his extensive and expert volunteer work, and the money-grubbing and inept "job" Will does, I kept thinking about it. Also, I kept wondering if Dan would point out to Will that a more fitting expression of respect Will could make to the P&Z Board, and to the Village, would be to install the driveway the Village's Codes require of him. "Blow[ing] smoke up [our] ass[es]," indeed.
Dear Will,
I write this letter from me personally and not on behalf of the Planning and Zoning Board.
I am writing to let you know that I did not appreciate your campaign event last night at the beginning of the Planning and Zoning meeting. You are a candidate running for office and need to govern yourself accordingly. The Village has four other sitting commissioners, any of whom could have presented your certificates of appreciation to the Planning and Zoning Board and two of whom have never attended a P&Z meeting that I can recall. (Tracy didn’t even attend for her own driveway permit, which would have been the perfect opportunity to voice her support of our hard work.) If you want to publicly grub for votes, please feel free to hand out hot dogs at the Rec Center rather than taking up valuable time at a meeting of the board where I volunteer my time. The P&Z board had an extremely long agenda last night, with many residents waiting patiently. Unlike Commission meetings, we are a highly focused, productive and efficient board with a long agenda, and I, as a resident volunteer, don’t appreciate my time being monopolized for the purpose of furthering your campaign. While I appreciate my service being recognized, it should have been done by any commissioner who is not currently running for office or after the election itself.
And note to Krishan: By introducing Will at the podium, you have shown the board and residents in attendance that you fully endorse Will as a candidate. What will you be doing to further the campaigns of the other four candidates this week? If nothing else, you can all see that the optics of the situation are unacceptable. It’s long overdue for the current commission to consider how their dubious actions are interpreted by residents who are becoming increasingly disenchanted by the lack of accomplishments.
Secondly, I must point out that the Commission and Village Manager have shown, through their words and actions, that they absolutely do not appreciate the work done by P&Z. If you did appreciate the work we do, you would at least acknowledge the emails I have sent, requesting that Planning and Zoning be consulted on your failed attempts to put together a driveway ordinance over the past two+ years. As I have stated many times in the past, P&Z is the board that is most effected by a driveway ordinance, as we are tasked with interpreting and implementing any changes to how driveways and swales are permitted. While you delay the new driveway ordinance, we are forced to pass eyesores that will blight our community for decades.
Do not use this email as a way to question my dedication to the great work we do on P&Z or the hours and dollars I have donated to other efforts to improve the village. I am a highly credentialed designer with a Master of Architecture and Bachelor of Environmental Design degrees with a minor in Urban Planning from a top ten architecture school. I spent twenty years thoughtfully designing mixed-use residential, commercial and government buildings and overseeing the construction of these projects for a Fortune 50 corporation. I’m the type of person with knowledge and expertise that this village sorely needs. Three long-term members of P&Z are life-long design professionals with extensive experience in the building codes, but we continue to be marginalized by a myopic mayor who still, after two years of no accomplishments, refuses to utilize the valuable resources at her disposal necessary to move the village forward.
In summary, I simply ask that all sitting commissioners please refrain from using meetings where I volunteer my time to grub for votes and blow smoke up my ass in front of residents. It’s transparent, inappropriate and just plain tacky. Rather, how about engaging in an actual debate of the issues with all candidates in the room? What are you afraid of, other than a two-year empty commission record?
Dan Schneiger
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ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, I sent this email directly to Will and Krishan, copied the rest of our commissioners and then forwarded it to Fred to post for the public. As someone who has served the village as a member of Planning and Zoning since before the current commission was seated, I can say that the view from the inside shows this commission (with the exception of Rox Ross) and village manager to be utterly incompetent I for one am tired of seeing the potential of this village squandered by people who don’t deserve the privilege and have proven that they are incapable of moving the village forward.
DeleteAt the risk of piling on, the optics of that event are terrible. During an election, the village manager should steer well clear of even the appearance of impropriety or bias. Krishan is a man trying to keep a job for which he was never qualified and hasn't proven capable of mastering. Look at the state of this village; that's all the evidence you need that Krishan is ineffectual. Will is one of the Pomeranians on Tracy's lap, and that ensures Krishan a job ... the job for which Tracy applied three years ago, was deemed unqualified for even an interview, then tried to change our charter to grab the power away, then booted out the strong manager who scared her and found a puppet she could master. All she needs is some orange face paint and we have our own little Trumpian world right here in BP. Thanks, BPers, for putting our community in such a sorry state. You/we did that. We need to own up to that. My money is on you doing it again by placing three more clowns on the dais for the next two years.
ReplyDeleteMac, I have disputed this before, and I will dispute it again. It is impossible to tell whether or not Krishan is capable of doing his job, or that he is ineffectual. If there was such a thing as the world's greatest municipal manager, that person would function exactly as Krishan does, or would quickly be fired for insubordination. You can accuse Krishan of working under unreasonable conditions, and not quitting, but apart from that, the problem is Tracy, not Krishan.
DeleteTracy has shown us time and again how outrageous and insight-lacking she is, as you exemplified in recalling her application for a position for which she was not remotely qualified, and she shows it to us again every month and every day. And she looks so grossly foolish at a Commission table that includes Roxy Ross. But she doesn't have insight enough to realize that, either. Her stooges appear also not to appreciate it. They look and act like fools.
By the way, as a further technicality, my guess is it will be Jared and only two more clowns. But only one more clown is needed to keep the Empress admiring her new clothes.
Dan - very well written. To state the obvious - this is wrong on so many levels. Every election year the village attorney has cautioned that the city needs to remain completely neutral. What happened last night - certificates given out that I can't recall EVER being given before - and conveniently given by the one and only sitting commissioner running for re-election is hardly neutral. But - what can we expect when there are members of the current commission out trash talking about residents - even some who are not running but happen to support the candidate whose drive and intelligence they most fear. I would urge folks to ask themselves if that is really appropriate behavior for an elected official. If they pull this same stunt at the Code Board meeting next week I will not be silent.
ReplyDeleteThis current crop of commissioners is perhaps the most amoral I have ever witnessed. And - Dan I think it's more than just being incapable of moving us forward. They literally FEAR forward progress.
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ReplyDeleteI'll let Dan speak for himself, but I believe he also let his feelings be known at the meeting last night while Will was at the podium. I was home baking banana nut muffins (seriously) and got a text from a neighbor who was at the meeting saying that Dan had just "read" Will Tudor and Krishan. I don't know exactly how that played out.
ReplyDelete"Progress" is such a scary word for some people. And "change." "Where will they take us? Who's driving us towards that destination?" Replace them with "improvements," and the notion is much more palatable. If we don't define what we intend to be and formulate a plan to get us there, the world around us will define us and take us in that direction. Scary. Wouldn't we rather be determining our own destiny ... with leaders who are visionary and smart and can execute a plan? Currently, they (and we) fall so well short.
One candidate is a branding expert (music to my ears) and, from what others have said who've met her, a "verbal strategist." Surely the notion of defining and articulating one's "brand" resonates with her, so here's hoping she'll bring them to the party should she get elected. (For the record, I sent a cordial email to Betsy asking to meet her before the election but she hasn't replied. I hope she's not the type to listen to what others say about others and not make up her own mind about people and their concerns and motivations. Man, would that be a disappointment.)
Back to Will Tudor's performance last night ... yuk.
In response to Will's questionable behavior last night, a BP resident just forwarded an email that was sent from the mayor (her personal email address) to village residents on Saturday inviting them to that bogus "meet the candidates" event this past Saturday. This is also icky, coming from the mayor ... not to promote an all-candidate event or an actual debate of issues, but rather to an event for a select group of candidates from which two other candidates were excluded. Is that allowed from a mayor? Certainly, it's not ethical. Seriously, lady, this is how you think your political weight should be wielded, after you cockblocked a legit event? Not to help the electorate of BP to make informed choices but to push through more puppets for your monthly sideshow? She invites us to "get to know the candidates better." Well, 3 outta 5 ain't bad, her preferred candidates. Such a weird way to run this place into the ground.
ReplyDeleteDid you see Leslie Stahl's interview of Donald Trump on "60 Minutes" this past Sunday? All Trump could focus on was the idea that he "won" one thing or another. There is no "right," in the sense of correct, or fair, or ethical, for him. It's just about winning. Tracy is the exact same way. She does the most outrageously unethical and even dishonest things, but she thinks it's all OK if she wins. Meaning that she gets her own way. That's Tracy. It's not about whether it's fair or permitted or even good for the Village. She's just a juggernaut. And if she steamrolls something, then she won. So, what's the problem?
DeleteMac here's the problem with what Tracy did. Does it go against all sense of decency and against what is in the best interests of us as a community? Yes. Does it show a callous disregard for anything but her own selfish interests? Yes. But - once she used her own personal email address and did not reference her position she took herself out of any ethical issue.
ReplyDeleteThe truly sad part is that we have allowed people like this to rise to power because of the lack of interest and apathy we display in our communities locally and nationally. I include myself in this group, I kinda threw in the towel after seeing what I have seen and I dont think im alone. I realize this position is only allowing those in these postions to further perpetrate there immoral actions, I guess its easier to just not care. Well its certainly been a therapeutic political season because all this BS locally and nationally has re-energized my resolve to get involved for a better community and world.
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ReplyDeleteAmen, Art. And that starts with VOTING. If there's a silver lining to the national clusterfuck we're experiencing, it's that turnout for this mid-term election may be historically high. If right-minded and informed folks show up, hopefully they won't repeat the last local election debacle, starting by not re-electing that very nice yet ineffectual Will Tudor. Nice is nice, but we need commissioners who actually accomplish something.
ReplyDeleteFYI, last night at the Code Compliance meeting, the entire board unanimously refused their certificates of appreciation, and two members took the opportunity to tell Krishan that the village doesn't support Code in the first place, so the certs mean nothing. Interesting that no commissioner attended to hand out the certs with Krishan. I supposed after Will got blasted at PZ, the others figured they could pass on being "read" publicly. The first good choice they've made in years.
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