Is It True What They Say About Lemmings?

I wasn't sure what to call this post.  My first thought was "The Brains of the Operation," which turns out to be Dan Samaria.  But that title seemed like too much of a punchline.  Then, I thought of "Reality Bites," which I think I used in the past, or maybe something like "It's a Bit More Complicated Than it First Seems."  But the latter was too dry and academic.  So I decided on the title about lemmings.  I think it appropriately describes last night's special Commission adventure.

The reason for last night's meeting was to discuss the legislative agenda for the Village to communicate to our lobbyist.  The state has money to give out to municipalities, and it's the job of the municipalities to ask for it.  And the request, now cutely and ungrammatically referred to as an "ask," has to be for a specific purpose or project.  So the alleged purpose of last night's meeting was for the whole Commission to arrive at some sort of consensus about what to request.

BP Commissions always have this kind of meeting for the purpose of organizing this kind of list of priorities.  Well, BP Commissions always did have this kind of meeting, until the reign of Tracy Truppman.  In December of 2017, Tracy unilaterally (the only way she knows how to do anything) compiled a list of Village requests, which she had the manager submit to the lobbyist.  She was caught doing this, scolded for it, did her usual defensive and blaming-everyone-else dance, had her stooges vote to retroactively approve what she wrongly did, which they did without having familiarized themselves with what she did, and did it again in April of this year.  Much of this was the subject of reminders and complaints from the audience last night.  Tracy did not, of course, respond to any of this.

Tracy started out by noting that each Commissioner had submitted his and her own lists of priorities, and she noted that one priority-- the poor condition of the roads-- was shared by everyone.  So she proposed to request some wavering number of millions of dollars from the state for road resurfacing.  It seems to me the high number was 70-something million dollars, and the low number might have been around $55M.  Whatever it was, everyone very quickly realized it was ridiculous.  But that wasn't the problem.  The problem, as it increasingly came into focus and couldn't be ignored, was that there were reasons the roads were falling apart, and, as Dan Samaria, the brains of the Commission, pointed out, it wouldn't do any good simply to resurface roads that were being actively and inexorably eroded from below.  It would be, as Dan starkly, but correctly, put it, "wasted money."

Attention was then grudgingly paid to the real causes of the problem, which were summarized as a rising water table, old and leaking water pipes which we don't control, and the fact that most of the Village (Tracy wrongly said the whole Village) is on a septic tank system, not sewer pipes.  The discussion then got increasingly vague, sketchy and meaningless, including concepts like separating ourselves from the water system that is owned by North Miami (we can't afford the pipes, and we'd still be receiving water from CNM anyway), and paying some sort of attention to our drainage problem.  There was also some fantastical, if fleeting, talk about converting ourselves to sewage pipes instead of septic tanks.  Several tens of thousands of dollars per house?  That conversation ended quickly.  The further problem, especially for Tracy, was that this left us where we were with the last Commission, which is terrifying to Tracy, who continues to try to make a career out of demonizing the past Commission, and attempting to portray herself as the Mama in shining armor who's going to right all the wrongs she fantasizes she inherited.  So this conversation fizzled out, with the new Public Works Manager resolving to explore all of these matters further.  How this insight didn't precede and possibly obviate the need for this discussion is a bit mysterious.  It appears that Tracy, Jenny, and Will, who pat themselves on the backs (well, Tracy does, and the other two just let their heads bobble) for having hired a Public Works Manager, never actually spoke to him about this problem.  The whole thing had a bit of a Three Stooges or Keystone Kops quality to it, and it was onto another windmill.  The lemmings had all followed each other over some cliff.

The next favorite ambition had to do either with improvements at the recreation center, or getting a generator for Village Hall.  This conversation, too, was jerky and somewhat incoherent, and for me, it was no longer worth the time to listen.

I'm told there was one other idea floated, and for which someone thinks we would need extra funding.  Betsy Wise wants to open a school in Biscayne Park.  Maybe she can get funding from Donald Trump, who can open the Biscayne Park campus of Trump University.  Yeah, that's who we are.

The "Sunshine State." That Could Be Useful.

I had a plan.  My plan involved solar panels on my roof.  I contracted for 21 panels, and my intention was to put them on the north-facing roof, which is the front of my house, the south-facing roof, and some on the side-facing roofs.

My reasoning was this: most days of the year, the sun is south of us.  But in the summer, when the electricity demand (and my electric bills) are highest, the sun is mostly north of us.  For a few hours in the middle of the day, the arc places the sun more or less directly overhead.  So I wanted north-facing panels to capture solar rays when they're most intense, and I need them the most.

The procedure for solar panels is to present a plan to the Planning and Zoning Board, which will either approve or not approve of the proposal.  It was not clear to me until recently upon what factors disapproval depended.

The Village's Code is "inclusive."  That means that anything not mentioned in the Code is not permitted.  Solar panels are not mentioned.  But the Village, and the P&Z Board, have established an informal approach to solar panels, so that they can be permitted.  P&Z has chosen to think of them as part of the broader area of mechanical features, which include things like duct work and roof-mounted central air conditioners.  And there are Codes for those.  Importantly, I learned, the Code says no mechanical features can be placed on the roof so they're visible from the street.  P&Z has further interpreted this to mean the street in front of the house.  This interpretation came to have an interesting result.

So, because my desired north-facing panels would be very visible from the street in front of my north-facing house, P&Z denied my request for placement.  They suggested that I should just put all the panels I want on the south-facing, east-facing, and west-facing roof slopes, so they couldn't be seen from the street.  Well, that's fine, except it deprives me of as much solar energy as I can get when I need it the most.  So, I argued with P&Z.  But they were rock solidly firm in their refusal to tolerate solar panels that would be visible from the street (in front of my house).  One member of the Board even pointed out that she considers it her job, and the Board's job, to protect the Village (from me and my unsightly solar panels).  She also pointed out that it seemed to her that I self-centeredly just wanted whatever I wanted, and I didn't seem to care about anyone else or the Village as a whole.

I made a number of arguments to P&Z.  I pointed out why it was best, in terms of best function, for some panels to be north-facing.  I pointed out to the Board that they were just making up their own rules anyway, since solar panels are not addressed in the Code, but we approve of them anyway, and even if they could be imagined to be something like "mechanical features," they're functional in a unique way that depends on where they are, which is not true of any other mechanical features, and that the Board was being inconsistent.  Here are the inconsistencies.  Some years ago, this same Board approved a new home design on 6th Avenue, and that home has solar panels.  They are visible from the street (6th Avenue) in front of the house.  More recently, this same Board approved a new home design for a two-story house on 119th Street, and that house has a large array of solar panels.  Those panels are all on the south-facing roof slope, but, because the house is two stories, the panels can be seen from the street behind the house: 118th St.

But P&Z was immovable.  The answer was no.  They did offer me one other option, though.  I could request a variance.  In theory.  But for anyone to get a variance request approved, it has to be accepted by the Commission.  This is the current Commission, which is the same Commission that would upend any rock to find anyone at all to be on a Board so that the Commission (Tracy Truppman) would not have to appoint me.  So no, I can't get a variance request granted by this Commission.  It's a personal vendetta for Tracy, and she has no greater pleasure than to tell me no about anything.

As it happens, because I had to make a meteorologic argument to the Commission, whose members believed the sun is never north of us (really?), I brought along an expert witness.  I brought Brian McNoldy, who is a friend of mine, a BP resident, and a meteorologist.  Brian later wrote to me as follows:  That is a very odd board right now, with an awkward and unprofessional dynamic. Kind of hard to describe unless you experience it in person. 

Solar panels should be encouraged to the point where if someone wants to cover their entire roof with them, go for it! It looks good; it is good [Emphasis mine].  However, they are functional hardware whose ideal placement is dictated by nature, not humans. Someone's comment about Coral Gables not allowing them on the front-facing parts of roofs was absurd. What does that have to remotely do with us? With cars parked on lawns and trash out anytime anyone feels like it, Biscayne Park is most definitely not emulating Coral Gables in any way. Visible solar panels is sooooooooooo far down on the list of concerns that why even bother questioning a homeowner.

In your case (and in ours should we want to add them), a north-facing house would logically put solar panels on the north-facing roofs to gather the most amount of watts in the summer months. There is no question about that. During the October-March portion of the year, those panels would not be nearly as efficient, but that's also when our electric demands are less. South-facing panels would be the big winners during those months.

I had to try not to laugh when Elizabeth said the sun path diagram I gave them was "abstract" and she couldn't be bothered with it.  It's about as real and non-abstract as it gets... you can literally hold it in your hand and read off exactly where and when the sun will rise and set and reach its highest point in the sky on any day of the year.  Quite handy for planting a garden or installing solar panels!  But you only need to live here for a year to learn what it shows anyway... if you pay attention to shadows and what windows and plants get sun when.

I also wrote to Chuck Ross, to keep him informed of the details of my effort, because he takes an interest.  When I told Chuck what was the outcome of my effort, he wrote to me as follows:  The position that the sight of solar panels on the front of a house, that your request somehow compromises the look of the Village and is selfish on your part, is absurd and a joke.

Two people, not in the same place at the same, both used the word "absurd."

Back to the drawing board for me and the solar panel contractor.  The contractor had an idea for how to maximize the availability of the east- and west-facing roof slopes, and part of the south-facing slope: cut back, or down, the trees.  I told them that this is Biscayne Park, and we don't cut down trees to make room for solar panels.  At least P&Z seemed to appreciate the prioritizing, but it didn't change their minds.  I, and Brian McNoldy, and Chuck Ross, and "god," are all wrong, and P&Z, with its sense of what does or should look good, is right.  It could do us a lot of good to be the "Sunshine State."  But it doesn't have to.  We could squander our advantage instead.

A Dictatorship Comes Closer to Perfection.

Tracy Truppman might not be the most autocratic Commissioner the Village has ever had.  (I hope she won't experience that comment as a challenge to step up her despotism.)  That distinction probably goes to Ed Burke.  But Tracy is working hard to cement her total control over everything in the Village.  The fact that she couldn't do it without enabling stooges, who are statutorily entitled to their own power, but cede it all to Tracy, is a curiosity.  And Tracy's job is harder, because we have a Charter Ed Burke didn't have, and it sets out specifically to prevent Tracy from doing what she's doing.

However Tracy managed it, she has secured a critical first line of protection.  She has put together a Commission that won't challenge her.  And she hired a manager who also won't challenge her.  It takes a little more than that to choke the life out of the Village and its government, and she's working on the rest.

In an indoctrination meeting for the new Commission, Tracy had the new Village attorney reassure the Commissioners that they are not required to respond to negative e-mails.  This is a curious statement from the new Village attorney, because it has no meaning of its own.  Of course Commissioners are not required to respond to criticism.  They're not required to respond to anything.  John Herrin doesn't have to tell them that.  And many of them don't, even without his telling them they don't have to.  They don't feel like it, they can't be bothered, they object to being criticized, or whatever, and they ignore their neighbors.  So why did John Herrin tell them they're excused?  Because it wasn't John Herrin telling them anything.  It was Tracy Truppman demonstrating that John Herrin is a puppet, too, and entering onto the record that it is officially permissible for Commissioners to ignore their neighbors.  Those are the people whose votes Commissioners occasionally want.

And then, there's this, now to be attached to Village communications pertaining to meetings:  "DECORUM - All comments must be addressed to the Commission as a body and not to individuals. Any person making impertinent or slanderous remarks, or who becomes boisterous while addressing the Commission, shall be barred from further audience before the Commission by the presiding officer, unless permission to continue or again address the commission is granted by the majority vote of the Commission members present. No clapping, applauding, heckling or verbal outbursts in support or in opposition to a speaker or his/her remarks shall be permitted. No signs or placards shall be allowed in the Commission Chambers. Please mute or turn off your cell phone or pager at the start of the meeting. Failure to do so may result in being barred from the meeting. Persons exiting the Chamber shall do so quietly."  Tracy has clearly moved to the next level of suppressing her neighbors, who are supposedly her constituents.  These are also the people whose voices she proposed should be heard.  At least that was her come-on, when she was running for office.  Cute phrase, too: "barred from further audience before the Commission."  It kind of speaks for itself.  Tracy always avoided commitments to "decorum" when they might have affected her prerogative with respect to her colleagues or her neighbors.  But she's much more enthusiastic about it when it serves the purpose of shutting down others' challenges of her.  Not even signs or placards are allowed in Tracy's domain.

It'll be interesting to see if any of Tracy's supposed colleagues (they're really just underlings, subordinates, and stooges) raises any issues about this muzzling of those who attend Commission meetings.  The beat(down) goes on.

Either She's Not Too Bright, Or She's Not Honest. Or Both.

Well, I listened to the recording of the Commission meeting from this past Tuesday.  Tracy was her usual pushy and manipulative self regarding what she experienced as "accusations" of her with respect to communication of the legislative agenda.  What's at issue is what the Village wants, for which it needs state fiscal help, and we have a lobbyist who communicates our wishes to the state legislature.  In the current instance, on two occasions a legislative agenda was somehow created, without discussion among the Commission or in the presence of the public.

Tracy correctly understood that the complaint was that this happened in secret, and she addressed the matter in reaction to having been scolded for it.  Although it was never made clear by anyone who complained whether they thought the culprit was Tracy or Krishan Manners, it didn't really matter, since the fault was the same: someone authored a list of agenda items, and communicated it to the lobbyist, who asked the state legislators for their support, and no one else in the Village knew anything about it.  This is grossly improper, it is not the way things happen in the Village, and it is built on contempt for the residents of Biscayne Park.

Tracy's explanations/excuses/slimy maneuvers focused on vague and fleeting ideas, including repeated references to "we," without her ever specifying who "we" were.  It was a "wish" list, "not my list," and she found for Krishan his accustomed position under the bus.  And something about a "time frame."  But she never addressed the complaint: that none of this was ever discussed at a Commission meeting.  As much as she wanted to blame Krishan for it, she clearly knew about it.  She can take her pick as to whether she wants this to look like Krishan's fault, or her own fault.  But she could never admit there was fault, and that this was wrong.

And then Betsy Wise, clearly a very good dog already, and one who has learned several tricks, imposed herself to chime in.  She's "new here," she said.  She sometimes claims to have lived here for many years, so I guess she didn't mean she's a new resident.  If she means she's new to Village government, it becomes hard to understand what perspective she thought she was bringing to the discussion, apart from running interference for Mama.  It was "unfortunate," she sniped, that the people who had complained had already left the meeting.  It wasn't hard for old Betsy Wise to put two and two together: "if they were really interested," she concluded...  Yes, that's it, Betsy.  The Village residents who have toiled for years, and given of themselves and their time and their expertise and even their money, are apparently not really interested.  But someone who might or might not have lived here for who knows exactly how many years, and who awoke one day, just before the qualifying period to run was up, and decided that since John McCain had recently died, then she should be a Commissioner, is the one who is genuinely interested in the Village.  Smooth, Bets.  You don't need me to tell you this, but don't forget to cash those checks.  Every little bit, huh, girl?

But the new Commission found something that was really worthy of its careful attention, and that took the most time during the meeting.  They tried to choose a time for a Meet-Your-New-Commissioners pot luck do, and to continue the holiday decorations contest.  I'm so embarrassed for having thought they lost sight of what's really important.

When I'm Wrong, I'm Wrong.

I didn't offer to bet anyone money that Tracy Truppman would be mayor again, and that the vote would be 5-0.  But I would have taken that bet, if anyone had offered it to me.  I wonder how much I would have lost.  Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

There were two Commission meetings tonight.  The first was the dissolution of the Commission of the past two years, and the second was the investiture of the Commission for the next two years.

The first meeting was mostly a goodbye and thank you to Roxy Ross, and a goodbye to Harvey Bilt.  Public comment centered on two things in that first meeting.  One was expressions of gratitude to Roxy, who was in a different orbit from the rest of any elected officials I've ever seen or heard of.  Janey Anderson described Roxy as the "adult in the room" in the past Commission.  That's to say the least.  Janey and Gary Kuhl both mentioned that they didn't always agree with Roxy, but they always respected her.  I didn't always agree with Roxy, either, and when I didn't, I almost always eventually figured out what I got wrong.  There really wasn't enough anyone with a brain and a soul could say about Roxy.  And Chuck was mentioned, too, as he very much should have been.  What a team the two of them always made.  Total brains and commitment, and endless devotion and generosity.  And never, ever was it about them.  It was always about the Village.  Anyway...

The second focus in public comments was Tracy's continual mishandling of communication of the Village's wish list for our legislative representative.  I'm saying mishandling, but it was really commandeering.  The comments were as if it was Tracy and Krishan Manners, but there is no Krishan Manners.  There's no anyone, but Tracy Truppman.  I have never heard the phrase "Charter violation" mentioned so many times in such a concentration.  Tracy does whatever she wants, and no one else really exists.

So then, there was the second meeting.  Two new, and one re-elected, Commissioners recited their vows.  It was all very painful.  This looked like the final dumbing down of the Commission of the Village of Biscayne Park.  And then, it was time to elect a mayor.

Procedurally, the Village doesn't have a mayor for several minutes.  The old Commission, the one with the mayor, had been dissolved, and a new mayor hadn't yet been chosen.  So there should be no one to lead the meeting.  Normally, the person who would step in would be either the Village attorney, or the Village manager.  But this being the universe that revolves around Tracy Truppman, it didn't go that way.  Tracy ran the meeting, and the election for mayor, herself.  It's not even worth pointing out the Charter violations.  There is no Charter.  So Tracy entertained nominations for, um, mayor, and dutiful Jenny Johnson-Sardella thought it would offer valuable continuity if Tracy was mayor again.  After a bit of fumbling to figure out how to deal with this illegal nomination, Dan Samaria suggested maybe this wasn't the way to go.  Dan started out saying that there is a new mayor more or less every two years.  Tracy disagreed with Dan, but Dan was more or less right.  And Dan further explained that there were some concerns, even open ones, about Tracy's management of the mayor's responsibility.  For who knows what reason, Dan nominated Will Tudor.  For at least a fleeting moment, Dan Samaria was the brains of the Commission, and the adult at the table.  Think about that.  And Will commented, too.  But it wasn't to decline the nomination from Dan.  Instead, it was to agree that the last two years have been what Will called "interesting" (I would have said dysfunctional, destructive, destabilizing, and illegal, but Will liked "interesting"), but still to be willing to have Tracy back on her throne.

So, that's how it went.  Tracy had most of her reliable old and new stooges marshalled, and she righted her little lifeboat.  She got the Village attorney to agree that she could take a vote, which she did.  Well, not only did Dan Samaria stick to his at least temporary ethics and focus on what's good for the Village, but Will Tudor also voted against Tracy as mayor.  Tracy won-- of course, she won-- but by the smallest majority she could have had.  The girls did what Mama wanted them to do, and the boys got a little independent.  I suppose it will remain to be seen in what way Tracy will punish them for their independence.  Tracy was hoping for a Commission with less, not more, independence.

I was torn about whether or not to leave at that point.  I could see how things were going to go.  Maybe I was slightly interested to see what Dan Samaria would do with his effort to remain off the leash.  I've seen Will Tudor's versions of independence before.  They don't mean much, and they don't impress.  But I finally decided not to stomach any more of this when Tracy launched into her defense of herself and her continual Charter violations by saying the "accusations" were all faulty.  Yup, that's Tracy.  Same old Tracy.  I'll see if I can stomach a meeting next month.