The Stealth Commission Candidacy of Rafael Ciordia

Here's what's now coming into focus.

The first weird thing I heard about Rafael, apart from the fact that he has no reason in the world to run for BP Commission, was that he, Rafael, whom no one knows, decided he shouldn't have yard signs.  The alleged reason is that Rafael is environmentally conscious, and he doesn't want to have created for him yard signs that will wind up in land fills.  It's also true that signs cost money, but why would anyone think Rafael doesn't want or need to spend money?

The next odd thing I heard about Rafael is that you can't easily reach him.  There's a phone number available, and it's the same phone number he listed on his application for candidacy, but it's not Rafael's phone number.  It's the phone number of his partner, Eddie Bridges.  Some people reached Rafael using the e-mail address he included with his application.  I was not told if Rafael was upset about that.

Once those Village residents met up with Rafael, they discovered that he knows nothing about BP, its government, or how it works.  Rafael has no agenda or platform.  He is, as one person described him to me, "basically clueless."

This is a little bit crazy.  We're talking about representative government, and the idea that constituents would be represented by someone who knows nothing about the constituents, the place, or the government.  Who would think of such a thing?  I guess we already talked about that.  Steve Bernard would think of it, and so would Tracy Truppman.  And so far, each of the times it's happened, it's been a disaster.

I guess the idea here is that some fake candidate will be put up for office, and a selection of the voters/constituency will be asked to vote for them, sight unseen.  And if recent history is any indication, this approach will work.  It will "work," that is, to get the fake candidate elected.  It does not work to contribute to the betterment of the Village.  But very clearly, that's not the goal of the candidates, their sponsors, or the people who blindly vote for them.

By the way, it occurred to me I didn't start the adaptive vs maladaptive Commissions story back quite far enough.  I started with the destructive manipulations of Steve Bernard.  But just before that, starting in 2006, we had a normal Commission, which didn't include Steve Bernard.  For a while.  That Commission got us started with professional management, and it got a Public Works building constructed.  It was a very civilized and smooth-running Commission.  It was the last Commission whose meetings took no more than 2-2 1/2 hours.  That Commission made only one mistake.  When Ted Walker died, three of the four remaining members of that Commission made the really bad blunder of appointing Steve Bernard to fill what was left of Walker's term.  Only Kelly Mallette detected an odor no one else recognized.  And it was that stench that brought us Bryan Cooper, Barbara Watts, and Noah Jacobs, and paved the way for people like Tracy Truppman, Will Tudor, and Betsy Wise (I'm giving Jenny Johnson-Sardella a little bit of credit for having at least been part of a legitimate work group, and seeing the commitment to the end), and which is now gearing up to try to deliver to us Rafael Ciordia.  What is it about learning from mistakes, and history?


PS: I was supposed to meet Rafael yesterday.  I was supposed to join Chuck Ross.  But Rafael never responded to Chuck's offer to meet.