It's True. (Unless It Displeases You, In Which Case It's a Ridiculous and Completely False Rumor.)

Two weeks ago, I was in Massachusetts to see my daughter and son-in-law, whom I didn't really need to see, and my delicious grandchildren, whom I very much needed to see.  (My daughter set me up with a self-test/swab kit, I waited five days to test/swab myself, and two days later, I got the good news: negative.  It was all very creepy, especially the jetBlue flight that was 85% capacity coming home, and the "Trump" red baseball cap-wearing guy in my row.  Not only was he a Trump supporter, but he still is, and he wants everyone else to know about it?  No faint and lingering sense of embarrassment, right?)

Anyway, I cheated a little.  My daughter wanted me to accompany her to the phenomenon that some Massachusetts residents call the town "dump," so I left the house with her.  The Commonwealth wanted me to quarantine for two weeks.  If you don't know my daughter, then you don't know that the answer is always yes.  Or at least OK.

It was some time after that that I backed myself into an unwelcome conversation about recycling.  I simply asked my daughter -- it seemed like a simple and innocent question; you know, just an intellectual inquiry -- if she was aware of the claim that recycling doesn't really happen in this country, and that we're sort of collectively kidding ourselves by separating our refuse into "garbage," that will go into landfills, and "recycling," that will be processed, and made into something else.  My daughter was very clear on this point: she doesn't want to know about it, and she'd rather keep having something like confidence in the broad American solid waste arrangement.  Or seduction.  Or scam.  Or whatever it is.

But there really is such a claim, or rumor, and I decided to see if I could find out the, I don't know, truth(?) of the matter.

Since I was sort of perhaps selfishly most interested in us, for the moment, I reached out to WastePro.  I told the receptionist what I wanted to know, and she immediately reassured me that what we designate for recycling is absolutely in fact recycled.  Her proof of this was that WastePro takes our recyclables to a recycling receiving operation.  I didn't bother to interrogate her further as to what this operation does with what's taken there, since she clearly wouldn't know, but I did ask for the phone number of this company.  She didn't know.  How about the name of it?  She didn't know that, either.  Dade or Broward?  They have them in both counties.  But she didn't know the name or the phone number, right?  Right.

I looked up Waste Management, which is a massive solid waste handler in this country.  It's based in Dallas.  There's a phone number for them, but no one answers.

Wellesley, Massachusetts, has an extensive program, like Medfield, where my daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren live, does.  So I called Wellesley.  I have to call back tomorrow, because the guy who might know isn't there today.  I called Medfield, too, and I left a message with the town administrator.  (I suspect that's the same position as what we call the manager.)  I said what I wanted to know, and asked for a call back.  I might get one, or I might not.

It occurred to me there is another way to try to figure this out.  I "googled" "does solid waste get recycled in the US now?"  The short answer is no.  The longer explanation is here: https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/03/13/fix-recycling-america/

So I will, in fact, call Wellesley back tomorrow.  And I'll wait to see if I hear from Medfield today.  They'll tell me whatever they want to tell me, or whatever they think I want to hear, sort of like the WastePro receptionist did.

But I really think the fact is that we have separate solid waste receptacles, and we divide our refuse into what we think is "garbage" and what we think will be recycled, but we're kidding ourselves.  My daughter doesn't care if she's kidding herself.  She just feels better to believe that stuff gets recycled, and that products that say they're made from recycled fibers and materials really are.

Maybe there's no great harm done.  It's not that much work to segregate garbage into that that's aimed for a landfill, and that that's going to be processed, and come back as something else.  Although one reason a lot of stuff isn't recycled is that it's contaminated, like by food residue.  And it's a certain amount of work, and takes a certain amount of water, to remove that food residue.  And that's for containers which would in theory be recycled anyway, which many wouldn't, even if they were clean.  (Read the linked article.)

I remember when we started with WastePro, and they told us to clean what we wanted recycled, and don't include lids.  Lids are small, and they clog the separation machinery.  It seemed that simple.  Did we dutifully clean various containers, and throw the lids in the landfill garbage?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But it now turns out it doesn't matter.  It's all going to be dumped in landfills, or burned, anyway.  Oh, well.

What Were We Talking About? Oh, Yeah, the Water Bill.

On Saturday, I got a piece of mail from CNM.  They're raising the water/sewage-related fees.

They're raising the water fee by 4%.  Yeah, that's fine.  It's very cheap anyway.  They're also raising the sewage fee by 4%.  Watch your bill for this.  A small proportion of BP residents and homeowners in the northeast corner of the Village are on CNM sewage pipes.  The rest of us, which is by far most of us, have septic tanks.  If you're not on CNM sewage, make sure they don't raise your whole usage bill by 4%.  It's still the same small amount, but you should on principle permit an increase of only 2% of your usage, if you have a septic tank.  Which almost all of us do.

Of course, CNM might say that water and sewage are not 50/50, and that the fee for water is really 95% of the charge, and the fee for sewage is only 5% of the charge.  But I think they'd have to prove that.  I, for one, would feel a lot better having John Hearn or John Herin in the lawyer's chair.  Ed Dion has not impressed me, yet.  If he does, that will be great.

I'm not sure how to understand the other part of the increase.  CNM is increasing "stormwater charges" by 15%.  I have no idea what "stormwater charges" are, or what CNM does to mitigate (I assume that's the intended meaning of this term) stormwater.  We have significant and worsening stormwater (is that like drainage?) problems, and CNM does nothing to help us.

Of course, this may circle back around to things like definitions and obligations, both of which would be in the contract no one can find.

Is it a bad pun if I say it seems we're out to sea without a paddle?

Anyway, watch for this increase.  It will be part of your next quarterly bill, and it takes effect on February 1, 2021.

Bah, Humbug. And I Don't Even Mean My Usual Seasonal Disposition.

Well, it's that time of year again.  It's too cold, and there are inescapable reminders of, you know, "the holidays."  I did mention bah, humbug, didn't I?

Among other things, many of our neighbors have those...decorations.  Lights, fake...um...evergreen trees, fake deer, blow-up dolls of Santa Claus and other characters, and creches.  I'm really not going to get any further into this, in part because it's not the point I want to make.  Although I will point out that according to Wikipedia, reindeer are caribou.  Not those delicate species we usually envision.  Wikipedia also, in its discussion about deer, says that "deer hunting has been a popular activity since at least the Middle Ages, and remains a resource for many families today."  A resource for which families?  Not the families of deer.  Deer hunting hasn't been very popular with them.

The fact is that we're sometimes a fun little burg.  We're practically famous for our Hallowe'en do.  Loads of people -- families, kids, older kids -- come here for that.  But we also have a little ritual for our...winter..."holidays."  We actually have two rituals.  One is to give Tony and Maryann Duva the yearly prize for the best holiday yard decorations.  It's almost a little monotonous, and frankly, I'm rooting for the couple -- Karen and Steve -- on 10th Avenue and about 116th St this year.  Unless the Hornbuckles step it up just a hair more, and topple the Duvas.  Or the couple who moved into the house on 10th Avenue and 117th St.  Not this year, but I can see potential.  But that's not really what I want to address, either.

I want to talk about our other ritual.  It doesn't last long, and it's silly, and it's way too much commotion for nothing, but people like it.  There's this caravan of cars, you see, and at a prearranged time on a prearranged weekend day, they make their way through the Village, as if they were going somewhere.  Which they're not.  There are police cars, with sirens shrieking.  There are cars with Commissioners.  And there's the special car with "Santa Claus."  I think everyone knows who always dresses as Santa Claus, but for some reason, I have this weird feeling that I'm not supposed to say.  Well, it's one of our neighbors.  And he's the perfect person to dress as Santa Claus.  He doesn't particularly look like the common image of Santa Claus, and he grew up Orthodox Jewish.  It couldn't get any better than that, could it?  He's very important to the Village, and for a time, he was sort of central to its functioning.  Everyone likes him, a lot.

So, there's this caravan.  Cops, Commissioners, and our fake Santa.  And everyone knows in advance at what time of what day this is going to happen.  Signs are posted along "Santa's" route.  It's as chintzy and goofy as you can imagine.  It's practically embarrassing.  And eagerly awaited, by small kids and big ones.  Do you want to know what happens when we have the coronavirus essentially raging, and a Commission majority that doesn't care about anything, and a brand new manager who doesn't know how we do things, and what's important to us?  Nothing.  "Santa" has been waiting for the call, and it hasn't come.  He's even reached out, and gotten no response, other than someone or other is still thinking about it, and will make some decision maybe on next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Whatever we could have, we don't have it.  No decorations, no fanfare, nothing.  I myself find these...seasonal...displays practically nauseating, and even I'm disappointed.  And it's been pointed out to me that neighboring municipalities have risen to the occasion.  Only we haven't.

It's next f'ing week!  No?  Nobody could put together anything?  Happy F'ing "Holidays."

Yikes! Now THAT'S An Electric Bill!

So, to back up first, I got my solar panels in the last week of my August, 2019, billing period.  My bill that month was somewhat lower than my bill from August, 2018.  The September, 2019, bill was more notably lower than the September, 2018, bill.  And those reductions continued until about the end of 2019 or the beginning of this year.  At that point, I hit what I believed was the lowest possible base rate of $9.99.  I tried to contact FPL to be sure, but they make themselves seemingly impossible to contact.  So I figured that $9.99 was the least they charge, and they would charge that if I didn't use any electricity at all.

My FPL bill stayed at $9.99 for a couple months, and it was a bit mysterious when my bills then increased to $10.05.  I didn't care, because it was only six cents a month higher, but it was peculiar.  I figured that they increased the base rate.  And that charge stayed like that for the rest of 2020.  Even during the summer.  I paid $10.05 every month, regardless of whether it was winter, etc, and I had the windows open, or summer, and I ran the AC all day, every day.  $10.05 every month.  Until today.

I just got my bill notification by e-mail.  My deal with FPL is that they help themselves to whatever they think I owe them, and take it from my bank account.  They just send me an e-mail telling me what the "damage" was.  Today's notification was that the net flow of electricity involving my house was that I sent 186 kWh to the grid.  Over the course of the past month, my solar panels produced more electricity than my house used.

I don't know what happened to what I assumed was a minimum charge per month, but they didn't charge me this past month.  They credited me, $7.15.  You know, "-$7.15."  That was my "bill."  I don't imagine they'll put $7.15 in my bank account.  I'm guessing they'll just keep the credit on record, and charge me less once they start charging me at all.  Which I suppose won't be any time soon, since "winter" is here (as of two days from now), and I'll continue to be a very low user of electric power.  Although even when it was summer, I never used more than what I apparently wrongly assumed was the lowest amount for which they bill.

I still don't understand the system, and there doesn't seem to be anyone I can ask.  But I'm going to get my money back on those solar panels a lot sooner than I thought I would.

Setting aside my strong encouragement that any of my neighbors who can do it get solar panels, I will also say yet again that it would help the Village greatly to put panels on the recreation building and the administration building.  Not only might we be able to run those buildings for free, electric bill-wise, but if we produce more electric power than we use, which it appears is what I'm doing, we can share it.  The easy way to share it is to wire it over to the public works building, and maybe the log cabin (which we don't use much, the way we used to.  What's more complicated is sharing it with ourselves as Village residents and homeowners.  Our Franchise Agreement with FPL says the Village can't produce electricity to sell, thereby competing with FPL.  But we can give it away.  Maybe there's a mechanism to wire it to some of ourselves.  Or maybe if the Village accomplishes what I just accomplished, we can use the savings to do other projects (the ones we don't do now, because we can't afford to).  It would be a shame to use it to lower our taxes, because we wouldn't lower them perceptibly much, and we would still be unable to afford to do what we can't afford to do now.

Quite an adventure with my FPL bill this morning.

Maybe I Should Bathe More Often.

I got my water bill this week.  It's typical of all my water bills.  

I do bathe.  I drink water, too.  And use it for cooking.  And washing my clothes.  And dishes.  And of course, there's that other bathroom fixture.  I don't use sprinklers, but BPers who do usually get irrigation water from a well, which is dug only for that purpose.  I'm happy to report I don't have any leaks.

According to CNM, who provides our water, and bills us for it, I used four units, which is 4000 gallons, this past quarter.  However they decide how much water should cost, my charge for residential consumption was $7.56.  That seems to me very little to pay for however much water I used, which was as much as I wanted to use, in three months.  But my bill wasn't for $7.56.  It wasn't even close to that.

The big additional fee was from CNM, and it was what they call a "base charge" for their having supplied 3/4" pipes.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to think they have a meaningful responsibility to maintain those pipes.  They just supplied them, however many decades ago that was.  And they charge $37.53 per quarter for the fact that those pipes are here.  That's almost exactly five times the amount they charged me for the water.

The next surcharge (CNM calls it a surcharge), which was the next highest add-on/pocket-picking, was $11.27.  Their name for this surcharge is the "Outside [CNM] Water and/or Sewer [nope, not sewer; very few of us are on public sewage] Surcharge."  So they sting us badly for the fact that they installed water supply pipes decades ago, and don't service them, unless they absolutely have to, and they sting us somewhat more gently for the fact that we're not actually part of CNM.

Then, there's the VBP Utility Tax.  That was $4.51 this quarter.  I have no complaint about this tax.  I wouldn't care if it was more.  CNM collects it, and gives it (possibly minus a small administrative fee for collecting it) back to us.  It's one of several utility taxes we have various providers of various things charge us, so they can give it back to us.  Because we (VBP) have very limited ways of getting revenue to do things (a number of which we can't afford to do), and we rely on our very own selves.  The big check we write ourselves is for ad valorem property taxes, but there are several non ad valorem taxes we also pay, like this one for water.  You'll find an extra VBP tax like this on your electric bill, your phone bills, and your cable bills.

Finally, Dade County charges us something they call a "Service Fee."  On my quarterly bill, this amount was $3.38.  Just over a buck a month.  Next to nothing.  Although...  Since we get our water from CNM, which would attend to the pipes, if they felt like it, it's not exactly clear what "service" the county provides.  Not that it matters, because it's such a small amount, but I'd rather they just call it a county tax.  You know, just because.

It's a very funky system, this business of charging for water.  And as much less than it is more or less anywhere else in the country (much), it's still worth at least a passing thought as to what it's about, apart from the obvious: people/agencies/municipalities (very much mostly CNM) taking other people's money.  I know they need it.  So do we.  But still...

I used someone's idea of $7.56 worth of water in three months, and it cost me $64.25 to get it.  I paid between eight and nine times what the water cost.  I think I should use more water.

You Can Thank Luigi Di raimondo.

Luigi Di raimondo has become a disease in this blog.  I don't know Luigi.  I remember his last name from when I was last campaigning, but I don't remember if I spoke to him, or to one of his relatives.

At any rate, Luigi has descended on this blog like a plague.  He is nasty, he is ugly, he is broadly accusatory, with no evidence, what he says doesn't make any sense, he is irrepressibly insulting, and he won't stop.  I've asked him several times to stop, and to go away.  Some other blog commenters have made the same request of Luigi.  But unloading his irrational and offensive nonsense is all Luigi wants to do.

So I have changed one procedure about this blog.  I cannot block a particular individual -- the blog, and blogspot, don't have a mechanism for that -- but I can "moderate" comments.  That is, I can decide which comments can be published.  I have taken that authority.

From now on, I will automatically, without bothering to read the whole comment, permit publication of any and every comment, except those from Luigi.  All of those will be denied.

It's extra work for me, and it creates a delay between when the comment is written and when I approve it -- if I'm in the middle of something, it can take several or many minutes, or even hours, until I have the time to scan the comments (for the name of the author), but it saves everyone from having to hear from Luigi, and it preserves the always valuable contributions from authors and commenters who have developed a need to avoid Luigi.

I'm sorry for this.  If it's a problem to you, and you know Luigi, you can complain to him.

Flowergate Follow-Up

I just had the best chuckle, which I simply must share. During my campaign for re-election to the BP commission, I placed 128 yard signs throughout the village. (Thanks again, neighbors!) At the suggestion of my gay husband, I added cheerful pink plastic Gerber Daisies and other flowers on the signs in the final weeks of the contentious campaign to call attention to moi and to spread some cheer. It worked in both regards, but no good deed goes unpunished. Someone (who I won't "out" here but who takes serious issue with my gayness) charged me with violating campaign laws with those flowers. Adding pink plastic flowers to one's campaign signs is not a violation, but that didn't seem to slow down her own campaign. The police chief had to get involved, the village manager had to get involved, and our expensive attorney had to get involved and finally officially opine that the flowers could stay. (I had been threatened with tens of thousands of dollars in daily fines if the flowers weren't removed pronto.) Our local Gladys Kravitz wrote multiple emails to the village, asking that they be kept anonymous. "Public record" is the exact opposite of "anonymous," so I just read those emails with my final Thanksgiving pumpkin-nut muffin. "Gladys" accuses the village of ignoring my many violations as a resident and as commissioner without any examples or evidence (a la poor, simple-minded Rudy Guliani). But, here's the kicker: She then laments that next time I'll have drag queens in Biscayne Park campaigning for me. If only! Those girls don't work for free, you know. Another neighbor describes "Gladys" as a member of our local "lunatic fringe." For such a tiny village, our fringe is big enough to line the hems of a gaggle of drag queens. Cheers to diversity and then some!

Let Me Try to Talk About Roxy and Chuck Ross in a Different Way.

I have no doubt there have been better BP Commissions and worse ones over the years and decades. I've seen and heard about some of each.  And I've seen and heard about some of the Commissioners who made some of those Commissions good, and others not so good.

As I've said a million times, I moved here in the middle of 2005.  It was a few months or so before I started to attend Commission meetings.  I don't remember much about the Commission that ended at the end of 2005, but I remember fairly well the one that started then.  The Commissioners then were Ted Walker, John Hornbuckle, Bob Anderson, Kelly Mallette, and Chester Morris.  It was over a year later that Walker died, and his seat was filled with an appointment made by the remaining four.  The appointed Commissioner was Steve Bernard.

This first Commission I remember well was a good one.  After Walker died, Hornbuckle became the Mayor.  Meetings were tight, and they didn't last longer than 2-2 1/2 hours.  And the Commission accomplished some very important things.  The same voters who elected Mallette and Morris, and re-elected Hornbuckle, approved a Charter change that moved running of the Village and its departments from Commissioners to a professional manager.  So this Commission was the first to turn over many parts of its functioning to a manager, and to find a manager to whom to turn them over.  Symbolically, and the last (so far) step along a way that had already been established, this Commission also lowered its stipend.  And this Commission finished a process that had already been begun, which was to build a public works building.  So, some real accomplishments there, and all in the interests of the Village.

I'm going to skip over '07, in part because I'm not sure I remember the details (Mallette and Morris were in the middle of four year terms, Anderson and Bernard were re-elected, and I'm not sure who the two year term person was: it might have been Hornbuckle), and go to '09, which was a very important year.  Mallette shockingly didn't get re-elected.  I didn't see that coming, and I don't understand it.  She's a delightful person, and she was a wonderful Commissioner.  I told her as many times that there was no chance she wouldn't get re-elected as I told other people years later that there was no chance Donald Trump would get elected.  Wrong both times.  Morris didn't run for re-election.  Hornbuckle didn't get re-elected.  Anderson and Bernard were in the middle of four year terms.  The three new Commissioners who joined them were Roxy Ross, Al Childress, and Bryan Cooper.

I have to pause part of this story to talk about the Rosses.  Chuck, and, for all I knew, Rox, were in some way associated with Steve Bernard.  Steve was one of the most subversive and seditious people I have known in BP.  He was divisive, mischievous, and did not have an agenda, except to sow discontent.  I have no idea how Chuck, and possibly, for all I then knew, Rox, got associated with him.  But I was sure Chuck was.  I was wary of Rox, because I wasn't sure she, too, wasn't associated with Steve, and I told her so.  She reassured me many times that she was completely independent, and no feeling she did or didn't have regarding Steve Bernard would have any bearing on how she would conduct herself as a Commissioner.  She later told me that she worked harder for my vote than she did for anyone else's.  But she didn't get it.  Chuck and I were already friends, and one day, we were doing something related to campaigning.  Chuck opened the trunk of his car, and he had some campaign signs for Bryan Cooper, who I already knew was a Steve Bernard devotee.  So I figured that if I already knew there was some association between Chuck and Steve, and if Chuck was helping Bryan, then I was prepared to make an unfavorable assumption about Rox.  Wrong, wrong, wrong!  Rox is Rox.  She is not Chuck.  She is not Steve Bernard.  She is who she said she was: completely independent, with her own set of ethics, and an intellect and moral compass that are entirely unique.  I told Rox I didn't vote for her that first time.  When she's in a mood to tease me in a playful way, she reminds me about my lapse of faith.  She was right, I was wrong, and I've apologized as many times as I'm going to apologize.

So, Steve Bernard made the same mistake about Rox that I did.  He assumed...  When it came time for the new Commission to nominate one of its members to be the Mayor, someone (it had to have been Anderson or Childress) nominated Rox, she accepted the nomination, she, Anderson, and Childress elected her Mayor, and Bernard went on an unrelenting rampage, to punish Rox for not bowing and deferring to him, and anointing him as he expected.  If you weren't at those meetings, it's hard to envision the disruptiveness, overtalking, sniggling, sniping, and gross childishness Bernard and Cooper showed toward Rox, all meeting, every meeting.  I have no idea how Rox kept her composure.  It was not infrequent that she had to stop meetings for a several minute break.  These two children were totally out of control, and it was all aimed at Roxy Ross.  But she always looked forward, she never lost it (as anyone else in the world would have), and all she ever tried to do was make the Village "A Better Place to Be."  That was her slogan.

As another aside, there is no such thing as training to learn to be an elected representative.  People can become expert in particular areas that have implications for government functioning, or they can "major" in public policy or something.  But there is no curriculum anywhere that selects the best candidates, and provides the relevant education, for someone to be a good governor.  Roxy Ross is, by profession, a paralegal.  All paralegals know a great deal about the law, and Rox is an exceptionally talented and committed paralegal.  She is also breathtakingly well-organized.  She's patient, but she is not distractible.  She has a wonderful personal style.  Almost every good thing that has happened in BP since 2009 has happened because of the leadership or the support of Roxy Ross.  What creates the Roxy Ross we know is intelligence, raw talent, her personal style, and her innate ethical sense.  And Roxy is part of a team.  The other part of that team is Chuck Ross.

Chuck is a hoot.  It's the most obvious thing about him.  He's energetic, he's unrestrained, he's opinionated (and almost always right), and he makes things happen.  He's super smart, which makes the combination of him and Rox almost a bit scary.  They're both super smart.  Chuck, and Rox, are also deeply devoted.  Neither of them flinches from that devotion.  And the prime recipient of that devotion for the past +/- 13 years has been this Village.  It's been you and I.  They have each other, they both have day jobs, and they give the appearance of caring more about us than they do about anything or anyone else.

Rox had initially become active with the Recreation Advisory Board, and Chuck took over Citizens' CrimeWatch from his predecessor, Joe Chao.  As good a job as Joe did with CCW, Chuck exploded its relevance here.  I think he has quadrupled or quintupled the membership, created strong working alliances with a succession of police chiefs (until Tracy Truppman interrupted Chuck's success), and he made a name for himself in the county's CCW.  Chuck has won county awards for best CCW chairperson, I think more than once.  There seems to be no one, and no one's story, Chuck doesn't know.

Chuck is an accountant.  He's been amazingly helpful to Rox, and to us, in helping to analyze Village finances, and the Village books.  He's worked well with the succession of our Finance Directors, and they all value his contributions.  They say so publicly.

You know the story of Chuck's attempt to help David Hernandez, so we wouldn't be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in CITT money which we might have had to refund.  Had it not been for Chuck.  And Chuck has taken his share of flak, too, from a variety of unappreciative and/or embarrassed people.

Have you ever seen a movie called "Chef?"  2014, written and directed by Jon Favreau, and he's the star of it.  It's a really terrific movie, and parts of it are set in Miami.  Favreau's character is a spectacular chef in a restaurant owned by Dustin Hoffman's character.  A well-known critic, played by Oliver Platt, is coming to eat, and will write a review.  Platt's reviewer pans the meal, as well as Favreau's character, whom he had promoted enthusiastically some years before.  Favreau's character gets infuriated, and a Twitter pissing contest ensues.  Favreau's chef says he'll cook an entirely new menu, just for Platt's reviewer, on a date specified.  The restaurant is packed, waiting for the showdown.  Favreau's chef is going to innovate, but Hoffman's restaurant owner insists on presenting only the standards.  There's a showdown between the two of them, and Favreau's chef quits.  Platt's reviewer shows up for the challenge menu, finds the same old, same old, chuckles, and starts tweeting.  Favreau's chef comes storming back in to confront the smug and self-satisfied reviewer.  He yells at the reviewer, telling him how hard everyone works to provide a wonderful meal for patrons, how good the food really is, how the reviewer doesn't even understand the process and mechanics of creating the dishes, and how the reviewer just sits there, offering nothing, and taking pathetic pleasure in criticizing people who do what the reviewer can't do.

That's what Roxy and Chuck Ross have had to put up with from a number of us, and from some people who work for us.  Some of us, and some of our employees, have no concept at all about what makes excellent municipal functioning, and they wouldn't know it if it hit them in the face.  They're limited and wholly inadequate to the task, and all they can do is criticize people who do what they couldn't dream of doing.  They're too foolish and unappreciative to allow master craftspeople to take the lead.  But knowing Rox and Chuck as I do, I suspect they will retain much better and clearer memories of those of us who were grateful.

It's not that I will personally miss Roxy and Chuck Ross when they move to Gainesville.  They are extremely close friends to me, and of course I'll miss them.  What's at issue is that we -- the Village -- will miss them.  Many of us don't realize how much we'll miss them, and we won't know it while it's happening.  Their absence might be dramatically deflating, or it might be subtly deflating.  Some opportunities for vision and great functioning might continue, or come to us again some time.  We're very lucky to have Mac Kennedy and Art Gonzalez on the Commission now.  Unfortunately for us, the current majority of the Commission -- the three Commissioners who are not Mac and Art -- don't listen and follow along as they should.  They don't have enough sense, and they're too taken with themselves and what they imagine is some sort of personal accomplishment: being a Commissioner.  They don't know that their being a Commissioner is not about them.  It's about you.  It's about the Village where you live.  It's about making BP "A Better Place to Be," which is what Roxy and Chuck Ross worked hard and long to do every day, for years, and for free.

Who Said We Need an Odd Number of Commissioners? Most Votes Were 4-0.

That's what I get for tuning in to the Commission meeting two minutes after 7:00.  Ginny O'Halpin was inexplicably not there, and Vice Mayor Mac Kennedy started the meeting on time.  Mac ran the meeting for about three minutes, until Art Gonzalez became the new Vice Mayor, and he ran the rest of the meeting. 

Everyone was relieved to have a new/real Village manager.  He's already been in very substantive talks with WastePro, and it sounds like we can expect results.  Everyone was encouraged, except Judi Hamelburg, who told a personal story of what she said was uncollected waste, and her demand for a refund.  Rox Ross, in her public comment, noted that Mario Diaz got the support of five sitting Commissioners, and two Commissioners-elect.

It struck me as an interesting, and frankly somewhat disturbing, curiosity that the Commission seemed to want to make board alternates second class citizens, who can fill in for board members, and participate in discussions (at most), but not vote on board decisions.  These alternates are our neighbors, and they are identical to the board members, except that there is a limited number of seats per board, and there can be more applicants than empty seats.  But we (as Commissioners) don't choose board members because they're the only applicants who are qualified.  We choose them because we only need to fill a few seats.  There's no difference in ability between the people we choose and the people we don't.  (If there was only one open seat on a board, and only one applicant, we would appoint that applicant to the board.)  So, if someone we chose to fill a seat can't do it, because of conflict of interest, or because the member is unable to attend a meeting, then the alternate should be equal to the regular member.  They're equal enough to be alternates, and  they're equal enough to fill in for the absent member, and they're equal enough to participate in discussions.  They should be equal enough to vote.  By their presence, and whatever they contribute to the discussion, they will certainly have influenced the vote.  They should be a part of that vote.  It was a bit of a roller coaster, but it seems the Commission finally found its way to empowering alternates this way.

Mac Kennedy has been crusading for quite a while about lack of safety, or even consideration, at construction sites, and he finally grabbed his chance to propose a relevant Ordinance.  Mac had absolutely the right idea tonight.  The only problem was that Commissioners were trying to make contractors of themselves, and "micromanaging" the specific precautions that should be taken.  They were on much more solid ground when they discussed matters like what time of day, and which days of the week, construction-related noises could occur.  Judi Hamelburg expanded our appreciation of what days work could be done by sharing a personal story of roofing work she had done at her house on a Saturday.  Judi unknowingly offered the Commission an important insight: don't try to make specific rules for everything, foreseen or unforeseen.  The answer was to establish a general theme, and leave the specifics, like what to do in an emergency, or if it's a roof task, and a storm is approaching, to the manager.

During one of the excursions into expertise Commissioners don't have, there was discussion to the extent that lay people should not be writing codes.  Manager Mario Diaz was somewhat assertive about this.  But Judi Hamelburg shared her personal story of having been part of the Code Review Committee, and having participated in writing codes.  Judi pointed out that the Village seems always to have written its own codes.  There was no discussion about the disorganization and inconsistency of a number of our codes, leading several Village cognoscenti to conclude, as Mario Diaz said, that we should have our codes professionally rewritten.

Attorney Ed Dion rethought his reaction last month, and he now says that his firm, which he said last month had no experience in aviation matters, does have adequate experience, and he even quoted us a price to represent us.  So we won't have to hire a separate lawyer, as he told us last month we would.

Commissioner/Vice Mayor/tonight's acting mayor Art Gonzalez introduced an initiative that encouraged Commissioners to respond to their neighbors who make public comments and ask questions.  Art remembers that there used to be an agenda item called something like Commissioner responses to public comments.  This suggestion was such a slam dunk softball that it's hard to imagine that anyone didn't say "well, of course."  And it seems as if possibly everyone eventually did agree.  It was not clear to me if Dan Samaria agreed.  He was very resistant, but he might have caved in, once he was reassured he was under no obligation to respond to his neighbors.

Wasn't it Maynard G Krebs who said, or shrieked, "Work; work?!"  About the same reaction followed Mac Kennedy's suggestion that Commissioners receive written communications electronically, instead of on paper.  Judi Hamelburg shared a personal story about what electronic hardware she uses, and about her secretary's responsibilities, and she just couldn't agree to have to read on a screen, or print what she wanted on paper.  Dan Samaria wholeheartedly agreed.  So that initiative failed, and Judi and Dan can continue to have someone print reams of paper that will quickly be discarded, sometimes with significant parts of it unread.

Establishing goals, for the Commission and for the manager, is another painfully obvious suggestion.  It required little or no discussion, and certainly not the amount it got.  I still say we are under the burden of too many people who like to hear themselves talk.  There was a very early Woody Allen movie which I think was called "Sleeper."  In it, Allen was masquerading as a surgeon, and he kept repeating the word "structure," because he liked the sound of the word, and he liked to listen to himself say it.  It was kind of like that.

The final matter was Judi Hamelburg's wish to discuss Commissioners' use of the Village's attorney's time.  Judi started with a personal story about a business she runs, and how she pays the expenses for her personal business.  The purpose of this story was unclear, but somehow, Judi segued this into a criticism of Mac Kennedy, and an accusation that Mac was using the Village attorney for his own benefit in his campaign.  Judi was very concerned about expenses like this, and she was not one bit mollified when the Village attorney reassured her that no personal campaign matters for Mac's benefit were discussed.  Mac further suggested, more than once, that Judi check with the Village attorney herself before she makes a public indictment of Mac.  But Judi knew where she wanted to go, and no one was going to stop her from going there.

4 1/4 hours.

I Still Say We Should Remove Ed Burke's Name From Our Park. But It's Way Bigger Than That.

No, I know Dan Keys doesn't agree with me.  Dan was a Commissioner in the '80s, when Burke was the mayor, and Dan has endless fondness, respect, and reverence for Burke.  If there were ever any BP residents who complained about Burke, or who do now, Dan is not one of those people.  To Dan, Burke was a uniquely valued "mentor," and any tribute anyone ever gave him is at least fitting.  And besides, there are all the then Village residents who will remember Burke for the favors he did them, and the obstacles he caused to go away.  I get it.  I just don't agree.  And more than that, I don't think that in a comparatively intimate neighborhood like this one, anyone should be singled out for note like that, as if they were more, or better, than anyone else.  If they did good, good.  The fact of the good they did should be reward in itself.  And someone like Arthur Griffing, for whom a street and a park are named, did himself a lot more good than he did for us.  If you don't like the narrow streets and the small lots here, and the absence of sidewalks (which would have taken a little room, cost some money, and reduced the prices of the lots Griffing was selling), you can thank Arthur Griffing.  If you don't like front yard walls on some properties, and you wonder how some people got permission to build walls the BP Codes don't allow, you can thank Burke.  Also, if you're one of those BP residents who don't like "outsiders," including not only "cut-throughs," but also people who don't live in BP, but who feel, and are, free to use our park/recreation center/basketball courts, and you resent that we built that park/recreation center/basketball court using state money, which means the state won't let us restrict use of the park/recreation center/basketball court only to ourselves, and you're prepared to get angry at whosever bonehead idea it was to seek and accept the state grant, from which we can never liberate ourselves, you can get mad at Burke for that, too.  (Eventually, Burke moved away from BP.  I think he moved to some other state in the south.  I don't know why he left.  It could have been for any of a number of reasons.  He died in a nursing home somewhere in the past several years.)

But it's not Burke.  I'm sure he had his very good points.  Hey, he got elected a lot.  And he earned a level of respect and admiration Dan Keys doesn't give anyone else.  I just don't like the idea of things -- buildings, parks, whatever -- in BP honoring individuals.  It's not like Ed Burke paid for the park himself.  And even if he had...  The building at the recreation center has a plaque with the names of the then Commissioners, and I don't approve of that, either.  There's a similar plaque at the Public Works building.  Nobody asked my permission.  If they had, I would have told them no.  It's possible my name might some day be on a plaque either at the log cabin or the administration building.  Or both.  I object.  I protest.  I did object and protest, but I was told I couldn't evade this tribute.  To what?  The fact that I was on the Commission when these projects were agreed to and executed?  So what?  I was a small cog in a very big wheel.  It's true I voted in favor of these projects, but if there are ever plaques with names, my name will be there even if I had voted against the projects.  And voting in favor of them, or just being there, is all I did.  I didn't pay for them.  My name is no more important than is yours.  Should we have a plaque with the names of all of the then approximately 3000 Village residents?  What about the state money, which paid for most of the projects?  A plaque with the names of every resident in Florida?  We don't have state income tax.  We rely importantly on tourists, and people who buy things like the produce we...produce.  There are a lot of names that could properly go on a plaque at the log cabin and the administration building.

Here's why we're having  this conversation.  (Yes, there's an actual reason.)  Roxy and Chuck Ross have just closed on a house in Gainesville.  And they're about to list for sale their house in Griffing Boulevard.  You don't need me to walk you through this math, right?

Let's say Ed Burke was a credit to the Village.  He should have been.  He lived here, he was repeatedly elected to the Commission, the Commission repeatedly elected him mayor, and no one has told me he did not accept his Commission stipend, which was not the reduced stipend it is today.  If he dominated the Commission, which Dan Keys might or might not say he did, then that was his style, and it was the style of his Commission colleagues to permit it.  And Ed Burke is not remotely the only Village resident, or elected representative, who served the Village, and served it (presumably) well.  Richard Ederr was mayor for about 10 years, and people loved him for that.  Bob Anderson was a Commissioner for a total of 20 years.  There have been very many electeds apart from those few I just named.  And even more Village residents who were never elected, but served either on boards, other groups, or simply volunteered.  If I believed in honoring people, by attaching their names to things, (which I don't), there would be plenty of people to honor.  Heck, I gave you a short list of some of them several posts ago, when I told you who donated their own money to buy sculptures to beautify your Village.  No one's name is on any of the sculptures.

But if I would even think of making an exception, here's where I'd make it.  And it's in two places.  One is the Foundation's project from a few years ago to sell bricks that would compose a walkway to the log cabin.  The idea was that Village residents, or anyone, would buy bricks, on which their names, or whatever they want, would be inscribed, and the money they paid, which was vastly more than the cost of a brick paver, would be the Foundation's "profit," which it would use for some other initiative.  

The other exception I would make would be for the Rosses.  It's not easy to understand, much less explain, the extent to which Roxy and Chuck Ross have served, and upheld, this Village.  They have given endless time and energy, and a not trivial amount of money, to us.  They have been steadfast, under sometimes unspeakable conditions.  As much as many of us appreciate them, and are grateful to them, some others are unashamedly critical, disrespectful, and even insulting or accusatory.  "Backwards and in high heels," indeed.  The Rosses are exceptionally intelligent, unbelievably well organized and prepared, perspicacious, broad-thinking, and unflappable (well, Chuck's not always unflappable, especially when someone is giving Rox a hard time).  They have never, for an instant, taken their eyes off the ball.  Except that one time, when the hypnotic Steve Bernard temporarily had Chuck questioning reality.  But Chuck righted himself.  And even at that, Chuck didn't go along with Steve for a little while because he knew Steve wasn't telling the truth, or was disruptive.  It's because he thought Steve had the Village's interests at heart.  Chuck and Rox do.

I met Chuck, and Rox, in a very funny way.  I had seen them at Commission meetings, and had heard Chuck make public comments (then mayor John Hornbuckle once joked to Chuck that if being an accountant didn't work out any more at some point, Chuck should think of a career in radio: Chuck has a great baritone voice), but I didn't know them.  We had never been introduced.  But one day, Chuck reached out to me to ask if we could get together for coffee, which we did at what was the Starbucks (now Cafe Creme) on 125th St.  Chuck told me Steve had said such terrible things about me that he -- Chuck -- had to see for himself.  We quickly became very fast friends, and we have been ever since.  I trust Chuck, and Rox, implicitly, and I have every confidence they trust me the same.  We're on the same page about most things, and we have complete respect for each other when we don't agree.

I entertained the thought, when I was imagining freeing myself from my stricture about these things, that once Roxy was no longer on the Commission, I would "lobby" to have the main and larger function area of the administration building called the "Roxanna S. and Charles A. Ross Conference Room."  I didn't allow myself even to think of something like the "Roxanna S. and Charles A. Ross Administration Building," or the "Roxanna S. and Charles A. Ross Log Cabin."  I just imagined something more modest, and as a tribute to their unwavering and entirely selfless hard work.

But I'm not free from my strictures about such things, and I don't think that's what we should do, and I think we should remove Ed Burke's name from the park, no matter how much anyone liked him, or how much he might have helped the Village, in whatever ways he did.

I do, though, want to say goodbye and thank you to the Rosses.  It's the very least I can do.  And nothing anyone could do would be gratitude, or compensation, enough.

More About (Sc)Amazon

Today, someone sent me the following e-blast.  The #BlackOutBezos image is missing:

Today is Black Friday, the second busiest shopping day of the entire year.  Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is hoping to make billions of dollars between today and Cyber Monday, off of the work of thousands of warehouse employees across the country.   Warehouse workers at Amazon are twice as likely to be injured on the job than those in similar jobs.(1) Coronavirus cases are spiking but Amazon has ended its hazard pay and still does not have significant paid sick leave.(2) And while Bezos has made $70 billion since the start of the pandemic, warehouse employees in California aren't being paid wages competitive to where they live.(3) We're encouraging everyone to shop local this Black Friday and Cyber Monday in order to support local businesses and send a strong message to Bezos that we won't support his exploitation of warehouse workers.  Will you change your profile picture to our #BlackOutBezos image from today through Cyber Monday and help convince others to shop local? Here are instructions for how to change your profile picture for various social medias: Facebook Twitter Instagram Snapchat And just a reminder, here is what we’re asking of you: Sign our pledge to boycott Amazon on November 27 and 30 -- Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Instead, check out local businesses and Black Lives Matter's Black Xmas shopping page, and take advantage of local stores’ delivery and curbside pickup options. Share our #BlackOutBezos images (like the one above!) and our pledge form on social media and encourage your friends and family to shop local this season. Let your circles know about your favorite local shops, restaurants, and artisans they should visit and support instead of shopping Amazon by sharing our blog and social media posts. This holiday season, you can stand in courage and support your neighbors while sending a strong message to Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos: Stop exploiting for profit! Be sure to #BlackOutBezos this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Will you change your profile picture to our #BlackOutBezos image? Yours in the fight against corporate power, Irene, along with Angela, Annie, Caitlin, Deepthi, Gabby, Jay, Lindsay, Molly, Raquel, and Scottie (the Courage team) Footnotes: 1. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/amazon-responds-accusations-about-warehouse-worker-safety-shows-covid-19-changes/4Z664MLBDFAF3ASZ5SRKM4JDXU/ 2. https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-cuts-2-dollar-hazard-pay-bezos-150-billion-2020-6 3. https://observer.com/2020/07/billionaire-net-worth-gain-pandemic-amazon-tesla-facebook/#:~:text=Amazon%20CEO%20Jeff%20Bezos%2C%20for,business%20during%20the%20nationwide%20lockdown. Like what we do? Chip in to help fund the fight for a more progressive nation. Or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

The Question Was About Judi Hamelburg. We Now Have the Answer.

I didn't expect Judi to vote for Mac Kennedy for mayor.  Judi and Mac each like a lot of attention, and Mac not only eclipsed Judi in votes for Commissioner, but all Commissioners reportedly got several or many e-mails asking them to elect Mac.  Judi could not possibly have agreed to let herself be upstaged that way.   And Judi came in third, so the prospect of agreeing to Mac would have been pretty unceremonious.  So no, Judi was not going to go along with Art Gonzalez's nomination of Mac for mayor.

The Commission then had a tortured discussion about how to identify who would be the mayor.  This was mostly Mac's fault, because he couldn't accept that he was not elected.  He apparently did not see coming Judi's rebelliousness.  He can't possibly have imagined Ginny or Dan would vote for him.  He must have thought Art and Judi would.

I knew Judi couldn't support Mac for mayor, but I figured she'd compromise, and support Art.  But no, she went along with Ginny and Dan, and re-elected Ginny.  That's Ginny O'Halpin, who is incapable of starting a meeting on time, even when a quorum, or even all Commissioners, are there.  Ginny O'Halpin, who in all these months still doesn't know what kinds of votes have to be roll call, and which are by consensus.  Ginny O'Halpin, who still doesn't know that motions have to made and seconded, only after which discussion can occur.  Ginny O'Halpin, who is completely satisfied with gross incompetence in Village employees*, and who shirks actually doing anything, as if she was allergic to the idea.  Ginny O'Halpin, who has nothing to say about anything, and offers no initiatives.  If you attend Commission meetings, you know how frustrating this is.  That was Judi's idea of a good enough mayor.  If the minimum requirement of a mayor is to run a meeting, that's what Ginny can't do.  I didn't expect Judi to support Mac.  I expected her to support the Village.  My miscalculation.

We then entertained Gage Hartung's suggestion (Gage is our point man on this) that we join a suit against the FAA and its decision to allow a change in flight paths that disadvantages the nearby municipalities.  Attorney Ed Dion, who got his job by reassuring us that there's no municipal matter he hasn't dealt with, and whose "bench" is more than deep enough, immediately informed us that his firm doesn't know anything about this kind of matter, and we would have to hire some other lawyer to represent us.  How did we choose Ed Dion's firm over John Herin and Fox Rothchild?  You'll have to ask Ginny, Dan, and Will Tudor.

And that was pretty much it.  Another item or two delayed, and one or two no one wanted to deal with.  Judi Hamelburg did ask one question: how much did we pay for the acknowledgements (nice yard signs) of Halloween decoration winners?   The answer was nothing.  And after Judi was reassured these acknowledgements didn't cost anything, Dan Samaria asked the same question about winter holiday signs.  $195, because this time, Dan Schneiger didn't make them himself.  But they're reusable signs.  Momentous inquiries.

The final matter was Dan Samaria's attempt to combat what Tracy Truppman, Rebecca Rodriguez, and Krishan Manners, with the support of Jenny Johnson-Sardella, Dan's new friend, Will Tudor, and Betsy Wise did to him.  It's a little late, and Dan has lost complete track of who were his friends and who were his enemies, but presumably, it made Dan feel better to articulate it.  Although as Mac pointed out, an important piece of Dan's complaint was about Mac's announcing things, like upcoming Commission meetings, on Nextdoor.  Dan never explained why this bothered him.

Our new manager, Mario Diaz, was in attendance, and he participated helpfully in several discussions.

*One blog reader informed me privately that I will learn soon enough not only that Roseann Prado is highly competent, but that a mystery Village employee is the real Village Hall incompetent.  The reader did not reveal why Roseann, in her role either as Village clerk or as interim manager, did not do anything about the mystery bad apple.  But I'm to know that if I had any doubt about Roseann, I could not have been more wrong.

I Have a Mother, Too, You Know.

The iconic "mother" is quoted as saying "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

We had a Commission meeting tonight.  I wrote a blog post about it, and I've decided not to publish it.  Someone will only think I'm an inveterate complainer.  And probably think I'm making it up.  If you want to know what happened in this meeting, you can watch it for yourself when the recording comes out.

"(Sc)Amazon," Part...2?

Some years ago, I did a post about Amazon.  I called it (Sc)Amazon, because Amazon makes a lot of mischief, including ripping off its own Prime members.  And it's still at it.

Here's part of what Wikipedia says in its description of Amazon: "The company started as an online marketplace for books, but expanded to sell electronics, software, video games, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry...Amazon is known for its disruption of well-established industries through technical innovation and mass scale.  It is the world's largest online marketplace, AI assistant provider, live-streaming and cloud computing platform, as measured by revenue and market capitalization.  Amazon is the largest internet company by revenue in the world.  It is the second largest employer in the United States and one of the world's most valuable companies."

What's the problem, right?  Among other things, Wikipedia adds this: "The company has been criticized for various practices including technological surveillance overreach, a hypercompetitive and demanding work culture, tax avoidance, and for being anti-competitive."

And then, there's Wikipedia's "Controversies" section, which includes topics like "Environmental impact," "Selling counterfeit, unsafe, and discarded items," "Income taxes...Amazon paid no federal income taxes in the US in 2017 and 2018, and actually received tax refunds worth millions of dollars, despite recording several billion dollars in profits each year," "Opposition to trade unions," "Working conditions" (an extensive expose), and frankly many more areas of controversy.

And of course, there's the fact that Amazon, which works hard to pay little or literally no tax in this country (do you pay little or literally no income tax?  could this country get more revenue support for the things it does, or should do, from you, or from Amazon?), is a massive money-making machine, and its CEO is the richest person IN...THE...WORLD!  And not only do they make money sort of like an agio or commission on each sale, but they charge you a shipping fee.  Unless you're a Prime member, in which case they charge you a yearly membership, which keeps going up.  The last I heard, it's now about $120 a year.  And they need this for what?  To engorge one of the richest companies on earth, and further overstuff someone who is already the richest person on earth?

So, now, Amazon is expanding its attempt to dominate and destroy.  (Oh, that's not nice.  I should say "disrupt."  It's much more PC and au courant.)  It's entered the prescription medication business.  I haven't read enough about how it plans to go about being the biggest pharmaceutical provider there is (that's their scope of ambition), but my homepage this morning, before the stock market opened, already said Walgreens was leading the losers with an 11% loss in stock value.  That's just at the idea, before Amazon actually does anything.

You're thinking yeah, but I get what I want from Amazon, delivered promptly, and the prices seem pretty good.  True.  And let's forget for the moment that even at that, Amazon is ripping you off.  (The same general principle is true about any large and highly successful company.)  But try to look downstream, or downwind, of where you are, which is at your front door, taking in the package you just received from Amazon.  Amazon (again, just to take them as an example) charges you less than someone else might, because they pay less for whatever it is.  Whether it's Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Publix, or anyone, they get pricing, because they...negotiate...with producers.  (They beat them up, and they beat them down.)  If you're a Whole Foods shopper (I'm not), and if, as Amazon advertised when they bought Whole Foods, pricing there has dropped, someone is at the end of that line.  Maybe it's the "illegal immigrant" migrant agriculture worker of whom, if you're of a certain persuasion, you might not approve.  Would you like to try to live on what they make, for really long and hard days of work? Which quickly works its way around to indentured servitude?  This system doesn't happen without someone being taken advantage of.  According to the "Controversies" section of Wikipedia, it's a lot of someones who get taken advantage of.  And if you rely on anything from the public sector (that was just a rhetorical "if;" we all rely on the public sector), then you're among the people getting taken advantage of, apart from your shipping fee, or your Prime membership dues.

So now, at the cost of jobs at Walgreens, CVS, Publix, Navarro (CVS), Target, Walmart, and whoever else, Amazon is about to make you another offer it will seem hard to refuse.  Think it over.

Biscayne Park, I Heard You.

While (some of) the country wrests with election drama, our local results were official on election night and our new Fab Five Commission starts its term this Tuesday with the swearing-in of three commissioners (two new: Art Gonzalez and Judi Hamelburg; and one incumbent: me) followed by our first official meeting. The agenda is up (link below), and I’d like to say a few things about the election and provide a preview of the meeting, which will include a few important and other oddly interesting items. (Spoiler Alert: This might be my last post on Nextdoor and this blog if one of my fellow commissioners has his way.) At the end, please read my “call to action” to all residents.

Since the election, the current commission has held four meetings on timely topics that included the hiring of a village manager who starts on December 1. During that flurry of activity and since, I’ve had time to reflect on the election results, and I want to let you know that I heard this village loud and clear during the campaign and in the overwhelming victory you handed me. Not only did I get about 50% more votes than either of the other two fine folks who also got elected, but based on what I’ve been told I also got more votes than any commission ever, or at least since our election cycle was changed to coincide with regular elections. The results were shocking to me, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was humbled to the point of tears on election night when my husband, Dan, and I sat on the sofa in our jammies and stared at my vote count on my phone. If that sounds akin to claims about inauguration crowd sizes, rest assured I don’t take the results as a "Mac Mandate." While BP voted me into my first full term by a landslide margin (must have been those flowers, Dan’s idea!), I don’t see a lovefest for me when I look at the numbers. Rather, I see a mandate about how residents expect commissioners to function: demonstrating passion for the position, being highly prepared and productive, and engaging with residents—actively reaching out to them rather than passively waiting for an email. I believe that’s how all elected officials should function anywhere but particularly here in our village of ¾ square mile with only 3,300 residents who entrust the commission with their collective quality of life and financial investment (the largest investment for many). Here’s how I know the election results are a numerical representation of those expectations rather than of me personally. Because I listened to you. I listened while serving a fill-in term that started in January and even more so while campaigning the past few months. We walked dogs together, and we met at the Plant Swap. We chatted on front porches and in front yards, and you kept me company while I pulled weeds in my front butterfly garden. We power-walked in the morning together and strolled after dinner. We emailed and texted and blogged and Whats App’d and sent messages through Nextdoor after you read my door hanger. I met your kids (one of whom seriously grilled me on hot topics) and snitched plant clippings from your yards. Those meetings weren’t all sunshine and rainbows, I can assure you! You challenged me on my current positions and read me the riot act about things this village hasn’t even touched. You pushed back on my personal style and told me to stop trying so damned hard. Some of you even told me you agree with me on basically nothing but would hold your nose and vote for me because of my passion for BP, our “Oasis in the Heart of Miami,” and for the high level of productivity that I demonstrate and expect from the full commission. So, BP, I heard you—loud and clear. You didn’t vote for me nearly as much as you voted for the potential of our village and for a passionate and productive commission to head us there. That’s what I promised in January for my first little fill-in term, and that’s what I promise again for the next four years. Please hold me to it. Hold the entire commission to that. Which leads me to the agenda for our first meeting on Tuesday after Art, Judi and I get sworn into office and take our seats on the commission alongside Dan and Ginny. Each new commission of five electeds has one opportunity to wipe the slate clean of past patterns and set its own fresh tone. Soon enough, we’ll be wrangling over issues and figuring out ways to compromise. But on Tuesday, I’m asking this new group to agree to a Statement of Principles, my agenda item #13a, in the interest of community-building for residents. These are non-binding and completely unenforceable, but a group of smart, caring commissioners should certainly be able to agree on overriding principles to guide us in our work. I’ll let you read my complete item if you like, but here are the main points: 1. We promise to actively engage with residents. 2. We promise to do our homework and bring fresh ideas to the commission. 3. We promise to act independently rather than “politically” in little factions. In contrast, you’ll also see item #11c (an actual “resolution,” which becomes binding after a commission vote) from Commissioner Dan Samaria with a title about “meeting procedures.” His explanation doesn’t have anything to do with commission meetings (perhaps that’s an error he’ll correct before the meeting), but he is asking the commission to discuss how I personally engage with residents on Nextdoor (and presumable on this blog and elsewhere). I’m not clear, based on Dan’s limited explanation, why he sees that as a problem or how a “resolution” to control my social media posts would even be legal (free speech and all that), but he does take specific umbrage at my reports on Nextdoor. (Dan’s certainly able to engage here if he chooses. I think he has a membership, and I think Ginny does too. I see Art and Judi on here rather frequently, which I hope doesn’t change.) In that resolution, Dan also wants to prevent commissioners from speaking to the attorney directly, which is provided for in our Charter. Part of our job IS to engage with the attorney outside of meetings to help us perform better at the meetings. I honestly don’t know what that’s all about, but I’m sure Dan will explain. I only hope this proposed resolution doesn’t introduce turmoil into a new commission before we even charge out of the gate. At this juncture with a new commission and a new manager all starting at the same time, we are primed for success. My unifying “Statement of Principles” falls farther down the agenda after Dan’s resolution. Finally, here’s a call to action to all residents before the meeting at 7p Tuesday. In addition to some “real” business (manager contract, FDOT/6th, FAA and those damned planes) and some soft stuff (new and improved holiday decorating contest!), this new commission will be tasked with selecting a mayor from among this group. The five new commissioners alone vote for a mayor. In addition to being a fully contributing commissioner, the mayor signs stuff and has some ceremonial duties—but s/he does run the commission meetings (hopefully in a fluid fashion) and has a responsibility to manage conversations and draw out the best from each commissioner, thereby setting the tone and regulating the productivity of the commission. The mayor does not relinquish commissioner responsibilities. Here in BP, residents don’t select the mayor directly, but you certainly have a voice in that important matter. Unfortunately, public comment falls on the agenda AFTER the mayoral selection, but you can communicate with commissioners prior to the meeting to share your opinions on who you think should helm the group for the next two years and why. I’ve listed our email addresses below. I, for one, look forward to hearing your opinion. I’m also available by phone today and Monday evening (305.213.5139), and I’ll be whacking at some gardens if you want to stop by and chat today. (To those who think the commissioner with the most votes “should” be mayor, please understand that’s not how things are decided per our Charter. While my election margin is significant, I’m not “owed” anything other than one of the five seats on the commission for the next four years. I will very passionately serve as mayor if the commission selects me, but let’s not fall back on tradition to fill that important role. I don’t play the “that’s how we’ve always done it” game.) Again, thanks, neighbors, for your votes of confidence for my passion and productivity as commissioner in BP. I see nothing but potential here in our “Oasis in the Heart of Miami,” and I promise to remain engaged with you in the coming years as we work as a community to achieve our potential. I look forward to working alongside Art, Dan, Ginny, and Judi and to help our new manager, Mario, execute our collective plan for success. Cheers to all the change in BP and nationwide! PS: On election day, I passed out packets of milkweed seeds to folks at the polls. Milkweed is so easy to grow (“weed”), and it attracts butterflies to your yard and provides a nursery for caterpillars, thereby promoting an ongoing circle of butterfly life! I have a whole bunch left over. Hit me up—I’m happy to share. Mac. Commissioner email addresses*, (alpha by first name): Art Gonzalez: usaart@yahoo.com Dan Samaria: dsamaria@biscayneparkfl.gov Ginny O’Halpin: vohalpin@biscayneparkfl.gov Judi Hamelburg: judisue@bellsouth.net MacDonald Kennedy: mkennedy@biscayneparkfl.gov *(Not sure if Art/Judi’s village emails are activated so I listed the emails from their online election paperwork.) https://www.biscayneparkfl.gov/index.asp?SEC=A482E78D-C7CA-4E86-BD0D-AA20BD7CDAEB&DE=606C5A23-53CC-492D-A9AE-C96D452B9AB3&Type=B_EV

These People Make Me Crazy.

Last week, one of my patients/clients/customers (whatever you want to call them) deposited into my bank account some money by Zelle.  But the amount didn't make sense.  It seemed like too much, and I wanted to understand for what (how many sessions; and I didn't remember how much I charge her -- what's her discount) she was paying me.  So I sent her a text message.  (Note to Self: You Know You Hate Text Messaging, So Don't Use It!)  That was last week, and I never heard back.  Nothing.

Yesterday, I got into a jam.  Something was going way over time, and my appointment with this same patient was coming up very soon, so I (stupidly) sent her another text message, to ask her if we could delay by an hour.  (E-mail takes longer and is unreliable, and I was on the phone with the other thing, so I couldn't call her.)  She didn't reply, but the logjam on the earlier disaster broke, and I didn't need the delay after all.  I sent yet another text message to say we were back on our original schedule.  I didn't hear back, but I no longer needed to.

Except she did not call (it's all virtual now) on time for her session, and I no longer knew what was going on.  (Except for the very disorganized and unreliable ones, I do not call patients to tell them they have an appointment, or to ask them why they're not there.  I'm their psychiatrist, not their parent.)  The exception I have made was when I had an office outside my home (which I no longer do), and I was there only for them, and if they were late, or not coming (but didn't call to tell me that), then I was sitting around wasting time that I needed to spend somewhere else doing something else.  So then, I would call.  Am I still expecting them soon, or can I leave?

I did finally hear from this patient, five minutes after our appointment time was over.  She would get back to me about the amount of the payment, she had been working outside (in Georgia) and lost track of time -- forgot about the appointment -- and had changed her phone number, but never told me about this.  So I was sending text messages to nowhere.

Anyway, why am I telling you this stupid story?

I've said this in an earlier post, and I'm going to repeat it: during the last week of qualifying for candidacy for the Commission, I sent Judi Hamelburg an e-mail.  I said I wanted to talk to her about something, and I gave her my phone number, which I'm pretty sure she already has anyway.  I did not hear back.  So, if I couldn't get a sense from her that she would make a good Commissioner, which was what I wanted her to reassure me she would, or at least could, then I was going to run.  We needed Tudor out, and I just wanted to know we could get a functional replacement.  If that was Judi, great.  It saves me time and trouble.  If not, then I have to step up.  But no; no word from Judi.  So I completed the process, and I ran.

Several weeks later, the idea of using this blog for an online Meet the Candidates event struck me.  It wouldn't be great, but it was as good as it was going to be.  I reached out to all the other candidates.  Mac and Art were all in.  I got nothing back from the William boys, but I wasn't surprised.  I was, however, surprised that I got nothing back, for a while, from Judi.  The "event" started, and then, I heard from Judi.  She wrote to me privately to say she works ("Some of us work" was how she put it), and she's too busy to be checking blog posts (and responding to her neighbors).  She then made one response, and she dropped out.  I should say that I corrected Judi.  I told her that it's not "some of us" who work.  It's all of us who work.   And I said it's not my job to tell her how to deal with her neighbors, but I suggested she either do the best she can, or enter a comment that she's too busy, and can't find the time to answer questions.

A few days ago, after the election, I wrote to all the "new" Commissioners -- as you know from the "Note To Self..." post -- and I asked all of them to consider giving careful and special attention to the medians.  I probably didn't expect a response from Ginny or Dan, who are disengaged anyway.  I got a response from Mac.  Nothing from Art, from whom I expected some sort of response.  And nothing from Judi.  She doesn't happen to like me?  Fine.  I wrote to her about my Village, our Village, her Village.  And she's now a Commissioner.  I want Judi to "rise to the occasion," as someone else put it.  I don't want strike three.  We've had a number of Commissioners who can't be bothered to respond to their neighbors/constituents.  It's not good.

Last night, we had two Commission meetings.  One was to hire a manager, who will work with Judi, and one of whose bosses Judi will be, and the other was to address a variance request.  It was denied, sent back for reworking, and it will come back, to the Commission of which Judi will be a member.  Judi was absent from both meetings.

We need Judi.  She needs to leave whatever orbit she's in, and get down here.  She has to respond to her neighbors.  She needs to show up.  We need her to make herself adaptive as a functioning part of a Commission.  She has to be a cog in a wheel now.  And if all of that doesn't happen, then we're back to spinning our wheels, and gradually continuing the decline we've been on for four years.

If you "know Judi" -- if you're a friend of hers -- please talk to her.  Reel her in.  Point her in this direction.  We really do need her.

Here Was My Choice for the Title of This Post:

My first thought was "Why Attend the Meeting When You Can Have the Stipend for Free?"  I thought of that title, because Will Tudor, once again, didn't attend the meeting.  Will's term is (mercifully) over, and he is more obvious than ever about not caring about the Village and the issues that affect it.

But that title is really just a punchline, and to use it doesn't require me to talk about any of the things that happened during these two Commission meetings.  (The first meeting was to talk briefly about the contract we want to offer to Mario Diaz to be our new manager, and the second meeting was about a variance.)

My second thought for a title was "The Queen is Retired: Long Serve the...King." There has never been, and there will never be, an elected official like Roxy Ross.  Tonight was her last business meeting.  She has given the Village all she has to give.  She has been intelligent beyond expectation -- seemingly beyond anyone's capacity -- she has been orderly, she has provided an unbelievable depth of perspective about any matter, she has been gentle, she has been compelling, she has been respectful when others were not respectful to her, and she has been relentless in advocating for the Village to be "A Better Place to Be."  (That's her slogan.)  She has raised the level of discourse, when others had the sense to follow her lead.  She's pure class.  And now, she's leaving the Commission.  She has made clear she's not coming back as a Commissioner.

But Mac Kennedy is here.  Boy, is he here.  He fills many parts of the gaping space left by Roxy's departure.  His breadth of consideration, and his incisive perspicacity, are more than impressive.  He's not subtle, and he'll fill a room.  But the quality of his contributions is overwhelming.  He nails every issue in a way that is reminiscent of Roxy Ross.  Like Roxy, there's nothing Mac hasn't thought of.  And also like Roxy, he's a deal-maker.  The variance request wasn't workable, but he encouraged the various parties, including the Village's P&Z board, to go back to various corners of the drawing board, and make some adjustments that could convert this unworkable offering to one that could fit nicely.  He made a couple of specific suggestions for how to fit the square peg into the round hole. It's not his job to solve everyone's problems.  But he likes to do that.  Mac thinks big.  And he thinks of everything.

Last week we sent Mac a message.  We gave him many more votes than we ever before gave any Commission candidate.  We thanked him for the several months he was on the Commission already, and we gave him the most extensive invitation we could to stay as long as he likes.  If we're smart, we'll keep doing that for Mac.  And for ourselves.

Did this meeting last too long?  Of course it did.  But it was a master class, and I'm glad I watched it.

Goodbye, Rox. And thank you.  And thanks, Mac, and welcome.  I assume Art Gonzalez was watching closely.  He was Zoomed in.  I hope he was taking notes.  I didn't see Judi Hamelburg in the audience tonight.

To Be Perfectly Frank, I'm Sick To Death of This.

It's not always the Biscayne Times, but often enough, it is.  A copy was left in my driveway this morning, and yup, they're at it again.  If the recent tag team of writers is Erik Bojnansky and John Dorschner (of former Miami Herald fame), it was JD's turn this time.  It seems no one can think of anything to say about BP without either lapsing into a rehashing of our past police problem, or frankly making that the whole focus.  And this is a problem that was recognized and dealt with, as best we possibly could.  Do we all wish the problem had never happened?  Of course we do.  But we deal with reality, not what-ifs, our fantasy lives, and utopian reveries.

The article was entitled "The Mess Left Behind by Dirty Cops," and the subhead was "Biscayne Park Police Corruption Legacy Lives On."  The main (intended?) point of the article was to talk about how damaging it is to be arrested for something, and the damage is gratuitous and cruel if the arrested person didn't even commit a crime, or there was little or no evidence that s/he did.  No one can disagree with that.

Did we have a bad culture in our police force during the few years in question?  Apparently so, or perhaps no doubt we did.  Dorschner has somehow named a few of most offending officers, but failed to turn up the name of Larry Churchman, who mysteriously has been able to fly under the radar during all of this.

The facts are these: we did wrong; all of us who are not on the police force didn't know we were doing wrong; the matter came to light (mercifully), and has been dealt with in the proper way, including incarceration of some police officers; innocent people have been hurt; we deeply regret all of that; some settlements have been arrived at, as Dorschner has the decency to point out.

As a partial aside, it's interesting that Dorschner's research led him to learn that in the past, the Village posted "Don't Even Think About Speeding" signs.  Many people who know nothing else about BP know about, and remember, those signs.  If those signs represented a statement of rigor, and a demand for safe driving, then the problems of which Dorschner writes, again and again and again, represent a grotesque caricature of ovepolicing.  I hope Dorschner won't be pleased to learn that the pendulum has swung the other way, so that what started out described as the righteous indignation of our current police Chief, Luis Cabrera, has also come to include the removal of those "Don't Even Think About Speeding" signs, and what many Village residents experience as underenforcement.  There's a small brigade of current Village residents who want the state to change 6th Avenue from four lanes to two in BP, because drivers drive too fast, and it seems to homeowners too dangerous.  Maybe with a little more enforcement, they wouldn't have to feel so imperiled on their own street.  (And I know perfectly well that BrambleWitch will say the speeding problem preceded Luis Cabrera, which it did.  Almost all of our speeding tickets have always been issued on 6th Avenue.  It's that kind of street.  That's why we need to be most careful and attentive about policing it.)

There are things -- not just one thing -- to talk about regarding BP.  Some are good news about us, and some are examinations of problems.  I'm really sorry, and very annoyed, that the local papers can only ever think of the one thing.  (Do you want to know how many articles the BT published about Tracy Truppman's reign of terror, and the unexplained mindless support she got from her Commission colleagues?  None.)  Are they out of material?  The news certainly isn't slow these days.  The election was Tuesday, today is Saturday, and I still don't know who will be the POTUS on 1/20/21.  Carlos Gimenez just unseated a Democrat for the US House of Representatives, and Donna Shalala just lost her seat.  Any talk about those campaigns (that's what they were when this issue was being planned and put together), and the effects of them locally and in the Biscayne Corridor?  Nope.  Just the dredging up of old and resolved -- as best we can resolve it -- BP news.  Is BP the only municipality in the country, or in Florida, or in south Florida, or in the Biscayne Corridor, that ever had a problem with bad policing?  No.  It's a critically important problem that has much broader implications about race, and about societies and civilization.  Would Dorschner like to tackle a topic that big, and that important?  Apparently not.  It's easier just to reprint resolved misery about BP.  Well, have a nice day, Mr Dorschner.  It's Saturday.  Kick back, relax, and enjoy yourself.