Wow, I Missed It Entirely!

Tonight was to be the big Commission meeting, the first of the year, when our two new Commissioners would be installed.  And take their seats.  And participate in votes about Village business.  Was to be.

We have a...um...funny situation here in the Village, with respect to our so-called Commission.  The Commission is, according to two of the three Commissioners, big enough to transact very momentous Village business-- a quorum is a quorum, Will Tudor pointed out-- but so vanishingly small that the absence of just one Commissioner, in this case Tracy Truppman, paralyzes the whole deal, by failing to produce that quorum of which Will was so proud and confident.

So, since Tracy decided not to show up tonight, her guard dog, Rebecca Rodriguez, told us there was no quorum, and would therefore be no meeting.  Which meant Ginny O'Halpin and Mac Kennedy would not be installed tonight, and would not take their seats on the Commission, and would not participate in transacting any Village business, which wouldn't be transacted by anyone else, either.

So, I'm sitting there, amused and annoyed, and trying to figure out what was Tracy's angle.  What we had been told, by Rebecca (I know, and you don't have to say it, but hold on, because I'm getting there), was that the new Commissioners could not be installed except at a Commission meeting, because it would take an actual meeting for the Village to "certify" the election results the County has already certified.  Maybe, Rebecca reassured, next time we try to plan a meeting.  Mac asked the question that sprang to my mind, but he was a bit more timid about it than I would have been.  He asked what if Tracy doesn't come to the next scheduled meeting, either.  I was thinking what if Tracy simply never comes to another meeting.  That question was not answered by Rebecca, who high-tailed it out of there while people were trying to ask her things.  She figured there was nothing more she was required to say.  It's not like she owes the residents of Biscayne Park anything.  It's not like she's our lawyer.  She's Tracy's lawyer, and she already did what her one client instructed her to do.  She had already invoked the clearly delineated requirement of the Village Charter regarding acceptance of newly elected Commissioners, and she didn't think she owed us anything more, like, for example, a citation in the Charter, which doesn't say anything at all like that.

But anyway, back to my musing about Tracy's angle.  As I said, I was thinking what Mac was thinking: is Tracy trying somehow to prevent the installation of a majority against which she would be on the short side, and her antic was not to come to meetings, so the installation couldn't occur?

No, I forgot about the other dynamic going on with respect to the Commission.  It was first Chuck Ross, then Gage Hartung, and finally, Gary Kuhl who all had the same idea, which I feel sure was the correct idea.  And I'm not saying this isn't pathetic.  I'm just saying I feel sure it's correct.  Tracy was trying to stall for time, so she and her Rebecca can do what they think is finishing the job of separating Dan Samaria from his house, and therefore from the Village, and therefore from the Commission, where he challenges Tracy.  Chuck and Gage and Gary were right, and Mac and I were wrong.

But here's the problem.  (And I'll refer you to the most recent post in Milt Hunter's blog, www.thebiscayneparker.blogspot.com, for a detailed explanation of what Tracy and Rebecca are trying to do.  Suffice it to say they're punishing Dan for challenging the regime, and they're trying to prevent the majority that's staring them in the face.  And that will cost Tracy her mayorship, and Rebecca and Gray Robinson the contract with the Village.)  The idea here is that Dan has issues regarding the mortgage on his house.  I've asked Dan if I could refer to this, and I hope Milt Hunter did, too, and Dan told me I could.  With vigorous help from Tracy Truppman and Rebecca Rodriguez, there is now an eviction demand against Dan.  And Rebecca has already synthesized a whole theory by which Dan, who will supposedly not be living in the Village much longer, cannot be a Village Commissioner.  What, you're complaining that Tracy and Rebecca are not nice people?  Yeah, and your point is?  Except 1) Dan still lives in his house, and 2) he has already committed to rent another house in the Village, if Tracy and Rebecca get him thrown out of the one he still lives in.  Dan still lives in the Village, and if he doesn't live in the house he's been occupying for years, he'll live in another one here.  Dan's not going anywhere, with respect to the Village, or with respect to the Commission.  Tracy and Rebecca are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, as they say.  I wonder how much longer we have to put up with this, and with them.