Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Commission Meeting 9/1/20
An auspicious beginning: Mac Kennedy pulled the entire consent agenda, because all of it is wrong. Again.
Then, there were about 45 minutes worth of presentations and proclamations.
Consideration of the first Ordinance, which was about construction site protections, didn't fully happen, because it had to be turned back to the attorney for improvement.
The discussion about our solid waste removal system was frankly infuriating. As usual, the detailed and intelligent consideration didn't happen without Roxy Ross' recapitulation of where we started with WastePro, where we are now, and how we got here. And how we've been had for the past few years, because no one was watching the store. Managers Krishan Manners, David Hernandez, and Roseann Prado didn't hold WastePro accountable, and Commissions didn't hold managers accountable. We have been without proper management and without effective commissions.
Bob Anderson, in his public comment, said we would have to consider this water under the bridge, and Mac Kennedy said there was no value in pointing fingers. In my opinion, Bob was right (we have no choice until December), and Mac was wrong. Some of the same people who have gotten us into this mess are still on the Commission, and they continue to demonstrate no initiative, no interest, and no competence. And we're stuck with two of them for two more years, and the other is running for re-election. What damage Tracy Truppman didn't quite finish doing to the Village Ginny O'Halpin, Dan Samaria, and Will Tudor appear dedicated to completing. Not one of them appears to get it, and no apologies were uttered. Fingers need to be pointed.
The discussion about Commissioner stipends was pathetic. Roxy Ross, who is the only current Commissioner who takes advantage of educational opportunities for elected officials, suggested that Commissioners only receive from the Village money to reimburse them for educational opportunities. Dan Samaria was just hungry for every dollar he can get. And he somehow wrongly thinks I donated my Commission stipend to charity. (I declined it altogether.) Mac Kennedy tried to tell his colleagues they're involved in a public service. Ginny O'Halpin was entirely tuned out. The vote was the predicted 3-2 against declining the stipend.
Ginny was very eager to get to the vote for Village attorney. She had little patience for anyone else's comments. (And there's also the other post I published today.) Mac Kennedy gave a few reasons to want to keep John Herin. Roxy Ross wanted to keep him, too. Dan Samaria read a speech no doubt written for him by Milt Hunter, and extolling the endless virtues of Suarez-Rivas. Will Tudor alleged that he explored each applicant, and he likes Nabors Giblin. Ginny had nothing to say. She wouldn't even answer direct questions. So Ginny and Will voted for Nabors Giblin, and Rox and Mac voted for Fox Rothchild. Dan Samaria was caught off guard, and he collapsed into voting with his pals. Nabors Giblin it is. The degree of Commission incompetence, and nastiness to go with it, is breathtaking.
Please be careful with your vote on November 3.
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Here's another one from last night. The three amigos insisted upon hanging on to their stipends, which they do nothing to earn, and at the same time, they hired the most expensive of the attorney choices. Which was in no way the best choice. You wonder what they dislike so much about the Village, and why they're trying to beat us to financial death.
ReplyDeleteGonna disagree with you on this one, Fred. I am extremely pleased with the choice of Nabors Giblin even though for at least one commission member it was more of a spite vote than a vote based on actual research and knowledge. In asking around to people who actually know the firm and know the players,they are incredibly highly thought of. Not just for the quality of their work but for their ethics and hiring standards. In reading their application package they clearly did their homework.
ReplyDeleteIn getting to know Ginny during the campaign and for a short time after her election I really liked her. I found her smart and funny and super liberal. She sought advice from a variety of people including Rox, Bob and me. She spoke highly of Mac. They spent most of election day together in front of the rec center. The came Covid. Then came my pushing her to begin virtual meetings like every other city, something Milt was openly against. Pushing her to begin the hiring process for the manager. That's when she cut me and Bob off. I mean why take advice from Bob, the guy who served 20 years on the commission, when you can get it from Mr. Standing Watch who wants all the power of a commissioner but none of the responsibility or accountability. Unfortunately for her she's getting a lot of bad intel lately and it's making her look foolish. Like saying John Hearn, our village attorney of 20 years, had no attorney back up nor support staff. This was said in defense of Suarez-Rivas. In fact John had 3 different attorneys who could back him up and a paralegal.
I can't stress enough how important this coming election is.
Janey,
DeleteHere's my concern. And as a point of reference, I think John Herin did a perfectly good enough job. So on the surface, I personally felt no need to replace him. But where you talk about "at least one...spite vote," I think there were three. Whatever Ginny was told (in whatever way she was indoctrinated), Dan was told the same thing. Dan couldn't even figure out what he wanted. All he knew is what Milt told him was not acceptable, because of some delusion Milt has about Rox. The other thing about Nabors Giblin is that they essentially guaranteed us our legal services bill is going up. If we can have perfectly good enough service for less money, I'll take it.
We're stuck with Ginny and Dan, unless they resign. The immense importance of this upcoming election is removing Will Tudor. He's enabled over three years of destruction, and he's still at it. I have been offered no reason to think Judi Hamelburg or William Abreu will make good Commissioners, and I don't know what either of them is about. I'm not even sure William was listening to last night's meeting, unless he was one of those faceless partial phone numbers. I don't get him at all.
Fred