We Can't Win For Losing.

 

What a mess it's been around here since the end of 2016.  Truppman, Johnson-Sardella, and Tudor did exactly what they promised to do: nothing.  Unless you count reducing Village management from functional to nonfunctional, destroying the Code Compliance Board, carrying out vendettas against critics (who are neighbors and constituents), and running up an unbelievable legal bill accomplishments.  Other than that, they sat and idled.

While deadline-containing demand notices from CITT came in, and FEMA said they refused to reimburse us, the Commission did...nothing.  Frankly, it's unclear why Tracy Truppman and her stooges paid Tracy's lawyer, Rebecca Rodriguez, as much as they did.  How much work does it take, and how much does it cost, to do nothing?

If anyone thought it couldn't get worse, they only had to see what the addition of Betsy Wise looked like.  It was never clear -- at least not to me -- what Tracy, Jenny, Will, and Betsy had against the Village.  They never explained what they hated so much about us.  They all chose to live here.  You'd think there must have been something about the Village, and us (their constituents) they didn't hate.  But you couldn't see it from their behavior.

I don't know if it was the investigation from the County Ethics Commission, or the referral to the State Attorney's office, or something else, that caused first Betsy, then Jenny, to lose their nerve.  (Of which they had a great deal.)  But finally, they jumped ship.  Not terribly long after that, and after Tracy understood that she was checkmated, she finally jumped, too.  

Those three were finally gone.  Only Will Tudor remained, but we got three new Commissioners, and Dan Samaria had already been firmly poised against the girls and Will, who conspired to have Dan thrown out of his house, so they could force him to leave the Village, so he would no longer be a Commissioner.  Because Dan did that unforgivable thing: he argued with and voted against Tracy.  So Will would be neutralized.  He couldn't do any more damage.  Or sit by while erosion and apathy did it for him.  Now, Dan Samaria, Ginny O'Halpin, Mac Kennedy, and Roxy Ross would restart the Village.  Except...

All of a sudden, Dan Samaria couldn't remember any trouble Will caused him.  Dan was still suing the Village (and still is, as far as I know), and he was suing Krishan Manners.  But Dan didn't remember anything about Will, who stayed out of the way while the girls and Krishan worked to destroy as much of Dan's life as they could.  Dan also stopped talking to, and getting good advice from, long time Village residents who had helped and supported him.  Dan no longer had an agenda.  He no longer wanted anything.  Will was starting to look like a smart, seasoned, sensible guy to Dan, and Dan decided to follow along with him.

And Ginny O'Halpin got into office, got elected mayor, and never had another useful or meaningful thought.  She almost never has a word to say, even when asked.  Neither she nor Dan nor Will wants anything, and they're all clearly terrified of doing anything, since there's nothing any of them knows how to do.  They all froze.  As David Hernandez was floundering, and failing, they couldn't make a move.  Someone told them to replace David when he abruptly quit one day, and they dutifully elevated Roseann Prado, who couldn't do her own job well, so it was natural to give her an expanded job, with the second more complicated than the first.

Dan and Ginny are in the middle of four year terms.  It would be really great if they would quit, but there's no indication they will.  So we have one chance to return the Village to competent functioning: vote out Will Tudor.  Then, if Mac Kennedy gets re-elected, and Art Gonzalez gets elected, we only need one more person with an agenda that is in the direction of proper Village functioning, and we're good.  So, who are our choices?

Well, there's William Abreu.  Don't ask "who?"  I don't know.  I'm told he's in his 20s, has lived in the Village for about three years, has never been involved in any part of Village functioning in any way, and even his neighbors don't know who he is.  He also doesn't appear to be campaigning in any way, he has no yard signs out, and there are no clues as to what he's about.

Or, there's Judi Hamelburg.  We all know Judi.  She's been around for a long time.  I could not tell you what Judi wants or thinks.  Her yard signs talk about "Civility, Integrity, and Transparency."  Or some pablum like that.  I've been in work groups with Judi.  The Code Review Committee was one of them.  Judi comes to most meetings for a while, talks exclusively about her own personal experiences about whatever is being discussed, and I still couldn't tell you what she wants, or what her candidacy is about.  I'm told she ran for Commission around 20 years ago, and didn't win.  For all I know, maybe Judi just thinks her chances, and the climate for women candidates, are better now.  But let's say Judi gets elected.  Then what?

I did hear one rumor about Judi.  I heard that she's sort of teamed up with...Will Tudor.  I also heard that she and Will display each other's signs in their yards.  I don't know if it's true that Judi and Will teamed up with each other, but I did verify the signage rumor.  So, if voting for Judi is about the same as voting for Will, and if Judi is right that her chances this year are better, then the Village is sunk one way or the other.  We lose if we don't vote Will out of office, and we lose if we do.  (You have to be really, really careful about candidates who are running for office, but who don't want anything.  You know, candidates who can't articulate a vision.  We've seen it before, we saw lots of it in 2016 and 2018, and it looks like we're seeing it again.  You know the joke definition of insanity: doing the same thing again, and expecting a different outcome.)

I have loads of confidence in Mac Kennedy.  He describes himself as passionate, and dedicated to improving the Village, and I know he's right about that.  Art Gonzalez is "Looking Forward," and he's all business.  You know what I want, and if you want me to join with Mac and Art, and return this Village to function, and improvement, I'll do it.  But you have to elect all three of us.  Any two of us and Will, or Judi, and the Village is back to spinning its wheels and dribbling down its shirt.