At the last Commission meeting, one of the agenda items was the approval of a new member of the BP Foundation. The applicant was Rafael Ciordia. I hadn't seen his name, nor heard from him, in quite a while, and I was very happy at this appearance. I sent him an e-mail that was apparently more cryptic than I intended it to be: "Thank you." He didn't know for what I was thanking him, he asked, and we reconnected.
We reconnected even more when I reminded him that I had been a member of the Foundation from its inception and for a few years or so, and he wanted background. He wanted to know how the Foundation was started, what was its mission, and what it accomplished. (And what it didn't.) Rafael is a diligent gentleman, that lad. He's hitting the ground running.
So we reviewed all I could remember. We talked about the Foundation's approach to soliciting donations, and what projects it entertained to do with whatever money we collected. We talked about "Food and Tunes." (Remember that? An oldie, a goodie, and perhaps not yet relegated only to the history books.) We talked about projects discussed: some of more interest, and some of less interest. We talked about the bricks the Foundation wanted to "sell," as a footpath to the log cabin. Actually, the Foundation did sell some of those bricks. It sold four of them to me. But the project died at the end of 2016. That's math you can do for yourself.
But the point is that Rafael is fully on board as a Foundation member. I knew Jorge Marinoni is still there, and president, and I didn't know about Yesenia Gonzalez. Marie Smith has moved away -- which is why the Foundation needed a new member, which has turned out to be Rafael. And Rafael was less clear about the participation status of David Goehl and Kate Eaton. If they're still both there, and fully plugged in, then the Foundation has a full complement of five members. If one or both of them have receded, then there's room for more membership.
I hope I can be looking forward to a new term on the Commission. But if I don't get elected, and if David Goehl and/or Kate Eaton is no longer active or adequately interested, it would be an honor for me to be back on the Foundation, working with Jorge and Yesenia. And maybe even especially with Rafael.
I was very happy to vote for Rafael for that seat on the Foundation. I got to know him a bit when we ran alongside each other for a commission seat, and we've stayed in touch a bit since then, too. Rafael is a good guy, and we're lucky to have him on the Foundation. After the last election, a lesser man would have turned his back on this village, yet Rafael took the first opportunity to put his skills and time to work in another capacity. Cheer, Rafael! And, cheers to the resident volunteers of all village boards, which contribute in immeasurable ways to our quality of life in Biscayne Park. We are always accepting applications:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.biscayneparkfl.gov/index.asp?SEC=CDAF0304-9A79-498D-B695-1BF3A83A865B&Type=B_BASIC