We Might As Well Get This Conversation Started: The November, 2018 Village Election

As is almost always true, there are three Commission seats being contested this year.  And there are five candidates.  And it may be important to note at the outset that the two seats not being contested are those of Tracy Truppman and Jenny Johnson-Sardella, which really means Tracy has two votes on every issue.  Jenny's tenure has no meaning independent of Tracy.

The five candidates, in alphabetical order, are Manny Espinosa, Dan Samaria, Jared Susi, Will Tudor, and Laura Betsy Wise.  Since I'm writing this blog post, I'll give you my opinion.  If you want to give your own opinions, let me know, and I'll see to it that you can write a blog post here, too.  And you can always comment.

Manny Espinosa has lived in the Park since about 2012.  This was a noteworthy issue when he first ran in 2013, because he had to wait until the last day to qualify, so that he would have lived here exactly one year, which is the requirement.  Manny is a nice guy.  I've met him, and I like him.  He was a corporate accountant, but his candidate application says he's now retired.  Congrats, Manny.  I say Manny ran once before, in 2013.  Chuck Ross says Manny ran twice before.  Until it's clarified otherwise, I think Chuck is wrong.  Manny's issue when he ran was that he had applied for a variance for a fence or something, his application was turned down, and he had a gripe against the Village.  There was no other obvious reason for Manny to have been interested in Village government.  He had never been involved with Village functioning in any way, and he hasn't since.  I have no idea what Manny's current interest is about, except I heard he was again denied a variance for something.  But here's the possibly important thing about Manny.  (And we can never forget the elephant in the room.)  Manny shows no evidence of being connected to anyone else.  In that way, what looks initially like a disadvantage might contain an advantage.  Manny may have no reason to care about Tracy Truppman.  And if Manny or anyone else is not a Tracy stooge, this is of great value to the Village.  On the other hand, if Manny's candidacy is just about getting himself a variance for something, he could theoretically make a deal with the devil.  The problem is that if Tracy gets just one stooge elected, she stays on the throne, and we experience Village death and dysfunction for two more years.  So it's hard to know what to think about Manny and his candidacy.

Dan Samaria has lived in the Village for several years.  I don't know how many.  Fewer than I have, and more than Manny Espinosa has.  Dan's an exterminator.  He's my exterminator.  Dan's a good enough guy.  He's active and dedicated, and he was on the Recreation Board for a few years.  He never lets you forget he's there, but he contributes.  Dan has run before.  It's not clear what this is about for him.  Dan's approach could be described as unsophisticated, and I sometimes think he could be susceptible to "reason" that may not be very reasonable.  And that susceptibility can set Dan up to allow Tracy to run circles around him, even if he didn't start out wanting her to.  I have no idea how she's gotten Jenny, Will Tudor, and Harvey Bilt to check their intellects at the door, but I wouldn't put it past her to be able to have her way with Dan.  If Dan were really independent, what would he want?  What would his initiatives be?  What's his "vision?"  Beats me.  Maybe he'll tell us.

Jared Susi has lived here fewer years than Dan has.  Jared lives with his wife and their son.  Jared is a builder.  I like Jared, and his wife, Nicole.  They're very good and decent people.  They've each demonstrated wonderful devotion to the Village.  Maybe Nicole has even more than Jared has.  Jared was on P&Z until he had to resign to run for Commissioner.  The thing some people hold against Jared is that it was he, and/or his company, that renovated the bathrooms in the recreation center, and there were problems.  I myself never fully understood what was so bad about them, but I think they were fixed.  Anyway, I feel confident that Jared is independent of Tracy, and that's my main concern.  Jared can occasionally be a bit self-possessed, but this means he wants things done right.  (I'm not sure what that bathroom thing was about.)  It's true that he tends to complain about other people, but at least he has the honor and courage of his convictions to run for Commission, so he can do it better.

Will Tudor has, in my opinion, been a disaster.  His head bobbles, he "concurs," and he does nothing for the Village.  He has nothing to say, and nothing to offer.  I still say his only reason for being there is to try to prevent the Village from making him install a driveway on his property, which is the Code (which may well be why Tracy has agreed to minimize Code compliance), and that may also be his reason for running for re-election.  But if that's his theory, then he has to try to be on the Commission, with a sympathetic majority, until he moves out of the Village.  It's a lot easier just to put in the freakin' driveway.  It's a weird thing for Will to swear to uphold the Village Charter (which includes the Codes), while he resists it every day.  But hey, whatever were my reasons not to have voted for Will when he ran two years ago, I have 10 times as many reasons not to vote for him now.

I said Laura Betsy Wise, because that's how she's listed.  I don't know her name.  I don't know her, or anything about her.  Well, someone told me she lives just north next to where the Earhardts used to live, so if that's true, then that's what I know about her.  As far as I know, she has no connection to Village functioning, except that she happens to live here.  That makes her the same as Will Tudor.  Which is why I suspect she's running for the same reason Will did.  I don't know this for a fact, but I'd guess that Tracy scared up Laura, or Betsy, or whatever she calls herself, to give herself one extra chance to preserve her majority.  So since I don't know anything about Laura Betsy, I wouldn't vote for her.  Even if I came to know something about her, from her campaigning, I'd wonder where she's been all this time, and I still wouldn't want to entrust the Village to her.

I have no problem at all voting for Jared.  I'm a little concerned about how susceptible Dan is, but I'm likely to vote for him, too.  Manny is a strange duck as a candidate, but his possible value to the Village is that he might be independent of Tracy, so I might vote for him.  Will is an absolutely, positively not, and Laura Betsy is probably the same, although for slightly different reasons.  What's important for the Village is to elect three people, none of whom are Tracy stooges, so the Village can function adaptively again.  If there are three of these five.

I'm more than happy to be relieved of any unfair conclusions and reservations to which I might have come.  That can happen in a number of ways.  One of them is this: in the past, even when I myself was running for Commission, I offered full and unlimited use of this blog to any other candidates (as it's available that way to anyone anyway).  Harvey Bilt and David Coviello took me up on it.  Any of our current candidates can, too.  All they have to do is tell me they want to post things, and the blog is theirs.  They can make clear who they are, what they want, and what I got wrong.

Bolero

Ravel is said to have described Bolero this way: "eight minutes of orchestration looking for a melody."  It happens I love Bolero, and I'm not complaining, if its composer thinks it was aimless.  Anyway, it only takes eight minutes.  The budget workshop tonight took almost four hours.  I have a serious issue with that.

Budgets are just numbers.  I said that when I was on the Commission, and I said it tonight.  They don't, in themselves, mean anything.  The least anyone can expect is that they are "balanced:" that the money allocated to be spent is the same amount as the revenue collected.  What budgets really do, or at least what they're supposed to do, is deploy money collected to accomplish goals.  That means you have to have goals.  And that's where the upcoming BP budget fell apart.

The workshop tonight was what amounted to systematic lurching.  The budget was well-organized, as BP budgets always are.  There were categories, subcategories and line items, and amounts of money.  Sometimes, they were the same as last year's amounts of money, and sometimes, they were different.  What was systematic was the page layouts, and the titles of the departments.  There was no system at all to guide how limited money was allocated.

Commissioners addressed each of the categories and line items.  Well, when I say Commissioners...  It's the same thing, all the time.  Roxy Ross provided perspective, depth, and a kind of wisdom regarding what spending money had to do with the health and welfare of the Village.  Tracy Truppman was idiosyncratic and autocratic.  Jenny Johnson-Sardella and Will Tudor dedicated their meager and meaningless contributions to "concurring" with Tracy.  Tracy announced where Harvey Bilt was, but she mumbled unintelligibly all night long, and I couldn't make out where she said Harvey was.  Someone else near me said he was sick.

The problem with the juggernaut was that it was powerful, but it had no direction.  Often, the theme was trying to reduce expenses.  Sometimes, it was to increase them.  But that, too, was incoherent.  Here are two conflicting examples.  The majority were bent on reducing the available expenditure for travel and training for Commissioners.  Roxy tried repeatedly to point out how frankly essential it was for Commissioners to attend perspective-broadening and enlightening educational opportunities.  The rest, who neither know anything nor want to know anything, would have none of it.  (I was going to call this post "Ignorance is Bliss" in recognition of the pathetic approach taken by the majority.  But I liked "Bolero" better.)  On the other hand, having resisted a disconnected range of opportunities to spend money to make the Village better, Tracy introduced, on her own (her stooges are only there to agree with her, not to think for themselves, so it doesn't matter if she does all the deciding), the idea that we have trouble retaining Village employees, because we don't pay enough.  So we should increase the salaries of our two highest paid people: the Manager and the Police Chief.  (Who were not reported to have expressed feeling underpaid, or to have asked for an increase.)  None of this made the slightest bit of sense.

Like every Village meeting for over the past year and a half, it was really the Tracy Truppman Show, Starring...Tracy...Truppman.  And Tracy worked hard on this episode of the show.  She was noticed spending inordinate amounts of time at Village Hall with Krishan Manners this past week-- Saturday included.  It was very clear that the budget was not Krishan's, as budgets are supposed to be.  It was Tracy's.  And since Tracy has limited herself by having refused to develop and commit to a vision, the budget didn't reflect anything.  It didn't signify anything.  It was just a bunch of numbers, which Tracy and her assistants then adjusted.  In no real direction at all.

PS: To be entirely fair to the majority, Issa Thornell and Dan Keys were in fact able to convince Tracy to allocate money to resod and maintain the field at the recreation center.  So thanks, Issa and Dan.

(The) One Thing the County Does Great!

I said it was "the" one thing the County does great.  Roxy Ross gave me a look, like the County does other things great.  I asked her to name one.  I imagine she'll get back to me.  She and Chuck did agree that the County's library system is very good.

I go to lots of entertainment.  I go to several venues.  Venues have their physical spaces, and they have their programming.  Some have good physical spaces, some have great programming.  Depending on the venue, parking can be free, or it can be a pain.  The staffs can be friendly and helpful, or they can be aloof.

It's County spaces that turn out to be the best.  My favorite place of all, anywhere, is South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (SMDCAC).  It's run by the best impresario I have known.  His name is Eric Fliss.  The building is new and exquisitely interesting architecture.  SMDCAC has three rooms.  It has a regular auditorium with hundreds of seats at about three levels.  It has a "black box" cabaret room with small tables and about 120 seats.  And it has another room in an adjacent building.  I've seen one play in that room in the other building, and a ballet and a modern dance show.  Ticket prices at SMDCAC are low.  Parking is free.  The staff are like your BFFs.  The acoustics are very good.  The only problem with SMDCAC, for us, is that it's in Cutler Bay.  It's 27 miles down I-95 and US 1, and it takes over an hour to get there.  It's quicker and more miles, and you have to pay tolls, if you take 836 to 826, then the turnpike.  I subscribe to more than half of what they show each season.  Maybe it's 3/4 of their offerings.  I've been there two days in a row, and even twice in the same day.  I love this place.  You can find their offerings at smdcac.org.

The (Miami-)Dade County Auditorium is at 29th Avenue and W Flagler St.  It's an older place, and the room is a bit weird.  The stage is a little too high for the seating.  But they have terrific shows there-- I have seen the best flamenco shows I've ever seen at MDCA,-- ticket prices are low (senior discount for me!), and parking is free.

I didn't realize until tonight that the Sandrell Rivers Theater is a County venue.  It's a new building at the corner of NW 7th Avenue and 61st St.  I've probably been there half a dozen times.  Very interesting and well-done shows.  I've heard concerts, seen plays, seen dance, and watched a movie there.  Very low prices (tonight's show was free, and they invite you to make a donation).  Parking is free, and it's in an inside multilevel structure.  The people there are very nice.

I think the Arsht Center is a County venue.  I mention it for completeness.  I don't mention it because I like it.  I don't.  Some of the programming is excellent, and some is disappointing.  Ticket prices are high.  The staff are adequately cordial, but they're not particularly interested.  Parking is annoying, expensive, or both.  Considering the ticket prices, seating is not very comfortable.  The acoustics are good enough, more or less.  It depends on which room you're in.  I no longer go to anything at the Arsht, unless I have to, because what I want to attend is only there.  It happens.  But I skip otherwise enticing events, because I don't want to go to the Arsht.  One factor is that it's too expensive.

If you can be bothered with the drive, anything at SMDCAC is well worth the trip.  There's a wide range of offerings there.  If you like flamenco, MDCA should not be missed.  The Sandrell Rivers Theater is funky, and the offerings are interesting.  The County underwrites all of these venues.  They keep ticket prices very low at all of them.  It's a funny thing that the County would preserve this function: advancing arts in Dade County.  But they do, and they do an excellent job of it.

I've Got My Work Cut Out For Me.

I missed last night's Commission meetings (two).  I just forgot.  But I heard about them today.  Most of what I heard came from Dan Schneiger.  The rest came from Chuck Ross.  I'm going to have to listen to the recording.

The first meeting was to set the TRIM (ad valorem millage) and to deal with a proposal for a planner.  The second meeting was to consider what ambitions the Commission has.  "Better [over a year and a half] late than never?"  Not really.

Dan Schneiger summarized the meetings as follows: "You missed an unbelievably pathetic special commission meeting last night. The only people in attendance were Bob and Janey, Barbara and Gary, Linda Dillon, Chuck Ross, David Raymond, and myself. Every person [who] got up to speak (Bob, Janey, Barbara and myself) told the commission they were on the wrong path. Bob wanted to know why the commission was incapable of properly noticing meetings. Barbara told them they were all derelict in their duties with regard to code enforcement. Both Barbara and I asked what happened to the campaign promises regarding communication between the commission and residents....I asked why we now have two full time code officers and yet the Village still looks like shit and commissioners and the manager don't respond to emails from residents. It was ugly and, as usual, Tracy droned on and on, got angry and defensive, and looked ridiculous...Harvey announced last night that he and Krishan have met with FDOT and have gotten sidewalks approved for 6th Avenue. They have yet to contact any residents on 6th Avenue and get their input, but Harvey confirmed that the project is 'approved,' much to the chagrin of the other commissioners. I'm guessing he is mistaken, as usual, but that's the story he stuck to last night... I left the meeting out of disgust after the first hour [it lasted three hours] so I’m not sure I’d be able to give a very good summary of what happened at the meeting other than Harvey telling everyone we’re getting sidewalks (and possibly crosswalks) on 6th Avenue, and Rox asking when all of this was discussed and approved. Tracy seemed unfazed by Harvey’s announcement and just wanted to know if we are 'getting any roundabouts?'  Apparently Tracy really likes her roundabouts, not that we have any sort of plan or reason to have one, but she sure was excited to find out if Harvey got us one!  Seriously, Fred, wtf is going on with these people? I honestly can’t determine if they are devious or just really stupid. How can a commissioner and the manager do this without getting approval (or even informing the other commissioners) from the full commission and looping in residents? It seems like Harvey, Tracy and Krishan have their own agenda and to hell with how things the supposed to be done."

Chuck confirmed everything Dan said, except he said Dan clarified in his comment that one Commissioner did respond to e-mails.  That Commissioner, of course, was Roxy Ross.  As for Dan's question and dilemma, are we allowed to choose both?  You know, "devious" and "really stupid?"

The TRIM was set at our old and demented friend 9.7.  This number has no meaning.  It happens to be the same number as last year and several of the years before last.  But it is not the same amount of tax dollars from property-owners, it is not the same revenue for the Village, and it continues to fail to meet the Village's needs.  This was the standard mindless and meaningless exercise it always is.

No, the Commission cannot informally and without seeking and evaluating applications simply tack on a planning function for someone already providing service for the Village.  Yes, that insight, too, came from Roxy Ross.  What was the word Dan used?  "Pathetic?"

The Commission did manage to avoid the real visioning exercise.  Instead, I'm told, they (mostly Tracy) plunged into micromanaging details.

So now, I have to go back and listen to the recording, so I can find out what else went on at this meeting.  I'll let you know.  In fact, WTF is wrong with these people?

More Than Your Money's Worth

GableStage never fails to put on an excellent production.  The acting, directing, and set are top notch.  By that, I mean in part that a play done at GableStage and on Broadway is done better at GableStage.  I have seen this.

The play for the coming month is "White Guy on the Bus."  One description is "A fearless new play that unravels a complex web of intrigue, moral ambiguity, racial bias, and revenge."  Reviews include "Critics' Pick!  Thought-provoking, riveting theater!" (NYT), "Drama at its finest!  A must see!" (Broadway World), and "Satisfying!  A story of power and revenge, shrouded in intrigue!" (Theatermania).

The showing on Friday night, August 10, at 7:00, is special.  The normal run for this play is August 11 to September 9, so this performance is a special dedication.  Proceeds that night will go entirely to OrchestraMiami, which is a wonderful organization.  And that night, the price is discounted to $40 per seat, and "drinks" and "light bites" are included.

So, for a low price, you get great theater, "drinks" and "light bites," whatever that turns out to mean, and what you pay for your ticket will support a great local classical music organization.

Give it careful consideration.  If you're interested, the GableStage box office phone number is 305-445-1119.


As an aside, the only actor in this play whose name I know is Tom Wahl.  He was terrific in two GableStage plays last year ("An Act of God" was off the charts spectacular), and I went to Lake Worth just to see him in something else.


I forgot to mention that GableStage is at the Biltmore Hotel.

What Did I Say?

Toward the end of 2016, there was what seemed to present itself as a triumvirate, or a slate, of Commission candidates.  They were Tracy Truppman, Jenny Johnson-Sardella, and Will Tudor.  Tracy had some inconsistent and remote experience on minor Boards, Jenny was on the important Code Compliance Board, and Will had no identifiable presence at all in the Village, except that he happened to live here.

In most settings, these three offered no meaningful agenda.  There was the de rigueur pablum about "listening to residents," but no real attention to important Village issues.  Whenever an issue came up, as they did in places like Nextdoor, these three were conspicuously absent, and not because no one asked them to chime in.

I said in this blog, on Nextdoor, and verbally that I was very concerned about this slate getting elected.  (I had not planned to run again myself, and I only ran anyway to offer myself as protection from this slate.)  They would represent an instant majority-- there was every appearance that they were in lock step-- and they had no identifiable agenda.  It seemed to me, as I said repeatedly and publicly, that a majority like this, of people most of whom had no relevant experience with Village government, and who had no agenda (didn't want anything, and expressed no vision for the neighborhood), would function in what I considered a predictable way.

I said they would do nothing, because they had nothing in mind to do, and their only available posture would be to criticize and blame other people.  I specified that they would blame the prior Commission and the Manager.  And that would be their agenda: doing nothing, and blaming other people.  I committed myself openly and repeatedly to this suspicion as to what would happen if Truppman, Johnson-Sardella, and Tudor got elected.

Was I close?

Personal Insult Added to General Injury

This morning at 8:10, I again encountered the guy with the two Siberian huskies.  You remember them.  They're the dogs bred for ultra cold weather, and he keeps them in a very hot climate.  About 50 minutes before I saw him, I encountered another casual walker, who commented to me that today was a "steambath."  I guess it was more so 50 minutes later.

Anyway, the guy recognized me, smiled in a friendly way, and told me he hoped he would make it to my age.  I asked him how old he thought I was.  He said he himself is 40.  (This sounds like a non sequitur, and I would hold it against his intellect, but I already wasn't very impressed, from my last encounter with him.)  I asked him again how old he thought I was, and he guessed 60.  Sixty-eight, I told him. And he repeated his hope that he himself would make it to my age.

I imagine he thought he was complimenting me, like he thought he was taking good care of two Siberian huskies-- you know, the dogs bred for extreme cold, but he keeps them in a very hot climate.

We Compromised

Tonight's special Commission meeting was for the purpose of choosing a new Village attorney.  There were three finalists.  There was a solo private practice lawyer, who is really an employee of Broward County, but who can do private work.  There was an attorney with a firm, but he himself doesn't have any personal municipal clients right now.  And there was a large firm specializing in representing municipalities.  Each finalist had good credentials and more than adequate experience.  And there was a range of fee schedules, ranging from about what we pay now per hour ($165) to considerably more than that ($250).  The large firm that charges $250 per hour said they could negotiate the fee.

Each firm or attorney made a presentation, and each answered questions from Commissioners.  Then, the Commissioners voted.  There was some discussion before votes were taken.

Roxy Ross liked the idea of a firm with depth and with local contacts.  The other Commissioners were more preoccupied with cost.  And the other Commissioners also all noted another factor: they liked the idea of a more personal touch.  They liked the idea that the Village is that special place, that should have special and individualized treatment.  They seemed to like the idea that we would somehow have what we could pretend was someone's undivided, or not too divided, attention.

Interestingly, one of the attorney finalists mentioned the idea of municipalities that like to have voting on their own special day, when they are the only thing on the ballot.  But that attorney reminded us that that kind of specialness comes at a fiscal cost.  We've been there ourselves, and we came to realize that what it cost us to be that special was a lot of money, and the participation of many of our citizens.  So we voted to move our election to the general election.  It may seem somehow relatively impersonal, but it's a lot cheaper, and we get a lot more votes.

So that was the choice among the three finalists.  Tracy Truppman chose the private practice guy.  The other four chose the guy who presented to us by himself, and we'd be "[his] Village:" his only client.  No one wanted the firm that sent three attorneys to present, and had 300 more in the firm, with "economy of scale" (that was the term they used) to attend efficiently to our needs.

No, the feeling was that we had to try to preserve that feeling of specialness.  The one we surrendered to save money and get more turnout on voting day.   The one we surrendered when we outsourced sanitation, and saved ourselves a good deal of money, and a lot of efficiency in the Public Works Department.

I myself didn't initially want the large group.  Not that it matters what I thought, but I just thought they seemed too slick, and all business.  But after they presented, I decided I was wrong.  We're not looking for friends.  We're looking for expert and efficient legal advice.  Slick and all business is exactly what we want.

It costs us to pretend to be some little and charming waifs.  We wind up with ineptitude, inefficiency, poorly kept streets, and miserable-looking medians.  What we need is what we managed to avoid tonight.  But we got second best.  Roxy knows him, has worked directly with him, and likes his work.  And she voted for him.  That was good enough.

"Unbelievable."

It was just before 9:00, and one of our neighbors was leaving the Commission meeting in a combination of boredom and disgust, when he uttered this word.  The meeting had become unbearably bogged down, over nothing, and our neighbor couldn't stand it any more.  Coincidentally, not five minutes before he left, I said almost the same thing.  Except I inserted something between the un- and the             -believable.

This meeting had no reason to slog as it did.  It had no right.  Everything-- well, almost everything-- was going great until Ordinance #1.  The only snag that occurred before that was when Roxy Ross wanted to pull something from the Consent Agenda, because she wanted to draw attention to it.  It was the minutes of the meeting of the Public Safety Advisory Board, and Roxy wanted to point out that two Commissioners had been in attendance, and that this created what could be a Sunshine meeting within the Board meeting, and it should have been announced that way.  The problem was that Roxy was one of the Commissioners who was there, and Tracy Truppman was the other.  And of course, Tracy took instant offense, decided she had to defend herself, and did it the way she always does it: she tried to dismiss or demean Roxy's having brought it up.  So that wasted a few annoying minutes, but we were otherwise onto the Ordinances.

Ordinance #1 was a loser from the start.  Everyone who commented on it in Public Comment panned it, and three of the Commissioners didn't like it, either.  The problem was that it was Harvey Bilt's scheme, and this created a problem for his little team.  The big team wasn't present, because Jenny Johnson-Sardella was somewhere or other, but not at the meeting.  So Harvey's posse were supposed to be Tracy and Will Tudor.  Will didn't like the Ordinance, either, and neither did Roxy.  Tracy didn't like it-- there was nothing to recommend this Ordinance, which made no sense and accomplished nothing-- but she was stuck.   She was at great pains to go against her boy, Harvey, but she couldn't bring herself to join him.  So what should have been a very quick vote in opposition to this Ordinance dragged on for way too long, with Will rambling, Harvey defending and redefending, Roxy talking too much about it, and Tracy speaking against the Ordinance while simultaneously repeatedly apologizing to Harvey.  Way...too...long.  Not for Andrew Dunkeil, our attorney, though.  He's on the clock.  Keep on yammering, y'all.

Next, it was slightly less moronic, but also more nonsensical Ordinance #2.  Hoo-boy.  Should we refinance?  Well, no.  Clearly not.  Roxy Ross made that crystal clear.  Painfully crystal clear.  It made no sense.  The reason to refinance wasn't actually there, and it would have cost more than it would have saved.  Just listen, kids.  Rox is explaining it to you, making it as clear as it could possibly be, and she even got the Finance Director to see her point, and convinced him.  Just realize it was a non-starter, and vote it down, so we can move on.  Nope.  On...and on...and on.  And on.  Over nothing, except perhaps Tracy's realization that she is out of her depth, does not know and understand the issues, and that Roxy is really the heart and sole of this Commission.  Which is why it's so pervasively necessary to try to obliterate her.  It was near the end of this soul-crushing discussion that our neighbor had more than enough and left.  Although there was actually not too much left of the meeting.

But there was one moment of comic relief.  Roxy had put on the Agenda a Resolution to name this year's BP delegate to the Florida League of Cities' annual conference in Hollywood.  Well, you know Princess Tracy just had to be the delegate.  She thought it was sort of like which pupil gets to bring the teacher an apple.  Roxy offered to go, as she has always gone, but Tracy repeated-- three times, as the person sitting next to me counted-- that the Mayor (Princess Tracy, herself) should be the one to go and wear the prettiest dress, and have the nicest pigtails.  In fact, Tracy thought the Resolution should be generalized, so that it's always the Mayor who gets to be the voting delegate.  Well, Roxy had had enough.  As she pointed out, she only has a few short months left on the Commission, and she let the Princess have her way.  And Roxy mentioned, just in passing, that there was a stipend available for the delegate, so that half the expenses would be reimbursed.  Tracy did this math in a hurry.  She instantly realized that Roxy was saying the delegate has to pay something to be a delegate.  She handed the honor immediately back to Roxy.  What a devoted representative our Mayor is.

And what a gross waste of time this meeting was.

I Got a Beef With PETA and Mercy For Animals

I have tremendous respect and affection for animals.  I appreciate all of them, the human ones and the non-human ones.  I think all animals should live as nature intended, if nature intends anything.  I don't tell other people how to live, and I don't try to exert power over the ways non-human animals live.

I donate, automatically and every month, to PETA and Mercy For Animals.  I agree with them when they try to confront the mistreatment of animals.  Those two organizations and I diverge over only two issues.  Both organizations are strong advocates of vegan diets for human animals.  I, however, accept that animals eat other animals, and people eat other animals.  I have restricted to a vegan diet in the past, and it was fine, but I decided that I could be ethical and merciful to animals without so restricting.  What I do is try to restrict to eating meat from animals that were treated ethically and mercifully during their lives, and killed humanely.  I don't say PETA and MFA are wrong.  And there have been deeply revered thinkers and philosophers who agreed with them.  I admit I do not exist on the very highest possible ethical plane, when it comes to eating animals.  I accept my own failing, and I hope that the caveat I impose is in some sense good enough.  But I do acknowledge the lapse.

The other area where PETA and MFA and I diverge is about the domestication of animals.  I think it's rank cruelty.  I think it's inexcusable.  I have asked both organizations to adopt as part of their overall mission a crusade against the domestication of animals.  They won't do it.  PETA's position (excuse?) is that the animals people domesticate have been bred so that they are incapable of living without the stewardship of human owners.  What a load...!  Even if you could try to make that argument about Yorkshire terriers and maybe pomeranians, you couldn't really make it about any other animal people domesticate.  And PETA and MFA do advocate against "puppy mills," pet store animals, and, up to a point, breeding in general.  So, up to a point, they get it.  But they won't pull the real trigger.  And if you want to know if I think PETA and MFA members and staff have domesticated animals themselves, yeah, I think they do.  I think they think they love animals, and they love, and show love to, their pets.  At that point, they stop getting it.  It's like the time several months ago that Donald Trump or one of his people said slavery wasn't bad, because the slaves were treated well.  Setting aside that that isn't remotely true, no normal person would have any trouble recognizing what was wrong with slavery, even if the slaves had been treated well.

I was out walking this morning, and I encountered a man with two Siberian huskies.  It was about 8:10.  We had a brief conversation about his two beautiful dogs, and it was he who mentioned how much they don't like the "humidity."  He takes them out early, to avoid it.  (He was a bit late today.  I guess it wasn't convenient for him to take them out earlier.)  I assume that means he walks/relieves them twice a day, before it gets "humid," and after it's not so "humid" any more.  This is the life he, or anyone, thinks dogs want?  Never mind that they get spayed/neutered, "docked," and whatever else people want to do to them.  And sent to "obedience school."  They have to be "trained" to be obedient to whom?  Why?  Large dogs, bred for the life of Siberia (isn't that that place people always say is so cold?), kept in Miami (isn't that that place people always say is so hot?), and cooped up inside all day.  (He also told me-- he told me, like he heard it said!-- that people think these dogs, these Siberian huskies, are supposed to be outside.  Wrong, he said.)  Raise your hand if you allow yourself to urinate twice a day, early in the morning, and after dinner time.  No?  And his parting explanation to me was "It's like with any dog: it depends how you train them."  If you can "train" a large and thick-coated dog to stay inside in a hot environment all day, and urinate twice a day, then it must be OK.  Like if you can "train" a slave to work in the fields all day, and not to run away, then it must be OK. 

Is there anyone who hates animals more than a pet owner?  Dogs, cats, birds, fish, or whatever.  It's a terribly cruel way to treat animals.  PETA and MFA should know that better than I do.