The Mayor's Blog

Corina Esquijarosa has posted a very interesting blog entry today at her blog www.mayorcorina.com. I am cross posting the entry today since it deserves reading and thought.

Being Mayor of North Bay Village

In the last few months, residents of North Bay Village have asked me if I regret being elected Mayor of the City. This is always part of a conversation about the personal attacks on me and the dysfunction of the commission. I tell people that being an elected official is everything I expected to encounter times 100. It has provided me with a wealth of knowledge and a chance to use my experience and education in bettering the city we live in. Some of you may not know that I have a Bachelor of Architecture, a Masters of Public Administration and am currently studying for a second Masters in Criminal Justice, or that I have worked my whole career in public service. I believe in good government and I know that in these dangerous economic times, it's more important than ever.


Sadly, the experience of the last six months has also provided me with a firsthand view of the malice that comes with being an elected official. I don't regret being elected Mayor of the City of North Bay Village but I do lament that the history of North Bay Village politics continues to cloud our City’s future. The bitterness of the past follows us even as we try to keep the city from being wrecked in the current financial storm.


Being mayor in this South Florida city is different than most of you know. The mayor is one commissioner among five for the most part with the specific duties to chair the commission meeting, sign and monitor the financial transactions and act as ceremonial head of the city. The office of mayor has few specific powers, no budget authority, no veto authority, no hiring authority and no policy authority. Under our system of municipal government, the Commission hires a city manager who sets the agenda and manages the execution of the city business under the direction of the Commission, according to the charter. Like a corporate board, our commission depends on the City Manager to do the right thing.


Unfortunately, this type of government of our City makes it vulnerable and susceptible to mismanagement and corruption.


Since becoming your Mayor, I have experienced that firsthand. Requests for information go unanswered, both by former City Manager Robert Pushkin and Interim City Manager Robert Daniels. Even in those instances where there is clear direction from the Commission and duties spelled out in the charter, the former City Manager routinely chose the less transparent and sometimes illegal course. The police chief, now acting as City Manager, has followed that same course.


I will point out some examples.


1. On February 18, 2011, I requested from former City Manager Pushkin and Interim City Manager Daniels for City IDs and badges for all elected officials to be prepared far ahead of hurricane season. Should the unthinkable occur and we must all evacuate, your elected officials need to be able to come back to the City to assess the damage and take appropriate action with regards to access to resources. It is now June 21, 2011, hurricane season is under way and there is still no response to four months and three requests later.


2. At the April 12, 2011 Commission meeting I questioned Vice Mayor Kreps and City Manager Pushkin why they were signing checks and wire transfers without my knowledge, a power prohibited to the Vice Mayor by our Charter, unless the Mayor is unavailable. Their responses were those of two kids caught doing wrong, but defending themselves poorly. So much so that the Vice Mayor’s colleague Commissioner Lim voted to conduct a forensic accounting of the City’s finances. This is still pending.


3. On May 29, 2011, I uncovered that Commissioner Vogel has an extra unauthorized cellular phone, since at least 2007, and thus I requested former City Manager Pushkin and current Interim City Manager Daniels to stop this practice and provide information with respect to how long had the City been paying for this and if the City has been reimbursed throughout the years. Two requests and three weeks later, no answer.


4. As far back as April 13, 2011 and two additional requests later, the following is still pending:


· The list of all vendors with whom the City does business.

· Why are the improvements to the causeway stalled?

· Why is the website not live? Instead of 4 to 6 weeks, it has now been close to 12

weeks from when we were told by the former City Manager that it would be live.

· Why is there no work being done to Dr. Paul Vogel park?

· What is the status of the grants in the City?


5. What is the financial status of the City? On June 14, 2011, I informed and requested a meeting with the Interim City Manager and have not received a call to meet.


There are far more, but there is only so much room on this posting and I don’t want to have this blog take on a negative tone. I truly believe that the only way to steer this city through the current economic crisis is to face the problems openly and honestly. Yet that seems to be making me permanent enemies.



Recently former City Manager Robert Pushkin resigned without giving a reason, but under his short one-year stint he authorized payments without my knowledge and without reporting them to the commission, worked ceaselessly to move the garbage contract through until I requested (and the Commission approved) to bring back the contract and provide proof of the $500,000 savings per year he presented to the Commission, and in a last attempt tried to give himself severance pay to which he was not entitled.


This is the same City Manager that the Vice Mayor and Commissioner Lim claim as being the most professional City Manager the City has ever had. Let’s see if the Vice Mayor and Commissioner Lim request that Pushkin be given the severance, with Commissioner Vogel voting for his “protégé”. And now, the Interim City Manager Daniels is following in Pushkin’s footsteps and ignoring requests for information. Vice Mayor Kreps and Commissioner Lim have expressed their praise and know for a fact that he is the right person to lead us until we find the professional City Manager that this City needs.


Of course, for writing the above, the usual beneficiaries of the City's murky finances will attack me personally yet again to deflect from the important issues which North Bay Village faces.


These attacks have concentrated on a foreclosure I had last year. I'm frustrated that I cannot disclose all the details of a pending legal action brought on by a CFD member, but I have done nothing to compromise the integrity of North Bay Village and that will all come out. Nevertheless, I have been tried and convicted in unsourced email and unsupported rants at our Commission meetings. I'm surprised that I haven’t' been accused of the Heat’s NBA loss! I also predict a non-resident will also escalate the attacks on me for speaking about former City Manager Pushkin and the shady dealings of private developers.


These attacks come with the territory but at this critical time, is it the right time to ask if a personal financial problem, one the voters knew about when they elected me matters more than the issues facing the city?


In my view, no. The questions that need answering are:


· What is the financial status of the City?

· Are we going to end in the red or the black this year?

· What is the status of our reserves?

· How can North Bay Village avoid a millage rate increase?

· What are the real savings, if any, for the elimination of side yard pickup?

· It is June 24, 2011 and the budget for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 must be approved by September 30, 2011. How long must we all wait for these answers?


I will end with this. If you believe that as your Mayor, I am not doing enough or if you think that I shouldn’t be asking these questions, sign the petition to recall me.


If you agree with Al Blake that I am the cause of the 2008-2011 recession and property value decline, sign the petition.


If you think that your best interests are managed in the dark and that city personnel have the right to help themselves to public funds, sign the petition.


But if you don't think that, know that you and your family may be personally attacked by the same residents and outsiders who are recalling me.


You may like other residents be slandered and defamed for speaking your mind on the city's business.


Al Blake and the CFD have done it before and they will do it again. If you believe that you need answers to move our City forward, attend a Commission meeting, call me, write me or email me. I certainly cannot do it alone. I will fight this recall because I believe in the people of this City.


As your Mayor, I am as strong as you are and I call on all of you to focus on the right issues, the clean issues, and not turn over our homes and our city to the few who seek to profit any which way they can.

Kevin Vericker
June 24, 2011

And The Third New Member - Corina Esquijarosa

Esquijarosa has had a bumpy start. As a newcomer who won the election against Rey Trujillo a sitting commissioner with high name recognition and more than the double the financing, Esquijarosa has faced powerful entrenched interests in the city. Her election over Rey Trujillo was more a protest vote about the casual misuse of power in the city than a real pro change effort and her mayoralty has not yet coalesced.

Some the entrenched interests, represent by two of the commissioners, Eddie Lim and Connie Leon-Kreps, have opposed even discussing the poor decisions of the previous commission and Dr. Paul Vogel appears less and less able to vote his own mind (more about that over the weekend.) The City Manager has passively refused to respond to her basic requests while the Police Chief simply ignores direct orders from her in the position as the chair of the Commission meeting.

Esquijarosa has spent the first four months trying to reason and persuade with deep opposition and it hasn't worked. The Mayor in our form of government does not have a strong position - her vote is equal in all matters - but does have the bully pulpit of the position. Esquijarosa needs to take advantage of that.

It's time to put out publicly what is happening privately.

Esquijarosa needs to highlight the ongoing deceptions around the Waste Management Systems contract, which would eliminate side yard pickup, save the city at best 3% of the budget, and has only been pushed through to repay favors. Rey Trujillo received $2000 from Waste Management, Eddie Lim got $500.

Esquijarosa has to start pointing out that the largest tax debtor in North Bay Village is now a financial advisor to the city.

Esquijarosa needs to bring out the politically motivated investigations going on in the police department, costing the city tens of thousands of dollars, establishing that the police department is poorly run with deep morale problems and is not achieving any savings.

There are a host of other issues and I hope that the mayor has come to realize that the people who put her there are not being heard. There's no chance of convincing Lim Kreps to do the people's business and if Dr. Vogel won't step up, there's no chance of doing things right.

Her only option is to publicly lay out all the shenanigans and self serving actions that pass for governance in North Bay Village. Esquijarosa has been reluctant to do so and by continuing the pretext that the situation is one where people of goodwill honestly disagree, she allows these same people to run roughshod over the city.

By being polite, she gains nothing. It's not like they will be more cooperative or less avaricious.

You will probably see an old story, that her house was foreclosed, recycled by the Herald soon. The story is here from October 28. There's nothing new in the story but it is part of larger attempt to shut up everyone and anyone who could expose the waste and mismanagement. I hope Esquijarosa will prove herself and do the job for which she was elected by clearly and strongly laying out the abuses in City Hall.

Kevin Vericker
April 1, 2011

It's Voting Time

I'm writing this at 10:45 PM on November 1. Tomorrow is Election Day. Many have already voted and I believe most have made up their minds. I've explained why the choice is clear for me, the pain of staying the same far outweighs the pain of changing, and our choices have real consequences.

I stand with Corina Esquijarosa for Mayor and Silvio Diaz for Harbor Island Commissioner. My choices are not simple adulation nor driven as some would say by my distaste for the current commission, but rather based on the fact that what we are doing now is not working. Our tax base declining, our city planning is incoherent, our garbage pickup is being eliminated and yet our taxes are going up. The old guard has failed.

Even tonight, as the hysteria of the so called CFD continues, blaming Corina for a meeting that was held against the advice of city attorney, shows the panic of the old guard. The prospect of real transparency frightens the CFD. Strangely, considering how publicly I have discussed my dislike of Rey Trujillo and his behavior in the past, I have to say tonight he was right. If the meeting about the 7904 property did not have proper notice, it should not have been held.

But Trujillo could not make that clear, easy objection. Trujillo began shouting about "debts being paid." and that he was not there, although we could still see him, rather than finding out what had happened with the notice. It was a tantrum, not political leadership.

The Citizens for Full Disclosure, mendacious hypocrites that they are, sent out one of their many email blasts citing Alfonso and Rodriguez, never mentioning that George Kane also voted with them.

Trujillo had his chance and proved that he can't manage himself, let alone a commission. So vote tomorrow, vote for change, vote for sanity, vote for Corina and Silvio. Let's finally own our city.


Kevin Vericker
November 1, 2010

Issue Recap

Below is the text of an email I sent out yesterday. There are some minor edits (note below*) but I think it is worth sharing.

In all the negatives flying around during this campaign, it’s easy to lose sight of the issues. As I’ve walked the streets during the campaign, a shocking number of residents were unaware that NBV tax rates are going up this year, while side yard garbage pickup is being eliminated and hardly anyone knew about the status of the projects nor the plans for a “high end gentleman’s club.”

The following is my list of the major issues facing North Bay Village this year. Please take a look.

The Facts:

Taxes - our millage went up .5 for 2011. For a $250,000 home, this is a raise of $150 per year. Other cities, North Miami, Miami Lakes, City of Miami all held the line and cut spending.

Spending – there are no pay cuts and in fact, a number of raises for city employees including the police. Their health insurance went up and there is a higher contribution but there are no furloughs, no cuts, and the hiring freeze was revoked.

Garbage Side Yard Pickup - This service is being eliminated as the garbage is planned to be privatized. The city manager claimed this will save $500,000 per year but the real savings is $120,000 per year as reflected in the published budget.

Generous Employee Contracts – Very few people seem to know that if the new police chief is let go for any reason other than criminal, even for cause, he collects six months notice and three month’s severance, or about $82,000 plus 9 months of benefits (another $15,000). He is entitled to five weeks vacation the day he signed the contract. The first clause, nine months of severance regardless of the reason for the dismissal, is unheard of.

Development – the only new development in the city is a building at 1415 JFK Causeway (Channel 7). Its approval has been treated an emergency by the commission with four attempts to approve this before the November 2 election. The problem is that the lot is zoned for an “adult entertainment” complex and while the developer won’t say publicly what the plans are, on October 28 Robert Leider of WSVN testified under oath that the developer's attorneys met with his staff to tell them a “high end gentlemen’s club” was planned for the site. This will be the first building for our much needed baywalk and it's a bad choice to anchor it with an adult club.

Grants and Projects – the grants process has slowed to a trickle. North Bay Village received $11 million dollars in grants to offset our $35 million bonds and there are more on the table but the city is not acting on these. Millions are on the table from the Federal and State stimulus money and North Bay Village is on the sidelines.

Rey Trujillo either authored or supported every piece of legislation that contributed to these problems. Trujillo supported raising the tax rate as our property values declined. Trujillo stood against the furloughs and using the red light money to save police jobs instead of raising taxes. Trujillo voted to end side yard pickup and never challenged the fictitious $500,000 savings. Trujillo negotiated the police chief’s contract and voted for it. Trujillo took the maximum campaign contribution from Scott Greenwald. Then Trujillo claimed he did not know what the building at 1415 JFK is for and voted for it, even after Leider clearly laid out the plans. Trujillo led the charge to fire the city manager who had brought the $11,000,000 in grants.

These aren’t opinions, these are the facts.

This next part is opinion:

Corina Esquijarosa, a newcomer to our politics, is committed to fixing what we can – stop the garbage giveaway, support proper development, rationalize spending and stop the generous contracts. She has experience in seeking grants.

For me, the choice is clear.

A Subject No One Is Addressing – Our Declining Values.

This entire commission has ignored that North Bay Village property values have had the second steepest decline in Miami Dade County at 26%. The whole country has declined but why are we worse than most? Why is a single family house in North Bay Village on the market an average of 10 weeks longer than comparables in nearby cities? Why are the resale prices for single family houses 15% lower than comparables in nearby communities? (source: Realtytrac) We have more homes in foreclosure or in the process of foreclosure than any other city in Miami Dade (source: US Housing and Urban Development Neighborhood Stabilization Program.) We need to find the causes and fix them if we are going to recover. Our commission has ignored this problem but it’s our gravest by far.

Silvio Diaz, running for Harbor Island Commission, has made finding the answer to that question and putting the solutions in place the cornerstone of his campaign. Corina Esquijarosa has already discussed her plans to form a public private partnership to address the issue. The old guard just doesn’t see the problem – neither Trujillo, Lim nor Kreps have mentioned it. Not once. If we don’t fix, we sink.

The old guard have failed. We can't go on that way we are. It's too important to vote without the information. These are our homes at stake.

Kevin Vericker
October 30, 2010

*note: The email I sent out contained several grammatical errors and misspellings. I have corrected for those in this post. My usual writing process is to create a first draft for content, the next draft is for clarity and organization and the final is for grammar and spelling. Yesterday, instead of hitting "Save", I hit "Send". Careless on my part.

Corina Esquijarosa

Corina is new in town but not in government. With over a decade's experience in government, a Masters in Public Administration and as a current student for a second Master in Criminal Justice, she knows how a government should run. She gets the big picture.

Corina gets the little picture too. She's a mother of two small children and knows what a good city means for the young families who are trying to make ends meet in this economy. Most importantly, she has a platform, unlike her opponent, Rey Trujillo, author of the North Bay Village Trujillo Tax.

• Build after-school programs for our children and partner with the School District.


• Attract businesses to the main corridor to generate revenue to the City and to its residents


• Seek grants to bring a community center for all residents to enjoy and provide a haven for our children and seniors.


• Renovate the tot-lot on Galleon Street.


• Bring in all the city to the politic. Support civic organziations


• Streamline services by the City, reducetime to start a business.


• Pull together homeowners, renters, real estate professionals and financial professionals to tackle our city's housing crisis.

North Bay Village did not get this way overnight. Lack of transparency, downright lies, lack of citizen involvement, a core group of bitter and unhappy residents, have all combined for the imperfect storm we are now suffering.

Corina is not a miracle worker nor a saint, but she does the hard work needed to get the city back on track.

Her opponent, Two Times Trujillo, does not have the first clue about how to balance a budget (he ran the Grandview into the bottom 6% of condos in Miami) and has increased our city costs by about $300,000 in non value added spend.

I'm voting for Corina.

Another note about the Citizens for Full Disclosure - Once again, there are crazy mailings going around from the CFD and "Dr." Richard Chervony. First they sent an email out that Chervony was being held hostage in London, then an email to say he wasn't, then a paper mailing to attack Trujillo, then an email to say they endorse Trujillo, then an email criticizing Trujillo, then an email denying the email and claiming that one account is legitimate (the one from which the hostage email was sent!). These people are exhausting and really should stop their antics. You've seen some of the stuff that their president has written here but I've spared you most. It's pretty bad.

The League of Women Voters they are not. They are a half dozen disruptive older people with a rich fantasy life and a deep hatred for anyone who does not share their agenda.

Kevin Vericker
October 18, 2010