New City Manager? Rey Trujillo? What?

The big problem with trying to keep in the reality sphere in North Bay Village is that this city is a very weird place. The latest rumor, and I do stress rumor, is that Rey Trujillo who lost the election for mayor of NBV, is letting it be known that he would like to be city manager. I normally wouldn't even bother writing up about this but this is the sort of crazy stuff that has gone on in the past.

I really hope this is just a malicious rumor people are spreading to annoy the decent citizens of North Bay Village. Please let that be so. We've suffered enough. As commissioner, he led the charge to raise our taxes, cut our services, fire our staff, write sweet deals for the police chief and make us the laughing stock of Miami-Dade. He didn't get elected in spite of a six month head start, running against an unknown opponent and having a well financed campaign. It's time to go away for a while.

We need to watch this very carefully.

Kevin Vericker
November 22, 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health insurance went up and there is a higher contribution but there are no furloughs, no cuts, and the hiring freeze was revoked.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.

Rey Trujillo And the Strip Club

Rey Trujillo lied from the dais by failing to disclose that he had received $500 from Scott Greenwald on 9/23 during the hearing on Greenwald's property on October 30, a meeting called by George Kane and seconded by Trujillo to rush through approval of the 1415 JFK Causeway project.

Under oath, Robert Leider, general manager of WSVN, recounted that Greenwald's lawyers approached WSVN and specifically explained the plan at 1415 is for a "high end gentlemen's club." Greenwald's team did not deny it.

Trujillo then bizarely asserted that it is "very hard for him to lie" and went on to claim that the commission was just voting on the "box", not the "use". Well, the "box" alone has more holes than swiss cheese. The plans as submitted are carelessly drawn and incompletely explained. Trujillo could have voted no on that grounds alone.

But let's go back to the "lie" quote. At the beginning of the quasi-judicial hearing, there is a part called "ex parte disclosure" where all those sitting in judgment are obliged to disclose any relevant conversations and dealings with the participants. Rey Trujillo certainly understands the concept of a "lie of omission", that is consciously leaving out information to create a different impression.

During ex parte disclosure, Trujillo never mentioned that Scott Greenwald donated $500 to his campaign on September 23. The donation information is relevant and deliberately failing to disclose the donation is a lie of omission.

Financial interests should be disclosed by those in sitting in judgment. It's a legal and ethical issue and Trujillo knows it.

Kevin Vericker
October 30, 2010

Strip Club Tomorrow Night

In a rare series of double emergencies, the city is holding two meetings tomorrow (October 28, 2010) to force approval of the project plans for 1415 JFK Causeway, developed by Scott Greenwald. This has already come before Planning and Zoning, who deadlocked on its approval.

The P & Z attorney wrongly told the board that if the project meets code, it must be approved. This is not true. P & Z is an advisory board and the commission must decide, no one else. This was a blatant attempt to pressure the members to approve. They even held a second meeting on the spot, which had to be discarded as that's illegal under Sunshine Law.

Tomorrow night is another attempt to get unanimous P&Z approval to give the Commission cover to approve the project.

Rey Trujillo and George Kane are safe votes for the project since Greenwald has already bought and paid for them. They will combine their votes with Paul Vogel and try to ram this through. These three, for whom the sun doesn't shine, have probably already agreed it.

Here's what you'll hear. There are no definite plans for this to be an adult complex and all "legal uses" will be open. Nonsense, the only thing that makes this parcel valuable is its singular zoning as the only place in NBV where you can have a strip club. That's why it's an emergency to get it passed now before the election.

Now you might hear some bland statements from the three, asking that Greenwald consider promising that it won't be a strip club, and maybe Greenwald will, but it won't be legally binding.

We need to stop this. This project should not be approved, not now, and certainly not as an emergency.

Kevin Vericker
October 27, 2010

Emergency Commission Meeting 10/28/2010

In order not to risk losing the three man lockstep majority on the commission, the Commission is meeting at 7:30 PM, Thursday 10/28, at the school for one item, one item only - APPROVE THE STRIPCLUB AT 1415 JFK CAUSEWAY.

The commission trio, Trujillo, Kane and Vogel, will argue that the approval is for a nonspecific commercial use but there is only thing that makes this parcel valuable. It's the only parcel in North Bay Village that is zoned for Adult Entertainment. Take special note that the plans include a swimming pool, not a normal amenity for a restaurant, but a really special amenity for an adult entertainment complex.

There is a P & Z planned at 6:30 to ram the item through, followed by this meeting. I hope P & Z votes no.

This is so transparent. Scott Greenwald gives Rey Trujillo $500, Rey promises approval, P & Z refuses and now at Rey's insistence, there will be "emergency" meetings until his money man gets paid.



10-28-2010 City Commission Meeting
Kevin Vericker
October 26, 2010

Strip Club in North Bay Village

October 7 at 6:30 PM there is a meeting of the Planning and Zoning Board with one item on the agenda - considering an application to build a five story building at 1415 JFK Causeway, adjacent to Channel 7, with three floors of parking and two floors of commercial space.

Isle of Dreams, developer Scott Greenwald's company, is the applicant.

Not coincidentally is the fact that this obscure lot is the only place in North Bay Village where a strip joint, euphemistically called a "Gentlemen's Club", is allowed under our current zoning.

Also not coincidentally is that Scott Greenwald has donated $500 each to Rey Trujillo and Eddie Lim. Eddie Lim is on the Planning and Zoning Board and I hope he plans to recuse himself from the item.

We've been here before. Vice Mayor George Kane attempted to push through a strip club at the restaurant Barchetta's, only to fail to pass when the citizens let it be known loud and clear that North Bay Village does not need one more sleazy deal.

The people showed up last time and it's important we do it again.

The meeting is Thursday, October 7, at 6:30 PM at the school.

Kevin Vericker
10/6/2010