Update for late August

Work and life have been demanding this month.  I'm on the road right now, staying with my brother who broke a hip this month.  So I haven't been updating nearly as often as I should.   

But much has happened in North Bay Village.   

For one, David Richardson won for State Rep.  This is good news for North Bay Village.  Of the three major candidates for the position, he was the only one to demonstrate that it was about more than Miami Beach.  He came to our budget meetings, has looked at our issues such as the Causeway and the state, and paid attention.  

In an odd political moment, the mayor and I both enthusiastically supported the same candidate.  It will mean good things for our city.  

In our own elections, Connie Leon Kreps is unopposed for mayor so she will retain that office and Richard Chervony is unopposed for North Bay Island, so he will retain that office.  

The two seats in play are:

Treasure Island - Wendy Duvall is up against Stuart Blumberg.  

At Large - Mario Garcia is up against Jorge Gonzalez.   

This election will more than anything be about retaining Dennis Kelly, the current city manager.   I've written about that before.   There's a lot to say on the subject but I have not had the chance to talk with some of the candidates on that.  I'll write more when I get home.  

Kevin Vericker

August 20, 2012

Vote Now

So between now and August 11, early voting is on.  Regular voting is on August 14.  Turnout for August elections is dismally low and it matters to you directly to vote in this election.  Let's review with the biggies:

State Representative District 113 - There are four candidates - David Richardson, who I've endorsed  as have the mayor, Rey Trujillo and others.  (I know:  hell is freezing over and there is snow in August)  Richardson gets the local issues and is emphatic that he intends to represent us in Tallahassee.  

Pop quiz, how many candidates for State Rep were at our budget meeting last Tuesday?  Answer;  just Richardson.  

Ask Kravitz or Weithorn about the causeway and how long the state has been repairing it or why that dog pound fence is on the south side between North Bay Island and Treasure Island?   Blank stares.   Ask them about seawalls and DERM?  Same.  Richardson is paying attention to the district, not the state.  Ask Weithorn and Kravitz how much in state revenue North Bay Village expects next year?  They won't know.  

Richardson does.  He does his homework and we need someone who knows we are on the map.  

Mayor Miami-Dade County - This is a tough one for me personally and here's why.  

Carlos Gimenez has consistently stood for equal rights in Miami-Dade county.  He has been a supporter of the Human Rights Ordinance which finally erased the disgraceful legacy of Anita Bryant and her reign of hate.  Gimenez also brought Miami-Dade into the 21 st century with the Domestic Partners Ordinance.  

Martinez has stood against both measures but to his credit, he took the time and effort to meet with Save Dade, Miami's primary gay rights organization, and has promised to leave existing law alone.  Still, his history disturbs me.  

Nevertheless, when I look at the other side of the equation, how to deal with the huge cuts coming at Miami-Dade, cuts that will affect North Bay Village big time, I see a more nuanced approach by Martinez.   Gimenez is too ready to battle with the employees to cut costs rather than the Martinez approach of working with the employees to save money.  This matters because bad economies don't last forever and keeping decent relationships in place with our unions is important.  

I am also more impressed with Martinez' approach to revenue.  The truth is that taxes in M-D are underpaid by a lot not a little.  And the property appraiser's office does not keep up.   Martinez is pushing this issue hard, as he should.   

On balance, I think Martinez has the more holistic approach and the leadership style to get us through the next four years.  I just wish he had the sense of social justice that a city (and it is a city) like Miami-Dade needs to prosper.  

Judges - Andrea Wolfson is a miserable, despicable, mendacious anti-American bigot who aligned herself with the most radical of right wing groups in Miami-Dade.   She is not fit to be on the bench or in public life.  Her views and attitudes towards gay people would be much more at home in a theocratic Iran.  Show her the door.  

Jacci Seskin, on the other hand, impressed the heck out of me.  Her page is here.  I spoke with her at the Downtown Bay Forum last week and she talked about how she had rejected the bogus endorsement of the radical right, and talked a great deal about how Florida law often puts the state itself at a disadvantage.   A thouughtful, honest woman and you should vote for her.  I am.  

There's a lot more, but the most important is this.  Vote.  It matters directly to you and your city.  And it's easy.  Early voting runs through August 11.  You can see more information at this Elections Website 

Kevin Vericker
August 5, 2012.

Endorsing David Richardson for State Rep (North Bay Village, Miami Beach, Downtown and Calle Ocho)

David Richardson is running for State Rep in our district and after meeting and discussing our issues with the all three candidates for the post, Richardson is clearly the most aware of our local issues and has the clearest idea of how to fix the state finances.  

Let's start with the money.  It's easy enough for a candidate to promise to cut waste and fraud.  Then the candidate gets elected, finds out how complicated it is and never speaks of it again.  David is different.  

He has the background in government finance and experience in business to look at every budget and financial issue with a sharp, fresh eye.   It's in his DNA.  

This fiscal responsiblity is my main reason for supporting Richardson but there are others.  

I spoke with him at some length about the issues facing North Bay Village and all the coastal communities.  Certainly, Citizens Insurance is a huge problem and all three candidates have acknowledged that, but only Richardson was able to talk about the issues we face with the State Department of Transportation, often at cross purposes to our own use of the causeway (think about how it's been under repair for six years and that nasty dog pound fence on the south side of the bridge between Treasure Island and North Bay Island) and about the larger issues of abandoned properties and their seawalls.   

Richardson did not promise miracles on these points.  He is experienced enough  to know that no single state rep can change the world and is not willing to pander through promises that cannot be kept.  But he listens, hard and well, and promises to work with North Bay Village and for us in Tallahassee on these and other state issues.   

His opponents, Kravitz and Weithorn, have much to recommend them in the general sense, but neither has shown that they get the day to day issues created by the state government on North Bay Village.  .  

I urge you to vote for him on August 14 and to check out his website by clicking here.  

I will be out walking again today on Treasure Island so maybe we can talk more.  

Kevin Vericker

July 29, 2012

Our Commission Disgraced Itself This Week

Seriously, we have four people on the dais, only one of whom was elected, and they could not manage to fill the vacancy left by Dr. Vogel.

Connie and Eddie Lim-Kreps, true to their singular nature, could think of no better candidate than Al Blake, the self proclaimed "friend and emissary" of strip club Scott Greenwald, and they promoted him vigorously, brooking no arguments about other possibilities.

On the opposing team (yet oddly the one appointed by the Lim-Kreps team under the aegis of their sponsors), commishes Chervony and Blumberg were promoting Ken Stowe of North Bay Island, who seems like a nice guy but he was really there as an "anybody but Blake".

So they bickered back and forth for a full hour, neither side willing to concede anything or look for a compromise candidate.  After wasting an hour of their time that they could have used doing something constructive, the commission decided to violate the charter, ignore the rules of democracy and leave the seat vacant with no plans to fill it.  Their only obligation, fill a seat that has de facto been vacant for a year and a half, and they couldn't manage it.

Then just to make sure that the evening had all the  class of the Jerry Springer show, Mayor Connie Lim-Kreps let the defeated Al Blake interrupt the meeting so he could toss shade on Blumberg.  Blake actually went to the podium to say, "well, commissioner Blumberg, if you want new blood, why not nominate my wife?"  (Maybe because his wife has been around forever?  And we know her?)

The vice mayor Eddie Lim-Kreps felt obligated to state that a withdrawn resolution by commissioner Blumberg was "stupid."   Eddie Lim-Kreps used to adhere to the Rotary Club principles of debate but as the  realities of governing have exceeded his intellectual capacity, now merely sits and babbles nonsense occasionally interspersed with gratuitous insults.   Not exactly a source of pride, that Eddie.

After all the hysteria of recalls, accusations hurled, lives damaged, the gridlock caused by the Lim-Kreps team, the unconscionable abuse of Paul Vogel, the  checks signed in the dark, after all that, when the coup so profoundly desired and executed by Al Blake and the twins was successful, the Lim Krep twins can't even hold on to the people they hand picked .

Eddie Lim-Kreps is not on the ballot this November, but everyone else is.  Here's an idea.  Throw them all out.  Every one.  

Kevin Vericker
July 27 ,2012

Wednesday night is the continuation of the commission meeting that ran until 4 AM on July 10/11.  

I have attached the agenda below.  

The first key issue is the appointment of a commissioner from North Bay Island to fill the vacant seat.  I doubt if the commission will fill this seat.  It most likely will be left vacant as it has been for over two years until the election.  It's hard to see how they could agree on a candidate for the seat.  

Following this item, there is a laundry list of discussion items.  There should not be.  Besides the absolutely essential business of the commission such as deciding the vacant seat and ordinances that must be heard, the commission should concentrate purely on the budget for the rest of the season and nothing else.  

Any item that can be deferred until October should be.  There's not much else that a commission during a budget crisis and a commission with only elected member should be working on.  The rest are big idea aganeda items that should be part of the November campaign.  

Here is the agenda for you.  

Kevin Vericker

July 23, 2012

Special City Com Mtg 7-25-2012

SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012 WATER NOTICE

As pf 6 PM. the water pressure seems to be normalized.

THERE IS NO BOIL WATER IN EFFECT but you should should check to see if one is put in later in the day.

I will update the blog if I hear of one.  ..

So I promised to get to the finances but not today.

Last week, I promised I would post about the city finances but I have not.  I won't be posting on them today either for the simple reason that the finances are still being reined in.  Dennis Kelly has spent more time on this than any other aspect and now that the audit is done for the year ending September 30, 2011 and the special review by Deede Weithorn is complete, there is new reporting in place.  

I haven't had time to review all of the new reports but in a nutshell, it is looking like we have achieved the reserve account balances we need and are reasonably close to budget.  That's a good thing.  

Dennis Kelly has been the subject of some controversy from the dais, with two commissioners publicly calling for his removal.   While I understand their frustrations, I have come to believe that the city is a much better place  than it was six months ago when Dennis Kelly took over.  NBV will be much better if the commission drops the idea of replacing him.  

I understand the commissioners' concerns and when they came out last month at the commission meeting, I thought it best to reserve judgment, believing as I do that Dennis Kelly needs a chance.  Well what I've seen is that Kelly has more than lived up to responsibilities, has the administration on the right track and is finally cleaning up the morass of our finances. 

North Bay Village has suffered tremendously under unprofessional interim management for two solid years and it shows.   No progress was made on any of the key issues.  The boards had fallen fallow.  Our finances were a mystery.    And it's no easy task to clean that up.  

The city now has transparent financial reporting, Kelly has been active with the boards, steering them and containing, been open to new ideas and willing to share his reasoning and experience.   I'm impressed.  

I'm hoping the two commissioners will de-escalate the current conflict, declare a new starting point and work with the city manager.  This is not to say forget what the concerns are, but figure out how to move forward.  Kelly is a good man for this city and the results are showing.  


Kevin Vericker
July 18, 2012