What a Difference A Day Makes

Timeline:  

September 11, 2018 North Bay Village Commission Meeting

Vice Mayor Andreana Jackson moved to fire the Village Clerk on the grounds that her incidental appearance in a campaign video diary was an illegal endorsement of two candidates.  According to reports in the Miami Herald, the Village Attorney had approved the filming and no one could cite the law that had been violated.  

September 28, 2018 North Bay Village Commission Meeting

Commissioner Laura Cattabriga describes the allegation that the former Village Clerk somehow was promoting two candidates by being incidentally filmed in campaign video diary as "disturbing."   Then Cattabriga votes to pay the clerk not to sue but describes the payment as a nice thing to do for a long time employee, like the flowers, but not the vase, that the commission bought for her.  

September 29, 2018 The Miami Herald

The Herald article on the video incident  includes a description of how the matter had been turned over to the State Attorney Office for criminal investigation and the possibility that the clerk and the two candidates could face fines and even jail time.  Village Attorney Norman C. Powell was quoted in the same article saying "when anyone calls me I have an obligation to report it" and denied having been consulted about the video beforehand.   

October 3, 2018 My House

A campaign flier from Laura Cattabriga arrives and includes a photo of two uniformed police officers, a North Bay Village employee, and several children at a North Bay Village event.

Understand that the layout was approved, the printing done, the mailer set while all the while Cattabriga was joining in on the gang fight to fire the Village Clerk for ... appearing in a campaign video diary.  

Whether this was done with approval of the Police Department, the consent of the two officers, the consent of the Village Employee or the parents' consent is not clear as the interim police chief has referred all questions to the Village Attorney as this is could be a legal violation of our Charter and State Law and the police don't involve themselves in criminal matters.  

Lewis Velken, the interim Village Manager has not replied to any questions.   

My view:  There will be no consequences for Cattabriga.  She is the preferred candidate of the people who get paid by the Village.  The law only applies to candidates that they worry about.  

Andreana Jackson practicing international diplomacy

In the meantime, Vice Mayor Andreana Jackson is reported to be taking time out from her international diplomatic efforts supporting the people of Taiwan to wobble around town wondering if a mayoral candidate actually leaves here, according to several people who have run into her at various food buffets.   

So there's that.  

Kevin Vericker

October 7, 2018

Laura Cattabriga - Uses The Police As Campaign Props

Officers Lisa Gittner and Frank Pliega of the  North Bay Village PD

Less than a week after the Miami Herald story and less than a month after Village Clerk Yvonne Hamilton was accused of violating State and North Bay Village law when she was filmed accepting candidate qualifications from Julianna Strout and Marvin Wilmoth, Laura Cattabriga sent out a campaign flier featuring two in uniform North Bay Village police officers.   

 Now whether the officers had "permission" to appear in the ad, were supporting her campaign, or had their images used without their consent, this is shocking malfeasance from a commissioner who claims to have been greatly disturbed by an innocent video appearance and joined in the bullying that led to Ms. Hamilton's resignation.  

Cattabriga!  

Kevin Vericker

October 4, 2018

Implications and Imprecations

Julianna Strout

The fallout from the commission's unjustified decision to drive out Village Clerk Yvonne Hamilton, the last adult in the room in our government, continues to dominate our elections.   

For those who don't know what happened. on September 11th, the mayor and vice mayor teamed up to take a Commission on Ethics complaint written by the mayor and  present it as founded in order to insult and bully Yvonne Hamilton out of her position as Village Clerk.  The key piece of information the mayor withheld, even when directly asked, was that the Commission on Ethics found that the complaint was not justified and there was no reason to take any action.  You can read the results of that investigation here.  

In a second and equally disturbing attack, the mayor and vice mayor also went after Ms. Hamilton because the candidate for commissioner at large, Julianna Strout, and commissioner from Harbor Island, Marvin Wilmoth, were filmed submitting their campaign qualification documents to the Village Clerk.  According to Strout and the videographer, they had received permission to do so by Ms. Hamilton and in the same account, this was cleared with Village Attorney Norman C. Powell.  But even had they not, the public is entitled to record most government business transactions, with specific exceptions in criminal matters and involving children, in the State of Florida.   Hamilton neither speaks nor displays any message of support for the candidates and in fact, does not speak at all on the video.  

Well that was enough for our Vice Mayor and Mayor to throw around wild accusations that somehow in exercising their right to record government transactions, North Bay Village Candidates Julianna Strout and Marvin Wilmouth were being supported by the Village Clerk and the clerk needed to be fired immediately.  

This is normally the point where the Village Attorney might step in, remind the dais that per Jose Arrojo of the Commission on Ethics that it was hard to imagine even the most expansive reading of the ordinances governing officials and elections could not support the view that a crime had occurred.  That did not happen.  Instead our Village Attorney sat back and told the dais that the issue had been referred to the State Attorney's Office for investigation, which it had.  No mention was made of the CoE emails to the village about the absurdity of it, and later Arrojo was quoted as saying he did this "out of an abundance of caution."  My guess is he did it under pressure from the Village Administration.  

Vice Mayor Jackson and Mayor Kreps failed at the September 11th meeting to fire Hamilton but a toxic work environment and a hostile atmosphere led to her decision to resign and accept a settlement of five months salary for her mistreatment.   There's only so much a dignified professional can take.  

Mayoral pretender and faux commissioner Laura Cattabriga even had the cara dura to lie straight up as she enthusiastically voted to settle in lieu of a lawsuit that this was just a nice thing to do for a long term employee, kind of a bonus, when in fact it was an agreement not sue over a hostile work environment.  Cattabriga!  She has such a unique perspective.  

Back to our story.  Like the time that Cattabriga et al decided to create a media frenzy over the Hurricane Party, where several of our police had already been disciplined for their conduct during Hurricane Irma, someone decided to go to the media with the story of how Julianna Strout and Marvin Wilmoth were involved in this totally legal video.   In the article, the dead on arrival allegations that the video somehow violated state law and the North Bay Village charter are restated.  Jose Arrojo again brings in his view that even under an expansive reading of the law, it's hard to see how there was a problem.   

So with Hamilton gone, what's the purpose of pushing this false narrative?  

I'm worried.  And you should be too.  This narrative that Julianna Strout and Marvin Wilmoth were wrongly exercising their rights as citizens of Florida to somehow undermine an election is not supportable, but in North Bay Village, our top employees are worried about their lucrative positions come November when it looks to all reasonable observers that Cattabriga will lose the mayoralty and that two commission seats will be filled by people who get that North Bay Village needs to be run for the benefit of the residents not the employees.   

The Village Clerk, now occupied by an interim sure to be confirmed, plays a key role in our elections process.  I am concerned that since it has become clear that Julianna Strout does not face serious opposition since her opponent has not made any campaign moves, and since Marvin Wilmoth is unopposed in the At Large race, there will be an unhealthy and extralegal move made on them to fill the seats with commissioners more to the liking of the top employees whose livelihood depends on the current commission makeup.  

Think I'm crazy?  Okay, I'll go with that but maybe I'm not wrong.   Just consider what's happened this year:

• In spite of the clearly spelled out provisions in our charter (Section 307.b) as how a commission seat forfeiture should be handled, the commission voted in a sneak attack to remove Doug Hornsby.  The lawsuit is working its way through the court but there is little question that his removal was illegal. 
• In spite of strong state laws protecting whistleblowers, the administration fired Carlos Noriega, our police chief, and the two detectives who were investigating corruption in our village.  The lawsuits are working through the courts now.  
• In spite of there being no such obligation, Village Manager Marlen Martell was given $127,000 in payments not to sue the village for her treatment.   Deputy Manager Yolanda Menegazzo got $22,000 after 30 days employment  not to sue, Village Clerk Yvonne Hamilton got five months salary not to sue and the same offers were given to others who did not take the money.   
• In spite of there being no precedent, our village attorney has a four year contract and a pre-agreement of nearly a year's salary, you guessed it, not to sue.  

The list goes on so it's not hard to imagine that when the election turns out the way the village residents want, these same underhanded tactics might be used to create a commission friendlier (read: in debt.) to the current paid employees.  

I could be wrong.  I hope I'm wrong.  

During the campaign, Laura Cattabriga supported by her campaign consulting firm, who not incidentally are the chief lobbyists for unfettered development and strip clubs, will spread rumors, disinformation and wild accusations to try to secure her election.  Watch for it.  It's coming.  

Kevin Vericker

October 2, 2018

Setting Course In Record time - Tuesday Night

There were two meetings of our lame duck commission this week, both of them on Tuesday night.   

The first one, at 6:30 PM was to approve the budget for 2018-2019.  As this is the commission's most important job, and we are at a critical time where we have an interim village manager without the experience of municipal budgeting*, you could have easily expected the meeting to last until midnight as it often has in the past.  

*In fairness to Lewis Velken, he has been clear about this.

You would be wrong.  

The meeting was done in a record breaking forty  one minutes.

   

The commission simply doesn't have questions and with their new policy of not listening to advisory boards and ignoring public comment, it was a highly streamlined process which none of them understood.  

Mayor Connie Crazy-Eyes and Mayor Candidate Laura Cattabriga desperately tried to get Bert Wrains to find a property, any property, in North Bay Village that would not be facing a tax increase for next year but Wrains, who is a finance guy, not a magician, could not produce the unicorn.   

Still, they congratulated themselves on cutting taxes (they didn't) and Cattabriga sent out an email claiming she had.  

They took a break and then moved on to their next meeting, at either 8 PM if you get your information from the Village website or 8:30 PM if you get your information from the LED signs around town.   It was just a small matter - a complete rewrite of our code regarding construction on the causeway.   Highlights include:

• Allowances up to 400 feet (~40 stories) for new buildings
• Less parking
• Decreased setbacks so buildings can be closer to the Causeway
• Loosening the restrictions on how money collected from developers can be spent
• Decreasing the size of units
• Allowing mechanical parking
• Swimming pool sizes

And a laundry list of other changes including dock sizes and pavers on the sidewalk.   

This wholesale change was deemed so important that the commission spent a cool 1 hour and 15 minutes.  And they even had some questions.  

Now why this is all important is that developers feel that they cannot profitably flip their parcels without a loosening of standards.   

We've been through this before of course.  The building of the Lexi, the Fortress 360, the Bridgewater and other condos were all going to bring great tax revenues, large impact fees that would surely develop a baywalk and parks, and allow us to fix our sewers without raising taxes.  But they didn't.  

Tuesday night they simply wrapped virtually everything the developers have wanted into one ordinance, called a special meeting and passed the first reading.  

There will be a second reading, sometime in the future, October 9 maybe?, where they will consider if it needs fine tuning.  Shuckers has already told them that Shuckers won't participate in the Bay Walk project so they can be expected to put that in but the simple suggestion made by two North Bay Island residents was ignored.  The suggestion was that since the commission were dealing with a variety of separate issues - public spaces, buildings, finance, traffic, parking, docks, sidewalk colors - the commission might want to consider breaking them up into separate ordinances.  The members stared blankly and wondered whether to have them removed but finally decided to ignore them.   

After passing it 4 in favor and 1 against:  Commissioner Jose Alvarez, on whom I have been very hard, voting against.  (I may need to rethink it.) 

Mayor Kreps took time to praise that it's a "New Day in North Bay Village" and sadly I think she believes it.  

Mayoral candidate Laura Cattabriga wasted no time sending an email touting her view that this the smart development that North Bay Village needs.  I bet she spent more time typing the message than she did at the meeting.  

Unmentioned Tuesday night was that Laura Cattabriga's campaign manager, just like her political mentor, Kreps, is being run by the same lobbyist who represents almost all of the developers who want to do flip properties in North Bay Village.  She made it easier for them.  

Kevin Vericker

September 29, 2018

Why Settle?

While Laura Cattabriga slithers around the Village claiming that our current fiscal strategy of hiring and firing people as fast as we can is working wonders for our money, tonight we are facing yet another "waiver of the right to sue" disguised as a settlement package.  

We have had two of those executed this year, most famously when the Village Manager was requested to resign 4 months after starting and she received $127,000 plus a year's insurance to agree not to sue, then the Deputy Village Manager who had a mere 30 days got $21,000.   

In another situation, the former police chief was offered a settlement but he turned it down preferring to keep his dignity and integrity unbought.  

That's a lot of money not to be sued.  It's 30% of our current operating reserve and about 4% of annual budget.   

Tonight, the commission is meeting yet again to approve another "waiver of the right to sue" for the Village Clerk, Yvonne Hamilton, who was brutally disrespected by our mayor and vice mayor in the September 11th meeting.  You can watch the bogus attacks on her here at 1 hour and 44 minutes.  

Problem 1 - This Is Not Normal:

The cliché is that anybody can sue for anything.  But the question is will they prevail?   Can you imagine any company you ever worked for giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars in waiver settlements and the top management never asking "Why?"   Yet that's exactly what's happening in North Bay Village.  

None of our commission members are asking why and to his great credit, Commissioner Jose Alvarez, who I have criticized strongly in the past, has taken a No position on each of the settlements because he knows it's not normal.  

Eddie Lim has also voted against it.  

Laura Cattabriga, who is a consummate politician which means that tells you what you want to hear, voted for the Martell settlement without asking a single question.   After all, it's not her money.  

I predict tonight she will vote for the settlement "reluctantly" because it is of great benefit to her politically to have the honest clerk removed from office.  I hope I'm wrong.  I'm not wrong.  

Problem 2 - The Village Clerk Is The Elections Supervisor

In North Bay Village, the Village Clerk is also the Elections supervisor.  This is a usual dual role and ensures that our elections are done to form.   

I am deeply concerned that the reason Yvonne Hamilton is being forced out is to clear the way for a clerk who will manipulate the election.  It's common belief that Laura Cattabriga is likely to lose the election, and if she does, several very highly paid Village employees are likely to find their gravy train off the tracks.  

An elections supervisor can raise doubt a candidate's legitimacy and even disqualify them.  The process is then expensive and time consuming to fix and in the meantime we continue to pay all involved.  

Assuming that the settlement passes, watch for shenanigans closely.  It's going to get crazy.  

Kevin Vericker

September 21, 2018

What's Worse Than Getting SLAPPED?

Given that today's article in the Miami Herald about the Village Attorney's attempt to sue me into silence is forefront in my mind, it's probably a good time to remember that I am not alone.  

If you haven't seen today's article, I recommend that you go to the Miami Herald by clicking here.  I am one often loud and always clear voice in the village.   But there are others who are not loud and who are not showy.  

On the video from September 11, you can watch the mayor's authoritarian ruling that citizens do not have the right to speak during Good & Welfare, a time that is set aside for residents to bring governmental issues forward that are on not on the agenda, if the mayor does not like what you have to say.  

You can see it here.   Go to 44 minutes in the video and watch through 56 minutes and you will see two residents who are concerned about close mayoral confidante being appointed to and remaining on village boards after her arrest.   

The issue is real but far more important is that Laura Cattabriga, who is running for mayor, stood by and said nothing as this act of suppression was carried out in plain sight.  

This is scarier than what's happening to me.  

Our mayor knows or should have known or should have been reminded that Good & Welfare is open to all residents and their concerns which may not be on the agenda.   The mayor's claim that residents must not speak because the item was not on the agenda was wrong and possibly illegal.   

But the other commissioners, including Cattabriga, sat silently as this was carried out and our attorney/parliamentarian said nothing.   

Later in that same meeting, at 1 Hour and 44 minutes, a different version of distortion and silencing happened.  Yvonne Hamilton, our Village Clerk of 16 years, was the target of a deliberately misleading attack by our mayor and vice mayor who were demanding she be fired.  

The misleading part was that Jackson claimed that Julianna Strout, candidate for At-Large Commissioner, and Marvin Wilmoth, candidate for Harbor Island Commissioner, did not have the right to film their interaction with Yvonne Hamilton as they submitted their petitions.  But they do.  

In Florida, under the Sunshine Law, citizens have the right to record and video almost all their transactions with the government and had the clerk tried to stop them, Hamilton would have been violating the law.   To attack Hamilton for transparency was chilling.  

This time Cattabriga spoke but appallingly, she took the view that this exercise of free speech was "disturbing."  

Our legal counsel, who should know the law, instead spoke about how this matter was with the State Attorney's Office instead.   

Laura Cattabriga has been going around town "forget about the past.  Let's move forward." but she is both the past and the present.  The future, well, we can predict it and there's every reason to believe it will look just like the present.  

Kevin Vericker

September 17, 2018

Miami Beach and North Bay Village

Last night I had the opportunity to be at the Miami Beach Commission meeting.  I attended because they were considering a discussion about annexing North Bay Village.  (It was on their public agenda.  Anyone could have attended.)  

The Miami Beach Commission decided to refer the matter to their Finance Committee to study and report on the impact.  

During the discussion, the attorney made it clear that this was a long process, one that would involve the Miami Beach Commission deciding if they want to propose an annexation.  If they do, then it would have to be voted on by the North Bay Village Commission, the residents of North Bay Village, and approved by the Miami Dade Commission.   It's not the hostile takeover that our mayor characterized this as but a considered discussion at to whether or not North Bay Village and North Beach should be a mutually beneficial entity.  

We have bigger problems than a less than square mile village can handle.   Sea level rise is real and a regional approach is needed.  We have nowhere for recreation.  We are split in our school feeder patterns.  And that doesn't even consider our shambles of a government.  

They may not even want us.  We face huge infrastructure and legal issues.  North Bay Village has historically prided itself on not being Miami Beach.   And we risk being lost in the behemoth of Miami Beach.   

So I said last night that I hope this discussion goes forward regardless of where it leads.   It needs to be had and we need to figure out what's best for all of us.  

What pleased me was the curiosity of the dais and civility of the discussion.  

This is big and unlike our knee jerk reactions, is being considered in a logical and dispassionate way.  No screaming about "hostile takeovers", no doomsday predictions, no insults, just an often contentious commission discussing the value of a thought.   That was pretty cool.  

Kevin Vericker

September 14, 2018