Carlos Noriega Reinstatement Is Definitely On The Table

Last January, in a frighteningly named "Shadow Meeting" our commission met with the attorney from the League of Cities, as well as then Village Attorney Norman Powell and Lewis Velken, a contractor posing as Village Manager, to discuss the Noriega Lawsuit in a meeting excepted from Sunshine.   

These meetings are supposed to be confidential until the matter is resolved, although at least two of our commissioners seem to believe they are under the seal of the confessional.   The meetings are not and become public record once the matter is litigated.  

Anyway, this town is a porous as our sewer lines and very little stays confidential.  According to second hand and third hand reports, the commission was told that if the matter goes to jury trial, Noriega would prevail and the village could be on the hook for both reinstatement and punitive damages.   

The commission was asked about settlement options including reinstatement and rejected the option of reinstatement, based on one commissioner's concern that Noriega had investigated the spouse of another commissioner, and on two false narratives presented to them, both now debunked, about Noriega.   

Well we all know what happened next.  It was uncovered that the Village Manager position was being paid through a third party.  The Florida Retirement System opened an investigation and the manager resigned, and after initially denying any knowledge of the payment scheme, emails emerged showing that the Village Attorney knew at least as long ago as September 2018 that this was going on and he resigned.   

The Village went into negotiations this week with Noriega and according to third hand reports, started out with the firm position that reinstatement was off the table.   A deal not including reinstatement was proposed and the Village Commission needs to vote on this offer April 9.   

"Shadow Meetings" suck.  The firing of Noriega and the dismantling of the North Bay Village civic structure was done right out in the open by former Mayor Kreps and her colluders, ruining reputations and leaving the village to a group of self interested incompetents but suddenly fixing this must be confidential?  I will continue to fight for the information to be public.   

The worst part about this super secret negotiation this week is that the commission's position was highly influenced by two provably false allegations.   

There has been no follow up meeting with the commissioners to lay the evidence out that the allegations of insubordination and improper searches may not have happened as presented, and so the January position stood. 

Our current Village Manager Ralph Rosado, and our current Village Attorney, Dan Espino, had an absolute obligation to call a second meeting as the new information became available to inform the commission of the facts they now had so the commission could make an informed decision.   That did not happen.   

Our commissioners are citizen volunteers and rely on the professional and legal advice of the people who are paid to provide it.   The net effect of failing to inform the commission is that now obsolete information informed a bad decision and a bad faith negotiation.   

The commission should listen to the community, who were very pleased at how Noriega reconstructed the police department, and the commission should demand that the staff they hire ensure that they have all relevant information at the right time.   

The deal as reportedly negotiated stinks.  It was done in bad faith, without a properly informed commission, it did not take into account the community desires which should count for something, and restated a position that neither our current attorney or current manager had been part of.  

The vote is April 9 but before then, the commission should hold an open meeting to discuss the deal on the table, get the community input on the settlement, lay out the accusations and decide based on the best information available if Noriega should be reinstated.  

Otherwise, it's just the same dirty self serving politics that brought this village to its knees.  We'll be stuck.  

Kevin Vericker

March 28, 2019 

Mediation and Restoration

The new commission walked into an intentionally complicated mess left by the previous mayor and commission.  This week, their ability to clean it up will be tested as the mediation for Carlos Noriega's lawsuit is on the calendar.  Noriega, our former police chief, is suing for reinstatement to his job in North Bay Village.  

The lawsuit comes as there is a search on  for a Village Attorney and a Village Manager and it seems that the commission have selected a new Village Clerk, pending a final contract.  

Noriega filed suit after his dismissal, stating that he had been fired in retaliation for a whistle-blower complaint against then Village Attorney Norman C. Powell among other allegations.   

Noriega is not looking for money but rather reinstatement to his position and even the Village's defense team concede that the Village is not likely to prevail in a jury trial.   The evidence is very strong that the firing of Noriega was motivated by fear of investigations into what may be criminal acts.  

Since any settlement will ultimately have to be approved by the commission, in this case it is the commission that will have to make the decision to rehire Noriega or to offer a financial settlement,  most likely well over $1 million.  

Noriega is firm in his stance that what he wants is not the money but his position restored and himself made whole.   

And there's no good reason not to in my view.   

Noriega built the police back up in the community, always acted with integrity with his employers, restructured the department to be focused on police services, not personnel fights, and most importantly did not let politics get in the way of where the evidence in investigations are leading.  

It's important to know that North Bay Village's system of government is based on the weak commission/strong administration structure.   In that structure, the elected mayor and commission act as a board of directors setting general policy, legislation, funding and is responsible for only three direct reports - the Village Attorney, the Village Manager and the Village Clerk.  

The idea behind this is that the work of governing is carried out by professionals with experience and knowledge to execute the direction set by the commission and in particular, the Village Manager is responsible for all personnel decisions including hiring and firing, with the narrow exception of department heads who must be approved by the commission.   

It's a good idea but under the chaotic tenure of Connie Leon-Kreps, it fell into bad company and the structure was turned on its head by a series of ill advised and executed hirings and firings of the three principal positions.   

Following the revelation of an extortion attempt on then Commissioner Doug Hornsby and the subsequent criminal investigations into the same, Kreps and her cronies fired the Village Attorney and replaced him with one who had no experience of being a municipal attorney, hired and then fired a Village Manager, and drove the longest serving North Bay Village employee, Village Clerk Yvonne Hamilton, to resign.  

Among the many intended consequences of this descent into chaos was the firing of Police Chief Carlos Noriega and the two detectives who were working on the extortion case and other issues.   

The sole reason given to Noriega was that the then Village Manager, Marlen Martell, wanted to take the police department in a "different direction."  

The manager then hired Lewis Velken to be chief of police before being fired herself for failing to provide fireworks to celebrate Kreps.   

Velken in turn had to resign as it became public that he was not technically a village employee and is under investigation for an attempt to skirt the Florida Retirement System rules.  

So as I said, it's a mess and the commission needs to do the hard work to clean it up.  

There are naysayers.   Several police employees and at least one previous charter officer have been going around town and to the media to claim that two incidents that happened under Noriega demonstrate that he was a terrible leader.  

The first one is easily disproved.  There was a hiring freeze announced while the police were recruiting and the claim has been made that Noriega was insubordinate and continued to recruit anyway. 

Noriega didn't and part of the evidence in his suit is documentation that he stopped the hiring interviews when directed to. 

So half a fact - there was a hiring freeze - with a little lie - Noriega ignored it is one big reason. 

The second one is even worse.  There was an investigation into a murder suspect that led to the police entering an illegally occupied apartment.   No one was harmed but the squatters claimed that it was upsetting.   The entry had been approved by the State Attorney, carried out under strict protocol and approved by the owners of the unit.    There is simply nothing there. 

But that hasn't stopped this last minute slandering trying to present Noriega as bad for the Village.

The commission has to right the wrong done to Noriega and now, more than ever, they need a police chief we can trust.  Brian Collins has done a heroic job keeping the force intact but does not want the job and never did, so it's only sensible that the commission get the PD back on the right track. 

I hope they understand this and offer a reinstatement quickly, like tomorrow.   The commission was elected to do the right thing and this is clearly the right course.

Kevin Vericker
March 25, 2019

An Exciting Cloud of Dullness

Well, I'm not going to go so far as to say I miss the old days of two weeks ago when our commission meetings were straight up exercises in unrestrained temper tantrums punctuated by brightly colored strutting egos flailing up against each other in a non-mating ritual designed to establish dominance for its own sake, but I can't say I don't miss it either.

Tuesday's meeting on the surface was an exercise in solid, rational governance.  

Let's go through the highlights.  

Women's History Month:  For the first  time, North Bay Village took the step of recognizing Women's History Month and acknowledged the struggle, the successes and the simple fact that women in North Bay Village are the key in every level of civic life.   Among the women honored were Anne Baskt, Rivien Murphy, Doris O’Hare, Jodie Wilmoth. Julianna Strout, Andreana Jackson and the  North Bay Village Staff.

Well noted and well discussed was an event sponsored by Commissioner Julianna Strout last Friday in honor of International Women's Day.  I wasn't there but from all reports it was an exceptionally intelligent and well received panel discussion on the lives of Miami women in 2019.   

Strout has committed to keeping this event, monthly if possible, to keep women's issues inculcated into North Bay Village's civic life.   And when Commissioner Strout makes up her mind, there is no barrier to getting it done.  

Personal Hero:  Ms. Sissy Shute of North Bay Island, who I've named Hurricane Sissy because of the force of her personality, was overlooked and she should not have been.  Sissy has dedicated time, money, resources, her home and her passion to improving the lives of all North Bay Villagers and always spotlighting and supporting the women leaders of our community.   I hope the commission takes a step to acknowledge her singular efforts to improve life for all of us.  

A Taost To Sissy Shute

The Sustainability and Resiliency Task Force:  Led by Deni O'Brien, the task force has begun focusing on the global issue of climate change and the local North Bay Village response.   

We hit the jackpot with O'Brien.  A retired international worker with UN, O'Brien brings the right global perspective with the knowledge of local issues and they are off to a good start.   

The Dog Park:   a simple straightforward coding change frees up the Village to place a dog park on the Sakura lot while construction is evaluated and allows for the Village to use our land for this purpose in the future.   It's funny how doing the right thing is boring and obvious.   But this has been on our list of needs for almost 8 years and doing the right thing the right way actually moved it forward.  

Charter Positions:  Our Interim Clerk Graciela Mariot has taken another position.   The commission voted to enter into negotiations with Elora Rivera, deputy clerk of Surfside, who comes well recommended by the search committee headed by Pamela Latimore, city clerk of North Miami Beach.   If the contract is successful that's one office filled.  

As regards the Village Attorney, we are being supported in the interim by Dan Espino of Weiss Serota and what a difference it makes.   Espino competently guided the commissioners through the legal implications of their legislation and acted throughout as a counselor.  A stark contrast to the last year.  

In a discussion item, Brent Latham put forth that the search committee should continue their search even though the first deadline had passed.  

His reasoning was simple since there are two new important factors here.  

With the drama and meltdowns of the previous administration, it's likely that otherwise qualified and interested firms backed away, not wanting to be the latest powder keg in a badly managed government but now that there is a restoration of sanity, we might be able to attract a wider pool.  

The second factor is to consider the idea of the village hiring an attorney on staff, which has much merit.   It would put the role inside the Village HR, allowing for things like proper background checks, performance evaluations and most importantly, the attorney can respond to changing needs in the Village and not be bound by contract.   There may be downsides but the commission agreed to consider this.   

The Projects:  Now it gets a little less enthusiastic.  Kimley-Horn is nearing the end but in spite of the pressure from the dais and the residents, remains weirdly reluctant to open, simple communication.   Following a long layout of the facts, there was no simple answer to when the project would be finished, even a good estimate, and no commitment to informing the residents 24 hours in advance of water shutoffs.   This is a major issue and I hope the commission considers this failure in future dealings with Kimley-Horn.   

Storage Facilities:  There is one proposed on the lot next to Happy's.   It will come before the commission in the near future.  It needs to be rejected and I hope it will be.   

But the mayor did propose and the commission passed a resolution putting a moratorium for 6 months on any new storage facilities.   They hope during this period to review economic and community impact of all new projects in order to clearly favor those with a positive impact. 

NAP TIME!

Kevin Vericker
March 15, 2019

What Leadership Looks Like

Last night we saw what genuine leadership can accomplish in North Bay Village.  The Village has been stuck in the quagmire of Krepsian hires and it felt like we were spinning out of control.  

Last night the commission and Norman Powell agreed to go their separate ways.  But not after a nasty public fight with threats and charges of racism thrown at the mayor, who stood firm against the badgering of the outgoing attorney and the outlandish bullying of Commission Jackson.   

For the details of the meeting, see Sarah Blaskey's excellent article here in the Miami Herald.  

I just want to focus for today on how the discussion went.   

Mayor Brent Latham was clear and factual on how Norman Powell failed to gain the trust of the commission and the many issues that Powell has presented in North Bay Village, not the least of which is Powell's involvement in the Velken matter and the many missteps Powell has taken.  

Latham was calm, focused and did not get distracted by the badgering by Andreana Jackson.  When Norman Powell cried "racism" and disputed Latham's concern over a near physical altercation by Powell with him, Latham, last Tuesday, one in which the police got involved, Latham kept his cool.   

We have the adult we need leading the commission.   

Vice Mayor Marvin Wilmoth

There is another face of leadership that needs to be recognized.  

Vice Mayor Marvin Wilmoth who has so far taken an analytic role on the dais, carefully evaluating the information provided, was a calm voice of insistent reason in the contentious meeting.  Wilmoth firmly and calmly kept promoting that the mayor, the labor attorney and Powell figure a way out of this mess and they sit down and get it done.  

It didn't seem possible until it was done.  

After a long recess, Powell agreed to terms, far too generous in my view, to leave without further degrading the Village and the commission voted 5-0 to accept the deal and move along.  

It would be easy to overlook Wilmoth's contribution but it was important and focused and got the commission unstuck.   

So a big hat's off to both the Mayor and the Vice Mayor.   

There's a lot coming at us down the road.  The fallout of 8 years of bad governance and the challenges the Village faces are real and are not going to be solved overnight.  But last night showed that focused leadership in its many dimensions is the right way.  

So let's all take a breath and appreciate that we are on the right road.  

(Sorry for the insipid sincerity of this post but you know it's big when I can't even make jokes.  I expect I'll resume snarking next week.)  

Kevin Vericker

March 1, 2019

Arrested Development

(Correction below) Let's start with one definition of "arrested."  According to Dictionary.com, the third definition is "verb (used with object) ... to check the course of; stop; slow down: to arrest progress."

If you want to see arrested development, then just look at our causeway, littered with vacant lots and stalled projects.   

Now why this is the case has never really been clear.  While the rest of Miami-Dade worries about too much development, these lots have been sitting vacant for the better part of a decade, waiting for something to happen.  

Last September, in response to developer pressure, the commission passed a first reading of an omnibus ordinance to the Unified Land Development Code which addressed a broad number of the developers' issues and concerns.   It was passed by the commission at the time with minimal discussion and no public input.   

Completely unrelated, developer donations began flowing into the failed Laura Cattabriga Campaign.  

Anyway, progress on this was arrested and the second reading is now on five months later, following the elections.  There have been several open meetings discussing the changes and substantial rewrites of the ordinance.  It's complicated as heck and I'm not going to break it down here because I'm not your mommy but if you want to review it, you can see the detail here.  

In stark contrast to the previous administration, this commission is first having a public meeting, Thursday at 5 PM, at Village Hall for a discussion item to dig into the details.   You can see that agenda here.  

This is a big ordinance and I expect that the commission meeting following the P&Z will have some very significant amending to do to make it work, but that it's open and being explained bodes well for a successful outcome.  

And I won't be there as I have other commitments on Thursday but for all the Facebook warriors and the people concerned about un-arresting the developments, it matters to attend both meetings.  

Another Definition of Arrest: 

The main definition, the one we usually associate with the word is "verb (used with object) to seize (a person) by legal authority or warrant; take into custody:  The police arrested the burglar."

Sure enough, it wouldn't be a week in North Bay Village without some news on the subject.  

It seem Ron Book, our Village Lobbyist, was arrested following an incident with his Lamborghini on 595 the other day.  The Miami Herald reports:  "Well-connected state government lobbyist Ron Book, father of state Sen. Lauren Book, was booked into Broward County Jail Sunday night on DUI charges." and that "The [arrest] report says Book couldn’t complete the field sobriety tests and refused to give a breath sample at the Broward County DUI Center."

So there's that.  

Book was appointed North Bay Village lobbyist by the previous commission which bypassed the RFP process required in our charter and replaced Fausto Gomez, our longtime lobbyist, who had brought in some serious cash for Village projects over the years.   Ron Book of course is famous, well, for being famous and some think the Village was lucky to get him.  

Probably failed mayoral candidate Laura Cattabriga felt that way as Book promptly donated $2,000 to her failing campaign through two of his corporate entities, according to her campaign reports.  

North Bay Village hasn't heard from or seen Ron Book, besides paying him monthly, since the appointment which is an unusual thing.  Most lobbyists make it a point to update the administration on legislative agendas that might bring benefit to the municipality.  At least that's what Gomez did.  That's probably why they fired him although the commission did not explain their reasoning at the time. 

(Correction 2.27.2109:   to Ron Book Payments - It seems North Bay Village never actually executed the contract with Ron Book and has not been paying him.  That explains why there have been no updates.  Also, it raises the question of why and how we went through a full legislative session without anyone representing us in Tallahassee.  It seems that the previous commission, Mayor Crazy Eyes Kreps, Laura CattaKreps, Andreana Jackson and Mary Kramer's Husband voted to fire Gomez and hire Book but legal and admin just never really go it organized.)  

   

Book joins the list of North Bay Village contractors who have been arrested while working for us and I'm sure we will hear a glorious defense of how this is trivial and not related at all to his job performance.  

We'll see if Book's arrest arrests (3rd definition "impedes progress") the ability of the Village to gain some influence in Tallahassee.  

In other legal news, the Velken matter continues to simmer.  

According to several sources, the State Attorney's Office has opened an investigation in addition to the Florida Retirement System case (2019.74) inquiring as to how the Village approved a third party payment to former Village Police Chief/Manager Lewis Velken, without even a contract.   I have been told that Isis Perez is the lead on this case and that the public corruption investigators are involved.   

So our commission has their hands full.   

It will matter to be there on Thursday at 5 PM then for the second meeting at 7:30 PM as the big issue of how development will be managed on the Causeway needs to hear from the residents, not just the people who will make money off the projects.  

Kevin Vericker

February 26, 2019

Legal Amnesia

 I've been too hard on Norman C. Powell, Village Attorney for North Bay Village. 

After former Village manager, Marlen Martell, testified under oath that Powell was aware and had at least tacitly approved the extra legal payments to Stephanie Leon PA to help Lewis Velken around the FRS rules the Velken matter, he told the Miami Herald 

“That’s a complete fabrication,” Powell said. Powell told the Miami Herald that Velken made the employment arrangement without his knowledge or approval.

I've decided to take a new attitude about Powell's statements.

The old Blogger would have been all scoldy and curmudgeonly claiming that Powell was deliberately hiding the truth but the New Blogger is all woke now and completely sympathizes with the frequent memory lapses of this very accomplished attorney. 

My revelation came after reflecting on his run-in with the TSA, where in his rush to a Christian Retreat, he completely forgot to properly pack his emotional support pistol and was, according again to the Miami Herald, arrested at the airport. 

Then he forgot to tell the commission.

But then former Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps said he did tell her and that it was cool.

Old Blogger implied that this was an unlikely scenario. 

And that's when I woke and thought of another possibility. 

Maybe Norman's got a serious memory problem.

We've either all been there or we are all going there.  You know the moments we used to laugh about when our parents would stand in the middle of the kitchen and say, "Now what did I come in here for?" or when you're talking pleasantly with someone and you completely blank on their name. 

Norman's problem seems to be he's such a busy guy that he completely forgot that when he organized Velken's proposed but never executed contract as Village Manager, he knew about the 3rd party arrangement.

In September.

Of 2018.    

Fortunately, he wrote it down.

Email from September 5 between Norman Powell, North Bay Village Attorney, and David Miller, the then North Bay Village Labor Attorney. 

From: David Miller

Sent: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 11:19 AM

To: Norman Powell <NPowell@nbvillage.com>

Subject: RE: contracts

Good morning, Norman, Please see my questions below, thanks,       David C. Miller | Bryant Miller Olive

1 SE 3rd Avenue, Suite 2200 | Miami, FL 33131      (305) 374-7349 (O) | (305) 790-4404 (C)dmiller@bmolaw.com | www.bmolaw.com       Add to address book | View professional biography   NOTICE: This email message is intended only for the addressee and may contain confidential information that is legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not review, use, disseminate, or copy this message. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by telephone and delete this message.

  From: Norman Powell [mailto:NPowell@nbvillage.com]

Sent: Tuesday, September 4, 2018 4:25 PM

To: David Miller <dmiller@bmolaw.com>

Subject: RE: contracts

Importance: High

Good Afternoon David,

Attached is the Manager’s Agreement, including some minor revisions:

1.       The annual salary increased to $147,000.00. There is a $22,000.00 payment due Mr. Velken’s recruitment/temp firm. Should we put that in the Agreement as a separate item or just increase his salary. The name of the firm is Stephanie Leon, P.A. , 6625 Miami Lakes Drive #339, Miami Lakes, Florida 33014.

I’m not really understanding this. Is the payment to the recruiter a deduction from his salary? And does it recur every year? If this is simply a fee due to the recruiter based on a percentage of his salary, then it seems it would be better to be paid directly to her. If we increase his salary under those circumstances, wouldn’t we just owe her more? And if it is a deduction from his salary, I think we’ll need to put something in the contract by which he explicitly agrees to that deduction. I’ve never seen anything like that before.

2.       His retirement will begin February 1, 2019 so that there is no issues with his current retirement.

I’m not sure what that means. Does that mean he wants to opt out of FRS as far as his Village employment goes?

3.       He is currently using a Village vehicle and will just keep using it.

OK

Norman C. Powell, Esq.,

Village Attorney

Law Offices of Norman C. Powell

1666 J.F. Kennedy Causeway, Suite 420

North Bay Village, Florida 33141

Telephone: 786-275-6923

Facsimile: 786-348-0167

E-mail: npowell@nbvillage.com

So you see.  

1.)  He did know about Stephanie Leon, PA although he called her a "recruitment/temp firm."

2.)  Powell apparently did realize that paying Velken through a third party was a way around the FRS rules when he claims that the retirement date is February 2019. 

3.)  I forgot what the third thing is.  

Anyway, it's lucky that there are written records so this stuff can be addressed.

I'm certain with this reminder Norman C. Powell will review all his written documentation and provide a full report of what he knew and when he knew it to his employers, the Commission, by next Thursday.  I expect that David Miller, then our labor attorney, will do the same.

I'm sure of this because it is the ethical and honorable thing to do.

Commissoner from Treasure Island
Andreana Jackson

But this does leave Andreana Jackson in a bit of a pickle.  

You see, at the same meeting where she undoubtedly by accident said that Marlen Martell fabricated an employment agreement regarding Lewis Velken and tried very hard to find out what the finance department knew and when she also reported about a conversation she had with Lewis Velken.

Jackson stated that she had talked with Velken over the weekend and he had told her that Powell did not know about the arrangement to pay him through a third party.

And maybe Velken didn't know that Powell knew.  Maybe.  Although in sworn testimony, Martell says he did know.

Anyway, Jackson is facing a quandary.   Although she may have believed Velken, it's now clear that at least by September 4, 2018, Norman Powell was aware of the Stephanie Leon PA payment scheme and failed to inform the commission. 

Andreana Jackson owes Norman Powell an apology.  She inadvertently and relying on third parties stated something about Powell that is provably false.   It's probably not a good idea to rely on someone under investigation for your main information.

Last September, when Andreana Jackson led the mob against long-time Village Clerk Yvonne Hamilton, Jackson stated she need a clerk she could trust, and by implication that was not Hamilton.

Now that she has this information, I hope she will apply the same standard to the Village Attorney, although perhaps without the attacks on him.  After all, Jackson just wants to get to the bottom of this and move along.

Kevin Vericker
February 22, 2019

The Commission Takes Charge

Sunrise North Bay Village

The Bright

In an open, collaborative meeting on Tuesday night, the North Bay Village Commission took charge of the administration chaos.   

The big issue was the departure of Lewis Velken, the interim Village Manager, who is enveloped in a scandal alleging that he was paid through a third party to get around Florida Retirement System payment rules.   

Velken had served as police chief then village manager since April of last year but had been paid through a third party, Stephanie Leon PA, a real estate agency.  The circumstances of the arrangement are murky, with then Village Manager Marlen Martell explaining in sworn testimony that the arrangement was made with the participation of the Village Attorney Norman C. Powell. who denies all knowledge.  

The Herald article here is probably the clearest explanation.   

So with that background, I approached the commission meeting expecting it would be a replay of the last two meetings where the popular attempts to move the village forward were throttled by the ghosts of the past.  I was mostly wrong!  

First The Awards And The Proclamation

There was moving awards ceremony for people whose contributions to the community were ignored by the previous dais, a proclamation recognizing Black History Month read by Vice Mayor Marvin Wilmoth, and then moving quickly into the agenda, a resolution put forward by Commissioner Julianna Strout to support the Workforce Inclusiveness Act to support protections for LGBT workers in Florida and later expanded to also support the Workforce Competitiveness Act which covers public accommodation.   In a great move, the other four members of the dais agreed to cosponsor Commissioner Strout's Resolution.   It was a nice moment.  

Then they got to the serious business of hiring an interim village manager.  There were three strong candidates to choose from and  they unanimously selected the best, in my opinion.  Ralph Rosado, Phd. who runs an important consulting company in Miami-Dade and who has direct experience in municipal management.  He's also familiar with North Bay Village and has a sterling reputation.  

For the most part, the commission moved the agenda items to next month to give the Village Manager time to familiarize himself with the issues.   

Rosado started yesterday.  

The Murky

How Can We Miss You When You Won't Go Away?

During Good & Welfare, former mayor Connie Leon-Kreps took to the podium to ramble for a bit about how she was not popular as mayor, and she didn't have any support, and so on.  

Clearly she was working up to something and then it came.  

As regards the Velken matter, where she signed the checks for Stephanie Leon PA believing for some reason that the police chief/village manager was now an outsourced position to a staffing agency she never heard of, she is completely innocent and was completely misled.  Kreps attributes her deep unpopularity to her having asked questions, many questions, while she was mayor, but in this instance, she never asked a question, like, "Hey.  This is new.  When did we outsource the police and the village manager?"  

So there's that.  

Then she went into a full throated defense of Norman C. Powell.  Much like her previous outrage when the Herald reported on Norman C. Powell being cited by the TSA when he attempted to bring his emotional support pistol on a flight with him to a Christian retreat, her oration sounded lawyerly, citing precedents and other things.   It just didn't sound like her.  

But then Crazy Eyes came roaring out and said unequivocally that the previous attorney, Robert Switkes, knew and approved of people in the village being paid for no show jobs and that she "wonders" if Norman Powell were a different race, would he be facing the same questions?  

She offered a benediction to the newly elected commissioners "Don't Trust The People Who Elected You.  You shouldn't listen to them."   

Then she stomped back to her sitting place next to her second favorite strip club lobbyist and  glared at the rest of the meeting, while cackling at her own remarks about everything she heard.  

I really think we have upgraded since our last mayor.  

There's a lot to get done and there will continue to be a lot of fallout from the venal incompetence and self interest of the Kreps era but it was great to see the leadership of Julianna Strout, Brent Latham, and Marvin Wilmoth take form.   

I think their hardest get along challenge will be three bright young leaders bumping into each other's enthusiasms and visions.  They'll work it out.  All our problems should be that!  

This has success written all over it.   

Kevin Vericker

February 14, 2019