Sunday, September 28, 2014

Love Letters & Local Lies


Love Letters & Local Lies
Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez recently posted an “Open Letter” on his personal Facebook account. It's not open in any real way since it is only available to those people he wants to see it and he has blocked most people who have ever questioned him on anything.  But I want to reply here in a truly open space since a concerned resident brought this letter to my attention. 
In his letter he accuses unnamed opponents and supporters of posting “attacks and false accusations” on blogs and social media.  He doesn't name anyone or give any examples but I'm going to guess he means me (his only opponent) and others who have questioned his record.  
So here's my response with specifics...
Dear North Bay Village Voters,
It’s election time in North Bay Village, which means our current Commission jumps to action for a couple of weeks so they have “something” to claim to have accomplished. It’s the time you receive letters saying how they’ve done so much and just want our confidence to do more. Apparently it’s the time where they elevate their dismissal of residents to written letters where they claim to be victims of the very practices they glorify. Bluntly, it’s the only time in the last 2 years that Commissioner Gonzalez or Mayor Kreps have demonstrated that they care at all about what our residents think.
My opponent claims, “I will not sit idly by and watch NBV voters and residents be misinformed and even misled with false accusations and empty political rhetoric”, it sure would be the first time he sat out an opportunity to make false accusations, mislead residents or pass up a chance to fill our ears with empty political rhetoric. In fact over the last 2 years it’s pretty much all my opponent has been good for. 
If you can find Commissioner Gonzalez, he will tell you that he’s just done a fantastic job and is entitled to our praise.  But unlike him, I live here and walk in all of North Bay Village and talk to residents, most just don’t agree. When was the last time you saw Commissioner Gonzalez on the street?
I’m a Father of 3 and a proud grandparent…I know a good bedtime story when I hear one and it sure seems like we’ll be getting our fill of sweet lullabies and amazing fairy tales as our current Mayor and Commissioner At-Large seek re-election.
·         My opponent says “he led the effort to settle long-standing legal cases … which were costing us thousands in attorney's fees and litigation expenses”.  The case was settled when the courts ruled against us and we paid out nearly $500,000 from our reserves in compensation.  He followed the court's decision. 
·         My opponent led the negotiation of the Weiss-Serota legal contract terms that he disparages.  Then he said he didn't remember the terms less than a year later. 
·         My opponent supported the hiring of our current village manager, and also supported paying $80,000 to the previous village manager as severance after he served 13 months.  Fun fact, Jorge Gonzalez was on the team for the negotiations of that contract which cost our Village $80,000 in parting severance. 
·         My opponent proudly points to his travels to Washington and Tallahassee to get $600,000 of grant money to fix our rotted sewers, a project that will cost at least $20,000,000. 
·         My opponent says he stays engaged with police officers and is proud to receive their union's endorsement as a result.  He never asks where are the patrols, where are the crime statistics and has stood firmly against funding the Crime Watch.  But he was endorsed by a union that never even met with any other candidates.
·         My opponent proudly points to his support of funding the IB program at Treasure Island but he also refused to allow the village to put performance measures on the program or ask for progress reports.  The results show and in one year, Treasure Island Elementary fell 60 points to a D school.
·         My opponent claims it is a fiction that the streets are dirty.  That there are just some isolated problems with residents dumping trash but for two years, the village has been paying our street maintenance crew to pressure clean the sidewalks and the walls twice per year and it has only been done once in the last 2 years.  
·         My opponent goes on to say the village finances are transparent because you can request the reports.  But can you read the reports and do they tell you the truth?  Do the reports tell you that the commission paid a huge fee to break a lease at the Lexi when the environment was causing illness among our employees?  It cost our Village almost $100,000.   And that the move to the 1666 JFK Causeway building passed after the commission was told it would cost $9,000 but instead it cost $49,000?  Do the reports tell you about the SFM street cleaning contract that is paid monthly which requires street cleaning twice per year that but has only been done once? Commissioner Gonzalez is mistaking availability for transparency. 
·         My opponent voted last year to raise our taxes 22%, the highest raise in Miami-Dade County and when presented with a 13.5% increase for next year, denied that it was a raise.  Maybe it's not a question of transparency but of ignorance. 
·         My opponent, speaking of transparency, vigorously supported and voted to pass an ordinance to allow him to receive gifts up to $100 without reporting them?  How many $100 gifts does he receive and who paid for his recent junket to Isparta, Turkey?  He says the Village didn't pay for the trip and so far won't reveal who did. Ethics reports and investigations do show that my opponent previously failed to report gifts from Turkish developers.
So, why talk about this? Nobody (besides some in the current administration) celebrates watching our Village struggle to make minimal commitments (see their campaign literature). The issues listed above along with the obvious satisfaction of some with failing to maintain the status quo, are a large part of why I made the decision to run for office. Unlike my opponent it’s not to inflate my ego, for gifts or in search of a title.
So now let's talk positive.  As your commissioner, I will commit:
·         To make the village administration fix the underlying personnel problems that have cost us hundreds of thousands in lawsuits and payouts.
·         To never negotiate or agree to a contract that pays $80,000 or any illegal severance amount to an employee after a year's service.
·         Instead of flying around the country and indeed the world on other people's money, I will support professional grant writing and use our lobbying funds to get our Village the funds we need to fix our rotting sewers.   Emergency repair money is not enough and 2% of our anticipated costs is nothing. 
·         I will sponsor legislation to create a Public Safety Committee.  I will be relentless in my efforts to ensure that we have regular street patrols.  I will demand and publish monthly crime statistics. I will not politic with the police or the unions to receive their “endorsement.”  I will sponsor funding for the Crime Watch and a Village wide effort to recruit members.  
·          I will continue to support the IB program at TIES, as I have since the program was proposed in 2012 and rejected by Mayor Kreps.  I will demand regular progress reports and accountability on the school's progress and will not accept a “D” as a passing grade.   Our kids have to explain their school performance, why is the school exempt?
·         I will demand enforcement of the contract we have been paying for since 2012 to have our streets cleaned and will personally walk the streets monthly to see that it is happening.  Our streets are dirty and it is not the residents who are dirtying them.
·         I will not vote for a single penny to be spent without a clear goal, a way of measuring how well or badly that goal was accomplished and I will hold the village administration accountable for achieving their goals. 
·         I will sponsor a strong Business Development Board to replace the one Commissioner Gonzalez dismantled so that North Bay Village Businesses other than developers will finally have a voice in our economic development.
·         Finally, I will at long last sponsor legislation to restore the PAL and other Youth Services Programs for all our youth.
Bold leadership requires taking action and unfulfilled campaign promises won’t make up for the incompetence and inaction my opponent is so satisfied with. Slogans don’t make up for the failures of my opponent over the last 2 years or excuse his sincere disconnect and sense of entitlement to praise or privilege.  Let’s set the record straight, in North Bay Village, politics as usual is not doing anything until re-election time. Politics as usual in North Bay Village is unfulfilled campaign promises and shady backroom deals. Politics as usual is continued poor judgment and ignoring residents.
Let’s be clear: dirty, pesky facts will be presented and I openly state that my opponent’s performance has been negative. I remain positive and inspired by the support of my neighbors across North Bay Village. Residents stating facts, dissatisfaction and pointing out my opponent’s record I believe is fair and representative of reality.
I say to my opponent, we the people of North Bay Village are tired of politics as usual, it’s why I’m running for office and it’s why so many frustrated residents are supporting my campaign.  As you turn a blind eye to raw sewage running  the streets, as businesses continue to shut their doors (and as you  litter their abandoned properties  with your photo and campaign literature), as you cut services and raise taxes and as you attempt to mislead rather than represent our residents. You sir are not moving North Bay Village forward, you are moving and holding us backwards.
We simply cannot afford 4 more years of Commissioner Gonzalez. That’s not an attack, it’s a fact. 

Mario Garcia
September 27, 2014
www.mariogarcia.org

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Campaign Trail

Going around our village campaigning, I've had the chance to meet so many of our residents face to face at their homes. I'm impressed with how hard working and how proud people are to live in North Bay Village. I've also been delighted to see so many young families. It reminds me of bringing up my own kids in Brooklyn and how nice it is that families working for a better life found a home here in North Bay Village.

But it worries me too. Almost all the parents I speak to talk about their concerns with the school falling to “D” rating this year, their worries that there is no place for their kids, particularly their middle and high school aged ones. to be after school and about the lack of recreational facilities for families in North Bay Village. These parents have worked very hard to give their kids a decent life and want a community that offers them that.

Throughout this journey nothing has been more clear then the neglect and appearance of the Galleon Street and East Treasure drive area! In particular the Tot Lot, where our children play next to the ugliness of the parked garbage trucks and the odor of the water processing plant, is horrible. I cannot begin to imagine how our residents who live in that area must feel. Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps and Commissioner at Large Jorge Gonzalez are running around boasting about their accomplishments while it is painfully clear that the area of Galleon Street has not been included nor received their attention.

As your commissioner, I will work to improve our school, our appearance and our recreational areas. Together we will work towards a safer and cleaner North Bay Village with the services that we deserve. That's my promise to you. I will earn your vote and your respect by attacking these problems one by one! Thank you for your support and most importantly your Vote!!!

Together we will make North Bay Village safer, cleaner and transparent!


Mario Garcia

September 24, 2014

www.mariogarcia.org

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Performance and Accountability


We live in a world of numbers and measurements.  Credit scores, report cards and grades, home value, number of points on our driver's license, bank accounts, personal budgets, business budgets, are all numbers that make like smoother or sometimes more difficult for us.  Even if we are no good at math, it's still the language we use to judge our positions. 

Most businesses, most organizations and increasingly most governments insist on having the numbers, the math, before they make decisions and North Bay Village should be no different. 

I propose to shine a light on our village operations and budget by adding performance measures to every spending decision the village make. Every penny will be accounted for its value rendered.   This will make our processes transparent and reduce the stress on our village staff by clearly stating what's expected, what we will measure and how we will jointly achieve the goals.

This commission and in particular my opponent have refused to do this.  Not ignored the idea, but when it was proposed that the village begin performance measurements, looking at what we spend money on, why we spend it and how well it was spent, Mayor Kreps refused the idea as “insulting to our staff.” and Jorge Gonzalez thought it only applied to employee performance.  Rather than listen and learn, Gonzalez has been telling people that my proposals for performance measurement is simply a ploy to fire staff.  Nothing could be further from the truth but to understand that, you have to be willing to be objective.  Let me give you an example. 

Since 2012, the village has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with a company called SFM.  Part of that contract requires SFM to pressure clean our sidewalks twice per year. 

So the measure is very simple. 

Number of Times Required by Contract 2 years
Number of Times Executed by Contractor 2 years
Activity
Performance Percent
4
1
Clean Sidewalks
25.00%

That's an easy way to see that a contract is not being lived up to while village money is spent.  Now the staff, the commission and most importantly the taxpayers know how the money is being spent and the commission and staff can concentrate on fixing the problem.  That means the value of our dollar is 25 cents.

Measures can get more complicated.  When we look at the police budget, a key performance measure might be number of patrols, or changes in crime rate, or community policing programs.   You get the idea.  This allows the village to see at a glance how well or how poorly money is being spent.  Is that really so hard to follow?  Nobody gets fired.  But they are held accountable for their performance. 

Until we have these two pieces – what do we expect when we spend, and how well did we do – the village is governing by guesswork,   We've seen where that's brought us.  Let's work on what works rather than just blindly reacting. 

North Bay Village deserves better!

Working together towards a cleaner, safer and transparent North Bay Village! 

Mario Garcia
September 10, 2014

www.mariogarcia.org

Thursday, September 4, 2014

North Bay Village Commissioner At Large Candidate


I'm excited that I qualified as a candidate on the November ballot for the position of Commissioner-At-Large in North Bay Village.   There are many reasons why I have entered the race.  The primary reason is that I see a village commission content to react to circumstances rather than proactively address the needs and concerns of the residents while increasing taxes.  Our taxes went up 22% last year and are going up 13.5% this year. 

·       Our streets are dirty even though we already pay for the sidewalks to be cleaned twice a year. The sidewalks have only been cleaned once in two years. 
·       Our crime rate is increasing while our police are less visible than ever on the streets. 
·       Our sewers have not been maintained and we are paying the price with major leaks on both the east and west force mains.
·       Our businesses are struggling from lack of planning and arbitrary coding. 
·       Our two parks are in complete disrepair but the commission spent all the recreation funds on a study to create a so called park under the Miami Beach Bridge. 
·       Our Youth Services programs have been eliminated and we have help for the elderly.

It's time to change that picture. 

As your commissioner,

·       I will fight to enforce our contracts with the street maintenance company which requires them to clean our sidewalks twice per year. 
·       I will fight to fully fund Community Policing and to keep cops on our streets. 
·       I will lead the effort to fix the broken sewers and address our infrastructure issues as a community. 
·       I will hold regular meetings with the business owners of North Bay Village to involve them in the community decisions and create a healthy economy for all.
·       I will insist that our parks impact fund be used to fix the parks so they are safe and pleasant to use.
·       I will champion the restoration of youth and elderly services and find the money to create a green space recreation plan. 

·       I will hold community meetings regularly to focus on the topics the residents care about and give priority to resident services. 

There's a lot to do and as long as we just keep reacting instead of acting, it won't get done.  That's why I'm running.  It's time for the residents to lead the village again and I ask your support in making that happen. 

 Mario Garcia
September 4, 2014