Tuesday’s
March 12, 2013 commission meeting was held at Treasure Island Elementary
School. The all clear for the Village
Hall is still pending an investigation of a Sick Building Syndrome.
Environmental Hygienist is scheduled to come in within a week and it will take
roughly seven to ten days for the results to be available. The results will give Legal a better
perspective for who is responsible for the expense that this will cause.
Tuesday
at around 6:30 pm upon my arrival from work, I intended to go to the meeting
and stay for its duration. It was a beautiful
cool and breezy evening. I decided
around 7:10 pm to walk to Treasure Island Elementary School. My walk was cheery
and pleasant until I got to Galleon Street. The filth and ugliness of the area turned
my stomach; the multitude of cats roaming the area did not help. The deaf ears
of our elected officials and the Village Management’s lack of action to address
this problem irritated me as I walked past the site. Naturally, by the time I got to Treasure
Island Elementary School Auditorium for the scheduled meeting, my tolerance
level for nonsense was zero.
The
Meeting was called to order at 7:39pm. Mr. Kevin Vericker of the Youth and
Education Services Board again expressed his concerns for the lack of
enthusiasm and participation for the TIES PTA (Treasure Island Elementary
School Parent Teacher Association) and vowed to make it a priority for the YESB. Mr. Vericker voiced his disappointment for
the failure of Chief Robert Daniels to implement the necessary steps to revive
PALS. This sentiment is shared by the
commission and the residents of North Bay Village. Mr. Vericker explained that the YESB would be
looking at other organizations such as the Boys Scouts of America and the Boys
and Girls Club of America to fill the need of the youth in our community.
One
of our residents Mr. Jorge Brito expressed his disillusionment with the police
department and with the commission for the failure to implement the PALS
program. Mr. Brito explained that the PALS program should have never been allow
to be dismantled. That the allegations that caused the PALS program to be
discontinued were never validated. We
need more people like Mr. Brito and we thank you for attending the meeting and
expressing your opinion.
Commissioner
Chervony decided to withhold his report in view of the circumstances and in the
spirit of time. However the rest of the commission was not as kind. Vice Mayor
Eddie Lim talked about the litter in Harbor Island and the undesirable guest at
Dr. Paul Vogel Park. Vice Mayor Lim and
Commissioner Jorge Gonzales were concerned with the speeding in Harbor Island
and the danger for the children that have been seen running out of Dr Paul
Vogel Park; both are asking for speed bumps for Harbor Island.
Commissioner
Jorge Gonzalez questioned the Village Manager why there was no Sick Building
Contingency Plan for the Village; for which the Village Manager offered some
meaningless excuse that other disasters and terrorism plan were in place but
not for a sick building plan. Here is an idea Mr. Village Manager you could
have used one of those plans in place. After
all, this was an emergency that required adopting means to continue the village
business running; the same as a storm, disaster or terrorist act. Mr. Kelly
failed to report it to the Health Department and directly ignored repeatedly
request from the Mayor to report it to the Health Department.
Mr.
Bert Wrains our Finance director warned the commission that he foresees a
deficit of $ 190,000.00 dollars for fiscal year ending 9/2013. He explained that he does not project the
projected revenues to make up for the deficit. Meanwhile, Mr. Kelly our Village
Manger proposed a resolution for matching funds for up to a million dollars for
Phase 2 of the Boardwalk Project without even coordinating it with the Legal
Department. Mr. Kelly had no
recollection of any of the previous requests to review all contracts with the
buildings in question regarding the water access agreements by legal and by his
staff.
The
meeting continued with the customary lip service from the Mayor, Vice Mayor and
Commissioners regarding Mr. Dennis Kelly’s lack of preparation and total
disregard for the commission’s request in most matters that have come before
him. The “I will get back to you” I will look into it” “I am sorry it will not
happen again” but it never materializes each and every time. Recalling my walk
earlier and the disgusting feeling about Galleon Street and my empty tank of
tolerance, I walked out of the meeting with no intentions of returning. Asking
myself until when this nonsense will continue; nothing gets done because there
is no follow up and accountability. The
Village has great employees like Mr. Wrains mentioned. He should have added
just bad management. This commission
does not have the courage to make the necessary changes and it will continue to
cost us money! Worst yet, a tax rise to cover the deficits that could have been
avoided with a fiscal responsible management!
In
retrospect I should be more resilient and should have stayed for the meeting.
My apologies for not been able to give you a complete meeting report. It simply
was not one of my better days. I will
continue to opinionate the way I see it with sincerity and integrity.
Mario
Garcia
PUTTING
NORTH BAY VILLAGE FIRST
