Regular Village
Commission Meeting
Tuesday April 9, 2013
Held at Treasure
Island Elementary School
We’ll
skip all introductions and we will get right down to business. There were a few
positives at the regularly scheduled North Bay Village Commission Meeting. Two
people were presented with certificates; Christopher Robinson was presented
with a Life Saving Award and resident Mr. Jorge Brito a Certificate of
appreciation both of which were well deserved.
Another being that due to the time curfew imposed by Treasure Island
Elementary School, the meeting ended shortly after 10:30 pm, sparing those
present at the meeting the agony of listening to our elected officials rhetoric.
The
consent agenda: Matters on the consent agenda are self explanatory and are self
explanatory and are not expected to require discussion or reviews. If discussion is desired by any member of the
commission, that item must be removed from the Consent Agenda and will be
considerate separately. Voted 5/5 and
approved.
A. The proposed Resolution will allow
North Bay Village police to share police resources and services with these
municipalities when necessary.
B. The proposed Resolution recognizes
the discovery of Florida 500 years ago, and encourages our citizens and
visitors to participate in programs celebrating this event. The Resolution will
be provided to the South Florida Liaison for the Viva Florida 500 Celebration.
C. The proposed resolution proclaims
April as Water Conservation Month and encourages our citizens and businesses to
help protect our precious resource by practicing water saving measures and
becoming more aware of the need to save water. The Resolution will be sent to
the South Florida Water Management District.
D.
The
proposed Resolution supports and recognizes May 25, 2013 as National Missing
Children’s Day. As per Bert Wrains, NBV Financial Director, Budget in Brief
thru Feb 28, 2013. It also encourages participation in the protection of
children and education children about children abduction and sexual
exploitation, and how to respond and seek help from law enforcement, social
services, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The
Resolution will be sent to this organization.
The proposed Resolution supports a grant
application for $ 17,500.00 in funding for planning and design of a
recreational boat dock at Dr. Paul Vogel Community Park, with 50% required
match for a total project cost.
Great idea wrong time and wrong place,
the residents of Harbor Island keep getting dumped on. Think about it: problems
with dirty streets, undesirables and speeders are constantly menacing their
streets. The addition of a dock will only provide more places for hanging out
and increasing these problems. Residents
pointed out possible liability problems and maintenance costs. Twenty five thousand dollar dock that can
accommodate roughly six boats, I got a bridge to sell you! Is it fiscally
responsible mayor? Others pointed out
that we were turning away an opportunity to benefit from federal funding, an
interesting concept that needs exploring. Yet another resident pointed out that this can
be revisited in the future and that maybe the Harbor Island future Village Hall
site may be a good consideration since it is by the water. Vice Mayor Eddie Lim, Treasure Island
Commissioner Wendy Duval and North Bay Island Commissioner Richard Chervony prevailed
and voted correctly by putting an end to this requested expense. Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps and Commissioner at
Large Jorge Gonzalez wanted to continue to squeeze the village coffers and were
in favor of this Resolution.
That
puts an end to the positives although our Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps does not deal
well with negatives, here is a noble idea Mayor Leon-Kreps “exceptional
political leaders deal with negatives resolved them and make things better”;
work with others and not ignore them.
Public
Safety and Discussion in a summary:
Crime
is up and police services are down- that’s a reality. Chief Robert Daniels the residents of North
Bay Village deserve better!
The
proposed Resolution calls for creating an assigned for Fiscal Year 2013
Expenditures line item within the fund balance of the General Fund in the amount
of $ 200,000.00.
This
was introduced by Commissioner Richard Chervony and supported by Vice Mayor
Eddie Lim. Commissioner Chervony is extremely concerned with the depletion of
the unreserved reserves and wanted to set aside these funds. Mayor Connie
Leon-Kreps and Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez refer to this resolution as taking
money from one bucket and placing it in another bucket! Stating: “If these
funds are unidentified, it may not be transparent and the attitude would be if
there is money there let us go and get it”.
This is exactly the attitude that is dwindling our unreserved reserves
from over a million dollars two years ago down to $ 550,000.00 to date; not
very fiscally responsible.
Here
are the facts mentioned by Commissioner Chervony in defense to his Resolution:
1) Budget for the year (10/01 to
09/30) for Legal Services Dept is $262,750. Feb year to date spent is $253,147.
Leaving $9,500 for the remainder of the year.
2) As per Mr. Wrains the March 2013
Check History Report we wrote a check to Weiss, Serota, Helfman, our General
Counsel on March 7, 2013 in the amount of $52,088, putting the Village probably
in the red.
3) In the budget the Village
calculated the cost of the annual contract for Landscaping Services. What was
left out of the calculation was the cost of replacing trees, new plantings,
flowers and mulch. This is another line item that will be overspent and in the
red.
4) Police has a budget of $3,182,367
out of General Funds. It is expected to have an overrun of $269,880 by fiscal
year’s end.
5) Kevin Smith of the Village's
auditing firm said yesterday that the Village should have 15 to 20% of the
budget in unassigned reserves. The village started the year with only 10% or
$550,000.00 and is quickly depleting it.
6)
The only solution is Fiscal Responsibility.
The only non budgeted expenses should be for EMERGENCIES and not for
Commissioner’s whims; wait that’s negative thinking and Mayor Connie Leon Kreps
is against that.... Even with these steps we may not avoid an increase in taxes
next year….more negative thinking? Or reality thinking?
Mathematicians need not apply, just
keep subtracting and we’ll wind up with a deficit resulting in a TAX INCREASE!!!
Compensation for interim Village
Manager Jenice Rosado was an animated and senseless discussion. Commissioner
Richard Chervony suggested that a $ 95,000.00 per year compensation package and
that even at that amount she was still underpay. Commissioner Chervony spoke
highly of Ms. Rosado’s performance. This sentiment was shared by the entire
commission and the public. There is no question that Ms. Rosado in a short time
has shown her leadership abilities. The Interim Village Manager Jenice Rosado
bowed to dedicate all the effort necessary to return to a safe and healthy
village hall as soon as possible. However, Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez and
Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps argued that the appropriate just compensation was a
raised of 15%. The commissions spend almost 30 minutes of precious time
justifying the 15%. It appears that anything and everything Commissioner
Richard Chervony says or suggests is too difficult for the commission to understand.
The 15% added to about the same amount; wow what a waste of time!
By now it’s almost curfew and Mayor
Connie Leon Kreps wanted to get one more item of the agenda done, the advertisement-Permanent
Village Manager. Commissioner Chervony
suggested not rushing into this and that holding a workshop to discuss all
attributes and qualifications desired for our next village manager was
necessary. Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps and
Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez insisted that adverting was necessary now and
Commissioner Wendy Duval and Vice Mayor Eddie Lim agreed and went against
Commissioner Chervony’s cautious suggestion. The residents pleaded to take it
slow with that process and hold the workshop first however it fell on deaf
ears. My question is, if Jenice Rosado
is doing such a great job as an interim village manager, a sentiment shared by
everyone including myself, what’s the rush Mayor? Are we asking for another
mistake? Oh that’s right you argued for
over 30 minutes Ms Rosario’s compensation increase of 15%.
Humbly opinionating!
PUTTING NORTH BAY VILLAGE FIRST
Mario Garcia
April 12, 2013
