South Dade Matters

May 21, 2013

PB: Welcome Aboard the Village of Palmetto Bay

SDM watched in amazement the Village Council meeting last night as the Shores at Palmetto Bay, LLC lawsuit came to rest on a three to two vote with the remaining Amigas in the minority.

In fact, it was Marathon Man Tim Schaffer who held firm and voted to dispose of the lawsuit after facing the most petty nonsense from the usual village gadflies.

The arguments against settling the lawsuit at their well-rehearsed core amount to the following: “The developer should not have sued the village. Instead, he should have re-applied after he received a site-specific charter. We get nothing out of this settlement.”

Let’s just be real for a minute and dispose of the lie that “a site-specific” charter is required by the code:

Sec. 9-53. – Required information.

All public charter school facilities shall submit the following information to the village’s department of community development for review by the department and for consideration at a public hearing:

(a) Written information:

(14) A copy of the charter approved by the Miami-Dade County Public School Board.

According to the village attorney at the original hearing, the applicant satisfied all the criteria to hear the application. Mayor Stanczyk wanted to halt the application so she manufactured the alleged violation of the village code. Stanczyk’s hyper-political actions caused the lawsuit because she was forcing Shores – against the advice of her legal counsel – to follow a procedure that state law prohibits.

More importantly, does any rational, breathing person believe the village would have approved the Shores application had the developer merely re-applied and not sued? Of course not. The gadflies fail to mention that their plan all along was to wage a war of attrition against Shores. See Palmetto Bay Chutzpa Award dated March 26, 2013:

Mr. Templer also made sure to point out that he didn’t want to see soccer fields at Palmetto Bay park and that the existing green space should be maintained, which inspired his chutzpa: Templer said that to add more ball fields with lights, the village could go ahead and purchase 5 acres to the west of the park!

SDM Codebreaker: There are two five-acre tracts to the west of Palmetto Bay park and both are in private hands. One is owned by Miami Children’s Hospital and the other is owned by Palmetto Bay’s second-most-famous litigant-partner, Shores at Palmetto Bay. The Shores property was set to be developed into a charter school and commercial complex until Mayor Stanczyk and her cronies decided to kill off the project without a proper hearing. Thus, Mr. Templer is echoing a nutty idea – pushed originally by super-gadfly Marsha Matson – where Palmetto Bay shuts down the Shores project and then buys the property at a hefty discount.

Mr. Templer, who also happens to be the spouse of a sitting council member, testified last night against the settlement, which given his ulterior motive seems perfectly logical to SDM. What surprised SDM was when Templer began berating the applicant for having the temerity to sue the village. Mayor Stanczyk reined Templer in, but she didn’t apply the decorum rule to him:

All speakers must address their remarks to the mayor, speak in a dignified and courteous manner, and avoid admonishing individual members of the public, council and representatives of the village. Should a member of the audience become unruly or behave in an improper manner that is prejudicial to the dignified conduct of the meeting, the mayor shall have the power to require the person to leave the meeting and to be accompanied, if necessary, by a police officer. In the event the audience becomes unruly the mayor may either recess or adjourn the meeting. (Emphasis added by SDM.)

To paraphrase Pirates of the Caribbean, the decorum statement is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Village of Palmetto Bay!

At the end of the day, the village elders (Dubois, Fiore, and Schaffer) overruled the Amigas, terminated the Shores litigation, and gave tax payers a break on future legal bills. SDM Says thank you for your leadership.

SDM Says to the Amigas Stanczyk and Lindsay: shame on you! Your re-election hopes should not be more important than what’s good for the village. Perhaps it’s time for the serious people in this village to make you walk the plank, figuratively speaking of course.

8 comments

May 17, 2013

PB: The Mayor Problem Strikes Again

Way back in December of 2011, this blog took Mayor Stanczyk to task for closing down a hearing for an applicant known as Shores at Palmetto Bay, LLC. We wrote back then:

You may not be surprised that the opposition to this application was pre-cooked. Insipid Mayor Stanczyk reminded the applicant repeatedly that she had offered him a six-month deferral but that he had committed to being “ready” by December 12.

According to Palmetto Bay, the applicant was not ready because he did not have a site specific charter. The applicant countered that he was ready and met the requirements of the code. Stanczyk demanded a motion for denial despite the Village Attorney’s statement that the council could hear the item.

Here is the language in the Palmetto Bay code that Stanczyk relies upon for her opposition:

A copy of the charter approved by the Miami-Dade County Public School Board.

Allow SDM to break the “code.” The applicant has a charter that can be applied to the site by administrative act of the school district. Moving charters around happens all the time because otherwise they would expire before the sites are ready. The Mayor knows this fact and also knows the Palmetto Bay code does not require a site specific charter.

On May 20th – FIFTEEN MONTHS after the fateful hearing – the village council will take up an agreement to settle the pending lawsuit that Shores filed against the village. Below is a direct quotation from the memorandum explaining the item:

The Application, if approved, would allow a concession to the Owner: the usable charter does not have to be produced at the hearing, but, must be produced prior to a building permit being issued for the charter school portion of the site.

So, our Mayor Problem did the following damage because of her little tantrum:

A village property owner’s developable downtown site has sat fallow for almost a year and a half;
A village property owner has been paying legal fees, taxes, insurance, maintenance and other costs for an extra 15 months for no reason at all;
Children, including some who live in our village, did not get the chance to enroll in an alternative to the local, traditional public and private schools for at least two school years; and
The village has been paying attorneys to defend against the lawsuit in exchange for zero benefit to taxpayers.

SDM read the agenda item to mean that Shores will appear at the next council meeting and either be approved or denied to proceed with its 2011 application. If the village votes against or alters the project, then the lawsuit continues unabated. If the application is approved, then the lawsuit goes away.

SDM Code Breaker: The council met in a shade session before the May 20th special meeting was called. While the council cannot vote at shade sessions, they clearly can have their temperatures taken regarding whether they want to continue to fight or accept a settlement. Logic dictates that at least three council members decided to terminate the lawsuit, which also probably means that at least three of them believe that cutting the village’s losses will be better than risking an expensive judgment. So, SDM will wager that Shores will get their votes and the project will go forward.

Bonus Prediction: Some very vocal residents will come out screaming bloody murder at the next council meeting. They will rant and rave about developers, how the school will wreck the village and their property values, and how traffic will be a nightmare, etc. At least one of the three council members who agreed to end the lawsuit will waver as the Mayor panders her backside off to this tiny minority of residents. The Mayor will vote no all the time knowing that the village must approve the application to avoid a disaster of her own making.

SDM Says: Being shameless and devious may get you elected, but it doesn’t make you a leader. If Shores isn’t resolved next month, you alone, Mrs. Stanczyk, are to blame.

10 comments

May 16, 2013

PB: Insomniacs Unite!

SDM should be getting paid to write when the topic is Palmetto Bay. Last night’s Committee of the Whole meeting was about as interesting as watching grass grow – or paint dry – or a Mayor squirming.

Wait, that last part was a little interesting.

Marathon Man Tim Schaffer proposed creation of a couple of committees where members of the council could get together and work on various issues facing the village. You know, parks stuff, police, etc. Not a bad idea…so long as Mayor Stanczyk thought of it first.

Unfortunately for Schaffer, the Mayor didn’t think of it first, so she spent the night doing what she usually does: interrupting, criticizing, making irrelevant comments…the usual.

But while tearing down Mr. Schaffer’s idea, our Mayor Problem offered a tiny glimpse at what may be going on behind the scenes at village hall. “It sounds like a good idea in terms of building bridges between people and working on things that [are] collegial…” (12:12) Mrs. Stacnzyk repeated a similar sentiment in between “buts.”

Permit SDM to read some tea leaves here. Our Mayor Problem must be starting to feel some heat from her devious and underhanded statements on pbcheckstherecord.com. Why else would she be so concerned about collegiality? SDM guesses she is feeling the whatever the opposite of collegiality is every time she mounts the dais.

What is also painfully obvious – and trust SDM, watching these meeting is nothing but painful – is that even the Mayor’s sycophants no longer bother to attend council meetings. The ever-present and ever-ready Mme. Bev was there to comment, but SDM could see almost nobody else in the chamber.

Resident Steve Kreisher spoke at the end of the meeting and expressed a similar sentiment regarding how long and unproductive the council meetings were getting. (He used other words, but SDM can’t bring ourselves to watch again.) Aside from Mr. Triangle and Mme. Bev, nobody seems to be paying attention to what’s going on at these meetings.

Of course, the council met on Monday (Heat playoff game) and Wednesday (Heat playoff game), so external forces were removing eyeballs and back sides from the council chamber, too.

But SDM can’t help but notice that the Mayor ain’t turning out even her trolls anymore.

Oh, and just for the record, our Mayor Problem still hasn’t owned up to or denied involvement with the website.

SDM Says: Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

6 comments

May 15, 2013

Dolphins’ Ross: Reputation Wrecker

The Miami Herald published the results of the ballots collected in the ill-fated Dolphins stadium referendum.

Of the 60,000 votes cast by absentee ballot, 57% of voters rejected the idea of paying for Mr. Ross’s Roof. Call SDM shocked — not.

The news came on the heels of two terrible statements by Dolphins brass. The first came from Mr. Ross himself. SDM will paraphrase here, but apparently Mr. Ross claims that the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives lied to him when they met regarding the stadium issue.

Say it ain’t so! First, take it from SDM, Mr. Ross. You shouldn’t believe politicians or lawyers unless they are under oath and even then you should check their breathing rates. Second, have you decided to forgo asking for legislative beneficence next year? You are aware, sir, that the Speaker serves for only two years and that insulting him between year 1 and year 2 is akin to committing political suicide?

The second statement came from Mike Dee, Dolphins’ President. He commented to the media that the Dolphins are open to alternatives, including relocating to a stadium in West Palm Beach.

SDM will pause to breathe – slowly – in and out – here…

SDM has been a Dolphins’ fan for a long, long time, but the threat to move the team to Palm Beach enrages SDM in the same way as when Dan Marino was forced into retirement. You guys really have no shame.

Miami has supported the Dolphins in like no other local team. The community gave the organization the opportunity ask voters to build a stadium for them, but voters said no. Nevertheless, land was found and offered up under very, very friendly terms. The stadium was financed using a local bond program. The community made significant changes to the road system to support the facility, which made the entire enterprise more valuable to the team’s owners.

The South Florida community has continued to purchase tickets and sell out the facility despite some years when the team was totally noncompetitive. SDM doesn’t know how local television and radio work, but the game is on in so many homes and bars on the days the team plays that we would be shocked if their revenues weren’t extraordinary.

But this is not enough for the Dolphins. What is it exactly that makes you guys so acerbic? Are you jealous of the Marlins. If so, you are like a beautiful woman being jealous of a whore.

Do you think your threats will somehow make the community cave-in to your demands? If so, you may be right, but you better be careful. Your buddies at the Marlins can’t sell enough seats to keep their upper deck open. SDM and many others think the Marlins’ deal is the worst thing to happen to Miami in its long and undistinguished history of giving away public money to rats.

SDM Says: You need to take a vacation Mr. Ross – or take your staff on a retreat so you can think about just how good you have it here in sunny Miami. Before you do any more damage to your brand, for heaven’s sake, take a minute and just breathe…

1 comment

May 14, 2013

PB: The Silence is Deafening…and Instructive

SDM watched the tape of the Village Council’s budget meeting last night and observed the following:

Not too many people are interested in the budget apparently. Only one person spoke and he was concerned about speed limits being too low.
The Mayor responded that she would like to see “30 MPH speed limits village-wide, strictly enforced.” (12:20) SDM Says: Great, now the village can spend all of its time ticketing its residents for speeding, which is perfectly consonant with their intent of driving every living person in the village nuts.
The only real proposition SDM heard was the Vice Mayor’s terrible, wasteful idea of hiring two additional police officers. (3:56) SDM Wonders: Are you going to be Palmetto Bay’s new “pander-bear” Mr. Dubois? Last year, the police chief asked for one officer and the village gave him two. If he asks for two, will you give him four? Do any of you care about the “budget,” really?
Kaptain Kreepy must have been sleepy last night. The meeting tape starts right in the middle of the foolish police proposal.
The Mayor apparently is going to stone wall her association with pbcheckstherecord.com. SDM heard nothing on the subject.

Our Mayor-Problem

SDM found this observation by Jim Geraghty, a writer for National Review, quite applicable to our “Mayor-problem” as SDM calls it now:

When there is evidence of scandalous or bizarre behavior on the part of a political figure, and no reasonable explanation is revealed within 24 to 48 hours, then the truth is probably as bad as everyone suspects.

Nobody withholds exculpatory information. Nobody who’s been accused of something wrong waits for “just the right moment” to unveil information that proves the charge baseless. Political figures never choose to deliberately let themselves twist in the wind. It’s not the instinctive psychological reaction to being falsely accused, it’s not what any public communications professional would recommend, and to use one of our president’s favorite justifications, it’s just common sense.

Of course, Geraghty was writing about the President’s problems with Benghazi, the IRS and the Justice Department’s investigation of the Associated Press, but the quote resonates nonetheless.

SDM Wonders: If Mayor Stanczyk is not guilty of creating, funding and writing her devious blog, then why isn’t she vehemently denying involvement?

12 comments

May 13, 2013

PB: Super Secret Transcript Leaked to SDM

Shelley: Thank you for coming to this emergency meeting of the Committee to Re-elect the Mayor or CREEM.

Warren: Boy, that name sure sounds familiar…

Shelley: Of course it does, Warren. It’s the name of our re-election committee. Remember? We met a couple weeks ago.

Bev: No, there’s something else about that name…can’t put my finger on it.

Shelley: What’s in a name? Anyway, I called you here today because we have a crisis.

Betty: Darn right we do. That website is a big problem.

Shelley: Tell me about it. That wicked JB Harris served the lawsuit on me last week just as I was going start giggling at John Dubois during his government hearing. They sued me!!!

Warren: I think we’ve all been sued. Shouldn’t you be in the stew with the rest of us since the website was your idea and you wrote all of the nasty stuff on there?

Gary: Yeah. This was all about you wanting to shut up SDM and all the other people on your enemies list. You told us no one would ever figure out who wrote the crap on that site. Nice job getting caught.

Bev: Enemies list…hmmm…this is really sounding familiar now.

Shelley: Look, you don’t understand. I have to hire a lawyer now and it’s expensive.

Betty: No sh&* Sherlock.

Gary: Shelley, you got us into this mess and you need to get us out of it. When are you going to tell the community that you own the website and wrote the material on it? You need to get our names out of it.

Shelley: Just calm down. My lawyer doesn’t want me to do that. Besides, we all contributed to pbcheckstherecord.com.

All: WHAT?!?!?

Shelley: We all contributed. Everything I wrote, we discussed at one time or another. I just wrote it down for all of us.

Warren: Hold on a minute. We didn’t write that blog, you did.

Gary: You can’t write all that stuff and blame it on us.

Shelley: Nobody’s going to be blamed for anything. I gave the whole thing a lot of thought over the weekend and remembered that somebody hacked my Paypal account on the day in question. The whole transaction happened without my knowledge.

Bev: You think anyone will believe that?

Shelley: Yes I do. I think people believe everything I say. Now, on to our response. I put together a psychological report that one of you is going to have to put in JB Harris’s doctor’s office. Do I have any volunteers?

12 comments

May 12, 2013

PB: Time for a Code of Core Values for Civility and Ethics?

The City of Dunedin (a bedroom community on the North side of St. Petersburg) addressed some problems they experienced in their public dialogue by adopting just such a code. Given the chaos caused in our little community by certain un-civil acts by our Mayor, SDM suggests the village council consider adopting one, too:

Code of Core Values for Civility and Ethics

Integrity – I shall make no promises or commitments I cannot reasonably expect to fulfill, and I shall maintain appropriate social, ethical, and organizational norms in City related activities.

Ethics – I pledge to maintain the highest standards of professional behavior and to comply with the laws, regulations, and policies under which we operate.

Civility – I pledge to help create an atmosphere of respect and civility where individual Commissioners, City Manager, department heads, staff, committee and board members, and the public are free to express their ideas and work to their full potential.

Respect for the Individual – I respect the diversity of Commissioners, staff, committee members, and citizens, to provide fair and equitable treatment in all areas, and to encourage personal and professional growth.

Communication – I pledge to be open, consistent, truthful, and respectful in all communications, written and verbal, as this is vital for reflective and sound decision making for the Dunedin community.

Teamwork – I shall work together with others, with mutual respect, to achieve organizational goals, recognizing that unity of purpose and effort leads to increased productivity and greater accomplishments.

Leadership – I shall lead by example, using appropriate interpersonal skills, and shall strive to maximize citizen and staff involvement to further the vision of Dunedin’s quality community.

Creativity and Innovation – I shall strive to stimulate and appreciate new concepts and solutions suggested by all, as Dunedin’s creative community is enriched.

Quality – I shall strive for excellence in every phase of our work.

Stewardship – I shall strive to make a positive contribution to our City and to enhance the quality of services throughout the Dunedin community.

Efficiency – I shall work to attain our goals by optimizing the use of our energy, time and resources.

Organizational Sensitivity – I shall consider the impact of all decisions on resources and to recognize the limitations imposed by our environment.

Adaptability – I shall respond efficiently and effectively to the needs of our citizens as well as to changes in our environment.

Recognition – I shall recognize and value individual contributions to the Dunedin community, as the City’s mission and vision are pursued.

SDM knows that codes of ethics and civility – like citizens’ bills of rights, sadly – merely set the lowest bar of political behavior. We have a right to expect that any person seeking public office is internally constituted to be an honorable person. Unfortunately, public office often attracts precisely the opposite type.

So, we should insist that codes like the one above – adapted to our village – be included in the political dialogue. In Palmetto Bay, we could make the code above part of the packet of documents a candidate signs (or refuses to sign) when he or she qualifies for election.

Then, when we run into a politically devious act (like trashing your opponents, colleagues and community-members through a theoretically untraceable website), then at least we have a political yardstick against which we can measure the guilty pol.

SDM Wonders: Since your agenda at the May 15th Committee of the Whole is so lacking in consequential matters, will one of you add a serious item so this village can begin the process of reconciliation?

7 comments

Our Mayor-Problem

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