PB: Guest Post – A Gentlemanly Reply
by SDM
After a minor contretemps broke out over some misguided and politically harmful comments by a supporter, Vice Mayor candidate John Dubois proves he’s a gentleman:
Dear SDM and blog readers,
This is the first time since I’ve been a candidate that I have felt compelled to respond to any media or online comments because I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion and I believe strongly in freedom of speech. However, in this instance there is an implication that David Zisman speaks for me or represents my campaign and I that is not the case.
David Zisman is a good personal friend of mine, however, we have very different approaches and points of view on politics. Furthermore, I do not and cannot control what comes out of his mouth.
Howard Tendrich and Karyn Cunningham are two exceptionally nice people that, like Jim Araiza, Tim Schaffer, Brian [Pariser] and me, have the right and should be encouraged to engage in the political process by running for office. In the race for Vice Mayor, Karyn ran an excellent campaign with integrity, focus, and very hard work. If Karyn had a few more weeks campaigning, I believe she would have closed the gap and been in the runoff. I think she will be good addition to our council in the future and I would not only encourage her but also support her in such endeavors.
Our former mayor [Eugene Flinn] also has as much right as any of the rest of us to engage in the process. Blaming him for causing a runoff is wrong. I only blame myself for not being able to break 50% to avoid a runoff. Characterizing the two candidates that did not make the runoff as going down in a blaze is derogatory and uncalled for.
Best regards,
John Dubois
See how that works? Don’t throw your friend under the bus and be generous to your opponents and colleagues. SDM feels proud to support Mr. Dubois and hopes former Mayor Flinn and Ms. Cunningham endorse him, too.
SDM Says: Come together…right now…
Wow why can’t all campaigns be positive. Thanks John for keeping it positive and clean. I wish that for every negative ad a candidate had to write a check to the Federal Treasury for $100, the debt would be wiped out in one election cycle.
The man’s going to make a great Vice-Mayor.
A true gentleman. Kudos for those comments John.
Let’s engage this community to get John elected and hopefully he will work on healing this community. Altho’ I thought Dave Zisman’s words were piercing and non-gentlemanly, I can feel his frustration. Trying to get the truth to the masses while holding down a job and raising a family and just trying to live life is taxing. The NYMBIs are 99% retired with no young family members around. They have wayyy to much time to put all their energy into the NYMBI agenda. I only ask EVERYONE to think long and hard and ask “what will Palmetto Bay look like 25 years from now?”. 80% of those who attend the monthly meetings will not be around…but what have they left as a legacy?
I am proud to support John Dubois for Vice Mayor of Palmetto Bay.
John, I don’t know what water bottle you’re drinking from but whatever it is I want a sip. Well said my friend. Well said.
Thats the kind of leadership we need. Dubois for Mayor 2014!
SDM here something for a new blog
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/09/3089839/four-palmetto-bay-candidates-face.html
I understand that Karyn Cunnigham has endorsed John DuBois and Jim Ariza. It would be nice if Howard did likewise.
He should. We must come together and bring back sanity to our village.
To all, please find excerpts from the November 20th Miami Herald with my commentary below;
Palmetto Bay’s Village Council could witness a power shift when voters return to the polls Nov. 20 to cast ballots in a runoff election for two council seats.
Since none of the six candidates broke the 50-percent threshold required by village charter, four candidates remain on the campaign trail.
First casualty of the polls: incumbent Howard Tendrich, who, from his district seat, often clashed with the council majority led by Mayor Shelley Stanczyk, Vice Mayor Brian Pariser and council member Joan Lindsay on issues like the Palmer Trinity School expansion legal fight, a divisive Neighborhood Protection Ordinance and a similarly-titled Neighborhood Protection Amendment that Palmetto Bay voters overwhelmingly supported Tuesday.
Tendrich finished about 10 percentage points behind challengers Jim Araiza, a businessman who previously ran unsuccessfully against Stanczyk in 2010 for the mayor’s seat, and political newcomer and financial advisor Tim Schaffer who finished first by 57 votes. Nearly 10,000 votes were cast in that race.
Tendrich expressed anger Thursday, saying Stanczyk and others spread false information about him.
“When you have people who don’t tell the truth you can’t win against them,” Tendrich said. “If you have a mayor and a council person’s spouse [Lindsay’s husband Jerry Templer] who are recommending someone else — two people as a slate — it’s hard to win. I can’t be at every poll trying to fight their lies. It’s sad but when you have a mayor who sends out an email through the village’s email list telling people to look at sites that aren’t true, she doesn’t care. She wants her control. You think the mayor is not going to give out misinformation but the people accepted it.
“It will be an interesting race,” Tendrich continued. “In my seat you have the one the mayor put up, Tim, and Jim who is on the completely other side. No matter who the village picks, it’s going to be bad. For vice mayor you have Brian, who she supported, and John, who she doesn’t support. I’m hoping for the best for the village, more than for myself. …When Gene [Flinn] was mayor, he wasn’t a perfect person but the town went forward for eight years and in two years this mayor has brought dissention and bitterness to the council and the town. I’ll miss sitting up there. I know I did a good job.”
Stanczyk said she used her personal email list to discuss her views on the race and didn’t endorse anyone until the final days of the campaign.
“I’m very sorry Howard feels that way,” she said. “I have a lot of respect toward the many years he’s been a strong supporter of our community and the Deering Estate and the parks — his commitment has always been especially strong there. Howard has donated his time over the years to the village in many different ways and has shown his worth. I would never have said anything about Howard in a negative way. My focus was on the charter amendments and the use of my personal email, not the village’s, was something I chose to do in the last couple of days of the campaign. I’m a voter and I did that.”
MY COMMENTARY
What the Miami Herald is not reporting is the Mayor Stanczyk is lying once again. When she and Councilwoman Joan Lindsay realized they could not control the way Howard Tendrich voted (he has principles), they and their supporters approached Tim Schaffer to be their shill to run against Howard in this year’s Council race.
Mayor Stanczyk and Councilwoman Lindsay ultimately want four controllable votes on the Council. They already control Councilman Brian Pariser, since he has voted in lockstep with the Mayor and Councilwoman 99% of the time in the past two years. This is fact, just look at his voting record.
The Mayor, Councilwoman and their group will stop at nothing including lying and deception to control the council. They appear to have a master plan that includes continuing to divide this community, which needs to be stopped.
Please don’t consider voting for Brian Pariser or Tim Schaffer unless you want;
• Higher Real Estate Taxes and Village fees
• Operating Deficits (The Village has run with Operating Deficits the last two years)
• Needless Litigation and Legal fees
• Wasted taxpayers dollars
I implore everyone to please vote on Tuesday November20th, and don’t be mislead at the poles.
Next, find out if the Tennis Courts at Coral Reef Park have really lost over 1.65 million dollars in the past 2 years?
If you would like to be removed from this informational blog, please email me at info@recallpalmettobay.com
David Singer
Recallpalmettobay.com
Who is the person that keeps sending me all these emails?
I would be asking that same question too, if I kept being bombarded with emails related to the politics and financial integrity of Palmetto Bay.
First off, my name is David Singer. I was born and raised in what is now considered the Village of Palmetto Bay. I attended Coral Reef Elementary, Palmetto Middle and Palmetto Senior High. I also graduated from Florida State University and the University of Miami. I am a CPA who practiced public accounting for approximately 10 years focusing on auditing. I now run (CEO/CFO) a Real Estate Development Company, located in Coconut Grove, which specializes in large retail Shopping Centers averaging over 200,000 square feet in size.
The only reason I mention what I do for a living is there is misinformation or, as the Mayor said to me, “just rhetoric” being disseminated that I am an evil developer who has his eyes on Palmetto Bay – this is completely inaccurate. There is absolutely no available land within the Village of Palmetto Bay to develop the type of Shopping Centers the firm I work for develops.
I have received many, many emails from individuals wondering why I’ve taken such an active interest in the politics of the Village of Palmetto Bay. I must tell you until about six months ago I honestly had no idea or interest for that matter, to the extent of the problems, which were occurring in the Village. It was an eye-opening lesson. Once I realized the political and financial integrity of the Village was on the line, I decided to get involved.
My dad, who was a holocaust survivor, always taught me to defend those who needed to be defended, fight against discrimination and to stand up for principles and ethics. I would hope he would be proud of the stance I’m taking.
I have met Mayor Stanczyk, Vice Mayor Pariser and Councilwoman’s Lindsay’s supporters. I find a majority of them to be narrow-minded, prejudiced and intolerant, if not bigoted. Why should we tolerate this type of behavior in our Village?
Having spoken to and received emails from residents of Palmetto Bay, I know that there is a silent majority who are just tired of the nonsense. They are tired of the litigation, tired of the operating deficits, tired of the constant lies, tired of wasted tax $$$$, tired of the misinformation, tired of the rhetoric and tired of being represented by individuals with questionable ethics.
I’ve done a lot of research and have found misdirected public spending at the Village. I draw this conclusion from analysis of documents I received from the Village of Palmetto Bay. For your reference they are all scanned onto my website RECALLPALMETTOBAY.COM. I have requested repeatedly to meet with Village Manager Ron Williams to review these various documents, but he has repeatedly rebuffed me.
The Village has not been receptive to citizens like me lately. John DuBois, Jim Araiza, Karyn Cunningham and Howard Tendrich have all done their part trying to make the Village of Palmetto Bay a nicer and friendlier place to live. It’s time for us to do our part and vote for John and Jim on Tuesday, November 20, 2012.
Thank you for taking the time to read my Emails.
If you would like to be removed from the blog, please email me at info@palmettobayrecall.com
David Singer
David Singer mentions that Karyn Cunningham, Jim Araiza, Howard Tendrich and John DuBois have all done their part trying to make the village a nicer place to live.
All of that is true, but please don’t forget all the good work and effort by Councilperson Patrick Fiore. He has worked tirelessly (but mostly in vain) against the hurtful, discriminatory and wasteful actions of Mayor Stancyck, Vice-Mayor Pariser and Councilperson Lindsay. Patrick needs Jim Araiza and John DuBois to bring sanity and intelligence back to Palmetto Bay government.
Vote for John & Jim next Tuesday November 20th.
SDM I’m sure you have a day job but don’t quit on us now. Post some more blogs or guest appearances. We’re down to the wire. Every bit helps.
To all,A good friend of mine, who lives in The Village of Pinecrest asked me yedesrtay why I thought there was such a disparity in politics and leadership between Palmetto Bay and Pinecrest. I thought it was a very acute observation since this individual doesn’t live in Palmetto Bay and doesn’t necessarily follow politics. It was also a very interesting question since Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay have relatively close demographics in regards to education and income and we both incorporated at basically the same time. To start, I’ve had the pleasure to know the Mayor of Pinecrest, Cindy Lerner, for the last couple of years. Mayor Lerner is a beautiful human being inside and out. She is also extremely, extremely professional in her position as Mayor. Regarding the remaining Pinecrest Council members, I’ve only had chance meetings with them, but my observation is that they too are very professional and represent all Pinecrest residents, not just the minority. With Mayor Lerner at the helm, the Council’s main objective is to resolve the issues of their constituents rather than inventing problems that don’t exist. The leaders of Pinecrest appear to genuinely love children and families and they are very welcoming to religious organizations, schools, outside events and all the things the current leaders of Palmetto Bay seem to detest due to noise, dust and traffic. The Pinecrest leadership is also welcoming to non-residents, while the Palmetto Bay leadership has repeatedly proven not to be. Visit one of Pinecrest numerous parks on any weekend and you’ll find children of all ages playing soccer, baseball (the Howard Palmetto Khoury league that was kicked out of Coral Reef Park), football, tennis, basketball all hours of the day. In fact, a large majority of children playing organized sports in Pinecrest live in Palmetto Bay. Can you imagine? I hate to publically disclose this, since I’ve lived here for over 50 years, but if I had to recommend a “Village” which was family-friendly, I’d recommend Pinecrest due to the shortcomings of Palmetto Bay’s current leadership. You might wish to compare all the warmth you feel in Pinecrest versus that of Palmetto Bay’s leadership. If Palmetto Bay Councilwoman Joan Lindsay spoke to you, would you feel all warm and fuzzy? Is she a person who would talk to you in a way that engages you as an equal and is interested in your concerns? Would she have a tone of camaraderie and cordiality or would she seem distance and condescending? I think the answer is obvious. How about Councilman Brian Pariser? Is he the kind of Leader that represents friendliness or warmth in our Village? Those two alone, with the power they wield in our Village, create the feeling that the Council is anything other than warm, inviting and inclusive. That is just a fact. Therefore, my analysis to my friend is just that, the Majority of our Leaders in Palmetto Bay have their own agenda. They really could care less about being inviting, and are certainly not family-friendly. The way a City, or in our case a Village, carries itself starts with the Mayor and Elected officials. They have made our Village just the opposite of Pinecrest, our sister Village. For now, there’s only one good sister. Hopefully, one day in the near future, if the run-off election turns out like it should, our sister Villages will become twins.