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:

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 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.

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.

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. Not too many people are interested in the budget apparently. Only one person spoke and he was concerned about speed limits being too low.
2. 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.
3. 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?
4. Kaptain Kreepy must have been sleepy last night. The meeting tape starts right in the middle of the foolish police proposal.
5. 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?

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?

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?

It’s now Friday afternoon and the SDM crew will be heading to a nearby watering hole to try and forget a certain politician. Before heading out, SDM decided to disgorge some final thoughts on Mayor Stanczyk and her foray into anonymous blogging.

When this site was established, SDM chose to be anonymous. We did not do so because we wanted to avoid legal troubles that could arise from defaming people. The idea was that we wanted our sometimes acerbic commentary and analysis to be read for its content. We exchanged some credibility for the freedom of anonymity.  To bolster the credibility lost, we try to adhere to certain rules:

1. Avoid personal attacks. We routinely delete or edit comments that discuss personal traits. We figure that if you want to throw those kinds of stones, you can go on Eye on Miami and call everyone and anyone whatever ugly name you desire. We also don’t allow attacks on a person’s business and try to avoid needlessly including the names of third parties, unless those names are necessary to an issue. If we fail in following this rule, we apologize and/or take down the material.
2. Cite the sources of our facts. Regular readers know that SDM cites the source of the facts we quote. We often transcribe comments from meetings and provide the times and dates that correspond to the words. We reference documents so that readers can check our facts, which they do often, thankfully.
3. Comment on public acts and statements, not on private statements or rumors. This one is hard to follow, but we also routinely delete comments that are based on rumors and innuendo. If we can’t verify the facts alleged, we avoid the comments. We will always approve comments that disagree with SDM so long as they are respectful and comply with basic fairness.

After reading dozens of pbcheckstherecord.com pages, SDM can state with confidence that Mayor Stanczyk followed virtually none of the rules we try to follow here. Had she done so, she might have avoided insulting (or worse) so many:

1. Governor Rick Scott
2. Commissioner Lynda Bell
3. Vice Mayor John Dubois
4. Former Councilman Howard Tendrich
5. Former Mayor Eugene Flinn
6. Candidate for Mayor (2010) Peter England
7. Candidate for Vice Mayor Karyn Cunningham
8. Candidate for Councilman Jim Araiza
9. The Christian Coalition
10. Palmetto Bay resident JB Harris
11. Palmetto Bay resident David Singer
12. Berkowitz Development Group
13. Palmetto Bay resident David Zisman
14. Frank Pintado (“of the Parking Lot Frank Pintado,” whatever that means)
15. Randall Hilliard
16. Palmetto Bay property owner Wayne Rosen (Shores at Palmetto Bay, LLC)

Mayor Stanczyk managed to accomplish flinging wild accusations or outright lies about the folks listed in less than two months as a blogger! Quite a tangled web, indeed.

SDM Wonders: Are the zealous supporters of Mayor Stanczyk feeling queasy at all about supporting a person like this? Or, do they think SDM has gone too far?

Look at her Palmetto Bay Checks the Record post in which she rips her vanquished opponent:

Palmetto Bay did have reasonable campaigns, once upon a time. I remember when it started to change. In the second campaign for Mayor, Eugene Flinn (whose opponent was the perpetual candidate Jim Araiza, yes I know, again) was able to raise a huge amount of money. Then, in the following election of 2010 the flood gates really opened with the Peter England campaign. He started about a 15-18 months out from the election to win the Mayor’s seat and went over the top with money from the business community. For little old Palmetto Bay? (Posted October 29, 2012)

Funny thing about politicians: it never seems to occur to them that the reason an opponent raises so much money is because a bunch of people really, really don’t want YOU! Meanwhile, when the politician goes out and raises money for herself, well, that’s just evidence of community support. SDM just calls it hypocrisy.

Now take a look at a later post where Stanczyk gives her supposed ally Tim Schaffer a backhanded compliment that is really a dig at her last opponent:

Tim Schaffer is a new person on the campaign and political front. I met him a couple of years ago when he delivered a letter to me opposing the CRA development vehicle that Peter England was supporting. (Posted November 2, 2012)

Later, in the same post, Stanczyk offers a rambling, Nixonian attack on a bunch of her political enemies:

Charter schools and developers now own Dubois and Araiza and Cunningham. Dubois’ property holdings on the US1 corridor and the Triangle in conjunction with his want for an Enterprise Zone tell you how his vote will be used. Enterprise Zones remove the normal controls over development and give tax cuts and other incentives that cost the residential tax payer. Dubois, Araiza, Tendrich (owns US1 property) as well as Cunningham (Flinn’s friends own multiple properties on US1) all have a strong connection to development. The healthy $10.1 million reserves of the Village is (sic) a cache of money that could be drained for developer subsidy. Dubois’ friend Peter England wanted to do it in the last election. Here we go again with our tax dollars and financial security under threat by the big business group. I’m not seeing any concern for the residents and families of our community from them. (Posted November 2, 2012)

Let SDM get this straight so we are all on the same page when Palmetto Bay’s 2014 election rolls around. When Mayor Stanczyk accepts a contribution, that person or entity now owns her. And, assuming Stanczyk has any political “friends” left in 2014, then those friends are all seeking subsidies from village coffers, right? Got it. Warped as they may be, at least we voters know the ground rules now thanks to our “leader.”

And by the way Mme. Mayor, you really need to spend a minute learning about Enterprise Zones and CRAs because your “facts” are all wrong, again. SDM doesn’t have the time or energy today to correct you, but if you continue to lie to the village people we will take you to task on that subject, too.

SDM Says: If politics is like a game, then the metaphor is most relevant to the way winners and losers are treated. Shelley Stanczyk’s narrow victory over Peter England in 2010 was not enough for her. Even two years later she continued to bash her opponent, which reminded SDM of a saying: ”It is your response to winning and losing that makes you a winner or a loser.”

SDM recalled that Mayor Stanczyk’s Palmetto Bay Checks the Record website mentioned other public officials in some of the posts. So, SDM went to our trusty archive and checked what the Mayor – the village’s elected spokeswoman to other levels of government – said about these folks. Here’s what she wrote about Governor Rick Scott:

Headline: “John Dubois for Vice Mayor is the NEW Rick Scott of Palmetto Bay with TV ads, PAC Money… $100,000 to Buy a Village Council Seat.” Text: Well, it had to happen sooner than later to be sure. John E. Dubois with his limitless resources has surfaced as the new Rick Scott of Palmetto Bay. His PAC money from the illegal and voided registration of the Floridians for Ethical and Responsible Government certainly is unable to be counted or accounted for. (Posted on October 29, 2012)

Boy, Rick Scott must be racing to the phone to take Mrs. Stanczyk’s calls! He must be thrilled a local politician is parroting lines from his opponent’s campaign ads.

Closer to home, the person who we elected to represent us in out little burgh said this about our other representative Commissioner Lynda Bell:

Following the development of the case to today, Dubois has allegedly caused his next door neighbor to be sued by DERM and be fined daily as a result of Dubois’ alleged illegal filling of the neighbor’s property. The alleged motive or hidden agenda that is talked about across Palmetto Bay and County DERM is that Dubois wants to purchase the property at a reduced price. The reduced price is the result of the damage allegedly done by him to the property and the daily liens assessed by DERM. I guess he thinks his friend Lynda Bell will forgive the fines once he gets in line to buy the land. Emphasis added by SDM. (Posted on October 9, 2012)

Apparently, Mrs. Stanczyk thinks a county commissioner can unilaterally waive fines; or – and this is far more likely – she knows precisely that a commissioner has no such power and is intentionally lying to the village people. Either way the Mayor looks pretty bad.

But how do you think Commissioner Bell is going to react to reading the statement now knowing that her suck-up Mayor-buddy was talking trash behind her back all along?

Just to make things worse, Mrs. Stanczyk posted a link to the scurrilous Eye On Miami so readers could quickly and easily find more dirt on the commissioner:

Check out how he protects himself with his friends at County Hall.
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2012/06/eom-investigative-report-lynda-bells.html (Posted on October 9, 2012)

Then on November 13, 2012, the Mayor doubled down on her animus towards Bell:

You remember what happened to DERM don’t you? His friend, Commissioner Lynda Bell dismantled it following a town hall meeting where Dubois played a very loud, public role.

SDM is no fan of Commissioner Bell – this blog opined in opposition to some of her policies, but this statement is patently false. Bell definitely went after DERM almost immediately following her election, but the the truth is that DERM was reaching beyond its regulatory authority and harassing people. Believe it.

Nevertheless, the fact is that DERM was consolidated into a larger department by Mayor Gimenez. SDM covered the Mayor’s departmental shifts at the time, so we have a record here. To say that DERM was dismantled is a lie; those functions moved to another department. Mayor Stanczyk knows this fact and SDM would argue that she intentionally painted a false picture for her constituents and to damage Commissioner Bell in their eyes.

The Village of Palmetto Bay Code contains the following provision:

Truth in Government. No municipal official or employee shall knowingly furnish false information on any public matter, nor knowingly omit significant facts when giving requested information to members of the public. (Palmetto Bay Charter, CITIZENS’ BILL OF RIGHTS (A)(2).)

Of course, Mayor Stanczyk could always say she wasn’t giving requested information to members of the public; she wasn’t even claiming ownership at the time!

SDM Says: Dear Governor and Commissioner, please don’t hold it against us that we have a thoughtless oaf as our Mayor. We can’t get rid of her right away, but some of us will do our best to give you a representative worthy of the people of this good community. Oh, and don’t hold SDM against the village people either!

P.S. Palmetto Bay Checks the Record has been scrubbed so you won’t find any of this trash up there now.

Vice Mayor John Dubois must sit there steaming; he certainly looks like it. The woman sitting next to him created a fictitious persona and website to accuse him of a crime! Mayor Stanczyk’s website posted copies of some nasty fliers that claimed Mr. Dubois “illegally” cut down mangroves on his property. When one claims in writing that another person did an illegal act, that can constitute defamation under Florida law.

Here at SDM, we vet every post and comment to make sure we don’t cross the line. And, we will take down material that amounts to defamation – if we agree – when a damaged party makes a request.

Mrs. Stanczyk’s claims against Dubois are particularly troubling because they are so uninformed. The fact is that trimming mangroves is a regulated, legal activity subject to interpretation by the county. If the county determines that mangroves were trimmed in violation of state law, then they can impose fines and ultimately sue to collect outstanding monies due.

For any person who has ever faced an enforcement action, you know that the government isn’t always right. Mr. Dubois finds himself under fire from the county and eventually will come to some resolution with them. Does that make his conduct illegal? Not necessarily and Mrs. Stanczyk knows better. In fact, SDM doubts she’d have made the accusation if she thought it would catch up to her. How’s that for political courage?

SDM Wonders: How does Mr. Dubois sit on that dais next to someone who seems to think that no act in a political campaign is beneath her? SDM wrote last month that village politics is not a war…unless you are the Mayor, apparently.

Speaking of code enforcement violations, how do you think former Council Member Howard Tendrich feels after re-reading the website now knowing that his one-time ally wrote that “he’s the anonymous caller if you ever have the code officer visit you and he tells you a complaint was made.”

Really Mme. Mayor? Your statement is either an outrageous lie or a truth without any substantive evidence in the record. If the latter is the case, then produce the inside information and the staffer who is leaking it because we are told that code enforcement violations are called in anonymously.  If the former is the case, you have no shame.

SDM Wonders: How do the Mayor’s allies on the council and in the community view this politician now that they know what she’s been up to? She seems to have no compunction to say anything once an ally disagrees with her. Better watch your back Council Members Lindsay and Schaffer; you may be next on her hit list.

SDM Says: We understand there is another shoe to drop in this scandal – perhaps several more, in fact. Therefore, we have no choice here at SDM but to wait and watch as this wonderful little experiment in self-government is smeared by a forgettable, small-minded political flyweight. The next election can’t come soon enough.

Final note to our readers: For those of you out there saying, but SDM, you anonymously blog and say some pretty tough – sometimes nasty – things about the village people. What gives you the right to judge the Mayor? Here’s the difference between SDM and the Mayor: SDM is written by outsiders. No one is elected to diddly squat. Even if you don’t believe it, SDM gains nothing by writing this blog except the satisfaction that another perspective is being published. Someone has to point out the other side of the village story and that’s what we try to do here. No defamation…just carefully researched facts and opinions derived from our best efforts at understanding what is going on.