SUMMING UP THE LBTS JULY 14, 2009 COMMISSION MEETING…..
“Cast One’s Pearls Before Swine ( share important things with people who will not understand their value … )”….IN THIS CASE ….THE “GANG OF 4″…
Dear Readers…In the early morning hours….after an extended marathon of disconnects…with reiterations of befuddled thinking…off the mark conjecture…uninformed pontificating…digging in of heels …and full on electioneering modus operandi coming from the “Gang of 4″…(McIntee…Silverstone …Clottey and Colon)…this writer will first do an overview……For the in-depth posts will take time but are guaranteed to be worth the time and the wait!…LIKE PEARLS…..
After finishing the Budget Workshop…filled with “fluffy” responses for the Town Manager and her financial acumen made by the usual suspects….there was an hour before the regular commission meeting…The room started to fill up once again (it was half full for the 5 pm Town Manager presentation)…with no sign-up sheet to be found….It arrived approximately 10 minutes before the 7 pm start time…Many joked that freedom of speech was not going to happen this night…new rules!…
Right out of the gate after the Town Chaplain’s invocation in which Rev. Hunsaker was leading us in prayer for unity and consensus…(full text to be posted )…The Town Manager “informed” the Town Commission of the “interim Chief” status of BSO Lt. Angelo Cedeno…..with the added news that the new Chief would be in place by the next meeting on July 28th….
Lt. Cedeno made his presentation for BSO Deputy of the Quarter (to be posted)….and we went straight to public comments (to be posted) where 18 people spoke with 3 people asking to wait to speak on specific items later on the agenda…The “Gang of 4” took a thrashing…still…. on the “reassignment” of Chief Gooding from most of the speakers …while four of the faithful Kool-aid drinkers spread some Mc- Furth propaganda …from bloating the amount of July 4th volunteers and calling those who showed up in support of Chief Gooding on June 3oth “carpetbaggers”…demanding for the Commission to enact new rules for public comment speakers be made to say their name…town…state…and just about everything else except their shoe size….(Wasn’t this what the new majority ran on to get rid of?)…..OOPS!
Swiftly making their way through items 6 through 9…there were no reports…no public safety discussion…The Manager had nothing to say in her allotted time….the minutes were all approved together…no discussion …passing 5-0
10- Ordinances first reading…where try as he might Comm. Dodd could not make the “Gang” comprehend that the newly updated sidewalk cafe’ ordinance brought to light that the existing Town ordinance has downtown sidewalk cafe’s for Village Grill and Aruba not complying with the current code…The code calls for a “removable barrier”…Theirs are not…and as it suddenly dawned on Comm. Silverstone what it meant…he looked like a man about to sweat…realizing this one hit close to home (literally) involving Aruba Beach Cafe’….After Weiss, Serota Atty. White again made it abundantly clear that unless the wording was removed as Comm. Dodd stated the 2 restaurants would be in violation…it was passed with removing the “removable” and adding the extra text that provided Pa DeGenaros’ the use of sidewalks…passes 5-0
Next up amending rates for sanitary sewage…no discussion …passes 5-0
Back again…the 2nd reading for 2009-10 the “Unified Land Development Regulations….Amending Chapter 30….”…The “Gang” was ready to quickly pass it…as they appear to not have re- read it…and again it was Comm. Dodd who rightly called attention to the return of this ordinance without the changes that were discussed at length at its prior time up to bat…Still stuck at home plate…they just cannot get this bat and ball to connect… Comm. Dodd put forth quite “spot on” that perhaps the administration thinks if they keep tossing it back…it will finally be tossed a “walk” to first base with the same codes that stick it to homeowners!…Round and round they went… For this writer it was suddenly like sitting in a MPSC meeting… until they finally got that the non- conforming buildings would still not be allowed to rebuild as is…and again instructed the Atty. and staff to go back and get it in there to allow us all to be treated as we should and rebuild as we should be allowed….passed 5-0 and it will come back July 28th…Luckily after the break, Comm. Dodd spoke up again to remind them they did not include the zeroscape and the burden left on watering and maintaining public property by some homeowners and not for others…this too was passed 5-0 for the inclusion in what will hopefully be the final time…hoping next time out they slam it out of the park…..BATTER UP!…
We had Commissioner Comments…containing colorful …incorrigible …content……erstwhile electioneering….setting the record straight….and calling the Manager once again on the carpet over the Chief….(full text to be posted )…
The Consent agenda was a quagmire where we watched with our mouths wide open as the “Gang” tried to shut down the Athena By The Sea “Wine and Food Festival” offering little…making up excuses…giving out false facts…and doing a free fall from reality in trying every way from Sunday to implore Comm. Dodd and the residents to ignore the black and white clause for required code enforcement……while asking for all to believe the Town manager will keep her word! …HUH?……In the audience at every attempt to pursue this avenue of counting on Ms. Colon…could be heard murmurs of “Chief Gooding”…which said it loud and clear…NO WAY…NO HOW …The Town Manager’s word means squat!…Up and down and sideways …it ended with a huge surprise…3-2 Silverstone voted for it…IT’S A GO…BUT …will it last…for either way he was on the prevailing side and can bring it back if the Furths lean on him!…(Full text post to come)
Consent agenda item B was the “sweetheart deal” for McIntee’s flooding problem….and no matter how you looked at it …..that’s exactly what it was!…He recused himself…and was asked to remove it by Comm. Clottey…He did…but it still smacked of preferential treatment…(full text post to come)…
13- Resolution…waiver of certain parking fees…no discussion passed 5-0
14- No Quasi Judicial Public Hearing
15-Old Business…Talk about “fiscal irresponsibility”….The “Parking Processing Citations”…. was heated…informative and totally frustrating…It showed the problem front and center with this Town Manager and her staff…Digging in her heels…and putting on her blinders…..so short sighted is she that it was as if she was proudly pronouncing she is still using an abacus ….(thanks for that analogy from a faithful reader)….technology be damned!…(Full text post to come)…It did end up with a 5-0 vote to put out another RFP in the paper (will dates be included …in a 4” Sentinel RFP) and online…Sept 8th meeting is now Sept. 9th….Performance bond change for Minto was moved to the July 28th per staff…passes 5-0….Pioneer Day was pulled by the Mayor….Custom banners was another repeat…pushed to July 28th…offered up were 12 on a map in the backup per Municipal Director Don Prince…at a cost of $106-$130 each plus $80 per each design for start-up costs…The Mayor will walk and confer with Assist. Manager Olinzock and return with recommendations….A granite wall with an “honor roll” names of past Mayors/Commissioners from 1947…went back and forth with a decision to put it out for donations rather than the Town’s expense ($4500)…in Town Topics and back on the agenda in Sept…..to see if any were received and how to proceed…..
16- New Business….After a motion to continue until 11:30 pm…the first 2 items put on by Comm. Dodd and the Mayor started with “reconsider” and the VM let it be known that was not allowed with an assist by the Town Atty…both dais members will return the items with the right wording on July 28th…Next up was Comm. Dodd’s request into the Town Manager’s contract compared with other municipalities for compensation….( we heard the inquiries already went out per the Town Clerk…were there any responses received and not included in the backup?) This one was explosive and again the verbatim exchange is a must! (will be posted word for word!)…Comm. Dodd wanted to make a point about the Reef project funds and the lack of funds for the police services building…and he did…with the expected “pointed daggers” coming his way….and again this exchange highlighted that the “Gang” still did not understand the allocation of funds for the BSO’s quarters…especially the $10,000 they previously approved…(full post to come)….a no- go 3-2 outcome…no surprise…….and no need to specify who was the 3 and who was the 2!…Comm. Dodd had questions on the pavilion…but was chewed out once again…for speaking about it on the dais…VM McIntee after berating Comm. Dodd for wasting time on the dais used his item to thank the employees for 4th of July and all the time they put in….(does Comm. comments electioneering come under the same “waste of time”? )….A workshop for MPSC to discuss the El Mar Design project and the updating of the Master Plan will be on July 20, 2009…at 5 pm…
17-No Town Atty. Report
Adjourned…
more to come….much more!….
Tags: LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
