SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL….
The Round Table…was supposed to be a chance for the Commissioners to sit around the round table (no matter the actual shape…Vice Mayor) and try and get some discussion going…to mitigate the endless 2 day regular Commission meetings that have become routine…month after month after month…
At the table early on 30 minutes prior was Commissioner Clottey…with the the Mayor walking in 15 minutes later…and Commissioner Dodd shortly thereafter…The Vice Mayor was a few minutes shy of the 3 pm hour…and Comm. Silverstone was a no show…at that time…
Before they could begin the fire beeper went off and McIntee made a dash…The Commissioners not quite sure if they should proceed or not…waited and at 10 after 3 decided to get on with it…
They sat next to each other facing the few in attendance…and began…discussing…quiet, thoughtful discussion…free of the tension that usually exists…HMMMM…(A look at what could be?)….
Comm. Clottey made an announcement of sorts speaking of the upcoming events she was “leading”…the Pavilion Ribbon Cutting…Mon. April 6, 2009…at 7 pm…which includes a 35 minute concert…(before the meeting began she was heard to say she hoped all the problems with the pavilion were addressed before it began…alluding to the mess-ups still ongoing on site )….. She went on to speak of the Furth-VFD- CIC Easter event…which she is chairing …still looking for volunteers…HMMM….( another CIC Town Hall meeting scenario?)
Commissioner Dodd began and spoke about the “electioneering” that went on from the dais during Comm. Comments…lasting a full 9 minutes…(It felt like much longer)…Hoping to get all down to 5…He asked about the Town Manager’s review the format…and his opinion it should be done…Comm. Clottey and the Mayor said they should see how it was done in the past….It never came back up in front of the “2-Hats” upon their return for discussion…
BC- A vote should be taken by the full Commission to see if they will follow what the contract says…Whatever their vote is…it should be part of the record…and made note of at election time…by the voters…
The Mayor spoke about the meetings running so long …including Commissioner Comments and having “2 bites” at the apple…knowing full well this term could or would be met with a negative reaction…Comm. Clottey did not understand …asking if the Mayor meant the “citizens or us”…the Mayor indicated the Commission …with Comm. Clottey saying sometimes you need to respond..The Mayor went on to ask for clarification when it came to public comments and the times a speaker could come up….She understood the speaker could speak at public comments…and again at other times but not address the same subject twice….saying curtailing this too might cut the time of the meetings…and she was looking for consensus…Comm. Clottey said the difference for the 2-day meetings was due to not staying until midnight (How about the campaign promises…shorter meetings)….Comm. Dodd now thought perhaps they should follow a 1 time deal…at public comments or on the item (excluding 1st and 2nd readings…resolutions etc…where the public is invited to speak as well as public comments)…
Commissioner Clottey again spoke of ordinance problems and code enforcement speaking of rooms being rented to undesirables….prostitutes…and places who have signs showing what they charge …with code enforcement unable to stop it…(This writer has only seen that in the Galt area…not LBTS)…Comm. Clottey wants code to be able to work longer hours…nights and weekends..going after them…saying the Town Manager told her “we have to give them more power”…adding “we’re not there to tell the businesses, that’s not my job” HUH?…
The Mayor spoke of the contracts and RFPs…right along the lines of what Comm. Dodd had offered up at the previous commission meeting…He expanded on his desire for a schedule of RFPs …3 months notice…with workshops if necessary…and the contracts previously used for a starting point…The Mayor responded the Town had chosen not to go out with an RFP for Broward County building service…for permitting… choosing to continue the status quo…….When and where did that happen? The Mayor offered up an alternative that was met with some interest by Clottey and Dodd…a private company from Westin … Comm. Clottey again going into having our own building dept….a pay as you go from permit monies received…Dodd and the Mayor did not think there would be enough permits to warrant our own dept. at this time….Clottey spoke of permit fees and those that do the work without permits…Comm. Dodd spoke of the audit report and any other RFP over $15,000 dollars requiring bids……Comm. Clottey said it was for the commission to go to the Manager and tell her what they …HUH?…This is what got Comm. Dodd in trouble in the first place……asking for what he wanted and giving her a list!…
Comm. Dodd spoke again about liens and the Town not being able to mitigate them…saying other municipalities were able to do just that…Comm. Clottey spoke of the banks…not wanting to help them out…HUH?….
The “2-Hats” returned…and immediately everything “tightened” up….the free flowing congeniality…the informal atmosphere suddenly turned edgy and cold…with their arrival!
They were given a brief review of what they missed…with Silverstone speaking of “personal attacks” versus legitimate concerns…(Here we go…..)
Discussion ensued about the lack of controlling the hall…see previous post….no talking allowed…warnings…and then you’re out!…
The subject turned to Louis Marchelos and how he was thrown out with no warning from Jarvis Hall……Comm. Silverstone said he received “warnings”…The Mayor and Comm. Dodd told him not that evening….The Mayor tried yet again to make the VM understand respect needed to start on the dais…(As usual it went over his head)…
Comm. Dodd spoke about quasi judicial hearings…possibly moving them up…a constituent had asked for this…due to nights of late or no hearings…with the applicant paying their legal counsel…The Vice Mayor proposed taking them out of regular commission meetings…lumping them together in a special meeting…Comm. Clottey felt that moving this item up would give preferential treatment to those who have Attorneys over those who have agenda items on their own….HUH?…The VM agreed!…The Mayor said she was fine where they are in the agenda…with the VM saying “MY citizens are more important than attorneys.”…Jeez…They decided to leave it alone and leave it to their discretion at the beginning of the meeting….
Talk went back to the parking problems in town with Comm. Dodd speaking about the loss of Tedesco’s and the problem for any new restaurant coming in…not being able to meet the parking requirements…This is where Comms. Clottey, Silverstone and the VM did a total 180 from their recent actions on the dais…offering up that the Town staff and businesses should know they can come to the Commission for a positive result…with Comm. Clottey saying “The Town should never say no.”…HUH……and HUH?…Just ask the businesses what has been the norm of late Commissioner…NO…NO….and NO!…from the town and you 3 in the majority!…
There was silence with no one speaking up…so Comm. Dodd started to make another point…with the VM saying he (Dodd) was taking this over…that these round table meetings should only be an hour with 12 minutes allotted to each member…while taking umbridge with the Mayor asserting the same at Commissioner comments…
Then came the Vice Mayor’s false accusations…(previous post)…against Comm. Dodd and the Palm Club sewers…and the downhill spiral…the back and forth exchange regarding the Marchelos brothers …and the false characterizations of their legal situation with the town…
At this meeting the Vice Mayor says the Town and the Commission should not be talking to anyone who is threatening to litigate…HUH!…What about the Palm Club…The Town was on notice they were going to sue…The Town was “bogged down” with boxes of public records requests to supply the Palm Club with documents they needed to possibly litigate …and the Vice Mayor along with the Town chose to not only deal with them…but pursue ways to help them!…Talk about hypocrisy…this is it …big time…from the Town Manager…and the Vice Mayor!…
This downhill spiral extended to the Vice Mayor’s continued vendetta…and bathrooms in the alleyway…to stop the Pier egress…with Comm. Clottey on board…along with BFF Silverstone…That is until Comm. Dodd said they should also be in Aruba’s alleyway…the suddenly Comm. Silverstone thought the Mayor’s idea…of El Prado was more to his liking! HMMM…(Would he be in the dog house…with port-a-potties in Aruba’s alley?)…..
Comm. Silverstone brought up “memos” he saw that were not setting the right “tone”….. Yep…here we went again into the issue of “town moral”…” micro- managing”…and you all know how this one goes……the Mc-“spinning” of “protecting the Town Manager”…But as one reader put forth…”Just who is protecting the residents?”….With another reader responding …” If these town employees can’t deal with what is being asked of them…to do their jobs…..let them go…and see how it is elsewhere…want to bet on the outcome?”……Thanks, very astute readers!….
The most absurd incredible 360 came from the majority of 3..when they essentially told Comm. Dodd to call the Town Manager…instead of e-mailing…and to put what he wants on the agenda and ask for backup from the staff…HUH…and YIKES!…REALLY….that’s what they did!…….
The Mayor finished up by asking to begin a monthly meeting on Sat. mornings…open to the residents…to meet with one Commissioner at a time…The VM and Comm. Silverstone were incredibly dismissive…saying they had phones to hear from the residents…and she did not need their okay to do it…
BC- Any bets if the Mayor gets a full house…the VM and his BFF “Jimmy” boy will set up their own meet and greet….You go girl!….
You can always count on the Vice Mayor to end on a sour note…He wanted to know why the Mayor recused herself from the Waste Services RFP…Which company it was …She wasn’t divulging that information…saying she turned in the paperwork…The VM he said he put in a request for that information… Some Commissioners may want to make some requests for information on the following…concerning the VM…Has he made any preparation concerning July 4th…just 3 months out.. No meetings have been posted…yet we hear he has said he has been planning it……HMMM…. Sunshine would be in place for him and his co-chair “Jimmy” for any discussions…….No budget has been approved….
And how about the numerous code violations complaints he has made? …How many has he made to code enforcement …breaking the”chain of command”……just to name a few….
The Round Table…definitely showed …..why we need no more brooms!…
more to come….
Tags: LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
