Anatomy of a Corrupted Takedown





On the TV show Arrow, the protagonist seeks out those in violation of their municipal duties declaring in a gravelly voice, “YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY.” This is typically followed by him shooting them full of arrows. Now, while I don’t suggest the latter- there needs to be consequences for premeditated sabotage, intimidation and intentional wrongdoings that negatively affect us all.

 

TRACY, YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY!

Now, the only question that remains is what to do about it. Sure, we’ve suffered through bad Mayors and Commissions before mostly due to community apathy and disinterest. Is that the way of it Biscayne Parkers? Is it the best we can do? Or can we, the taxpayers who finance this entire enterprise, be compelled to demand better representation? Will we invest our time and effort needed to communicate with our Electeds until they hear us and make changes? To forcibly state that this behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated! Will each one of you reading this join in the movement of holding those accountable for their actions?

For if not, if this is too much to ask of you, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. And we deserve whatever fate that awaits us.

This is the first entry from our Citizen Bill of Rights: “This government has been created to protect the governed, not the governing.” From what we’ve witnessed over the past several months, it is we, the governed that need protection from the governing.

In preparation for this article I have been researching the facts and gathering information from our Commission, residents and staff. This triggered by the clear and present dysfunction between mainly our new Mayor and (now resigned) Village Manager.

But, before we get started today I wanted to clarify my relationship with Tracy Truppman so that everyone has a better understanding of our background and the ultimate reason for this post. I have been friends with Tracy for years. I find Tracy (our neighbor) to have a big and kind heart, expressed through her love of animals and she has proven to be a caring friend. I have enjoyed roasting chestnuts on an open fire (quite literally) with her and Rhonda during the Holidays and have provided council for her on many issues over the years. During this time certain personality traits became obvious to include an ingrained emotional default of feelings of discrimination, overt knee-jerk outbursts to include exaggerated and hysterical behavior- all in an attempt to support her narrative of the moment.

A fellow neighbor explains it as “sadly even Tracy's good intentions have a tendency to get lost in her hyperbole and minutia.” But, the question I pose to you today for consideration is, are her intentions (as Mayor) good? I’ll leave that up to each of you to decide for yourselves after you’ve reviewed all of the information contained herein.

Due to the findings of my research, this article will be unavoidably detailed and rather long. Sorry for that in advance. But it is important to fully understand what has transpired here, so grab a cup of coffee, or other beverage of choice, and settle in for the duration.

Anyone who has a pulse on our Village knows that we struggle finding balance or middle ground and instead we tend to swing wildly from one extreme to the other. I.e., a police force deemed too aggressive then too passive resulting in a crime rate increase of +80% and +66% over the past 2 years. A Commission viewed as doing too little to then spending too much, or in providing too little oversight to now what will be illustrated in this article.

It was not unusual for me to receive multiple frantic calls from Tracy daily (at all hours) ranting about one person/subject or another. I cannot remember how many times I have told her to “calm down, stop worrying, and let’s address this situation (whatever her perceived crisis was) if and when it actually materializes.” And often, nothing came of it… other than the rantings of course. And I know that some of you reading this can relate and have shared this exact same experience. Tracy is a chronic gossip and complainer on a myriad of  issues. Though she had not been practically involved in Village affairs, she still felt the need to be engrossed in all the BP gossip. For some personal reason it was important for her to feel as if she knew more than others or was in some measure viewed as a valued insider.

If not for the results of our last election, this article would never have been written. But due to what we’ve been subjected to over the past few months, I felt a responsibility to our community to shed some light on the subject and to expose facts that are disturbing and have the potential to adversely affect us all.

THE PRE ELECTION PROCESS:

Many different feelings and concerns swept over me once I heard that Tracy had decided to run for a Commission seat. The reason I didn’t hear this news from her directly was due to a “time out” between us over my criticism of her ill-advised attitude regarding the selection process of our new Village Manager. It’s common knowledge to many by now that Sharon Ragoonan (Manager) was not her choice. And as I have no issues with that due to her having every right to her opinion, it went much further than that. She was upset with the entire process and actually expressed her displeasure to our previous Mayor stating that she thought we should start all over again and under a different vetting format.

Never mind the fact that she did not attend any of the public meetings or serve on the resident board during this selection process. Or the fact that Sharon was far and away the People’s choice for Manager.  Nope, Tracy decided that she didn’t like any of it. [ASIDE] could this friction be due to the fact that her application for the Managers position was summarily rejected due to her utter lack of experience in municipal government? [END ASIDE]

Once Tracy’s campaign gained some momentum, she then reached out and stated that “this election year was her only chance of ever getting elected” and her hope was to “come in third place with a 2 year term” as that seemed to be the best fit for her. In that we both agreed.

I believe that she was as surprised as the rest of us with the voting results and since that time I’ve seen her initial humility turn to ego coupled with a hunger for power and control. If you'll remember, few here have been more vocal (including publically recommending for our previous Manager to be terminated with cause) about proper institutional oversight than I have been. However, that is not, was not, an open invitation for feverish micro-managing from a novice into administration and employee decisions outside of our Charter purview. Our Commission is to speak and act as a body, as one entity, not one person. Tracy's is attempting to conduct herself as a Strong Mayor, which is in direct conflict with our Charter and as such, she has self-created unnecessary conflict.

On Election Day Tracy expressed her annoyance to me over her perception that Sharon was allegedly spending more time with and/or showing more attention to the other candidates. And this was viewed as being disrespectful. I mentioned this as the genesis of her feelings of being neglected or in some way marginalized. After a Village movie night, she called to tell me she took issue with Sharon for…wait for it… making popcorn with Fred Jonas. I do realize that all of this sounds more like a Junior High School maturity level than in an adult preparing to serve in city government, but alas, it is what it is.

THE POST ELECTION PROCESS:

Let’s now move along to Post Election. We ended up with three novice Commissioners, Tracy being selected as Mayor (more on this later) and a first-time City Manager. When Tracy called me to first float the trial balloon that she may end up as Mayor, I suggested to her that David remain for as long as he can to provide stability and to guide the three new and inexperienced Commissioners. But, here is where we need to back up a bit before we can move forward. Tracy alluded that this decision was made from discussions between the 3 new Commissioners only. She explained that the other two either didn’t want to do it or didn’t have the time to- so it “fell to her.” Hmm…

Moving on, when that idea (David) was rejected, I then suggested Rox, (not as a big fan of Rox’s politics) but as she had served in that role before I thought her experience would better aid our community during this transition. I mean, the 3 new Commissioners could still control the vote if they chose, so what’s the problem? And her answer was, “over my dead body.”

There are eerie similarities playing out on both the National and our local level regarding the effort to suppress criticisms. Tracy called me in January urging me to get two neighbors kicked off a social media site. This, due to their criticisms of her.  This fact should be very telling as to the fragile emotional makeup of this individual.

I’d now like to convey a conversation I had with past Mayor Richard Ederr before Tuesday’s meeting. Richard is a CPA and Tracy sought his opinion/advice on the past due 2014-2015 audit and CAFR situation. After their meeting he believes that her main interest was to have him back her accusations that this was all due to Sharon’s negligence. Of course this twisted logic defies explanation as Sharon wasn’t even employed here until mid. September 2016! [ASIDE] In reviewing the emails between our staff and the State regarding the audit, it appears that communications slowed down between April- September 2016, then activity picked back up again [END ASIDE] Richard not only told Tracy that she was incorrect in assigning blame to Sharon but that he, as a CPA; may not have caught the issues as we transitioned from one finance director to another.

Here are a couple of quotes from Tracy’s email to Sharon, “You have no sense of the urgency with regards to this matter- (not enough immediate hysteria I suppose) The extent of the financial damage from your inaction is unknown- (It is known- and it’s zero) You attempted to minimize your failure by suggesting you might be able to get another extension- (It’s done) Your most recent and egregious false accusation that I am interfering- (probably neither false or egregious) and my personal all-time favorite- Please govern yourself accordingly.” Wow!

That ranks right up there with “have I made myself clear?” This undoubtedly demonstrates poor interpersonal skills and a lack of respect for the Managers position… or towards her personally. Either way… it’s a problem.

Another previous Mayor communicated with me after reading the email exchange between them (agenda item 12b.) stating, “Jeez, it looks like a witch hunt to me.” And he hit the nail on the head.

MOUNTAINS AND MOLE HILLS:

 

Soon after being sworn in, Tracy launched herself headfirst into her perceived “public safety crisis” over the fact that the fire suppression system in the log cabin wasn’t working. However, had she researched the situation more fully, she would have discovered that the fire system had been deliberately disconnected for years in the past. But, that fact wouldn’t further her resolve of now placing blame on any and all parties involved, past and present. Further, she then threw a hissy fit over the fact that we used the same Christmas lights that we have for years- but for some reason now, on her watch, they were going to burn down the log cabin. She actually told me to “keep an eye on it for her” over the Holidays. Really, I kid you not.

Lastly on this subject, during our January meeting(s) she not only droned on and on, and on and on about all of her personal time spent managing this crisis over the Holidays, but then trotted out a neighbor to attempt to support the “dire consequences” of this inaction. But here’s the rub, this neighbor, who does not normally attend meetings, would have had no way of knowing any of this if not for being told and urged to publically support Tracy’s position. Well, so much for more streamlined meetings, amiright? Tracy was unable to gain traction from our other Commissioners to support her perceived emergency and this spectacle was nothing more than pure showboating and an early display of her panic-stricken judgment.

Molehill 

Next, during the same meeting(s) a resident spoke at the podium regarding his wife’s analysis of one of the Managers notices for employment. From what I recall, she claimed there was a syntax error and that several points were not clear. Okay, fair enough, but what’s the big deal here? Style points? However, for part 2 of this meeting (a continuation from the week prior) copies of both the RFQ and the analysis were positioned on the dais with Tracy urging residents to take them as handouts.

This was done for no other reason other than to attempt to paint Sharon in a bad light.

Knowing the person who offered her analysis and being surprised that this was now being used as a public handout, I phoned her to ask two questions. 1)  Did she herself discover the RFQ, or did someone else point her in that direction and asked for her opinion? The answer I got was “I’d rather not say.” Hmm… 2) I asked if it was her intent for this to have been displayed publically as it was- not only did she said no, but seemed angry over the situation.

Another molehill

The Attempted/Aborted Charter change. Due to us needing to have a special election to fill David Coviello’s seat, Tracy, (and others) suggested that this would be a good time to change our Charter and to funnel more control and power to the Commissioners on decisions such as hiring and I’ll presume firing of certain employees. This drew immediate criticism from some members of our community claiming this to be a “power grab.”  I’ll go on record to say that the original intention, in my opinion, was not that of a power grab, but more a reaction to some of the problems we had with our last Manager.  And that’s a fair point considering our recent experience.

However, there was questionable half-baked judgement displayed in asserting that problems we experienced with one person would automatically carry over to another.  In response to the pushback, and perhaps after thinking the entire situation over more carefully, Tracy then, reluctantly abandoned her quest. Ouch… rough start.

From what I’ve seen from this new Commission, it would be a mistake to gift them more power. They have earned nothing up to this point. Well...correction, nothing but contempt from many of us. They have yet to show us anything in the way of sound judicious judgment. Nor have they acted for the betterment of the publics trust.

THE MOUNTAIN:

Article 2 of our Citizen Bill of Rights: “No Village 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.”

Tracy has spent the entirety of her time since being elected gossiping to any and all that will listen and plotting to usurp the Manager. Including spreading false and exaggerated information. (see above) I personally heard far too many verbatim quotes from Tracy coming out of other people’s mouths. Through these actions she has put our entire community in needless disarray and upheaval. In the end, I believe that Sharon saw the writing on the wall that she would never be able to build a bridge with these new Commissioners (who didn’t support her) and didn’t want to be somewhere where she didn’t feel wanted. Does this suggest that she lacks the mettle to be an effective City Manager? I’m not so sure, but one thing is for sure, we’ll never get to see it. We’ve had that opportunity taken away from us by 3 neophytes and their coordinated power play.

In getting to know Sharon, I view her as a hardworking, high energy and enthusiastic individual. I witnessed her connect with the public in a positive manner, something our Commission has failed to do. But, perhaps this was her downfall, as insane as that may sound. Conceivably our insecure Commissioners were envious of the attention she received, and in her representing the face of our Village. In truth, she deserves better than this lot.

She has been successful during her 20 year career in municipal government, enjoying a good reputation from her peers. Yet, somehow she “failed” here in less than six months? That just doesn’t’ makes any sense does it? However, what does make sense is that when you have a biased inexperienced Mayor stating 2 months into your employment, “I’m done, I can’t work with her, she has to go,” and she’s got two other lemmings backing her up… the cards are stacked against you. Our malignancy originates from within. So, do we continue to suffer the effects or do we cut out the cancer? It’s all up to you- each of you reading this. Do we seek stability…or further instability and fear mongering?

Was Sharon without fault? No, but guess what- none of those who had preceded her were either. Yet, all were given ample time to settle in and none of them had their legs knocked out from under them in less than six months. None of them were leveraged into resigning before having their first performance review. Tracy admitted during Tuesday’s meeting that she had planned to let her go before any evaluation ever took place and before hearing from our other Commissioners… or from the public. Folks, that premeditated and has been for months.

The question is now, who would want to work in this environment? Who’s to say the next Manager won’t suffer the same fate if they don’t bow to Tracy’s whims? What do we look like to outsiders after blowing through 2 Managers in less than 12 months?

TRACY, YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY!

I believe the only answer is for her to step down as Mayor and for another more suitable in their emotional disposition to take her place. My vote is that of a lack of confidence in what I’ve seen so far. And I’ve seen enough.

 

Standing Watch,

Milton Hunter

The Biscayne Parker