Biscayne Park We Have a Problem…
Well, actually more than one- but this article is meant to
focus on the root cause of most of our dysfunction. And as we have now had 2.5 + years
to observe the Krishan and Tracy Show, it is fair to conclude that it has been
an abject failure. Now, as to the reasons
why…
Neither of them has proven that they have any command or
knowledge of municipal government rules and procedures, any understanding of professional ethics
or in how to communicate and manage others. In other words, they both
possess poor, underdeveloped people skills.
Month after month Rox Ross has attempted to educate and
correct them, (within her allowable 3 minutes of time), while pointing out
mistakes made on the most basic practices. These myriad of errors (just watch the
monthly meetings when Rox is speaking) apparently don’t seem to be corrected or
even acknowledged as they continue month after month. Because after all, Krishan and Tracy has never admitted to ANY
mistakes as they fear it would be a sign of weakness. For me, their weakness
lies not in addressing known blunders, but in the continuation of trying to divert
and deflect the blame elsewhere.
Because, it’s easier to play the victim card
don’t you know.
Excerpts from an email sent to the commission on 4/11/17:
Excerpts from an email sent to the commission on 4/11/17:
"You are tasked to find the most qualified person to run our
Village and to ultimately bring in someone with a proven background and
leadership experience. This is a huge void in our community that needs to be
addressed. Especially now due to the fact that the super majority of you also
have no municipal government experience. And this is not an ideal situation we
find ourselves in. Based on his employment record and overall lack of relevant
government experience, I feel Krishan is simply not qualified for consideration
as a permanent hire. I truly hope that you are not just looking for one who is malleable but rather, one who can lead by example and provide some much needed stability to the position."
As I couldn’t get his actual employment application to copy, here are excerpts from Krishan Manners original 2013 application. [For anyone interested, I can forward you the complete application] Listed in descending order (information has not been verified)
As I couldn’t get his actual employment application to copy, here are excerpts from Krishan Manners original 2013 application. [For anyone interested, I can forward you the complete application] Listed in descending order (information has not been verified)
[Education: BA in Political Science] Personal Reference- Heidi Shafran
To review, Krishan was originally brought here by Heidi to
serve as her assistant. Someone to have her back, to be her eyes and ears and
someone to push her work onto. And this hire cost the Village taxpayers approx.
$69,000.00 annually in both his salary and benefits. It was a hire moreover
based on nepotism than in his relevant work experience. To review his original
employment application positions in descending order. He was :
•
A
commissioned sales associate for a realtor. Reason for leaving "to obtain
a non-commission based career."
•
A
volunteer for Wilton Manors Development Alliance/ No clear salary was listed on
his application. Reason for leaving "to focus on a non-volunteer position."
•
An
owner of an advertisement and public relation agency- The Manners Group. Salary: N/A (?) “Varied with clients.” Specializing
in branding micro-businesses. Reason for leaving, moved to Florida.
• Director
of Marketing/ Richmond Events, Inc. Responsible for their corporate brand in
the US. Reason for leaving, to start The Manners Group.
•
Manager,
new business development/ Grey Worldwide Advertising. Scope of work,
acquisition of new clients. Reason for leaving, to join Richmond Group
So, what do you see above that qualifies him as a City Manager?
What I see from his last two positions is that of him wanting to escape from commission based employment. His work experience is basically based in sales
and as a public relations liaison. As mentioned above, there is no
relevant job experience in municipal government or related administrative
services.
Since he
left the Village, his work experience has been as a consultant tasked with the
renovation of a retail/office building in Wilton Manors.
Ranking and Evaluations
Ranking and Evaluations
In reviewing the spreadsheet from one member of the vetting
board chosen to select a new Village Manager, a point system was assigned for
each of the 23 applicants which covered education, relevant work experience,
professional certifications, among other criteria. The point totals ranged from a low of zero
(2) what were those two thinking ???) to a high score of 34 points.
Krishan’s score was 11 points. This ranked him 17th out of the 23 applicants. (which includes the two zero scores) And yet, he was selected anyway. Why, and is this really the best we can do for our community?
Krishan’s score was 11 points. This ranked him 17th out of the 23 applicants. (which includes the two zero scores) And yet, he was selected anyway. Why, and is this really the best we can do for our community?
***
And
again for the umpteenth time, this is not personal (as few suggest- going back
to that “deflect and divert” knee jerk thingy), this is not the action of clubbing a baby
seal, this is simply exposing the cause and effect of hiring a person that lacks
the required qualifications, backbone and experience we need for this position.
Lack of Control and Accountability for Employees
Being that I’m located across the street from the log cabin, I see when our employees come and go, for the most part. And what I see is little to no accountability on when employees actually show up for work. The code officer (more on her later) routinely shows up 1 to 1 ½ hour late and doesn’t always stay to make up for lost time. (I don’t know if she is being docked for missed hours or not) Others employees arrive 15 minutes or so late regularly yet leave at 5:00pm sharp. And I would be remiss not to mention that one shows up early to get a jump on the day before people start coming in or the phone starts ringing off the hook. And she’s a gem. But I credit her work ethic as an individual more than I do Krishan on this.
For as many agendas that are late and other issues we continuingly face, Krishan should be here on weekends catching up and working to create a system to stay on top of all of this. We are well past the time for endless excuses made for his shortcomings. As I'm prone to say, "he's fully formed," and as such isn't likely to progress further. And what we have in him simply isn't good enough. Krishan should have by now secured, or at the very least started his professional certification training as a City Manager, if indeed this meant anything more to him other than just another gig along the way.
Lack of Control and Accountability for Employees
Being that I’m located across the street from the log cabin, I see when our employees come and go, for the most part. And what I see is little to no accountability on when employees actually show up for work. The code officer (more on her later) routinely shows up 1 to 1 ½ hour late and doesn’t always stay to make up for lost time. (I don’t know if she is being docked for missed hours or not) Others employees arrive 15 minutes or so late regularly yet leave at 5:00pm sharp. And I would be remiss not to mention that one shows up early to get a jump on the day before people start coming in or the phone starts ringing off the hook. And she’s a gem. But I credit her work ethic as an individual more than I do Krishan on this.
For as many agendas that are late and other issues we continuingly face, Krishan should be here on weekends catching up and working to create a system to stay on top of all of this. We are well past the time for endless excuses made for his shortcomings. As I'm prone to say, "he's fully formed," and as such isn't likely to progress further. And what we have in him simply isn't good enough. Krishan should have by now secured, or at the very least started his professional certification training as a City Manager, if indeed this meant anything more to him other than just another gig along the way.
Now for a moment on Christina in Code. Not only is she not in
the field doing the job she was hired for, but earlier this week during her, um, “re-scheduled
monthly meeting” I understand that she stormed out due to a conflict with residents…
abruptly ending the meeting before any cases could be heard. Not only is this
bush league and unprofessional, it is totally unacceptable. In any “real world”
setting, this would be cause for immediate termination. To make matters even worse,
one person flew in from out of State for this meeting, and I believe for the
second time, only to be turned away. What possible excuse can we offer this
man?
Standing Watch,
Add to this that we were then (2017- Irma) and are now still unprepared
for a hurricane, legal bills have shot through the roof since the hiring of
Tracy’s new attorney (more on that in a future post), we are experiencing potential
wasteful spending on unsupported unpopular projects (see Betsy Wise) even as
the commission is under investigation by the Ethics Department... nothing is improving.
*DEEP BREATH*....it boggles my mind.
P.S. “But, I’ve got Tracy under control”
*DEEP BREATH*....it boggles my mind.
P.S. “But, I’ve got Tracy under control”
Milton Hunter
The Biscayne Parker
The Biscayne Parker
