Let’s start off with Happy New Year Neighbors!
And speaking
of neighbors, one asked me during the Holidays why I’ve cut back on my writing
over the past two years. My answer was in two parts, first, my general level of
disgust towards Tracy’s commission
and two, the fact that there was little to write about… as precious little has
been accomplished. [Aside- the reason why I refer to this as Tracy’s commission is that this is what
this thing has become. It’s not “our commission,” as it has little to do with the
community, it’s ALL ABOUT Tracy feeding her ego and insecurities, at the
expense of all else.] Be that as it may, I was alerted to this week’s monthly meeting,
and thought to share with you the embarrassment that is Tracy Trumpman.
I’m not sure why people attend commission meetings. For me personally,
one who abhors politics, I attended meetings as a show of support for a commission.
I’m sure that others have different reasons. But, one thing is abundantly clear,
Tracy’s commission has failed to
engage the public, with meeting attendance at an all-time low. People don’t show
up, people don’t watch the videos…people have just tuned out. I wonder if she/they even care? David, you are
missed. As I’ve stated before, any semblance of professionalism and ethics left
town with David.
So, get your popcorn, strap in, and away we go…
Good and Welfare (or Warfare depending on how you
view it) The purpose of G&W is to
give the community an opportunity to speak (3 minutes (or less, as you’ll soon find
out) on topics of concern. Typically it’s on current agenda items, but not exclusively.
And let me be honest here, this month’s agenda was pretty flimsy, as has been
the case over the past two years. So the complaint from new commissioner Wise
that, to paraphrase, “that public comments is wasting valuable time needed to
conduct Village business” is just a smokescreen. As mentioned above, few even show up for
meetings now and even fewer choose to speak. Sorry to have to explain this, but any
form of public censorship is just another example of bad government. If you
can’t stand the heat- get out of the kitchen Betsy.
[5:50] Rox Ross starts off public comments by correcting last
month’s meeting minutes where she was misquoted. She explains that there was
language in the minutes that she never spoke of and that “the minutes are
supposed to reflect what exactly occurred without editorial comments from the
transcriber.” She mentions that the commission will be voting on the minutes
and asks if they want them to be correct? She then scolds the commission on
their ignorance of not being able to answer a simple question asked by a
visiting Senator. And the question was “what is the Village’s taxable value?” Doh. No
one knew, new or old, to include the manager. (see post title above) Rox said that she felt
disappointed and moreover, embarrassed by this. Tracy then cuts her off at the
2:57 mark. Rox tries to continue, as she felt this information was important, especially
for the new commissioners, but Tracy just wouldn’t have it! Rox states that “after
9 years of service on this commission I would beg that you allow me another 60
seconds to complete this thought.” Tracy
countered with “30 seconds and Go!" (I am sure that this was THE highlight of her night) The rest you can all see for yourselves. Tracy’s
bile and spite is on full display here.
[10:34] New commissioner Betsy Wise chirps in that “she thinks”
that the decorum rules have been violated. Yes, the same decorum statement (more to
follow on this later) that has NEVER BEEN RATIFIED has been violated. I mean,
you just can’t make this up as you go Betsy. It is also apparent that our new
village attorney, along with Betsy didn’t know that this decorum statement has
never been ratified. (see post title above) Mind you, Betsy is a person that had never attended a
commission meeting before, is as big of a Village nobody as one who moved in
last month, (based on contributions to this community) but yet, she has come
out swinging.
[10:55] Chuck Ross is up next. Chuck only gets 43 seconds of
his prepared statement out before Tracy shuts him down. (remember, we are to
get 3 minutes- not fractional minutes) So, she then continues to talk over him
and then calls for the attorney to intervene. What Tracy doesn’t realize is
that she’s not lording over her 4th graders here, but adults who aren’t
going to be bullied by some decorum rule that she has weaponized
for her own benefit. She also threatens
to remove residents via the use of the decorum club, which she doesn’t even have
the authority to do- but when has that
stopped Tracy? As Chuck was not afforded the opportunity to finish his
statement, here it is in its entirety.
“A number of residents spoke at the December meeting
concerned that the charter had been violated, the new Commission was not sworn
in within the time frame prescribed by the charter.
In my mind, the charter violation in this case isn't the
concern so much as the dismissive behavior of the Mayor towards the
residents. Yes the time delay to certify
the election caused a time lapse that was only a few days. However, I believe that the excuse used to
dismiss the resident’s concerns was created after the fact. Again the dismissive attitude towards the
residents is a problem.
Further to the point who if anyone made the decision to defer
the swearing in or who is steering the ship?
Is it Krishan, is it Tracy as most of us believe, and if so that would
be a charter violation or are we just aimlessly drifting out to sea with no one
at the wheel? We need a stable leader to
guide this Village, we don’t have one right now.
Next, the Charter violations in connection with the Leg
Requests were presented at the Dec reg. meeting by Rox Ross before she stepped
down after 9 years. Again, flippant
irrelevant excuses were heard by Tracy and Krishan to attempt to defend &
deflect. However, the Mayor in fact
admitted she violated the Charter or collaborated with Krishan to do so by
sending the Leg Requests to our Lobbyist without running it by the Commission
as is required, not once but twice. (I
added the underline for emphasis)
Based on this admission, I believe it is now your duty to take
this up as an agenda item according to your sworn oath as BP Commissioners to
have these matters further investigated.
While this is being investigated the Mayor should step down and pass the
gavel to the Vice Mayor, as I believe the procedure to install her was improper
in the first place. Tracy was not the
Mayor when the organizational meeting began last month; she was a Commissioner
like the rest of you and should not have run the meeting. By doing so she gained an unfair advantage to
have herself nominated and in my mind it was a conflict. In the past the organizational meetings to
select the Mayor have been run by the Attorney.
The criticisms of the Mayor above have been described by the
Mayor as a personal attack on her in the past and deliberate
misrepresentations. These statements and
concerns have nothing to do with the individual but with the manner that
Village business is being conducted and there have been no deliberate
misrepresentations, I urge you to watch to watch the meeting videos.
Lastly, road reimbursements that Tracy pushed through in late
2017 have turned out to be not well thought out; it would have been a waste of
funds. The base of our roads needs to be
restored before we resurface the roads among other issues. Tracy claimed there was no harm in asking,
not true; harm was caused by missing an opportunity in an election year to ask
for funds for a different project, maybe a lighting project around the rec center
as an example. So, losing an opportunity
is harmful, losing our credibility with our State Senators and Representatives
by bringing half-baked projects is also harmful. Tracy brags it landed on the governor’s desk
but he vetoed it, if you read his reasons he vetoed it because the process we
followed was flawed.
We need change.”
Chuck brings up very important points in his statement that I
will be elaborating on in a future post.
[14.56] Tracy has had
enough!
She moves to shut down the meeting as now she’s triggered. However,
the meeting continues… with Chuck moving away from the podium as to not bog the
meeting down further. Watch for yourselves... if you dare.
[27.30] Janey Anderson is now up. She basically discusses a last
minute agenda item sponsored by Betsy Wise stating her concern that “it’s just
not fair to the public not to see what’s out there and to be able to comment.” She
then refers to Betsy’s inflammatory language as subjective. That it’s the commissions
responsibly to defuse issues. Etcetera.
[30:01] Dan Keys agrees with Janey regarding the tone of Betsy’s
agenda item backup. That the only statements she has made so far have been “to denigrate
residents that have spoken at the pulpit.” That “you’re supposed to be able to take it.” He
points out the shortfall of the manager in not properly dealing with the Charter
violation regarding the timing of swearing in the new commission. Then he "again"
addressed the fact that the commission does not respond to the public, and that
it’s a problem. (see post title above) Dan gets slightly over his 3 minutes
before Tracy attempts to cut him off. But, Dan continues to explain that having
department heads conduct a planned workshop (and not the manager) would
have got him fired when he was the PW department head @ Coral Gables. Alrighty then...
[34:17] Barbara Kuhl now has the floor and pretty much unloads
on the commission. She seems concerned
in the commissions attempt to restrict the dialog during public comments. (we
can’t see from the video, but Barbara is addressing Betsy’s eye rolling and
other dismissive body language) She continues to explain that there was no
transparency regarding the recount of the election until the public had to bring
it forward. (see post title above) The
rest you can see for yourselves.
[37:42] Gary Kuhl follows with “democracy is a messy process.
Freedom of speech is a right. We’re not an audience, we’re participants, but we’re
treated like an audience.” Sage words Gary. Truly. We can only hope that they were
heard, but I’m not holding my breath. He then addresses the upcoming workshop
and the fact that it has not been properly noticed or communicated to the
public. (see post title above)
Before I move on to the decorum club this commission is
attempting to wield, I have some advice for new comer Betsy Wise. Betsy, if you
ever plan to earn the respect of this community (and yes, it has to be earned-
not given freely) you need to first understand your limitations of general
knowledge, and to approach your new position with some humility with
both ears open and your mouth shut. You're not "so awesome" so far. You’re off to a poor start; and I
suggest you learn from your mistakes. And as you like to sling some Latin around,
I have a Latin word for you, hypocrita eice. This means hypocrite. Do better.
[1:15:20] The (non-ratified)
Decorum Statement Discussion.
New commissioner Dan Samaria objected to Tracy’s idea to move
the decorum statement from the back of the agenda to the front. And to have it read aloud at every meeting. And to have it posted all over the podium. Dan says he seeks to build
a better relationship with the public and that he finds this offensive. Good for you Dan and good luck with that. Tracy continues to decry her need to push this due to all the “personal attacks” per
usual as she’s always the victim in life. Never responsible for her actions, or
missteps, only that “others” are always out to get her. She then
tries to spin this attempt to limit and/or restrict our right of free speech into some form of fiscal responsibility. LOL! As I already mentioned
above, so very few people attend meetings and ever fewer choose to speak, so that was disingenuous.
Please remember that Tracy approached me years ago urging me to have Fred's blog taken down (which I wouldn't do even if I had the ability to do so) because of him writing about her. In my opinion, her goal is total censorship of any narrative she can't control.
[1:42:52] Tracy interrupts the attorney during his discussion,
informing him on how to do his job, natch.
Lastly, that State Representative Dottie Joseph wants satellite
office space here. Costs are approx. $5,000.00 and she wants a decision now.
So, it looks like we would lose office space in Village Hall and possibly also
in the Log Cabin.
So, that’s about all I have for this version of Amateur Hour.
Standing Watch,
Milton Hunter
The Biscayne Parker
