I wanted to endorse Bev Gerald because I have been watching her opponent Patrick Fiore over the years when he was on the Community Council in West Kendall where there were UDB applications to move the line. I asked Bev for a photo and she sent me one that was 600 dpi...for the internet?? It took up my whole screen. She is a very pretty woman so I wasn't alarmed when I opened it. Anyway, I reduced it's size and here it is. If I lived in Palmetto Bay, I would vote for Bev Gerald. I like that she is on the Historic Preservation Advisory Board. I think this interest signals a lot of what a person is about. I am an environmentalist and historic preservation goes hand-in-hand. Historic preservationists put value on what we have - our heritage, even our land. It is a sensibility I can relate to. She has lived in the Village since 1976 so she knows the area. Patrick is a carpetbagger and I didn't like some of his West Kendall Community Council votes and comments (Fiore was not elected, he was appointed by that Mean Spirited County Commissioner Little Joe Martinez). Carol Vega said in a Miami Herald letter to the editor:
...When Village Council candidate Patrick Fiore was a member of the West Kendall Community Council, he was flipping properties and had deals with Lennar Corp. under contract when he voted on Lennar proposals. I was there and so, thankfully, was The Miami Herald.
It was because of Fiore's and Miguel Cervera's behavior that there was a push in 2006 for tighter ethics requirements on Community Councils, namely that members would have to disclose their real estate dealings.
Also, if I could vote in Palmetto Bay, I would support Shelly Stanczyk because I don't think Peter England is right for the post. I will leave it at that on him. Here is one issue I think relevant. England is for a CRA for Palmetto Bay and Stanczyk is against a CRA. I personally hate CRA's they always seem to turn into boondoggles, rife with misspending and cronyism. I have never seen one I liked or an audit of one that didn't make me cringe. Good call Shelly. She has been on the Council, the people know her, Shelly has served well and I like her as a person. Go gals! Katy Sorenson has also endorsed these two women. More on Fiore and England from the Miami Herald:
In an August 2006 Miami Herald article, Fiore said he did not need to reveal his dealings with Lennar Corp. and asked for an official county ethics opinion. He was told he was fine as long as the business had been done prior to the vote.
But the newspaper found that wasn't the case. Fiore's two deals were under contract when he voted on Lennar proposals.
``I would never do anything to jeopardize the integrity of the council, my family and God,'' Fiore said at the time.
He didn't respond to calls to his office or an e-mail late last week.
According to county ethics laws, an elected official has to divulge if he is under contract with a company asking for zoning changes, and not vote on the issue. It does not specifically examine real estate holdings.
Checks also found a court case concerning mayoral candidate Peter England and his former employer. In March 2005, Tyrone G. Hart, a former director of development of Camillus House, accused the non-profit of discrimination after allegedly refusing to participate in unlawful conduct in 2003 involving England and former Executive Director Dale Simpson, who was forced to resign and was arrested for misusing funds and having employees and homeless clients perform chores at his homes in 2004.
8 comments:
Joan Lindsey, a third candidate running in Palmetto Bay is a grass roots organizer. She is tenacious and dogged when she hooks onto a issue.
Joan is running for council and is my favorite between her and the guy who is running. That guy is a dork; he is running because he is pissed at the permit section of Palmetto Bay. Wahhhhhhh. He would appreciate PB's permitting section if he had to deal with the county.
~chica
The guys in the Mayors race said at a forum that proeprty should have their highest and best use.
In fact, one of them (the grill guy) said you should be able to whatever you wanted with your land.
Great, isn't it? I am taking my half acre estate and it is going to be a triplex as soon as they get rid of the building, zoning, permitting and code enforcement departments. They are not helping me to do what I want.
Palmetto Bay starts really doing well, especially compared to other new municipalities, so these egomaniac carpetbaggers (thank you - exactly) suddenly appear. Never saw these "guys" attend meetings, participate in government or ever contribute something positive to the Village in the last 5 yrs. These "gals" do their homework, faithfully show up and positively contribute to the village. Vote for continued small town of the neighbors by the neighbors government or vote to open the door to big money and special interests.
Fiore is shifting eyed and always data mining. West Kendall is glad to be rid of him. Hope you all can keep him in PB. I would just watch out for what he is up to. His agenda can't be much better than that bad hairdo.
The "grill guy" (Zisman) is the same nut who went on channel 4 to talk (falsely) about Flinn's terms overlapping in the primary. He seems to be running solely because he wasn't allowed to build a tennis court on his already-full half-acre lot. He doesn't have a chance, but it's a shame this is going to drag into a run-off because of him and Araiza.
Araiza ran for mayor 4 years ago on a platform of "Why aren't we building a village hall and a dog park?" and now, he's criticizing those same decisions. He has no clue.
Didn't Araiza's wife get mad when the Dog park was downgraded to eliminate a huge chunk of the costs for the park?
I thought she carried on fussing and fuming because the village council decided they could not afford the gazebo (or whatever it was) over the water. Araiza and his wife decided that her and her puppy couldn't live without that building. But, the park was finished and it is lovely without the 300,000 dollar building they wanted.
I think Araiza used that example in his last mayor's campaign - claimed the mayor and council didn't care about parks and the community. Now, he is using the same issues again, but on a flip-flop, PB mayor Flinn and council build a wonderful village hall and Araiza can't stand it, the village council is irresponsible.
He is a perfect example of why I keep my political mailers in a file, I can drag them out to see what they said the last time they ran.
~chica
That other guy (Dubois?) that is running against the high energy Lindsay is a non-starter. Lindsay is thoughtful and connected to the people in the community. She can find her way village hall and the community meetings which is more than this guy has done.
He is simply clueless. How could he possibility think that being mad at a city department is enough of a resume for my husband and I to vote for him?
I have gotten spoiled in 8 years. I want my elections to be more than a middle school class president race. What an embarrassment he is. He needs to go get a community record of service (along with some of the other people running) and then come back and ask for my vote.
There's a run off in Palmetto Bay. England made a deal with Araiza to get his endorsement for the run off. Araiza wants to name the Dog Park after his wife Jana Sheeder. He also gave a green light so England will approve the contract for the Jane Foreman Tennis Program, and then the lights at Coral Reef Park sealed the deal.
Life will change in Palmetto Bay with England as Mayor and Fiore as Council with Tendrich already on the Council. The times they are a changing.
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