(Originally published 6/19/11)

Chicken Little reporting here.  Or, that would be the name I’m called by certain past and present members of the North Miami Beach City Council.  For the past couple of years I’ve been nagging the council to cut the budget and start spending our tax dollars responsibility.  The response I got was, “Oh, there goes that Crazy, Tea Party Going, Evil Republican again!”  Well, okay, they didn’t exactly use those words.  But, the truth is, they didn’t use any words.  They simply ignored me.  They also ignored every single one of the other residents, Evil Republican or otherwise, who was telling the council the exact same thing, which is “It’s the economy, STUPID!”

I guess the ostriches on the council had no choice but to pull their collective heads out of the sand because on the Agenda for the upcoming council meeting this Tuesday, June 21, 2011, are two resolutions for the council to declare a State of Urgency – one for the fiscal year 2011 and one for the fiscal year 2012.

So, what exactly does this mean?  According to the Florida Statutes, specifically Title XXXI Labor Section 447.4095:

In the event of a financial urgency requiring modification of an agreement, the chief executive officer or his or her representative and the bargaining agent or its representative shall meet as soon as possible to negotiate the impact of the financial urgency. If after a reasonable period of negotiation which shall not exceed 14 days, a dispute exists between the public employer and the bargaining agent, an impasse shall be deemed to have occurred, and one of the parties shall so declare in writing to the other party and to the commission. The parties shall then proceed pursuant to the provisions of s. 447.403. An unfair labor practice charge shall not be filed during the 14 days during which negotiations are occurring pursuant to this section.

In plain English, it means that the city has run out of money and that the public unions had better start negotiating in good faith.

As I’ve said in this column on several occasions, the public unions have no interest in a municipality’s fiscal viability.  To a union official, “negotiating in good faith” simply means “make their members happy.”  Let’s face it, the more union employees who keep their jobs, the more union dues are collected to line the pockets of the union big wigs.  Those dues also help fund the campaigns of those elected officials who will keep the municipal money flowing.  This is the main reason politicians are reluctant to piss off the unions, which have way too much power in elections.  Politicians who keep the union bosses happy have a better chance of being re-elected.  Then the bleeding starts all over again.  It’s a vicious cycle.

If the employer, in this case the City of North Miami Beach, runs out of money to satisfy the demands of the unions, the union bosses don’t care.  It makes no difference to them if the city has to borrow more money at a rate of interest that it can’t afford (never mind principle!), as long as the union coffers keep getting fed.  A State of Financial Urgency literally puts the ball in the court of the unions to start renegotiating in good faith or else.

In the City of Hollywood just to our north, according to an opinion piece in the Miami Herald, Downsized (http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/17/2272142/downsized.html), 31 employees just got laid off, including 13 police officers and a crooked City Manager, who is under “FBI investigation into his relationship with a waste-management company seeking a city contract.”  Sweet!  I can’t help but wonder how many of those layoffs could have been prevented if the unions had come to the negotiating table in good faith.  The column states, “Facing multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls, cities, increasingly, are expecting unionized police and firefighters, and not just general employees, to make sacrifices, too.  And many, though vociferously reluctant, are agreeing to step up in order to save as many jobs as possible within their ranks.”

Now that there are two Resolutions on the Agenda for the City of North Miami Beach Council to declare its own State of Urgency, I am hoping that the council, the City Manager and the public unions will have the good sense to come to the table to try to save as many jobs as possible while still keep our city from going bankrupt.  As I’ve stated many times before, I am a big supporter of our North Miami Beach Police Department.  I like having our own police as opposed to using the county’s department.  But, I also know that at the rate we’re going, the city cannot continue to offer the contracts and pensions that were previously negotiated with the long standing members of our police department.  Any contracts presently in effect must be honored, but newly hired employees should not expect to receive the same packages as their predecessors.  We simply cannot afford it.  The unions don’t want to hear this.  It would severely cut down on their gimmes and their power.  Well, tough.  The residents of North Miami Beach are in deep financial trouble and, frankly, it’s not in our best interest to keep borrowing on our childrens’ future to keep the unions happy and well fed.

The natural question that follows this Chicken Little diatribe is, “Whose fault is this?”

It’s certainly not the fault of newly elected Mayor George Vallejo, that’s for sure.  To use Obama’s favorite mantra, Mayor Vallejo “inherited this mess.”  But, unlike Obama, who’s had two and a half years to fix his “inherited mess,” George has barely been in office for a month, and he certainly had nothing to do with our sorry state of affairs.  In fact, George was one of those annoying Hindrances who warned the previous mayor and council that the sky was indeed falling!  Those warnings obviously fell on deaf ears – the deaf ears belonging to the former, defeated, despicable mayor, Myron Rosner.  Myron and his cohort, the fired City Manager Kelvin Baker, colluded for years to run the city in a business-as-usual fashion.  That collusion has nearly bankrupted the city.  Hence, the mess we’re now in.  Thanks, Myron!  Thanks, Kelvin!  You both did a fine job!  And you can’t even blame Bush.

George Vallejo’s “inherited mess” has now led to a State of Urgency.  The City of North Miami Beach is in deep financial doo doo, and we have no choice but to finally face the music.  Chicken Little has been vindicated, although this vindication is hardly a victory for anyone.  As my favorite musician, Dwight Yoakam sings in his song Guitars, Cadillacs, “The pie don’t taste so sweet.”

Mayor Vallejo and his council now have to literally roll their sleeves up and get to work.  A disaster must be averted by any means necessary.

And yet, councilwoman Phyllis Smith’s greatest concern is where she sits on that dais.  Let me remind Phyllis that as a six year North Miami Beach sitting council member, SHE is part of the problem!  She’d do well to get off her high horse, shut up, sit down where she’s told, and start being part of the solution to the mess that she helped create.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”