Good morning, North Miami Beach residents. I’ve been getting flooded with emails from so many residents who have comments, complaints and requests about the council, the city and life in NMB in general. I do know that most of the council members do read this blog, except Phyllis Smith, of course, who “doesn’t read the blogs.” I had this brilliant idea (well, maybe not brilliant, but something), to open this column for readers to weigh in. Feel free to post whatever comments and questions you have and I will do my best to (a) dig dirt, (b) relay messages, (c) commiserate, (d) request public records, and (e) kvetch back. Just don’t expect me to do your laundry or babysit your pets. I have enough of my own to deal with.
If nothing else, please feel free to ask other readers for their opinions and advice, and at least we can have an open discussion about what direction we want our city to be headed in. You may use your real name or an alias, whichever you prefer. Just be sure to register where it says, “Register,” so that your comments can be posted. Tip: Using “Anonymous” as an alias is just so lame. Try to be creative. 🙂
I hope this helps and that you all take advantage of this open forum. Complaint Department Now Open.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
Ok here is one for ya. How come there is so much talk about cutting the every day employees Salaries and benefits yet nothing as been said ( coming from the city I mean ) about cutting the top tier people. People like the Council, City Attorney, City Manager.
Good question. Let the fun begin.
What are your views on gays?
Wow! What an odd question. I’m not sure of why you’re even asking it or if you’re for real. You might as well have asked me my opinion on blue eyes or Italian food, or something equally irrelevant, like where Phyllis Smith thinks she should sit on the dais. But, if you must know, my opinion (if you want to call it that) is that gay people are people just like tall people are people and red headed people are people and Eskimos are people and…well, you get the picture. I hope. I’m not even remotely interested in someone’s sexual orientation or what color their toothbrush is or whether they prefer boxers or briefs. In other words, it’s none of my business. I hope it’s not yours, either.
What I am interested in and what I do have an opinion about are crooked, greedy and dirty politicians, and those who would aid and abet them. They come in every size, shape, color, religion, political party and nationality. I am an equal opportunity “outer” of corruption. Period.
I’m still scratching my head over your question.
Well, I read you for a while (the National news stuff, not local) and after tiring of your very republican views and obama bashing I stopped reading. When I saw you in the Miami New Times I checked out your page again and noticed the endorsement for our mayor, Gimenez. This was the only mayor my group, Save Dade, endorsed so I thought it interesting and figured I would just come out with what I was wondering 🙂
Will you be posting more of your National stuff? I saw the hacked post and assumed that it didn’t make it back up yet due to that. Your posts are better with the national stuff anyway (aside from the hating Obama) – you can only post so much about a couple of annoying councilpeople before it just gets boring and repetitive! You’ve piqued my interest with the mayor post!
Additionally, Ms. Kienzle has always been a staunch supporter of North Miami’s Councilman Scott Galvin.
That I am. Scott Galvin is doing a great job in North Miami as a councilman and in his fight against corruption.
Thanks for answering. Yes, I am “very Republican” and yes, I’m no fan of Obama, but I keep my partisan politics out of this blog since our local races are non-partisan. I will let you know that my being “very Republican” has nothing to do with what I believe is the hijacking of the GOP by those who would legislate morality. By the same token, I feel that the Democrat party (of which I used to belong many moons ago) has been largely taken over by extreme left wing socialists. My personal political beliefs boil down to three basic tenets: Smaller government, lower taxes and more personal freedom. Big emphasis on “more personal freedom,” which both parties are guilty of violating.
I’m going to stop there before I ramble even more, because this blog is really about North Miami Beach politics. My webmaster, who is one of my oldest and dearest friends, has been urging me to write about national politics. I’d actually love to do that, but I know that most of my local readers are Democrats and they might get turned off if I start getting all “Evil Republican” on them. That’s not my goal with this website. This is all about rooting out corrupt public officials and ensuring an honest, open and transparent government. It’s our money the politicians are spending, and we have a right to petition them when we feel they are not doing so wisely.
I’d love to discuss this some more with you off this blog if you like. Please email me at stephanie.kienzle@gmail.com and we can chat further.
Thanks for posting your comment and I look forward to hearing from you.
Steph
PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST: How much did the city pay the family of the child that Nelson Reyes shot and when. How much did the city pay Richard Dean of Marin Consultants for their services and when. How much did the city pay to the family of the black man that was shot in the back while sitting in his wheelchair and when. please scan them and post them on your site. Thank you in advance
I’m not the City Clerk, so if you want a Public Records Request, you need to write directly to her office. I will send your comment to her, though, and I’ll post whatever information I do receive.
I personally didn’t know of the issues you brought up, so I wrote to the City Attorney about your questions, and received the following response:
The City has not paid the family of the child that Nelson Reyes shot yet. There is an executive session this evening at 5:30 to discuss the strategy of the case. As I stated at the Council meeting (July 5, 2011)if there is a decision to settle it, then a vote will be taken at a council meeting. As to the second item, I have no information. As to the last item, the City paid $900,000.00 over a three year fiscal period. The Clerk can get the information to the ANONYMOUS person if he/she requests it from her. Hope that this helps.