Let me start out by first screaming OMFG! Watching the first reading and vote on the City of North Miami Beach 2011/2012 Budget was yet another hair-pulling episode, which was time spent that I’ll never get back.
Okay, now that I got that out of the way, I have to tell you that we are so fortunate that the North Miami Beach Council has four intelligent members – Mayor George Vallejo and the three council members who sit to his right – Barbara Kramer, Beth Spiegel and Marlen Martel. They are now officially referred to by me as the Council Brain Trust. For real. To the Mayor’s left are The Three Musketeers – Philippe Derose, Phyllis Smith and Frantz Pierre, a/k/a The Three Mental Muffins. Sorry, but any other terminology for the Clowns to the Left of him would defy classification. How on earth these three jackasses made it this far in life, especially Frantz Pee-Air, is a bloody miracle in and of itself.
For the sheer madness of it all, let’s start off with Councilwoman Phyllis Smith, who keeps saying “From Day One (as in Chief Day One?) I’ve been saying that this is all wrong.” When questioned by Councilwoman Beth Spiegel, however, specifically what cuts would Phyllis make, she couldn’t come up with an answer. She did, however, say, “This is an unusual time that we are living in.” No Shit, Sherlock! Did you just now get around to figuring that out? She went on to state several times, as if we didn’t already hear this time and time again, that the city is cutting approximately 20% of its budget, and that the money has to come from somewhere. I got an idea, Phyllis. Let’s pull it out of your big, fat mouth. Surely with all that non-stop bloviating for the past two freaking months, you have plenty of room somewhere in that pie hole of yours to store at least a million bucks. Maybe ten million!
Phyllis also managed to kvetch, “This isn’t new to your ears. I didn’t start the unions. I didn’t start the contracts.” WTF?
Phyllis then went off on one of her infamous tangents stating, “I want to talk about taking trips. I don’t think Roslyn or Mac take trips. We all take trips. I sold real estate for many years. I always say stick with your agent. If the Manager’s hands are tied, it’s not a budget that Phyllis Smith in my seat can accept.” Again, WTF? Yeah, that made perfect sense. To a garden gnome maybe. Certainly not to any living, breathing human being.
Councilwoman Spiegel again tried to elicit something intelligible out of Phyllis by asking her to make a proposal to eliminate positions and direct where she wants the funds to go. The Mayor added that now is the time to make any adjustments. He even asked for specific adjustments from the Council members who were opposing the budget, stating that “If someone doesn’t want to propose an adjustment then we will have to vote up or down.”
Phyllis responded with, “I am not prepared to do that here in this seat.”
For f**k’s sake, Phyllis. You’re full on problems but empty on solutions. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU FREAKING WANT? From your Chair, of course.
The truth is we all know Phyllis is pissed off at having to lose her secretaries because without them she might have to actually learn how to read her email. Even more disastrous for Phyllis is that she might have to figure out how to send an email. Well, Phyllis, what world have you been living in that you’ve managed to get to here without knowing the basic fundamentals of email? You are a first class idiot. No soup for you!
The only thing Phyllis said that I have to agree with, is that the two Code Enforcement Officers should be kept and the department head Eric Wardle should be axed. He is beyond useless and has done nothing to earn his salary in the approximate eight months he’s been on the job. But as to the rest of Phyllis’ bitching, heaven knows we’ve heard more than enough. Phyllis, you really need to sit down. In your chair. And STFU!
Councilman Philippe Derose said he wouldn’t vote for the budget because he doesn’t want some office to be closed. For the life of me I have no idea what office he’s talking about, but I will surmise based on the context, and based on the fact that Councilwoman Spiege had to pull it out of him like it was a rotted tooth, is that he doesn’t want to lose his secretary or secretaries. He then stated he’s been looking at the budget. Really, Philippe? Have you been looking at the budget? Considering that everyone in the freaking city has been studying the freaking budget for the PAST TWO FREAKING MONTHS, Mazel Tov on FINALLY looking at the budget!
Councilwoman Spiegel asked Mr. Derose where he would find the $148,000.00 to keep the council secretaries, to which he replied, “It’s not his job.” REALLY? It’s not his job? Then what the freaking hell do we pay him over thirty thousand dollars to do? Sit there and look pretty? Like Phyllis, Derose is another one who has a problem, but refuses to help find a solution.
Councilman Frantz Pierre then spoke for a really long time. Of course, ninety five percent of what he said was completely incomprehensible by anyone, but the five percent we did manage to understand was that “The budget has not been done right.” Somewhere in his meandering pompous diatribe, I caught that he was accusing the City Manager of screening his phone calls. We also sort of got that, like Derose, he didn’t want to lose the council secretaries.
As all of us already know, Mr. Pee-Air thinks he’s a Very Important Person. Ever since the day he took office back in 2007, he’s been strutting around City Hall as if being a North Miami Beach Councilman is on par with being the President of Haiti. In fact, it’s common knowledge that he actually believes he’s the King of the Haitian community of NMB. The truth is that he’s a joke. Everyone knows he’s a joke. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, laughs about him behind his back because Frantz Pee-Air is nothing more than a cartoon caricature of a joke. With his zoot suits and larger than life buffoonery, Frantz Pee-Air is ultimate Joke of the Universe. With his paranoid conspiracy theories and his proneness to making unfounded allegations against anyone and everyone, he actually believes he’s relevant.
Now, let’s get to truth here about the Three Mental Muffins.
First of all, we already know that Phyllis is nothing but an opportunist, and a really dumb one at that. With all her insane references to her Chair – “in this Chair, from this Chair, under this Chair (Yes! She really said “Under this Chair” at the last budget workshop) – and her constant use of made up words (Functionable? Really, Phyllis? Functionable?), her interminable stories that go absolutely nowhere, and her annoying squawk, Phyllis has become as much a joke as her little buddy, Phrantz.
It has already been established that Mr. Derose’s only agenda is to be a big shot in the Haitian community. He has the distinction of having been the first Haitian-American elected official in the United States by becoming a councilman in the Village of El Portal in 1993. In 2000, he made history again by becoming the first Haitian-American to be elected mayor in the United States, also in the Village of El Portal. (In 2003, he ended up here in North Miami Beach as a Councilman.) Okay, so I get that this is impressive. However, what is less than impressive is the absence of any meaningful legislation he managed to introduce in our fair city since he’s been in that Chair (Sorry, Phyllis. You’re not the only one with a Chair). His Wikipedia bio states, “As a Councilman for the City of North Miami Beach, one of Derose’s major platforms was the beautification of the community, especially the planting and healthy maintenance of trees, shrubs, and greenery. A nature-lover, Derose commemorated Arbor Day by orchestrating community initiatives to plant trees and to distribute seedlings to residents.”
His “major platforms was the beautification of the community?” Aside from the grammatical error of this sentence, I’d love to know if Mr. Derose was personally responsible for “the planting and healthy maintenance of trees, shrubs, and greenery.” Did Mr. Derose show up with a shovel and other gardening equipment and plant all our trees for us? If so, I offer a hearty applause. But, we all know he didn’t. We have Tree People for that. And they do an amazing job I might add!
The only other thing I remember Mr. Derose trying to get legislated was that he asked the Council to donate FIFTY THOUSAND OF OUR TAX DOLLARS to Haiti after the earthquake last year. Yes, that was a devastating tragedy. Yes, it was horrible. Yes, yes, and yes. But, individual cities are hardly in the position to be donating money to foreign countries, nor is it our responsibility. Our Federal government, plenty of other countries, and about a zillion charities all gave billions to Haiti. The Council was proper in turning down his request. What this does prove beyond a shadow of a doubt is that Mr. Derose’s main concern is for Haiti and Haitians, and that the non-Haitian residents of North Miami Beach are mere afterthoughts.
Mr. Derose’s second priority is to make sure he keeps his 100% TAXPAYER FUNDED LIFETIME HEALTH CARE INSURANCE. This fact was made painfully clear at the last budget workshop when he tried to shut down every resident who dared to mention the fact that a previous administration gifted themselves this “benefit” without a public hearing, public discussion, or public vote. It was done behind closed doors and has been questioned and challenged by residents ever since. Mr. Derose had the audacity to say, “It was in place before I got here, but I earned it.” Really? You earned it? By planting trees? Oh, never mind.
Which brings me to the final Mental Muffin, Frantz Pierre, whose ONLY concern are the Haitian employees and residents of North Miami Beach. He makes this perfectly clear in every single thing he has uttered “From Day One.” (Sorry, Phyllis, I know this is one of your copyrighted phrases.) It is common knowledge that Pee-Air has been desperately trying to fire an employee by the name of Jean Pompeii in favor of keeping two employees in the maintenance department who he promised jobs and promotions to for campaigning for him in this last election. He also wants to keep the Council secretaries, but only because one of them is Haitian. I’m guessing he couldn’t care less about the other one, who isn’t Haitian, but even he’s not stupid enough to state that publicly. But, the bigger issue is that Pee-Air might have to answer his own phone when clearly the Papa Doc of NMB is just too important to do such menial work.
Councilwoman Spiegel challenged him by stating that it’s not a good idea to try to hold on to two secretaries at a cost of $148 thousand, when they have to cut 17 police officers. Of course, Frantz already knows this because he and Mr. Derose have been upset at the fact that three of the cops on the proposed pink slip list are Haitian. The both of them have been doing everything they could think of to circumvent the union rules of “last in, first out” by trying to keep the Haitian cops. Never mind the other 14 who are going to lose their jobs. Pierre and Derose are so freaking transparent it isn’t even funny.
But, of course Pee-Air wanted “a last bite of the apple,” stating that he “doesn’t want to be misconstrued or misconceived.” WTF? He’s still voting against the budget. He doesn’t like the first in, last out policy. Gee, I wonder why. Talk to the hand. Er, I mean, the union.
And, as usual, from her Chair, Phyllis wants the last word. “From day one.” “We’re down 18%.” “Reduce services, which will reduce expenses.” “I have been saying for two months.” “My choice in my Chair was last year we were shoved at the end to pass a budget.” “This year we worked hard but it wasn’t worked hard enough to the best ability of every resident.” “I want to express my gratefulness.” Gratefulness? Is that another Phyllisism?
Once the three Council Idiots had their say, the voices of reason from the Council Brain Trust at stage right, Barbara Kramer, Beth Spiegel and Marlen Martel, discussed how the budget was not perfect, that it was a work in progress, and that it could be amended at any time. The Mayor also stated that the Council had only about a hundred days to unscramble a mess of a budget, that it is a workable document, and stated that the Council needed to decide if it trusted the management. At this point Phyllis could not contain herself long enough to let him finish a sentence, and squawked, “THAT’S NOT THE QUESTION!”
Phyllis…seriously…STFU ALREADY! You had your say, however rambling and ridiculous it was. IT’S NOT YOUR TURN TO SPEAK! Someone please stuff an apple in that mouth!
The Mayor then managed to finish his wrap up by making perfect sense. Here is the gist of his statement:
“Inflexible labor rules prohibit us from running the city efficiently right now. The city does not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. Until now, the purpose of this city has been to keep jobs. The purpose of the city is supposed to be to provide services. If that creates jobs, it’s a happy byproduct. Not the other way around. We all pay taxes for everything in order to receive services. Getting laid off is a reality of life. Dealing with emotion just gets in the way of what we’re supposed to be doing here. We finally have a management crew that is going in the right direction. They have been daring to uncover what’s been covered up for too long. No one wants to be on a sinking ship. If we don’t take action now, then next year and the year after that and the year after that it will be the same pain. I am not willing to do that. The residents elected me and this council to stop the bleeding, turn this ship around and move in the right direction. I vow to continue to improve this operation.”
On the first reading, the North Miami Beach 2011/2012 Budget was passed 4-3. Anyone want to guess who voted for what? I bet you already know.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
09/06/2011..day 1 of what I believe to be a great future for this city.
Can we make 9/6/11 a paid legal holiday? Call it “STP Victory Day”. Steph, our book is getting better.
Pierre’s an idiot. Could you imagine if one of the white council members proposed to save the white officers and let the rest go. WOW!!!
The thing is he’s so blatant about it, too. Council members are not supposed to interfere with any hiring or firing practices whatsoever. Their only three employees are the city manager, city attorney and clerk. Other than that, it’s hands off everyone else. Most of them comply. They weren’t even supposed to lobby for their own secretaries because doing so is against the City Charter. Now, I like the council secretaries immensely. So, it’s not personal, but I also know that every department was supposed to make cuts. The truth is, the council doesn’t really need a secretary, much less two of them. Whatever official letters or documents they need typed up (and there are not many at all!) can be done by one of the secretaries in the manager’s or attorney’s office. The rest of the things, i.e., answering phones, doing email, etc., can be done by themselves. Seriously! Even my boss reads and responds to his own email, and this is a man who never turned on a computer until just a few years ago. So, gimme a break! My own mother finally figured out email in her later years, so Phyllis has no excuse for not getting with the program!
You were right on target about what would happen if any of the white council members tried to intervene in the firing of any of the white employees. They’d be called racists. But no one says one word when Pierre lobbies for Haitian employees. I’m tired of dancing around this subject.
It’s very unfortunate for this city that it is going lose some of the best officers in the state of Florida. Not because of layoffs (will not happen) but because they can not and should not have to continue working under these conditions. Thank G-D these officers have been trained by the best and have been given the tools to move on to bigger and better departments. The damage has been going on for years and is catching up with the city. The future of this city has been set. It is time that people realize that this is just the beginning. People are being put in positions for a reason. Decisions are being made today that will affect and impact this city in the future. We should be planning for the future so we can take care of our families. We are laying off cops and at the same time looking for a million dollars to put cameras on officers uniforms. I should have been a Fireman!
A few noteworthy points:
The cameras are M. Kazan’s idea so the PD quits “shooting innocent people”. Little does Kazan or the Mayor know the PD has looked at this camera option and the costs are outrageous. Not to mention the fact that implementation of a system like this requires the hiring of a part time and/or full time employee. I thought we were cutting costs, not increasing them?
But then again, this same M. Kazan wrote in an email dated 4/2/2010, and I quote here:
“I also would like to add, our City Manager, Kelvin Baker is a hard worker and deserve kudos.”
Really? Hard worker that deserves kudos? For what exactly Mr. Kazan?
Kazan also wrote a rather lengthy email dated 2/4/2010 with the basic theme of how the then Mayor Rosner was “limiting peoples time to speak” on issues; also that Rosner had “reduced the public speaking time in half”.
Well Mr. Kazan when can I expect an email from you about the current Mayor reducing the speaking time to less than half? Because last night the Mayor reduced speaking time to one minute.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for that email because it will never be written.
Funny thing about email. It’s always there- forever. And it can make people look like the hypocrite and fool they are.
Anyway, keep up the good work Steph!
“Frank”, are you making up stories? Since you have the supposed letter as you claimed, why don’t you paste the entire letter for all to have its real meaning? Why come up with one sentence?
Recollecting vividly, it was the NMBPD that investigated Baker in the $2.2 million corruption scandal. They did not find him doing wrong on any cause. So what is your problem?
As per the cameras for the vehicles and officers, what’s wrong with using this? The NMBPD is taking almost $4 million to “buy radios” from the LETF funding. The other day, the toy hungry ex chief wanted to take half million(?) to buy a war tank. Taking a fraction of this money and investing it on cameras, may help the city and all involved, take out the guess work. It may save us millions in compensations when it is not warranted. Other police departments use these devices beneficially and the recordings are being used as learning tools for other officers to avoid perils and catastrophes and how to counteract same. Why is this good for other departments and not ours?
I will agree with the car cameras if the police department prosecutes those that make frivilous complaints on officers.
People should NEVER make frivolous complaints against anyone. Ever! This is a huge problem. We are a litigious society, and the only people gaining by it are the lawyers. Far too many people abuse the system. If the police department could afford cameras, I think it would be a good idea. This would protect not only the people who are stopped by cops, but it also protects the police from people who would make frivolous complaints against them. Justice works both ways.
I can tell you cameras are good for traffic unit officers, which our traffic unit already has cameras in their vehicles, or troopers since a majority of their contacts take place in the front of their vehicles. For patrol officers you wouldnt see the same benefits.
As for Kazahn, he has made such radical statements and accused officers of bad shootings that he has no credibility. Although I disagree with a lot of your views Steph, unlike Kazahn, you do your research and present facts.
Give people a stage and they will perfrom. Kazan for Mayor!
The choice with the radios is not ours. The cameras are a great idea, but not at a time where people are losing thier jobs. I would love a camera so you could see that I and our PD patrol south of 159 Street. Kazan for Mayor!
You just cracked me up again.
LETF funding can be used to buy the needed cameras. This funding cannot be used for regular wages to pay cops.
Kazan, that is not the point. Your “agenda” is very obvious with every word you speak. Anyway, anyone for a shot of patron? This stuff is the BEST!!!! NMB – ” No more bullsh!?”.
It doesn’t matter if you agree or not with cameras.
Cameras are NOW necessary due to a handful of CHILDREN that have been using the law the wrong way. (For a very, very long time too)
If you don’t believe me, just ask the residents that have been stopped in NMB over the years.
The complaints I hear are that the officers were very NASTY to the public. It’s not coincidental that the descriptions of the officers involved are either a tall dark haired officer that drives an unmarked vehicle or a fat old blond officer on a motorcycle……I’m just saying.
“Cameras are NOW necessary due to a handful of CHILDREN that have been using the law the wrong way. (For a very, very long time too)”
-Your referring to the officers as children. Your attempting to justify the use of cameras while throwing an insult at the officers at NMB. Not a good way to be taken seriously. You’ve also implied that we are using the law the wrong way. Please provide examples to support your statement.
“If you don’t believe me, just ask the residents that have been stopped in NMB over the years.”
-So let me get this right, the notion of belief in this statement lies in what has been told to you from residents. But you are claiming this as fact but asking to verify it with others. Again, not credible.
“The complaints I hear are that the officers were very NASTY to the public. It’s not coincidental that the descriptions of the officers involved are either a tall dark haired officer that drives an unmarked vehicle or a fat old blond officer on a motorcycle……I’m just saying.”
-Again your claiming behavior from what you’ve heard. Hmmmm…your credibility count is lowering by the minute. It also seems your referring to the traffic unit describing unmarked cars and motorcycles. Your stating cameras are necessary given your examples of what others have said or what residents have told you. So if I was to tell you that our “unmarked” traffic cars already have cameras installed would you be happy or would you then continue on another rant as to what the “children” of NMBPD should do. Your just like Kazahn, nothing factual is ever said, only radical dilusions and living your life on what others tell you. Yes! The “nasty” “tall dark haired officer” in an unmarked vehicle has a camera. So whats next “Just A Messanger”???? Your name fits you perfect.
People are losing their jobs and some of you are talking about cameras? What is wrong with this picture? Why don’t you go buy a camera and follow us around. You will not only save the city money, you will pick up a new hobby. Better yet go to crime scene training and you can be called out to take pictures. Cameras are a great idea. We can’t even get the grass and trees cut around the station and you want cameras. Forget-a-bout-it!
Are not their blatent attempts to interject themselves into hiring and firing policy a violation of the charter and possibly of state law??? I’m thinking it’s recall time for some of them and likely all three.
Michael, I know it is against the city’s Charter that the council are not supposed to interfere in the hiring and/or firing of employees, with the except of their own three employees, i.e., City Manager, City Attorney and City Clerk. All other employees are hired and fired by the appropriate department head, manager, and/or human resources. I don’t know if there is a state law regarding this or not.
While Phyllis has expressed a desire to keep the council secretaries, I don’t believe she is violating the charter by doing so. She simply is fighting for her department, and the secretaries are part of that department. But from what I hear, both Derose and Pierre have been lobbying to keep the three Haitian police officers despite the union rule of last in, first out. If this is true, they are in violation of not only the Charter, but maybe even an ethics rule for public officials. The problem with proving an ethics violation is that you need witnesses. You already see how hard it is to bring Myron to justice for his “alleged” ethics violations. It’s not easy to get people to blow the whistle. By the way, Myron’s trial is finally set for September 22, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. Email me if you want details.
148,000 for 2 secretaries…wtf? I have a friend who makes 22,000 as a secretary….she would LOVE and APPRECIATE a 30,000 salary! Did I miss something here?
I was also shocked to learn that the two secretaries make that much money. It’s my understanding that one made $50K and the other made $60K. The rest, $38K, was their combined benefit packages. This is not to say that it was personal, as both of these employees were wonderful ladies, diligent employees and very good at their jobs. But there is no way any secretary in the private sector would make this much money. This is the reason that people are complaining that public employees are making a killing while people in the private sector are lucky to have jobs at a fraction of what the public employees are earning. Part of the reason is that public employees have contracts that usually include annual raises, and they are based on the number of years on the job rather than merit as in the private sector. Granted, in the past few years public employees have not been receiving the increases regularly, if at all due to budget cuts, but if they’ve been on the job for a number of years, they already make top dollar. This is the reason a municipality can have a mail clerk making fifty thousand or a garbage man making seventy five thousand, when technically the jobs are worth half that. Employees in the public sector usually do stay for their entire careers, as opposed to private sector employees, who leave for better paying jobs every few years when they max out at their current job. Of course, current economy notwithstanding – everyone is getting laid off now, public and private employees.