The moment we’ve all been waiting for finally arrived last night at North Miami Beach City Hall – the Final Reading and Vote of The Budget. It was a night filled with drama, suspense and tension as the nominees gripped the edges of their seats while waiting for the envelopes to be opened…
Oh, wait a minute. Wrong show. That was the Oscars. Pardon the senior moment. Now, where are my notes? Oh, here they are.
The meeting was called to order and the first Ordinance was read, which proposed no increase in water rates this year. Hoards of people rushed to the podium to demand to pay more for their water. Okay, kidding. Motion passed.
The next Ordinance was to set the millage rate for ad valorem taxes and bonds. Minimal discussion. Motion passed.
Then, the nominees for Best Picture were read. Oops, there I go again. Where’s my head these days? I know my notes are around here somewhere. Oh, yeah, here we go.
The proposed Ordinance 2011-14, Second Reading and Final Hearing of the Budget for the Fiscal Year 2011/2012 was read. A motion to approve was made, seconded, and opened for discussion. Fasten your seatbelts, folks.
One by one the speakers stepped on up to the podium to either commend the Mayor, Council and City Manager for a job well done, or try a last ditch effort to convince the Council to see things their way.
Lawrence “Who Dat?” Jessup, Labor (read: UNION) Consultant, came to speak on behalf of the UNION. He told the council that he’s examined their books and that if only they’d listen to him, there would be peace in the Middle East. Oh, and they could avoid laying off police officers. Even if this guy had some genuinely good ideas, why now? At the eleventh hour? NOW he’s proposing suggestions? I’d just love to know where the UNION dug this guy up from. Hey, Johnny-Come-Lately! If you had all the answers where have you been for the last three months? I’m just saying.
The Mayor allowed this guy ten minutes, instead of the usual three minutes that mere residents are allotted. At the end of his ten minutes, the City Clerk called time and he had the freaking chutzpah to ignore her and keep going, then tell her “I’ll be done in less than three minutes.” HOW RUDE! Then again, he’s representing the UNION. What else should we expect? He blathered on for more than the three additional minutes he cavalierly demanded, which was already seven minutes more than he should have had, and continued on and on and on. Hey, Jessup! Are you related to Phyllis? Now that you’ve had your fifteen minutes on our dime, begone with your bad self.
The City Manager responded to Mr. Who Dat by stating that he balanced the budget based on sustainable income. He also told Jessup that his information is “flawed on the front end,” and that even though he, the Manager, had the option to transfer less to the reserves, the problem is we now have NEGATIVE RESERVES! Helloooooo! Why don’t these thugs get that? The water utility’s credit rating was recently DOWNGRADED, and the reserves need to be built back up. Helloooooo! Why do these freaking people not understand the seriousness of the situation? BECAUSE THEY DON’T LIVE HERE AND IT’S NOT THEIR FREAKING CREDIT RATING THAT’S BEEN COMPROMISED! Hey, Jessup, go take a number and stand in the STFU line. Sheesh!
Charles Loeb got up to give his expert opinion on the budget because he knows more than everyone, and told us what he would have done if he were King of the World.
Chuck Cook opposed the budget as presented. He accused the council of slashing spending across the board and ignoring central services and endangering our quality of life. He intimated that perhaps the council hasn’t considered this. (No, Mr. Cook, they didn’t consider anything. They just came for the bagels.) Mr. Cook then used the by now familiar ploy that’s become the favorite of a certain high ranking elected official in Washington, CLASS WARFARE. Cook claims the city is made up of two kinds – the haves and the have nots. Cutting these services have a greater impact on us po’ folk than the Evil Rich in Eastern Shores. We need to Save the Children. We can see into your conscience by your vote. Ooooh. That’s kinda creepy, isn’t it? After he accused the Council of cutting the school crossing guards, the City Manager smacked him back by telling him there is no decrease in crossing guards. High five on that one, Mr. Bonner.
Bert Kehren, who is the target of a local HATE CRIME (http://www.wsvn.com/news/
Marilyn Bauhmel (I know I’m spelling her name wrong. I’m so sorry!) stated that making the deep budget cuts is not a pleasure but we have to do something that should have been done a long time ago. She is not happy that pink slips were given out to the employees who make the least, and that cuts need to made from the top, who also have to tighten their belts. Marilyn said, “I want to see everyone in this city say that they’ll give up some of their salary so that their friend can keep their job. The people at the top should care enough about the lower salaried employees and give up some to them.” I would have to agree with her. A lot of people have been saying this. The thing is, while the manager has the option of firing employees or cutting salaries, it would be nice if employees who are reaping in the big bucks would voluntarily reduce their pay to save someone else’s job. A former City Manager, Keven Klopp, did just that. While you can’t force someone to be charitable, it takes someone with real heart and selflessness to be so magnanimous. There aren’t many of those folks around these days.
Terrence Thomas said he would like to keep the police and that they need our support. He hopes and prays that we can keep everyone. Mr. Thomas said he’s not used to speaking before a crowd, but he’s exactly the type of people we need to come to City Hall and voice their opinions. I wish more residents would get involved and even more importantly, vote!
Aaron Nisenson, UNION LAWYER (how’s that for a double whammy?), came all the way from Sarasota for his three minutes. He came to make sure that the council and the city manager got the memo that they have no freaking idea what they’re doing (https://www.votersopinion.com/
Just curious. What about the money we residents won’t get BECAUSE THE ECONOMY SUCKS? Just saying.
Nisenson said that the cops gave up almost $700,000 and he demanded that the city allocate the other $700,000 to keep the officers because not everyone in the city is giving equally. GUESS WHAT DUMBASS? Life’s not fair! This isn’t a socialist country. On top of that, if the city had $700,000 to match the police UNION’s offer, budget cuts wouldn’t even be an issue. WTF?
Councilwoman Beth Spiegel asked the UNION LAWYER if he wanted management in the police department laid off, or if he was only referring to non-police management personnel. Instead of giving her a straight answer (he’s not a UNION LAWYER for nothing), he replied that “IF THERE REALLY WAS A BUDGET CRISIS, why are none of the administrators being laid off?” He also dropped the bombshell that he’s willing to agree to a one (1) year contract, instead of the three (3) year contract the UNION wanted, if the city would just see things his way. Dude, you had your say. Now, go fly back to Sarasota. We’ll give you a bottle of North Miami Beach water for the trip. We have extra. Next!
Janice Coakley is here for the “little people.” She listed a bunch of jobs that could be eliminated to save money and jobs, adding up to “over a million dollars plus.” She also didn’t like the way the layoffs were done. Layoffs are painful, and I can completely understand her anguish. No one, and certainly not me, is happy about any of this. I truly do understand where she’s coming from. She then thanked the council and thanked G-d for her blessings. Honestly, this woman is way too sweet to be a UNION official.
Mubarak Kazan blessed the council for the all the work they’ve done. He stated, “All the economists and strategists in this country have led us to the meltdown. This mess that we’ve gotten ourselves into will be very tough to get out of. We need to beef up the reserves in the utility. We cannot live without water! We all need to tighten our belt. We’ve done with less officers at a higher population rate and crime was lower. We need less sergeants and more boots on the ground!” Thank you, Kazan. Now take your seat and wait for more racist comments and death threats sure to come your way.
Richard Riess read an excerpt from a column by the Executive Director of the Florida League of Cities. It basically stated that in 1999, city employees’ pension benefits were affordable. Since then city tax bases have been cut in half, while police and firefighter salaries have tripled. Mr. Riess ended by declaring that if you’re not disgusted and mad over the abuses, you’re not paying attention. Mr. Riess, unfortunately for the UNION, we ARE paying attention!
Margie Love brought her R.A.P.P. members again, and this time she came to lecture us about safety and happiness. She read the section of the Declaration of Independence, which states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” She followed that with a threat that she will personally abolish the government for affecting the safety and happiness of the children. She will personally hold whoever votes for the budget responsible if anything happens because of the cut in police officers, and that we should all fly our city flags at half mast if we lose any police officers.
Margie Love said she she plans to fly her city flag at half mast. WHAT? She has a CITY flag? Who else here has a CITY flag? Hey, no fair! I don’t have a CITY flag! WTF?
Somehow it was so appropriate that the enigmatic Rabbi Yakova followed Margie Love. She told the Council she’s praying that there is no corruption going on here. Then she asked about the ten million dollars they put into a PERSONAL FUND? HUH? Personal reserves??? It’s all hidden??? WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS WOMAN??? She also admonished the Council to “Work it out. No layoffs are needed.” She closed her nutty ramble by saying, “We have been spared by hurricanes because of prayer.” Hey, Rabbi, didn’t you hear? We haven’t had any hurricanes because George W. Bush is NOT the President anymore? Get your facts straight!
Sharon Frasier Steven said that the rate of crime is so high and we need all the cops. Yes, we’d love to keep them. The reality is that the City really wanted to keep them, but their UNION screwed them. Talk to them. Not that you’ll get the truth.
Bob Taylor instructed the council on ad valorem tax. His taxes are too low. He actually praised the Council for their hard work and thanked them. I almost fell off my chair.
Then came the Council discussion. Oy vey!
Marlen Martell wanted to let everyone know that she wants transparency between the council and the residents. She brought up the fact that the water reserves are at a NEGATIVE $4.8 MILLION, and that we have no choice but to build them back up. What’s that, Marlen? Speak up. The UNION CAN’T HEAR YOU! In closing she stated that the city didn’t take the proper cuts when it should have, but judgement day is upon us. Okay, those last six words were mine, added for dramatic effect. She actually said something like “we have no choice.”
Frantz Pierre had no need to speak. Don’t worry, Frantz. Phyllis will most likely take up the slack.
Beth Spiegel reiterated that this is a process that is ongoing. She said, “Next year will not be any better, and the year after that won’t, either. Our ad valorem taxes will not increase. The ever increasing cost of the pensions – the yawning gulf in the pensions – we need revenue to [pay for those]. We have not put money away for capital improvements that need to be made at city facilities or for improving services. We need to do that. NEGATIVE WATER RESERVES SHOULD SCARE EVERYONE! We need to be fiscally conservative and financially responsible. We have no choice. We can do nothing and imitate Chicken Little next year, but the sky is falling right now. This budget is the start of a five year plan to get this city more sound fiscally.” WHOA, BETH! Did you really say FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE? That’s music to my ears! I could just hug you for that one. But you should know that Debbie Wasserman Schultz called to say she revoked your membership in the DNC. Okay, kidding.
And now, without further ado, HEEEEEEEERE’S PHYLLIS!!!! She talked really fast as usual, but I tried to keep up to give you as accurate an account as humanly possible. Here goes: “If you wanted to unfortunately let an officer go that is in management to their contract that’s not a possibility? You can’t fire from the top?” She also wants the public to understand something about surgery and going to medical school. She continued, “I believe we not only have a revenue problem, but a revenue problem and an administration problem…no foresight…things under the carpet…leaves it in our lap….eliminate from this budget any days off that are paid for birthdays or personal days…from Day, er, from the first workshop. Take higher salaried employees out before you cut the bottom. Look at the people that cost the city the most and making those part of the reduction in this budget.”
Wait a minute! Wait a minute! STOP THE PRESSES! Phyllis, was any of that from your chair? We’re waiting to hear about your chair! Where’s the freaking chair???? Damn, that sure messes up the Phyllis Smith Drinking Game, doesn’t it? PHYLLIS, PLEASE! WE NEED THE CHAIR!
Phyllis went on by exclaiming that she will not be on board until the cuts are made from the top and that they still don’t answer the phone in customer service and that if they take one away they still won’t answer the phone. Phyllis, I swear you’re reading my blog even if you won’t admit it. I ranted about that issue in this very website a few columns ago!
Abruptly, out of nowhere and out of character, Phyllis actually shut up. Seriously. She ended her spiel. Without any fanfare or extraneous Phyllisisms. Phyllis, are you sure you don’t want to keep going? I swear the woman reads my blog!
Barbara Kramer stated that the budget is not perfect. She agreed with Phyllis that we are top heavy and that needs to be adjusted. (Sure, throw Phyllis a bone. She looks hungry.) She directed the City Manager to keep looking into those areas, especially the H.A.M.A.R. program. She’d like to see H.A.M.A.R. program put back into the budget, especially since the residents are more in need than ever before. Barbara then hit on a very hot and contentious topic by stating that she wants to retain Ron Book, who lobbies the state on behalf of the utility. As Barbara explained to me, Mr. Book has been very instrumental in making sure the utility revenues remain healthy by lobbying the Florida Legislature on matters regarding utility surcharges and the like. These days, the word “LOBBYIST” is about as popular as “UNION” and “LAWYER,” so I was thinking she’d have a hard time getting this baby passed. Surprisingly, all seven were on board, so apparently he is worth his salt. The Council discussed simply earmarking funds from their own contingency fund so that they’d be able to hire a lobbyist, if needed. They money may or may not be spent, but it was there just in case.
Phyllis Smith’s only comment was that she wanted to find out how much the two code enforcement officers, who are getting laid off, cost the city compared to the manager’s salary, and wanted to know if something could be done about that. I will assume she meant that she wanted to keep the two employees and fire Eric Wardle. At the risk of agreeing with Phyllis, I’m all for that!
Councilman Derose will vote against the budget because he has not been convinced that it’s in the interest of the citizens of North Miami Beach because the two Council secretaries are being laid off. Absolutely! The residents will suffer tremendously if Mr. Derose loses his two secretaries. I definitely see the cause and effect there. Okaaaay. Mr. Derose also wants to reduce the police department gradually by not filling positions of retirees. Layoffs of 15 or 20 (where did he get this number?) are causing him not to support the budget. Um. Okay. Point taken.
The Mayor wrapped up the budget discussion by talking about about how ten years ago, our population was basically the same, our number of police officers was basically the same, but that our budget has mushroomed. He also discussed the looming pension crisis and how we are getting deeper and deeper in the hole. If any of you out there need proof of the “looming pension crisis,” (Hey, UNION people, I’m talking to you!), please see this article
http://www.miamiherald.com/
http://www.miamiherald.com/
He reiterated to the residents that the passing of the budget was only the first task in a process that continue until the problem is eventually fixed.
As he stated in his recent Town Hall Meeting, Mayor Vallejo talked about our pension liability of over SEVENTY MILLION DOLLARS. I can’t even wrap my mind about paying off such a debt. Almost as scary as that, perhaps even scarier, he described that we are sitting on 550 miles of water pipes, 150 miles of which are in critical condition and in need of immediate repair. The cost to repair or replace those pipes are $343,000.00 per mile, or a TOTAL COST OF FIFTY ONE MILLION FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!
On top of that nut, we have 109 miles of sewer line, 58 miles of which are in critical condition at a repair/replacement cost of $264,000.00 per mile. The total cost of this project would be FIFTEEN MILLION THREE HUNDRED TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!
All of this adds up to a “manufactured crisis” of approximately $136,762,000 worth of real debt. Sorry, Mr. UNION LAWYER. You just can’t make this stuff up.
Even though the Mayor, the City Manager and the three intelligent Council members explained over and over that this budget was not perfect and that it will be amended as they continue to work through the problems, Phyllis still claimed that the budget can be fixed in a week. She kept on bitching on the city manager that the he did not follow her direction. Marlen tried explaining to her that the manager has not had a sufficient time to review every single position in the time he’s been IN HIS CHAIR (okay, I threw that in for comic relief). Marlen also would like to see the problem tackled from a zero based budgeting standpoint.
Beth wanted to remind everyone that the City Manager came on board at a time that there were absolutely NO WATER RESERVES. She herself was shocked to hear this. Beth also noted that the finance director resigned in June, which also threw a monkey wrench into the planning. Beth closed by saying that we need to demand excellence from our employees, and to allow management to chart a financial course that will work. OMIGOD, BETH! I love that line – chart a financial course. You are really impressing the heck out of me. (I’d better be careful, though, or the idiot brigade on LEO Affairs will start accusing me of cheating on George with you.)
There was a motion to retain the H.A.M.A.R. program for the amount of $25,000.00 and to take it out of the contingency fund. Frantz Pierre, who has kept his mouth shut so far, says the big losers are the residents. Motion passed, despite that pointless remark.
A motion to earmark $60,000.00 for lobbyist passed.
Before the budget vote, Frantz Pierre stated for the record that he wants to keep his secretaries. Or at least one. Guess which one he wants to keep. Beth stated that it is not reasonable to retain two employees to serve just the “seven of us,” and she will vote NO! They had to vote on this issue, but the motion failed 4-3.
Now for the big moment. The envelope, please….Here are the results of the vote on the North Miami Beach Budget for the Fiscal Year 2011/2012:
Councilwoman Barbara Kramer YES
Councilwoman Marlen Martell YES
Councilman Frantz Pierre NO
Councilwoman Phyllis Smith NO
Councilwoman Beth Spiegel YES
Councilman Philippe Derose NO
Mayor George Vallejo YES
Absolutely no bombshells were dropped last night. The Mayor and the three Councilwomen to his right voted intelligently, while the three Mental Muffins to his left voted stupidly. I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to see a pattern. I’m just saying.
After the budget meeting, there was a loooooong Council meeting, which I did not watch yet, but I plan to as soon as it’s online. I do know that the City gave Mr. Bonner a one year contract to continue as City Manager, and I heard that Phyllis made some crack about her chair. Well, finally! We’ll see if she was sent back to the STFU line. As soon as I have all the dirt, ya’ll will be the first to know.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
The wrong 17 officers are being laid off. It should have been from the top down. The ones at the bottom who does the real work, is being let go.
Too many loafers….oops, sorry, sergeants, and no Indians. Can’t believe we have 16 or 24 sergeants, depending which budget book you are reading, for such a small police force and precinct.
Mayor Raymond Marin was telling us since 2006 things will get real bad. What Beth is saying now is old news. Even before this, we knew things were gonna get worse. We hired Keven Klopp who was doing a fabulous job to fix the budget. Instead, he was laughed out of town. Baker came in and the rest was history.
So Ron Brook can be blamed for high water rates outside NMB. These rates have not benefited residents of NMB, only allowed too much money to come in for wild give aways among staff. Not one penny was put aside for reserves. I suggested we lower these rates and cut staff salaries and perks. Too many of our customers are suffering high water bills. Their cities will soon leave us and take water from somewhere else and we will surely loose husk and corn.
One woman said she has to pay $800.00. at the first Budget hearing. Is she kiddin? Nope. Others came forward at the second hearing and mentioned ridiculous sums as well. I pay $70 the most for 3 months water. These poor people pay their salaries and more to keep up. In the Customer Service Dept. we have 5 supervisors, one boss and 18 workers. These people tell the over charged customers, they came to the wrong place to sort out these ridiculous bills. Excuse me? This department is a reflection of bloated government at its peak. Reminds me of the PD,.. more chiefs than Indians.
We were fooled the bonds were not preforming and all that jazz. Lies. The $16 million profit industry is being bled to death. After listening to Chuck Cook blah blahing, we should not wonder too much of the bad advice the council has been receiving to raise these water rates 10% every year for 5 years since 2007. And why could not the many councils think for themselves? Oh. Forgot. Pleasing the unions.
Isn’t it funny how everyone blames water rates, but ignores water consumption. When you have ten family members, or tenants, staying at you house, this adds up to twenty showers and three wash loads a day, yet they (conveniently) forget to mention this small detail. Your $70.00 bill is very similar to mine, and for good reason: Because we watch our CONSUMPTION, not just our rate, and gives you no right to bad-mouth our Water Department. You have so much potential to be a force for good, yet you insist on being a force for negativity. Parroting someone who was most probably lying for dramatic effect is foolish, and I know you know better than that.
Councilwoman Beth Spiegel stated from the dais she was away for 25 days on vacation, and her water bill showed she was consuming water at a tremendous rate while she was away. No one was at home. Beats me why she would lie from the dais to support the consumer who was complaining about her astronomical bill.
When our city sells water to another city, it is not at bargain rate. Councilman Derose even wanted us to raise our water rates so the people living outside of the city can foot the shortfall of the budget to keep workers from being laid off. He said to drop the millage rate to compensate for the water increase. That is when our Mayor, George Vallejo famously said, “We do not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem”
“..and her water bill showed she was consuming water at a tremendous rate while she was away.”
Ever heard of an automatic irrigation system?
She was informing us what happened to her. Did not cross question her what she had using water while she was away. She was perplexed as to her water usage while being away.
The City of NMB has a population of 41,000 people average. We have as per 2007 Tax Roll, 13,422 parcels of property we collect taxes from. Of this, 884 are non neighborhood commercial property. This works out to 3.27 average per household.
I guess Channel 7 did their research and pulled your story about racism and threats about 2 hours after the story broke. You tell people what you want them to hear, and not the facts. No one cares anymore, the city will suffer with crime….and ill be sitting at a park or dount shop.
Actually, it wasn’t pulled at all. The stories simply are pushed back in the queue as new stories break. You can see it on page 3 of their local videos, or if you want to see it again, simply click here http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21005425428042/
Just in case you are interested, the police department…at least the good cops in the department…are taking the threat very seriously and they are taking action as we speak.
I tell only the facts. Just because you don’t like the truth doesn’t make the facts any less true.
You go park in the doughnut shop parking lot. Be my guest. You’re obviously one of the ones who are “liming at the Nankin.” Frankly, I couldn’t care less. But, by saying that, you are only proving some of the points that a few people here make about your ilk. That’s really too bad. I used to have a great respect for our police department, but it’s cops like you who have tarnished its image and have caused the majority of residents to lose all respect for it. That’s pretty damn sad if you ask me. Especially for the fine officers who don’t deserve to be brought down with you.
I’m Stephanie’s webmaster, and normally I try to remain neutral and comment very little. However, after reading Tax hikes comment I cannot remain silent. Tax hike, you’re full of crap! I read the comment that originated from a NMB police computer, and it was unequivocally 100% racist and threatening. Calling German American’s Nazi’s, and Muslim Americans Al-Jazeeri, while giving out these peoples home addresses and inviting criminals to attack them is racist and threatening, and WILL NOT be tolerated on this website. There is NO excuse for this type of behavior, period. It’s UN-American, and is also a CRIME! And btw, get your facts straight before you utter bullcrap that’s untrue, WSVN “DID NOT” pull the story, it’s still on their website for all the world to see. Someone at the NMBPD is going to have a lot of explaining to do after the internal affairs INVESTIGATION is completed, and hopefully, if he/she is not one of the unfortunate people that will be laid off, he/she will be fired and disgraced. Pretty freaking stupid to issue racist threats from a Police Dept computer!