What a difference a year makes.
Squirrel News:
One year ago today, as the residents in North Miami Beach were recovering from their Thanksgiving dinner, we had absolutely no clue that we were about to be visually assaulted by former mayor Myron Rosner’s face plastered on bus benches all over town. Most of you will remember how Myron, in preparation for his bid for re-election the following May, rented out about twenty five bus benches from city vendor Martin Outdoor Media, and decorated them in Campaign Red, White and Blue, with the admonition that the mayor of NMB wishes YOU a “happy holidays.” Yeah, right!
Despite the fact that there was no mistaking those pretend “happy holidays” benches for Myron’s Campaign Signs, and despite the fact that the city has an ordinance prohibiting Campaign Signs from being displayed before the first of February of an election year, and despite the fact that the residents did NOT want to see his ugly mug everywhere they turned, Myron refused to take them down. The press even did a few stories on this controversy, with one Miami Herald reader making that hilarious comment about Myron’s hairdo looking like a squirrel was on his head (which prompted quite a few Squirrel Myron jokes in this blog). But nothing deterred Myron from getting a more than two month illegal jump start on Campaign Season. Absolutely no one in North Miami Beach believed he gave a crap about wishing us a “happy holidays.” He just wanted to get re-elected, and he wasn’t going to let silly little things like ethics or legalities get in his way.
A lot of good that did him, eh? Despite his onslaught of signs that exceeded the legal limit according to North Miami Beach Code, including those unavoidable bus benches (street furniture, anyone?), which magically turned into Campaign Signs on or about February 1st, Myron took a beating at the polls. His challenger, George Vallejo, who handily won the election, said to me on more than one occasion, “Signs don’t vote.” Well, he certainly was right about that!
This not being an election year, I don’t expect any Myron “Happy Holidays” Bus Benches to be sprouting up on Black Friday, but don’t discount Senor Squirrel Head just yet. He’s got more than a few tricks up his sleeve in store for us. As I reported in Myron’s Hit List (https://www.votersopinion.com/
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Now for some great news!
Even though she didn’t want the publicity, I feel that Acts of Kindness and Generosity should not go unnoticed. Or unmentioned. Councilwoman Marlen Martell reached into her pocketbook and purchased fifty turkeys for needy residents in North Miami Beach who would have otherwise gone without a traditional holiday dinner. She and Councilwoman Barbara Kramer spent Tuesday night visiting those families and making their Thanksgiving holiday one to remember. Yes, a year really does make a difference, eh?
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In other news:
As I also reported in The Bad Penny of NMB (https://www.votersopinion.com/
I did, however, receive an email from Building Official Phillip Azan, who felt I did a disservice including him on this list and that I was unfair in my assessment of him. He was specifically concerned about my speculation that he might be covering for Myron. Mr. Azan wrote, “Mr. Azan was not employed to the City of North Miami Beach during the time frame that Mr. Rosner applied for and was granted permits by the City for the work that was completed that required variances and therefore “defied” no directive and hence there is no need to cover any “ass”…Building Official Philip Azan has been with the City exactly 3 years and 6 days and has not issued any bogus permits to anyone. The documents are all public records and open to review by anyone and covering for Mr. Rosner, I have not acquired that habit yet.”
I was happy to see that Phillip Azan has such a snarky sense of humor! He and I subsequently had a long discussion because I wanted to clear up any misinformation I had been given and to set the record straight. What Mr. Azan told me was quite informative, to say the least. According to Phillip, prior to November, 2008, the Building Department and Planning and Zoning Department were combined under a division called “Community Development.” The former Director of Community Development was a Mr. Tom Vageline. The Building Department was headed by a Mr. Dale Lee, and P&Z was run by Chris Heid. Of the three, only Chris Heid is still employed with the city. More on this in a moment.
Mr. Azan also advised me that after November, 2008, a new Policy & Procedure was formed. As such, his job as Building Official is to receive permit applications, route them to various agencies for their review and process the permits once all reviews are completed. I’m not quite sure how this varies from what I wrote in my column, which was, “…Building Official Phillip Azan…is ultimately responsible for issuing building permits to property owners for construction on their premises…He is also supposed to make sure that all permit applications are routed to the various departments and outside agencies for their approval or denial of the permit application.” Nevertheless, I told Mr. Azan that I will correct any statement I make that proves to be erroneous, so I stand corrected.
What is infinitely more interesting than semantics is that Mr. Azan told me the very day after Myron was elected as mayor in May of 2007, he showed up at Myron’s doorstep to cite him for code violations. GOTTA LOVE IT! So, based on this new information, it would seem that I can cross off Phillip Azan from the list of Myron Enablers. I’m cool with that.
But, the plot thickens for former employee Tom Vageline, who I was told ordered the former Building Official Dale Lee to issue permits for several of Myron’s projects for which he should have applied variances. Despite a “hung jury” by the Miami-Dade County commission on Ethics and Public Trust, the question still remains as to whether Mr. Vageline was bullied by Myron to issue these bogus permits. Thanks to the incompetency and complacency of the commission, we may never know.
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If you’re one of those folks who are braving the crowds and traffic to celebrate the kickoff of the 2011 Official Holiday Shopping Frenzy, I wish you well. I am not one of them. Ever since Al Gore invented the internet, I always spend Black Friday sitting at my computer, in my jammies, with a steaming hot cup of joe, and engaging in one of my favorite activities: Point, Click, Shop. With deals galore and my favorite two words, “Free Shipping,” I am saving gas and time, and avoiding parking lot anxiety. Now if only I can get the computer to wrap those gifts, I’d have it made. There should be an app for that!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
The surface is only beginning to be scratched. There is more to this than meets the eye.