Two of my kids played Little League baseball since they were big enough to swing a bat.  Every year at the end of the season they each received a trophy.  If they happened to be on the team that won the championship for its division, my kids got big trophies.  If not, they got smaller trophies.  My kids were inquisitive enough to ask why they got trophies if their team didn’t win, and frankly, I had no answer for them.  I was just as perplexed.  Why on earth would kids get a trophy for just participating?  Dressing up, showing up and giving it your best shot was a good thing, but winning is better.  In fact, winning is everything.  Or else, why bother playing at all?

After the Super Bowl this past February, do you think for one minute that Bill Belichick called Tom Brady aside in the locker room and said, “You did great out there, even though you lost the big game?”  I’m betting that didn’t happen.  In fact, I’m betting that the coach’s words to good old Tom are not print-worthy here.  Even for me.

Yet, we have raised an entire generation, maybe two, who actually believe they deserve an award for just showing up.  The trust fund babies who think they’re making an intelligent (or even intelligible) statement by “occupying” Wall Street, disrespecting the police and disrupting business, are the worst that the Participation Trophy Generation has to offer.  They actually believe they’re entitled to have their student loans, which they willingly took on, wiped out just because they managed to get to class on time.  Or at least before the class was over.  These are the same young people who are angry that they weren’t offered a six figure job the minute they graduated, and then believe they should be promoted to CEO as soon as they get hired.  Their sense of entitlement is astonishing!

Then again, they probably got trophies for showing up during Little League season.  They were raised to expect something for nothing.

In case anyone hasn’t noticed, we are experiencing the worst economy since the Great Depression.  Unemployment numbers are still high, as is the price of gas.  A trip to the grocery store can cost you half your paycheck.  If you’re lucky.  Governmental agencies are out of money, and all we keep hearing are those two dreaded words – budget cuts.  Like it or not, it’s a fact of life.  If cities, counties, states and the federal government don’t stop spending our future, we won’t have one.  It’s as plain and simple as that.

No matter how much taxpayers agree that the spending has to stop, no one wants to give up a damn thing.  Residents scream when services are cut, government employees protest at having to either take pay cuts or get laid off, and elected officials are in the middle trying to make everyone happy.  It’s a no win situation for anyone, but everyone wants their proverbial cake and they want to eat it, too.

Not gonna happen.

In an attempt to stop the bleeding, the Mayor, Council and City Manager are trying to come up with creative ways to reform the way the City of North Miami Beach does business.  One idea that they’re mulling right now is the privatization of various departments, starting with the garbage pickup.  As I’ve mentioned in several earlier columns, this is not something the Council will be taking lightly.  Trust me, if any of you have ever attended a Council meeting, you already know the glacial speed with which they enact legislation.  In other words, this topic will be talked to death.  Especially by Phyllis.

Truthfully, though, as much as Phyllis annoys the crap out of me, when she does manage to limit her rambling to a bare minimum (by Phyllis’ standards), she’s above the 500 mark in pinpointing the problem and helping come up with reasonable solutions.  I realize I don’t give her enough credit for being smarter than Frantz Pierre.  Like, seriously, how hard is that?  Still, Phyllis isn’t as much as dumb as she is annoying.  Also, she’s beginning to see the importance of Fiscal Responsibility, which is a Very Big Deal in my book.  Most of the rest of the Council are also on the same page.  Phyllis also gets brownie points for toning down the references to her Chair.  Her handlers are doing a very good job.  In fact, Phyllis deserves a special gift for her efforts – a tee shirt designed just for her!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of the Frantzmeister, word has it that he’s been busy feeding the rumor mill.  Several people have informed me that Beth Spiegel is not going to run again when her term is up and that former mayor Myron Rosner is going to bid for her seat.  My response was that Beth Spiegel WILL run for office again if I have to hogtie her myself and drag her to the Clerk’s office to fill out an application.  Luckily, I won’t have to whip out my lasso because Ms. Spiegel confirmed that this is nothing but a nasty rumor.  After some dirt digging, I found out that the source of this gossip is one Mitch Edelstein, a campaign adviser with Strategic Campaign Consultants, Inc. of North Bay Village, and a registered lobbyist for the City of North Miami Beach, who also worked for Myron according to his Campaign Treasurer’s Report in his bid for re-election this last May.  (Page 29, 3/9/11, $1,500.00, and Page 47, 4/11/11, $1,000.00, and Page 75, 5/12/11, $1,500.00).  By sheer coincidence, L’il Frantzie P also hired Edelstein’s company when he ran (Page 5, 2/11/11, $1,132.75).  My sources are guessing that Mr. Pee-Air is most likely the one behind the scenes because he fancies himself as a (Warning:  Put down that coffee first or you’ll laugh so hard you’ll spit it at the monitor.  I know.  I’ve done that.) KINGMAKER!  Yep, you got that right.  Talk about delusions of grandeur.  I’m told that Frantzie is already working hard at grooming some of his rag tag cronies to run for office in May of 2013.  The Man with a Plan!  Apparently, The Pee-Air is modeling his fantasy NMB after his namesake’s city just south of the border, a/k/a North Miami.  We all see how well that disaster is turning out.

Hey, Frantzie!  I designed a tee just for you, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other than Frantz Pierre, who will always remain clueless, I believe at least the majority of the rest of the council understand what the city is up against.

I don’t envy the council.  They have to make some of the toughest decisions of any council ever convened in the history of North Miami Beach – many of those decisions having to be made because of the screw ups of their predecessors.  On second thought, make that most of those decisions.

Yeah, the economy sucks.  The folks that were caught off guard were the ones who didn’t believe the rainy day would really come.  The ones who should have been planning for that rainy day were our elected officials.  They obviously dropped the ball.  But the sitting council of NMB doesn’t have time to cast blame, nor should they.  They need to just fix the problem.  Pronto!

By the same token, the employees of North Miami Beach have to cash a reality check, or else that’s the only checks they’ll be cashing.  They need to start accepting the fact that everyone must make sacrifices.  And, let’s face it.  A three percent return on your investment is better than anyone else is getting.  Anywhere.  This isn’t your daddy’s government job anymore.  You don’t get a trophy just for showing up.

In the long run, this council has to do whatever it takes to keep this city running.  Despite our best hopes, services will mostly likely be cut, as will jobs.  Compromises will have to be made.  If ever there was a time to work together instead of against one another, this is it.  If we can’t, there won’t be any winners, just participation trophy recipients.

And believe me, those trophies are worthless.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”