I promised a reader that I would publish his letter on my website, so here it is:
Dear Stephanie,
I’m nearly getting a bald spot from continuously scratching my head after I occasionally choose to read a monthly letter that I receive from a property owners association in NMB. I will not say the name of this group because I truly believe they lack credibility. In fact I believe they belong in a loony house. While I think it is valuable to have a group that watches over its government, this one watches, and then distorts the facts, and then spews it in a letter to who knows how many residents of our city. Thank goodness for your informative website which form what I can tell, captures the truths of real life issues concerning our government and than cleverly tells the tales of both the good the bad and the ugly in the communities around us.
I have been receiving this un-newsworthy garbage of a letter for the last 20 years, I imagine. I vaguely remember attending one of their meetings many moons ago when one representative or another was speaking at city hall. Back then the letter was more of a leaflet with ads from local businesses, and it was titled The Watch Dog. I recall wondering back then if the information they were providing could be factual as it seemed so far fetched.
I attended a few meetings a year and slowly backed off from attending any at all since the mantra was getting old and I was getting tired of listening.
Usually when I receive this letter (the leaflet days are long gone) I toss it in the trash. Today though, when my mail arrived I saw another letter. I decided to open it up and see if something new might find its way to me, especially since I see the elections are coming down the pike. What I did find out was that there are only two groups up for election, that was news to me. The names of the candidates were also provided. Usually I find out whose running by all the campaign signs planted all over the city. I must say it’s odd this year that I hardly see any. I guess it was worth opening this letter for those reasons only because this group still seems to be the same group as always and I say this because of the typical, outlandish information that was also included. There seems to have been a blood bath, yes a “blood bath” created at the TECO gas site, of what and how I have no clue. This group also states that there will be a clean up at Taylor Park East which will create the same concerns which include the slaughter of Bald Eagles, Osprey, and Wood Storks. Stephanie, can you please find out what this is all about? If this is such a crisis wouldn’t I have seen this on the news? Isn’t slaughtering a Bald Eagle a punishable offense? I have a copy of this letter and you will see the organization it comes from should you need it for more information. I will be happy to scan it and email it to you.
Thank you for your blog. Had an acquaintance of mine in my neighborhood not tell me about you, I really wouldn’t know too much about the goings on in our backyard.
Old Timer of NMB
The crazies that run this so-called association, must think that we were all born yesterday. What bird, with the ability to fly at will, would just sit there and wait to be killed? Not even a dumb chicken would go down without a fight (or a fly), yet these kings of flying predators apparently just sat there like dodo birds and let the bulldozers run right over them. Furthermore, if these alarmist clowns are such ornithologists, how come there weren’t any Turkey Vultures (that’s Cathartes aura to the two crazy Marys) flying over the TECO site after the supposed bloodbath took place smack in the middle of their well-known seasonal visit from mid-October to mid-March.
Do I have a funny story to tell you as an unfortunate neighbor to the crazy Marys! While one of them claims to be the defender of all flying wildlife, she feeds dozens of feral cats that kill anything that moves or flies within a three block radius. I have seen her cats kill baby squirrels, baby birds, lizards and just about every possible small animal you could think of. And of course there is the disgusting fashion in which she feeds all of these cats by just throwing cat food out her front door into her driveway. Yet she feels entitled to accuse others of causing “blood baths”, talk about hypocrisy!
In response to Oh, the crazy Marys! I wish I knew which neighbor you are. I’m not crazy enough to go under my real name and I guess you aren’t either. When the two of them were rightfully concerned about the scary pack of dogs roaming our neighborhood and terrorizing the cats and supposedly killing one, I couldn’t help but think that if Dr. Mary didn’t feed those feral cats that do hunt and kill their prey those cats wouldn’t be killed by loose dogs. I have complained about her filthy driveway filled with cat food and how it makes our street look, but no one from the city took any action. Quite frankly I don’t think they want to deal with her, but I will keep complaining until she stops feeding the cats and leaving a trail of food scattered into the street.
I’m going to go off on a bit of a tangent here: When I received candidate Muriel Kemp’s flyer, boldly stating the crazy Marys’ outrageous statement of a “wildlife massacre” as a fact, she lost both my vote and my respect. How irresponsible is it to repeat some crazy accusation without checking out its truthfulness, not to mention its total lack of common sense, just to get a couple of votes from under-informed residents. When you repeat a crazy lie, you become a crazy liar yourself. I am no fan of the incumbent, but when my other two choices are a crazy liar and someone who may not even live in our city, I think this time around I’ll keep the devil that I know.
Muriel Kemp’s flyer has made me nostalgic for the old Weekly World News covers. Remember, they would be right there in the check-out line and when no one was looking, you just had to sneak a peak? BAT CHILD FOUND IN CAVE! REDNECK VAMPIRES ATTACK TRAILER PARK! NAZI ASTRONAUTS RETURN TO EARTH! I’m disappointed the flyer had none of the fabulous photos that use to adorn that rag. Here is a link to one of my favorites http://s108.photobucket.com/user/mortis45/media/Freddy%20In%20Space/wwn8.jpg.html (Warning! Content may frighten you)
I just posted a comment regarding this woman running for office named Muriel Kemp on the newest blog titled Skyscrapers and Unicorns. I decided to look back at this blog and comment on it as well and I see I’m not alone with my thoughts. I received a flyer at last Tuesday nights council meeting from this woman. I was disappointed to see that she is just another naysayer. She also states on her flyer that wildlife was massacred on the TECO site as well as being against the hotel project next to Greynolds Park. How will North Miami Beach move ahead if development never comes. What is her idea of increasing revenue? I hope she is not going to raise our taxes, that would be outrageous. Stephanie, as “Old Timer” asked you, I will do the same. Can you find out the truth about the TECO site?
I drove by the TECO site yesterday to see if I could find out anything. Unfortunately, there is a fence around it and nothing is visible from the street. I tried to drive around the other side of it, but I couldn’t find access from any angle. I personally can neither confirm nor deny that any animals have been or are being killed. One city employee told me that no animals were killed and that there were no live oaks destroyed, either. I personally wouldn’t know a live oak from any other tree, so I guess I’d have to take his word for it. That is all I know, which isn’t any more than you do. I will try to investigate further, but this isn’t at the top of my to-do list right now.
Tax increases? Absolutely not! Notice her final bullet point where she promises to “lower fees and taxes that overburden residents that are barely making a living.” Maybe she will ask us all to play the lottery every Saturday and hope for the best. What a panderer!
On the subject of taxes; Can we earmark some of the money to be deposited to a “bribe fund”. It’s time we got some work done around here.