Fresh from his resignation as City Manager of Opa-locka, Kelvin Baker has applied for a job in the equally dysfunctional City of Lauderdale Lakes.
The tiny 3.64 square mile parcel (including its half square mile of “lakes”), nestled between I-95 and State Road 7, has had its share of troubles.
In 2011, the city teetered on the edge of financial destruction when the then-City Manager Anita Fain Taylor got fired after commissioners discovered a $9 million budget deficit due to an unpaid bill from the Broward Sheriff’s Office for police service.
Prior to her job at Lauderdale Lakes, Taylor worked a short stint in North Miami Beach and a gig as Deputy City Manager of North Miami. When she applied to Lauderdale Lakes in 2003, she “was chosen for the job in part for her strong people skills,” according to the Sun-Sentinel, which also reported that Taylor became “the first African-American woman to become a city manager in county history.”
In April of this year, the commission fired Taylor’s replacement, Jonathan Allen, “who held the position for four years and helped bring the city back from the brink of bankruptcy.”
Why?
Because, according to the Sun-Sentinel, Commissioner Patricia Hawkins-Williams said, “We’re inundated with gas stations. I don’t have a vision for that.”
Seems legit.
What really got Jonathan Allen in hot water was the time he complained about the abundance of estrogen on the dais and about being “at the beck and call of an all-female City Commission.”
When asked by the City Manager of Austin, Texas a month earlier to give a presentation on how to deal with an “all-female City Commission,” referring to an Austin American Statesman article, the Sentinel reported in Ex-Lakes manager: Female officials are talky, don’t like numbers:
Some of the insights Allen offered about the ladies, as reported by the paper, include:
- Women ask lots of questions.
- Women don’t want to deal with numbers.
- Women are taking over.
I’m thinking that might have had a little something to do with his getting canned.
Just saying.
The lone male on the Commission, Mayor Barrington A. Russell, Sr. presides over a six member commission consisting of a vice mayor and four commissioners. The Mayor does not cast a vote, nor is he required to break a tie vote due to the even number of commissioners. Until the passage of a “voter-approved commission reduction” last year, the commission had seven members, including the Mayor. It will be further reduced next year to five, at which time the Mayor’s tie-breaking vote will be needed.
Today’s Sun-Sentinel article, Is the next Lauderdale Lakes city manager busy stocking shelves at Wal-Mart?, begins with:
What do an overnight shelf-stocker at Wal-Mart, a pastry cook at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and an unemployed Louisiana science teacher have in common? They each want to be the next city manager of Lauderdale Lakes.
The city has fielded 92 applications to replace former City Manager Jonathan Allen, who was forced out by commissioners in April. But it’s hard to imagine that even 20 of the hopefuls are even remotely qualified for the job.
Considering that Kelvin Baker is one of the top two contenders, “even 20” might be an overstatement.
The other top contender is the former Town Manager of Loxahatchee Groves, Mark Kutney.
The same anti-gas station commissioner, Patricia Hawkins-Williams, was all for hiring an outside consultant to search for a new city manager “so that the public has confidence in the process,” but she was outvoted by three of her colleagues, who said “there was no reason for the city to spend $30,000 for someone else to do the job.”
Commissioner Gloria Lewis, who voted “no” to a consultant, told the Sentinel that she wasn’t going back to “slavery days.”
Wait, WHAT?
When asked what she meant, she said, “I’m a commissioner. I’m for the people. I’m not going outside to hire a consultant who’s not my color.”
Wow! REALLY?
In addition to being one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever heard, it’s also blatantly racist. Imagine the uproar that would ensue if a white person had said that!
Maybe former City Manager Jonathan Allen was on to something about “talky” women!
Just saying.
On that note, Kelvin Baker should be a shoe in for the job.
For one thing, he specializes in budget deficits.
For another, he likes to play the race card.
Not sure how he feels about gas stations.
But, yeah. He’s gonna fit right in!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
You were wrong about the North Miami city manager. He is my friend as our some of the City Council, and when I talked to him he laughed and said I must of read the very wrong blog. He has no intention of leaving North Miami and has never said he would.
I heard from three different people that he was leaving. I also said it was “rumored.” If it’s not true, then three separate sources were wrong. Also, if it’s not true, then someone is spreading false rumors. I wonder who would benefit from doing so. That’s the bigger question.
I doubt that the manager is your friend and I’m surprised that after your years in this city you’d be live so. He’s a politician who is doing what he has to so that he can have residents in his corner. One who’s vocal and comments on blogs too. He’s smiling, making small talk and giving you just enough to make you think you’re special so he can get what he wants out of you when the time comes. Look at it like a date, but don’t expect that you’ll hear from him the morning after.
Aleem Ghany isn’t going to discuss his career plans with Jim Tracton and unless you’re privy to his recent foot in mouth incident, you don’t know what’s going on with him. It’s motivation enough for him to start looking for another job.
You’re so right about that! I once gave Aleem the benefit of the doubt and thought he was honest. I even was willing to chalk up all his dealings with the very shady Faustin Denis Jr. to a misunderstanding despite the circumstantial evidence (http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/mayor-andre-pierre-ex-mayor-joe-celestin-supported-racketeering-suspects-270k-contract-6551775).
But I soon realized that Aleem was nothing more than a self-serving politician who “befriended” me for the purpose of getting information out of me. He also flat out lied to me that he was “terminating or demoting” Leonard Burgess, did nothing of the sort, and then denied that he even said it in first place.
There are other people that I thought were the “good guys,” who turned out to be nothing more than selfish opportunists as well. I’ve learned to keep my guard up and try to avoid users and posers like them.
Here’s the thing. I do not lie. I have no reason to lie. I’m not running for office. I’m not looking for a government job or contract. Heck, I don’t even get paid to do this. I do this to uncover fraud and corruption and prove that the corruptocrats are lying.
However, I have no control over what people tell me. If several different sources, who don’t even know each other, are saying the same exact thing, common sense dictates that there must be something to it. I do my best to verify everything, but far too often it’s difficult to prove until it actually happens, at which point no one should be surprised. When I put something out there as an unconfirmed rumor, I state it as such, but I also try to make damn sure there’s enough evidence to make it a believable rumor.
Hey, sometimes I get it wrong. So freaking what? At least I’m not the leader of the free world, whose missteps can (and all too often do) result in catastrophic consequences for the entire country.
I’m just a blogger.
grammar, JBT!!
Also, Aleem did end up leaving shortly after I posted this blog. So there’s that.
You’re spot on about Kelvin Baker. He’s a guy that can’t find his ass with both hands. His other problem is that when he tries to be a part-time City Manager, his duties as a full-time church deacon get in the way. He has held jobs in other cities as a Public Works Director and a City Manager, yet his total educational qualifications is his Divinity Degree. Hardly the credentials of anyone you would feel warm and fuzzy about handling millions of dollars in taxpayer funds trying to run a public works department or a city. His nefarious employee proved Baker’s incompetence while acting as the public works director in North Miami Beach where Baker approved and signed checks for over $2.6 million in bogus work that was never done. He claimed he didn’t know what he was doing. Boy is that an understatement.
Next up, the City of Opa Locka where he wasn’t able to balance the city’s budget during his entire three year tenure there. Leaving the City to deal with a $2 million dollar budget deficit, he resigned before he was fired.
With those credentials and City of Lauderdale Lakes Commissioner Gloria Lewis’s race preference for her City Manager pick, Baker should be a shoe-in for the job there. She might regret her choice after Baker, true to his track record, can’t balance the budget there either. But then again, that may be exactly what her expectations are.
This is exactly why it makes no sense for small cities to exist. The residents of Lauderdale Lakes would be much better off being unincorporated; being a part of Broward County. Small towns and cities like this are just petri dishes for corruption, inefficiencies, and wastes of taxpayers money.
If the residents of Lauderdale Lakes really want to bring in development and promote their area, the first thing they need to do is petition their city council to unincorporate and forcing a vote by the residents on it. By doing so, lower property taxes will bring in new development and also benefit the residents. If this were to happen, people like Gloria Lewis would be forced to go out and get a real job.
Hey Waste of Money,
Believe it or not Gloria Lewis actually has another job…as a school teacher in Lakes. She was suspended recently for swearing at and threatening a student! Right up her alley! How does an illiterate, racist pig like GL even get a job teaching young students in the first place…and why hasn’t she been fired?
In Lauderdale Lakes…whether it’s their schools or City Hall…they only hire or elect rejects or misfits…who couldn’t land a position anywhere else! And sadly, the students and residents are the losers!
Wow! Thanks for that tip. I just did some research, and found this shocking story. I just might have to blog it. 🙂
The City of Lauderdale Lakes is a dysfunctional cesspool. After the damage inflicted by the racist, sexist, corrupt, buffoon, jon allen, the City is now cast in such a bad light and has such a miserable reputation that qualified, educated candidates will not apply for work there. Two of the commissioners, G. Lewis and P. Williams are practically illiterate and can barely speak English. And then you have the embarrassing remarks of the simpleton Lewis that she would only hire someone of “her color!” Pathetic!