Last night at the Commission Meeting

Last night was sad.  Truly sad.  Yesterday, a mailer, a filthy one, showed up the mailboxes of North Bay Village voters demeaning Commissioner Chervony and the candidates Jorge Brito and Mario Garcia.  It was sent from an ECO, a shadowy organization, to debase political dissidents.  I'm not going to spend much time on it since Stephanie Kienzle did such a great take down of the whole sorry situation at her blog - Voters Opinion - and you should read it here.   Dark Princes, Puppetmasters and other Fairy Tales from the Crypt.  Go now.  I'll wait.  

Our mayor looked just like a kid who knew she had done something bad and only then realized how bad it was.  She was more than usually disorganized and confused.   Like a child caught in a lie, when she was given the opportunity to disown this filthy attack, she prevaricated and ducked.   

To her right was Vice Mayor Eddie Lim.  As the evening wore on, she tried consistently to shut Vice Mayor Lim down every time he spoke and to his great credit, he did not allow himself to be cut off.

Nothing he said was particularly controversial but she was so edgy that she had no intention of tolerating any even slight loss of control.  Let me be clear.  Vice Mayor Lim never brought up anything controversial.  He was asking questions about items the commission was considering and looking for clarity.  Questions like "How would those new plants affect our plans for native planting?" and "Will the village have more input to the causeway project?"   Not hardballs or politicals, but the kind of questioning that we have lacked from the dais.  And Kreps couldn't stand it.  

On her left, was Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez.  For his report, he played a YouTube of a little girl who wrote a song about being bullied.  It was sent to him on Facebook and he took time from his own efforts at cyberbullying a resident who dared to question him on his platform.  Read about that here. 

When he discussed his proposal to create a Board For Special Needs Citizens, Kreps shot holes in the plan and was speaking over him.  He scolded her testily and told her to stop interrupting him.  It was like a scene from a bad "Real Housewives" episode.  

He seemed pretty testy too.  Probably because of the revelations online from the Miami Herald about his bankruptcy, the nearly $1 million judgement against him 2012 and his own unpaid taxes.  If you haven't read it yet, click here for the Miami Herald story.  Go ahead.  I'll wait again.  

Okay back now?  

The evening ended on a grand flourish  Commissioner Chervony gave me a chance to once again ask the commission to repudiate the filth that is going around in this campaign.  Rather than making even a token statement, the mayor announced that such a statement would be a resolution and would have to be advertised for the next meeting.  A pure lie.  Cara dura.

I'm tired and disgusted.  Jorge Brito and Mario Garcia have run their campaigns on the record and on issues.  Connie Leon-Kreps and Jorge Gonzalez are running their campaigns via sleazy strip club lobbyists under fake organizations.  We have enough sewage in our streets.  We don't need it on the dais.  

Kevin Vericker

October 15, 2014