Laura Cattabriga Has A Question

The Question Queen

Laura Cattabriga wants to be mayor of North Bay Village and will be coming around asking you for your signatures, your money and your vote starting July 19.  

But first, let's talk about the questions.  

Laura Cattabriga is the master of the self serving question.  Posts them solely for her benefit.  Never answers them.  Claims that answers are “disrespectful”

This strategy is working well for her.  

Let’s examine some.  

The Question That Started It All

In May of 2017, Commissioner Doug Hornsby was the target of an extortion attempt, a federal crime. His tormentors were anonymous and an investigation was started.

As a natural correlation, there was an investigation into Hornsby’s voting status at the time of his appointment. Given that his rights had automatically been restored by Tennessee following his completion of parole, Hornsby had every reason to believe that he was eligible. And no court found otherwise.

Still, Laura had “questions” so she got someone else to pay for a lawsuit which failed to answer the question.

Laura Never Got An Answer On Hornsby

But Cattabriga got what she wanted.

When the Mayor, the Vice Mayor and Commissioner Mary Kramer’s Husband colluded with the Village Attorney, Norm Powell, to falsely advertise a meeting as a discussion and illegally use that meeting to remove Hornsby, Laura was out of questions.  

Except one.  

“Can I have his seat?”   The answer was "Yes" and Cattabriga got it because she was the only qualified candidate except for the more qualified other one, but she was the most qualified white candidate.
The Next Question - The Hurricane Party?

In this clip from NBC6, Laura Cattabriga pretends to be shocked, I tells you, shocked that there was beer at the police HQ during Hurricane Irma.  

So shocked in fact, that she colluded with the Village administration to leak the tape of the police to NBC6 and went on camera to ask very serious, very concerned questions.  

Except she already had the answers.  The internal affairs investigations were closed, disciplines meted out, the state authorities involved who declined to prosecute, and the PD Land Fall team reorganized to prevent a recurrence.  

The NBC6 report and articles it spawned damaged the Village but made Laura look “Mayoral”

But What About the Finances?

Cattabriga represents herself as an “in charge” fiscal watchdog.  

So at the last commission meeting, she discussed how she had uncovered nearly $1 MILLION Dollars in “Emergency Purchases” and wondered aloud about how this could be.  

The answer was not hard to find.  Laura Cattabriga simply took the spreadsheet and binder marked “Emergency Purchases” and read it.  Every purchase in there had an accompanying memo explaining why it met the criteria, a copy of the check as signed by Mayor Kreps, and had been reported to the commission.

Let’s Look At The Questions Laura Didn’t Ask

Voted to give away $40,000 to a lobbyist without asking a single question. Cattabriga voted Yes to install Ron Book as our lobbyist without asking if an RFP, with real proposals and real plans would suit the Village. Cattabriga just voted Yes. Cost: $40,000.

My question: Why would you jump past the required RFP process and not insist on quantifying the value? Cattabriga’s answer: *SILENCE*

Voted to give Noman C. Powell almost a year’s salary to prevent him from suing should he want to, nearly $140,000, with just one question. “Do you think you could make it a little bit less?” with an answer of “No” so she voted Yes. This is an unprecedented contract, especially to a Village Attorney with no municipal experience.

Voted to give away $100,000 in unearned severance to a 90 day employee without asking a single question.  Not one.

Special note:  When I asked Cattabriga about the giveaway of $100,000, she predictably evaded the request with, you guessed it, a request for a “respectful” sit down with me.  I have no interest in sitting down with her. I have great interest in knowing why she voted to give $100,000 that was not part of a contract and she never answered asking yet another “question” of me.  She failed to see how asking for a “sit down” (what are we, the Sopranos?) was “disrepectful”. I just want to know why she voted for a $100k in lovely parting gifts. Cattabriga will never answer.

Let’s Review

Cattabriga’s “Questions” have so far managed to get her:

• An unelected seat on the dais.
• Support for a mayoral run to continue the special interest pillaging of NBV
• Media exposure on TV

And the Fiscal Cost to the Village

• $100,000 in a severance giveaway this month.  
• A nearly $200,000 poison pill when Powell is replaced.
• $40,000 to Lobbyist who couldn’t even be bothered to put together a proposal.

And the reputational costs to North Bay Village:

• Created a phony scandal over the resolved hurricane party disciplines just to get on TV
• Called into doubt the well documented Village emergency purchases, purchases approved by her mayor, just to throw some shade.
• Refused to answer about the severance package making the NBV commission look even shadier .

And The Big One

Cattabriga allied with an elderly neighbor who financed a frivolous lawsuit to destroy the reputation of a sitting commissioner, a lawsuit that after three tries to get it right, was about to be dismissed when Cattabriga colluded to remove the Commissioner and stole the seat for herself to satisfy her own ambitions.  

In the process, Cattabriga destroyed trust in the North Bay Village government making it the unstable mess we see now, exposed her neighbors to serious financial liability, destroyed a good man’s reputation and stole his duly appointed position.

Now Cattabriga Wants Be Mayor And I Have a Question

When Cattabriga asks you to sign her nominating petition, to give to her campaign, to vote for her, do you really believe that Cattabriga has done the work to lead us out of this chaos?

And why do you hate North Bay Village?

Inquiringly,

Kevin Vericker

July 18, 2018