What Leadership Looks Like

Last night we saw what genuine leadership can accomplish in North Bay Village.  The Village has been stuck in the quagmire of Krepsian hires and it felt like we were spinning out of control.  

Last night the commission and Norman Powell agreed to go their separate ways.  But not after a nasty public fight with threats and charges of racism thrown at the mayor, who stood firm against the badgering of the outgoing attorney and the outlandish bullying of Commission Jackson.   

For the details of the meeting, see Sarah Blaskey's excellent article here in the Miami Herald.  

I just want to focus for today on how the discussion went.   

Mayor Brent Latham was clear and factual on how Norman Powell failed to gain the trust of the commission and the many issues that Powell has presented in North Bay Village, not the least of which is Powell's involvement in the Velken matter and the many missteps Powell has taken.  

Latham was calm, focused and did not get distracted by the badgering by Andreana Jackson.  When Norman Powell cried "racism" and disputed Latham's concern over a near physical altercation by Powell with him, Latham, last Tuesday, one in which the police got involved, Latham kept his cool.   

We have the adult we need leading the commission.   

Vice Mayor Marvin Wilmoth

There is another face of leadership that needs to be recognized.  

Vice Mayor Marvin Wilmoth who has so far taken an analytic role on the dais, carefully evaluating the information provided, was a calm voice of insistent reason in the contentious meeting.  Wilmoth firmly and calmly kept promoting that the mayor, the labor attorney and Powell figure a way out of this mess and they sit down and get it done.  

It didn't seem possible until it was done.  

After a long recess, Powell agreed to terms, far too generous in my view, to leave without further degrading the Village and the commission voted 5-0 to accept the deal and move along.  

It would be easy to overlook Wilmoth's contribution but it was important and focused and got the commission unstuck.   

So a big hat's off to both the Mayor and the Vice Mayor.   

There's a lot coming at us down the road.  The fallout of 8 years of bad governance and the challenges the Village faces are real and are not going to be solved overnight.  But last night showed that focused leadership in its many dimensions is the right way.  

So let's all take a breath and appreciate that we are on the right road.  

(Sorry for the insipid sincerity of this post but you know it's big when I can't even make jokes.  I expect I'll resume snarking next week.)  

Kevin Vericker

March 1, 2019