Doing The Right Thing

Photo Joost J. Bakker

Last night, there were several highlights of the commission meeting.  I'm listing them in order of importance here.  

Colleen Moriarty has joined the administrative staff of North Bay Village.  Ms. Moriarty came to us through the Best Buddies Program which as one of its many functions matches people living with disabilities with job opportunities.   

Commissioner Julianna Strout sponsored the participation and the commission welcomed her at the meeting.   

North Bay Village's own WSVN Channel 7 covered the event in their newscast.  Click here to see the broadcast.  It has been ages since we've had any positive coverage and this is something to celebrate.  

The Storage Facility Was Not Approved.  This may be the most unpopular project in North Bay Village since the strip club proposal.  The Planning & Zoning Board rejected the project and the commission rejected the project.   There are a lot of reasons against it, most importantly, it's not the sort of business we want in North Bay Village.  These storage units are ugly and do little or nothing to stimulate the economy.   

The issue may not be dead.  There could be legal challenges.  

It seems like a good time for North Bay Village to build up the positive by creating a vision of what types of business North Bay Village wants to attract and how to attract them.   The parking problem presented by the GrandView and the amount of cars on Treasure Island, which should incorporate shared public parking for the Baywalk needs to be addressed.   Defeating something is not the same as progress but it is a good first step.  

The Community Support for Carlos Noriega.  I'm just going to link to this about the Noriega matter.   Bring Back Carlos Noriega.

The community has not been heard on the settlement offer for Police Chief Noriega and judging by last night's turnout, the overwhelming majority want to be heard and want him back for very good reasons.   Mostly because we had a police force that worked with and for the community while Noriega ran it.  

Among the speakers last night were several colleagues of Noriega from Miami Beach and Surfside and they reminded the commission that Noriega brought us into close cooperation with our neighbors and discussed their experience of his leadership and ethics.   The Assistant Chiefs of Miami Beach and Surfside spoke, along with the State Rep for the FOP also a Miami Beach cop, and Officer Art Martineau head of the Miami Beach PAL.   

Residents one after the other spoke about the professionalism and close contact with the community that Noriega brought to our village and gave examples of how they and our families have been made safer in our homes and lives.   

And I spoke.  Although I was glad to see the turnout and agreed with all of the sentiments expressed, I think this commission needs to differentiate itself from their secrecy prone predecessors and while I fully understand why legal sessions must be done privately, the commission is now going to hold at least one executive privilege session, not open to the public, and I think they should have a portion where this is specifically a topic of conversation with the public.   I hope they will.   

North Bay Village and the Dramatic Arts:  Finally, there was a piece of Performance Art dedicated to the new commission's policy of openness.  

North Bay Village Performance Artist

Like most good comedy and all good tragedy, it loses much in the retelling.  You kind of had to be there to get the joke but I will try.  

A local resident who had previously run for mayor and lost by a huge margin decided to workshop her one woman show at Good & Welfare.  The piece with the working title of "I'm Really The Victim Here" is equal parts satire of public process and an exploration of self delusion.   

Authoritatively taking the microphone, the artist first posed a question, "How would you feel?" and then led the audience through a well structured monologue in which she spoke without self consciousness about how she sent a public email filled with half truths and falsehoods about the fired police chief and then was shocked, appalled and shocked again when the public email was publicly read and she received an email disagreeing with her.  

The only spot where the performance went a bit flat and got lost in bathos was when the artist added a bit about how her email was even published on the Dark Web For Idiots.  For those familiar with her body of work, they will know that on her satiric social media site, the artist enthusiastically links to the same Dark Web For Idiots and that made the performance feel a bit manufactured.  

Still, the audience was left to ponder about how we would feel if our concerns were discussed and even disagreed openly and held up to critical thinking.  The piece was a poignant commentary on lost power, futile redemption and an apologia of the artist's own suppression of disagreement.   With some rework this could be the surprise hit of the season.   

Summary:  Tuesday night was another step forward on the bumpy road to reconstruction and the difficulties of transparency.  The public was heard loudly and clearly on the two major issues - the police chief and the storage units - and the commission did the right thing on the storage units.  

The next test will be the commission decision on the reinstatement of Noriega.  My view is they should do it but the critical issue is that regardless of the decision they make, it must be transparent, with full consideration of the community, and with the best interests of North Bay Village.  Any decision will have its detractors but does the commission want to cater to the Dark Web for Idiots anonymous trolls or the public open discussion of the best course?    

Kevin Vericker

April 11, 2019