This will be a huge ballot, so plan
on voting early and be ready for delays. Please don't leave your vote until the
last-minute on this Election Day, Tuesday, November 6.
PALMETTO BAY ELECTION
This election is important for
the future of Palmetto Bay. I felt we worked hard to build a strong sense of
community in the first eight years of Palmetto Bay. I would like to return to a
Palmetto Bay that benefited from community events such as family movie nights
(remember those?), fewer lawsuits and less new regulations.
I have strongly endorsed the
reelection of Councilman Howard Tendrich and
long-time resident and teacher/advocate Karyn
Cunningham to provide a new voice for Vice Mayor. Both candidates have
positive insight and will work to represent all the people of Palmetto Bay. CLICK HERE to view
my full endorsement for both Karyn and Howard.
Karyn Cunningham will
restore our sense of community and will work well with, not against, the other
council members on items that are important to us; protecting our quality of
life, our children, homes, infrastructure and our village finances. She wants
to hold series of meeting to engage us, the residents in visioning sessions
much like the first council did when we first created Palmetto Bay.
Howard Tendrich is the
biggest supporter of green on the present council. He has been a big supporter,
working with me in the past and continues the work of making Palmetto Bay a
"Tree City USA." He has pushed for greater accountability and is the
single present member of the council work pushed for publishing the village
check register online. He was a huge proponent of making Palmetto Bay's Village
Hall LEED Platinum. We cannot lose Howard's common sense on the council.
The strength of Palmetto Bay was
the "Ps" that I enumerated through my years of service, Parks,
Planning, Police, Public Works and most of all People. We were once one
Palmetto Bay and we need elected officials who will work to build the sense of
community we previously enjoyed.
PALMETTO BAY CHARTER QUESTIONS
Be careful and read the item
before you vote. CLICK HERE to view the
proposed Palmetto Bay Charter Amendments. The number one example is Palmetto
Bay Charter Amendment # 4 - innocently entitled "Changing Term
Limits" this is actually an anti-reform proposal that EXTENDS the present
term limits from the present 8 to 12 years. Do not be fooled. We finally
get a county charter question for 8 years for County Commissioners, but
Palmetto Bay elected officials want to undo our earlier reforms and extend
their terms.
I do intend on voting in favor
of items #7, #10, and #12. As to #1, Love it or hate it, but it does not
belong in the charter. The Neighborhood Protection proposal belongs in the
Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP) and the procedural elements belong
in the zoning procedures code, not charter. It is unwise to mix the two. You
cannot properly amend your CDMP if it also requires a charter change to be
consistent.
The purpose of a village charter
is to define the type of government, which in Palmetto Bay is to have a manager
- council form of government.
Items # 5 and 6 are bad proposals that
allow the council members to interfere with the professional management of
Palmetto Bay by the Manager and allow council members to meet with department
heads or otherwise inject politics into the hiring of personnel. Don't let this
happen. Vote NO and retain professional management. Elected officials
should be required to discuss village business, our business, in the Sunshine,
at a public meeting, not in private. Otherwise, each department head would have
6 chiefs; the manager and 5 separate councilmembers, all trying to direct the manager
in different directions. Government in the Sunshine requires that the issue be
discussed at a publicly noticed council meeting, discussed in public and
publicly decide by majority rule. The public has the right to know. I was able
to work effectively as mayor for 8 years under the current set of rules. The
current council does not need, and certainly do not deserve a new set of rules.
Many of the other proposals make
little sense; they are already provided for in the present charter and add
nothing by passage other than risking adverse unintended consequences. I do
intend on voting in favor of items #7, #10, and #12.
I humbly recommend that we all vote
for Howard Tendrich and Karyn Cunningham and vote NO on the
Palmetto Bay charter amendments, excepting #7, #10, and #12.
Pet's Trust Vote YES #24
Please Vote Yes to show support
for a Pet's Trust in Miami. This is a straw ballot on the November 6
ballot- which means it is there to gage the community support for creating a
Pets Trust. It is then up to the County Commission to make it happen.
Thank you and I look forward to
seeing you at the polls. Join me in working to for positive government!
Eugene Flinn
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