There was once a time when Palmetto Bay officials had the proposed budget posted well in advance of the September budget season. Times have changed. Palmetto Bay sure has a new direction:
Higher taxes and no transparency as this current mayor and her councils have seen fit to post a mere 4 sets of meeting minutes for the 118 meetings she as chaired since January 1, 2019 (see bottom of this post)
Two possible reasons come to mind (neither are good):
1. The current mayor, council and staff are not close to preparing a first draft budget and are going to be required to cobble the items together during September, budget month; or
2. The draft budget is prepared, but they simply refuse to post it.
We could file a public records request, but this current village administration likes to wait 30 days to provide; meaning that a request today would not be responded to until after the second budget hearings. Palmetto Bay's first budget hearing is set for 7:00 PM, September 13, 2021. They have a lot of catching up to do. So do we.
Neighboring Pinecrest and Miami-Dade County have posted the draft budgets:
Meanwhile, while lil Palmetto Bay waits to divulge, Miami-Dade County has posted the County budget ($9 Billion plus) for anyone to see (no formal public records request required) CLICK HERE.
Pinecrest has their proposed 2021-22 budget posted online. CLICK HERE to view.
Transparency ignored. A slap in the face to residents.
It was once said by a local opposition group that
This government in sorely lacking in transparency, openness and accessibility when residents don't have access to the most basic information on what is going on in the Village and what the Council is doing.
That was based on a few weeks or two months delay. But what about years? Now that's some pretty steep stonewalling. I hate to sound like a broken record, but let's check the record. What we find is a total lack of a published record since January 1, 2019. Where should be look? Start at the agenda center set up under my administrations to provide transparency and to provide records available 24/7/365 with need to make a request.
View current agendas and minutes for all boards and commissions. Previous years' agendas and minutes can be found in the Document Center.
Or so the Village alleges. They say one thing but where are the minutes. ZERO minutes are posted on this page for any meeting held in 2021 (26 meetings held to date in 2021) , 2020 (49 meetings) and only four (4) for the 43 meetings held in 2019. Are minutes from meetings being approved? Are they being signed and properly filed? We don't know. as there are only minutes for four (4) council meetings posted on the village's official Agenda and Minutes page since this January 2019. These meetings are limited to: January 7, 2019, 2 sets for the regular council meeting as well as the special council meeting of February 4, 2019, and May 21 (all not posted November 5, by the way).
4 meeting minutes posted out of 118 meetings held to date. A failing grade.
This current mayor and the councils that have been part of her administration have held a grand total of 118 meetings to date for which a pathetic total of 4 meetings (back in 2019) have been posted. That's 3.4% of the meetings. That is a failing grade on a High School grading scale!
That is not transparency. CLICK HERE to view the Agendas and Minutes page.
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