The next regular Council Meeting of the Village of Palmetto Bay will take place on Thursday, November 18, at the usual time, 7:00 p.m., and at the usual place, the Deering Estate Visitor Center, 16701 S.W. 72 Avenue. However, the council itself won’t be the usual crew, so things will definitely be different. How different remains to be seen, but Gene Flinn won’t be there on the dais and Dr. Ed Feller won’t be there either, and there’ll definitely be some new faces there, at least two of which we haven’t seen on the council before. How this will affect the day to day business of village government and future resolutions regarding things like zoning, growth, public works projects, the parks, the police and countless other issues, old, current or yet to be, is anybody’s guess.
This issue hits the stands on Election Day, by which time many folks will have already voted in early voting, regular voting or by absentee ballots and the results won’t be known until sometime in the evening.
What also won’t be known, probably until even later, is whether the new configuration of the council will result in any staff changes at Village Hall. It seems to make sense to hang onto the current crew of folks there—the ones who do the real work of keeping the village operating— since they have been doing a good job of it so far and could help the new leaders maintain a sense of continuity.
It will be interesting to see what happens during the coming months. At any rate, we have to think that the idea of establishing term limits by the village’s founders was a good one, and maybe one that would be good for other municipal and county governments as well. What do you think?
A brief comment to those folks who had the silly idea of influencing the election or preventing residents from reading the Palmetto Bay News by “removing” 400 copies of last week’s edition from a few of the racks. First, shame on you for being so childishly naughty! Second, we distribute 8,000 copies of our newspaper, in a variety of locations, and many, many people read it online anyway, so thinking you’re making a difference by stealing 400 copies is like taking a bucket of water out of a swimming pool and thinking it will prevent people from swimming. Not too swift!
Last we heard on the $5 proposed weekend/holiday parking fees for several Kendall parks is that the County Commission “will take action” on some kind of plan to either soften, reduce or possibly eliminate the charges proposed by the Parks Department. Our reliable source says the issue is up for the Commission’s decision at its second meeting in November. Meanwhile, some 300 signed petitions turned up in October to ask elimination of the fee at Commissioner Javier Souto’s office.
Whitefly Warning! Commissioner Joe Martinez warns of a new and invasive species of Whitefly in Miami-Dade, known as the “gumbo limbo spiraling” whitefly, native to Central America and capable of infesting limbo, live oak, banana, black olive, mango, a variety of palms, and even some shrubs such as copperleaf, coco plum and wax myrtle. Watch for a spiral pattern of eggs beneath leaves and a sooty pattern of residue on nearby pool furniture, under trees and shrubbery.
Miami Dolphins arriving at Kendall Federation of Homeowner Associations meeting next week with their announced topic of “Community Commitment” – which, as we read it, is convincing the public to okay tax funding to spruce up Sun Life Stadium so it will still be attractive for future Super Bowl selection – and, oh yes, World Cup Soccer. Session starts at 7 p.m., Monday, November 8 at Kendall Village Center civic pavilion, with Turnpike and MDX folks also on hand to explain how great it will be to have ORT (Open Road Tolling) only as the ‘Pike gets converted to Sunpass in months to come.
Thought of the Day:
Saying what we think gives us a wider conversational range than saying what we know.
— Cullen Hightower
Gary Alan Ruse and Richard Yager contributed to this column
Got any tips? Contact me at 305-669- 7355, ext. 249, or send emails to michael@communitynewspapers.com.
I believe term limits are a good idea and at a local level no better place to implement them than the Miami-Dade County Commission, a place where being elected once is essentially a lock for life on the seat. Commissioners have long been seeking a pay raise from a token $6,000 salary (plus perks and spending budgets) to levels approaching $100,000. I do not have a problem with this providing that, in exchange, the position becomes full-time and the commission accepts a limit of two 4 year terms.