These are my current views on issues concerning our town

 

 

 

The Town

The Town of Cutler Bay has been in my mind a great success in incorporation. We owe our thanks to the efforts of many citizens in the town as well as our staff and elected officials. There are still a few residents who resent the fact that we are a separate town and that it is not named Cutler Ridge. Cutler Ridge still exists as a part of our town with deep roots and a unique flavor. There are however other parts of town, each with it's own identity and unique attributes. All of us are managing to blend beautifully at town events like our annual picnic, bicycle ride and other events,

 

The Council

Those with complaints can easily access their Council representative and express their wants and desires. Although we on the Council must reside in specific areas. we are elected and serve at large. If you don't feel comfortable dealing with one in your own area, any of us are willing to help, no matter where we reside.

 

Schools

One of my prime goals as an elected official in Cutler Bay has been to provide our own high school. As you know, our students have been assigned to Southridge High, academically and geographically undesirable. I formed a committee to explore alternatives, one of which was the possibility of a charter school, this after speaking to school board members including the superintendent himself. No one was able to address our need it seems until we actually proposed the charter school.  Once the application was presented several plans were offered, the most recent of which is a Cutler Bay High School campus utilizing both Cutler Ridge elementary and Centennial as combination middle and high schools depending on number of students and parking availability. This is as of December 2011 and there will be much more discussion before any conclusions are drawn... Stay tuned!

 

Election

I was recently elected to a second term for a period of 4 years, If you have never run for public office, I can tell you that it is one of the most stressful things I have ever done. I do it solely so that I can have the feeling of having left behind a better place than the one I came to over 40 years ago. When people walk up to me and say "keep up the good work" or something similar, that is all the reward I need. As you know, our pay is merely token but it helps.

 

Vice Mayor

I was appointed to the position of Vice Mayor in 2011, after a contentious race for Mayor by former Vice Mayor, and now Mayor, Ed MacDougall and former Councilman Tim Meerbott. There was a preconceived plan to appoint Meerbott as Vice Mayor should he lose the election which he did. I personally thought that this was the wrong thing to do and as a result ended up, against my desires, as Vice Mayor. Because of our Town Charter, I may be forced to run for that same office again on the next regular County election, whenever that occurs. If this happens I may need your help as I have now given up a secure seat in which I was termed out in 2012 to better serve the Town as Vice Mayor. Stay tuned!!

 

Lies

During my campaign I was faced with some scurrilous lies that seem to make the rounds. These are hard to combat because those who originate them somehow disappear under the rocks and any effort to disprove them is hard to do, once they have been spread. Each time I am confronted with a FOF (Friend of Friend) story, I try to get details like who, what, when and where. No one seems to know other than "They Heard!" That's politics!

 

Communication

With all the good things this town has done we have been frustrated with getting people involved. Only 11 % of the voting public turned out to our last election. During my many campaign visits, people seemed totally unaware that we are a town and that there are any issues involving them. I guess we in government simply haven't tapped into the mainstream of voters. Very few people here read the newspapers. Even though we have a significant web presence, most people won't take the time to see what is going on. Mailing to everyone is just too costly. People seem to object to automated phone calls. We are still trying to find solutions and eventually will.

 

Some of the untrue rumors:   

Rumor: A little old lady was hanging up her storm shutters and was immediately handed a fine by one of our code
            compliance officers.

Fact: No one knows who this lady is and our officers do not hand out fines without significant warnings and education.

---

Rumor: A lady was running a garage sale to pay for her children's schooling and was handed a $250.00 per day fine

            which used up all the money she got from the garage sale.

Fact:  Again, no one knows who this lady is and our officers have never given a fine for anyone running a garage sale.

Note: A lady did complain to me that her signs on Old Cutler Road were removed by code compliance. I tried to tell her that it was not legal or proper to place signs on the public        right-of-way.  Imagine if everyone  began doing this. Flea market, here we come!

---

Rumor: A lady was fined for spreading birdseed.

Fact: This lady I was able to actually locate. She admits that she was never handed a fine. A complaint was made by a neighbor that the birdseed was attracting rats. Code compliance advised her of the problem and to my knowledge it was resolved.

---

Rumor: Code compliance rousted a bunch of Girl Scouts trying to sell cookies.

Fact:  Again, no one knows when. Someone says in front of Uncle Franks Pizza. An unlikely place to try and sell Girls Scout Cookies. Why weren't they in front of Publix or another heavily populated location?

No one in compliance recalls any such incident.