What's with county commissioner Seijas? A while back, she was so worried the Island Gardens Watson Island project would suck up so much of her precious water that she required the developers to come back a fourth time to prove her wrong*. As a member of "The Seven," she fought tooth and nail Mayor Carlos Alverez's strong mayor referendum which would take much of the commission's power away. After losing three times in the courts over that issue, she yesterday threatened to attach a rider to the January 23rd referendum that would ask voters to drastically cut the mayor's salary by 95%, from $229,083 to $12,000.Unbelievable. We suspect the "water thing" had something to do with not getting respect and throwing her weight around to show everybody who was boss. This time around it looks like a petty reaction to the mayor getting his way.
In any event, this kind of behavior has sent her to the "Top o' the Heap" with her third MVB Poopy Head hat.
*Commissioners voted unanimously on November 28th to allow the Islands Gardens project to proceed so we guess Ms. Seijas' concerns were answered favorably.
6 comments:
Exotic aromas of fig and hoisin sauce give way to a rich, creamy-textured palate full of dark plum, blackberry, coffee and chocolate ganache. Has solid grip on the finish, with a loamy hint in the background of fresh steamy poop.
Frank, thanks for your continuing informative comments. They add a needed modicum of class to our shallow blatherings.
The Miami Herald
Posted on Fri, Dec. 01, 2006
Spiteful petition changes hurt residents
OUR OPINION: MIAMI-DADE COMMISSION IS WALLOWING IN PETTINESS
Talk about mean-spirited and petty, not to mention downright undemocratic. To spite Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez's successful petition drive to put a strong-mayor proposal to voters and a separate citizen-sponsored petition effort to recall Commissioner Natacha Seijas, the County Commission Tuesday took revenge by chipping away at residents' rights. Commissioner Seijas even ratcheted up the spitefulness a few more notches by proposing to drastically reduce the mayor's salary, which the commission sets and approves.
What's fair and right
Ms. Seijas wants to put the mayor's salary reduction on the same ballot with the strong-mayor question in January. In fairness, commissioners should reject this. But doing what is fair and right can be a challenge for this commission at times.
Witness the two revenge-driven ordinances adopted Tuesday to intimidate petition signature gatherers and, potentially, the people who sign them. One ordinance imposes jail sentences of up to 60 days and fines up to $500 for petitioners who deliberately mislead people when asking them to sign. How to prove that a petitioner has been both misleading and intentionally so will be difficult, counseled County Attorney Murray Greenberg, to no avail.
The second ordinance allows only one signature per petition page. Another new rule would allow a signer to remove his or her signature within 15 days of having signed. These rules could allow petition opponents to intimidate a signer into reversing approval of a petition using the excuse that the individual had been misled, provable or not.
Both ordinances sully this commission. The county charter provides recourse to residents unhappy with county leadership through the citizens' initiative process. Any changes to that process should be for voters to decide, not for a County Commission disgruntled with recent initiative results. These unwise decisions could come back to haunt the commission through a public backlash.
Personal vendetta
As to Ms. Seijas' proposal to ask voters to reduce the mayor's annual salary to $12,000 -- twice what commissioners earn per year -- from the commission-approved $229,083, it reeks of a personal vendetta. Relations between Ms. Seijas and Mr. Alvarez are acrid. He supports her recall, and she, along with other commissioners, opposes the strong-mayor plan. But her proposal on the mayor's salary only reflects poorly on Ms. Seijas, and could backfire in her Dec. 19 recall election.
We have to ask: When will the commission rise above pettiness to deal with real issues -- traffic congestion, lack of affordable housing, rising property taxes, not to mention various county scandals?
We have the best politicians that money allows us to buy. It's about time that a complete re-structuring of the Miami-Dade Commission is done.
Shame on her! She continues to bulldoze--she is a school yard bully who doesn't learn from her mistakes.
She acts like a mafia figure.
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