Really, I think the flyer says it all. Thank you Mark Bain and all your volunteers for making this program so successful. And thank you Bill Tallman for guiding the Optimist Club to do great things.
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At My Chair for February 25, 2013. Not much going on at Council. Presentations, presentations, presentations. I wish we were handling some business: the sign code that needs updating, a Citizens' Bill of Rights, an Ethics Ordinance. There are so many things we could be doing right now, but there does not seem to be any interest in moving forward with any of them. #disappointing
Included is the Archery Club State Tournament Flyer, the bad news on the pool, and documents related to the Curtiss Mansion distribution of funds. Remember, you can watch Council meetings live on the web from the City website or review any Council meetings from the past three and a half years. Questions? Email me at jennifer@jenniferator.com. 
I was lucky enough to be able to be able to attend the #GGI reception. It was great to see old friends (and extremely convenient in Wynwood). The purpose of the reception was to celebrate GGI and thank the volunteers. Thank you Katy Sorenson for all you do -- and your staff too. GGI is truly a labor of love.
Boy, are our kids cute! Celebrating President's Day at All Angels is always so intersesting. For those Presidental Scholars, you are missing a great show!
I ran into an opinion piece from The New York Times. It was published yesterday and is a little critical of Florida Senator Marco Rubio who had his start right here in Miami-Dade County. I attached the opinion below. Mr. Krugman, who is a professor at Princeton and won a Nobel Prize in Economics, makes some important points about handling an economic crisis. We don't have an economic crisis here in Miami Springs but we are closer to one than we were two years ago or even four or six years ago. Our City Council has mistakenly believed that cutting taxes and using reserves is the proper balance for our community. However, as has been noted by many candidates throughout the years, the solution to many of our problems is, without a doubt, increasing our income. One of the ways we can do that is to improve our commercial tax base. The few building owners who have invested in their buildings on Westward Drive have not seen a return on their investment. In fact, because of the lack of an understandable code and the lack of code enforcement, our downtown is in as bad a shape as it has ever been. I live and work here in Miami Springs. I made the choice to do so. I eat lunch here everyday. When I have clients at my office, I send them into our community to eat and shop. I don't own a building downtown, but as a public official and a resident, I do have an interest in making our commercial district appealing. Our community needs to stop spending money out of designated reserves, and instead start putting money INTO designated reserves. We are never going to have a new pool, new signage downtown, or new lighting if we continue to spend what little money we have saved on our day to day bills. We just can't continue saying, "everything is going to be OK" without a plan for our future and an economic plan to get us there. Doing so is foolish and irresponsible.  Last week a well-known local journalist asked me why I decided to run for Mayor, and I gave him a very direct answer. Some perceived my answer as crossing the line of propriety. The article can be found HERE.
It is challenging to be part of any campaign, and I believe that anyone with the courage to put themselves out there as a serious candidate for public office is worthy of our respect. I also believe that those candidates have a responsibility to tell the truth as they campaign, and I will continue to do so during this campaign, and beyond. This campaign has some difficult truths to confront, and while it might be easy or comfortable to ignore them out of “respect for the candidates” – the reality is, our respect for good government in our City must come first. You can expect me not to turn away, but to look those problems in the face. Why am I writing this now? I appreciate every single word and gesture of support I’ve received as a candidate. As you can see at the bottom of this page, my blog posts are open for comments, but each comment is approved for content before it is posted. I recently received a very positive and supportive comment from a reader that I would love to have approved, but it concluded with some not-so-nice words about the Mayor. I know that I can’t single-handedly stop negativity in this election, and I acknowledge that there are strong opinions on both sides of this election – but I will not condone or approve comments that include personal attacks. Please feel welcome to comment, but please keep it focused on the issues. We all belong to the same community, and that will still be true regardless of who wins on April 2nd. I look forward to hearing from you. PS, many of you have asked about yard signs. They will be arriving within the next week, and if you’d like one, please send an email to me at Jennifer@jenniferator.com with your name, address, and contact phone, and we’ll have one placed for you as soon as they’re in. Thanks again for your support. |
Beautiful
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