Village Council must meet on Thursday
Liliana Dones, current Secretary of the Village Council, sent this letter to Martin Zilber, Village Council Chair, late last night.
This will make sense if you read this story first and this story next.
Dear Martin,
I do not understand why you should choose not to have a meeting on Thursday. Why would this choice be made without those of us who are still members of the Village Council being allowed to weigh in? Did I miss something? As far as I know the meeting tonight was for you as Chair to go over administrative details with the incoming council. Indeed, I was told that this meeting was to to include only yourself and the council-elect.
As far as I am aware, I am still the Secretary of this council through Dec. 31, and we have a meeting scheduled for Nov. 12 with some rather important agenda items, particularly that of the 5 am closings.
The fact that this memo from the Mayor elect has risen late this afternoon, and is being somehow interpreted to prohibit the Council from meeting at City Hall as we had regularly scheduled, hardly means that we cannot meet at all. Furthermore, I have word from sources extremely close to the Mayor elect that it was never his intention AT ALL, to prohibit the Village Council from meeting, as planned on November 12. Despite Tomas Regalado's extremely busy schedule tomorrow, he is hopefully going to graciously clarify this.
Martin, I lost this election because I spoke up in favor of 5 am closings, and thus incurred a vigorous campaign against me. I know this because I have seen the emails received by my neighbors asking that they not vote for me.
So be it. I took a chance speaking my mind, and would not have it any other way. They organized themselves to vote against me, and they succeeded in convincing over the uninformed and bullying the uninspired. But I cannot sit by and allow the scheduled agenda to be cancelled willy-nilly over some fantastic decree that is now being manipulated to cancel the November 12 meeting. I am still secretary of the Village Council for the next 2 months, and unless there is something in the bylaws that says the Chair may cancel a meeting at his sole discretion, I very much expect the meeting to go on as planned, regardless of whether the city allows it to take place at City Hall or not.
I have always gone with gut instinct. And you saw my gut instinct reaction when I first heard about this today. Then I reread the memo and thought to myself, I am over reacting. There is nothing here that says we cannot have the meeting. So I spoke to Michelle Pina, in the City Manager's office, and she verified my feelings. "if anything," she said, "this memo reinforces that the Village Council have their meeting." So I sent an email verifying our conversation and asking that our televised meeting be confirmed. Then I got her email stating that, oops, it looks like we cannot meet at City Hall after all, (I enclose said thread, below your message, for the benefit of the VC elect new members).
Fantastic as it may seem that the Mayor elect's first order of business for the ENTIRE city of Miami would be the re-scheduling of the use of City Hall Chambers so as to make it available to all community organizations in town, it is reasonable to expect that this rush edict would still allow the Village Council to have its meeting, as planned, on November 12, in Chambers and televised. After all, we were already scheduled and there is nothing to pre-empt our scheduled meeting from taking place. The likely hood of another organization demanding to use our time slot, within one day of this edict is simply absurd. Ah, of course, except if we were somehow to be forcibly held to a technicality.
Nevertheless, the Village Council need not have to cancel its meeting if it cannot meet at City Hall. There are plenty of other venues, and the Bill of Right does say it is our right to assemble even if we have to rent a venue.
I am willing to bet Commissioner Gimenez would be more than happy to let us assemble at the Rolle Center. So what if we cannot be televised? There has been freedom of assembly in this country going on long before there was television. Or a City of Miami.
Liliana Dones
Secretary, Cocoanut Grove Village Council
This will make sense if you read this story first and this story next.
Dear Martin,
I do not understand why you should choose not to have a meeting on Thursday. Why would this choice be made without those of us who are still members of the Village Council being allowed to weigh in? Did I miss something? As far as I know the meeting tonight was for you as Chair to go over administrative details with the incoming council. Indeed, I was told that this meeting was to to include only yourself and the council-elect.
As far as I am aware, I am still the Secretary of this council through Dec. 31, and we have a meeting scheduled for Nov. 12 with some rather important agenda items, particularly that of the 5 am closings.
The fact that this memo from the Mayor elect has risen late this afternoon, and is being somehow interpreted to prohibit the Council from meeting at City Hall as we had regularly scheduled, hardly means that we cannot meet at all. Furthermore, I have word from sources extremely close to the Mayor elect that it was never his intention AT ALL, to prohibit the Village Council from meeting, as planned on November 12. Despite Tomas Regalado's extremely busy schedule tomorrow, he is hopefully going to graciously clarify this.
Martin, I lost this election because I spoke up in favor of 5 am closings, and thus incurred a vigorous campaign against me. I know this because I have seen the emails received by my neighbors asking that they not vote for me.
So be it. I took a chance speaking my mind, and would not have it any other way. They organized themselves to vote against me, and they succeeded in convincing over the uninformed and bullying the uninspired. But I cannot sit by and allow the scheduled agenda to be cancelled willy-nilly over some fantastic decree that is now being manipulated to cancel the November 12 meeting. I am still secretary of the Village Council for the next 2 months, and unless there is something in the bylaws that says the Chair may cancel a meeting at his sole discretion, I very much expect the meeting to go on as planned, regardless of whether the city allows it to take place at City Hall or not.
I have always gone with gut instinct. And you saw my gut instinct reaction when I first heard about this today. Then I reread the memo and thought to myself, I am over reacting. There is nothing here that says we cannot have the meeting. So I spoke to Michelle Pina, in the City Manager's office, and she verified my feelings. "if anything," she said, "this memo reinforces that the Village Council have their meeting." So I sent an email verifying our conversation and asking that our televised meeting be confirmed. Then I got her email stating that, oops, it looks like we cannot meet at City Hall after all, (I enclose said thread, below your message, for the benefit of the VC elect new members).
Fantastic as it may seem that the Mayor elect's first order of business for the ENTIRE city of Miami would be the re-scheduling of the use of City Hall Chambers so as to make it available to all community organizations in town, it is reasonable to expect that this rush edict would still allow the Village Council to have its meeting, as planned, on November 12, in Chambers and televised. After all, we were already scheduled and there is nothing to pre-empt our scheduled meeting from taking place. The likely hood of another organization demanding to use our time slot, within one day of this edict is simply absurd. Ah, of course, except if we were somehow to be forcibly held to a technicality.
Nevertheless, the Village Council need not have to cancel its meeting if it cannot meet at City Hall. There are plenty of other venues, and the Bill of Right does say it is our right to assemble even if we have to rent a venue.
I am willing to bet Commissioner Gimenez would be more than happy to let us assemble at the Rolle Center. So what if we cannot be televised? There has been freedom of assembly in this country going on long before there was television. Or a City of Miami.
Liliana Dones
Secretary, Cocoanut Grove Village Council
posted by Tom Falco at 7:50 AM
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7 Comments:
Ok, it is official, two serious strikes against him, Pete Hernandez needs to go. This had better be REgalado's first order of business. Pete Hernandez clearly thinks his boss is marc sarnoff, and he's obviously willing to participate in this facism.
For the record grape, I think that's the word you want, instead of communism. Communism does not connote any censorship or bullying, but only the lack of individual ownership of resources. Facism is what is being promoted in the grove by Marc's minions.
Lilly, I personally want to thank you for your courage. It's not easy standing up to the neighborhood bully(s), I agree that you lost the election due to your stance on the 5AM issue. Unfortunately this is the way politics are done in the Grove.
Lilly, I think it's time to unmask the couple of women who have done most of the leg work for the Commissioner.
Please forward me the emails that were sent out prior to the VC election so I can OUT THEM. I already know who Marc's right hand woman is but I'd like to have written verification.
Lilly, please stay engaged and involved because you DO make a difference here in the Grove.
We need more people like you who aren't afraid to do what their conscience says is right in spite of the consequences.
Thanks,
John El-Masry
So I saw the memo about scheduling the City Commission chamber and noticed the scrawl that passed for the City Manager's signature. Apparently his memos are signed by one of those fancy signature machines whose inner workings have been posted over on Old Grover.
Howard Beasley
This meeting is clearly on, can't wait to see the Coconut Grove Mafia and take pictures of them.
By the way, this line is sheer genius : "they succeeded in convincing over the uninformed and bullying the uninspired"
John,
Thank you, and also everyone else who exercised their right to vote, especially those who voted for me.
I am honoring my friends' and neighbors' requests not to share the origins of the emails they received. I have in recent years also a received phone calls telling me who to vote to and who not to support. I know the shock, anger and intimidation I felt, and can appreciate the discomfort my friends who alerted me feel. Hopefully they did as I did, to vote with conscience.
To me, at this point, it is irrelevant. who these people are with agendas so different from mine. Everyone has the right to persuade friends and neighbors and send out email campaigns for or against something. That is the chance I took by taking my position, and I do not wish to out anyone just because the disagree with me.
However I do have the right to be heard, and so do others, regardless of which opinion we may have about this or any other matter, and based on that, I will continue to do everything in my power, as a Village Council member for the next 2 months, and as the "activist" I have been since kindergarten thereafter.
I cannot imagine it any other way.
Perhaps it is because I saw how easily and willingly my parents gave up all their worldly possessions and comfort to come to this country in order that my brother and I not have to fear the wrath of government with policies with which we do not agree, or neighbors who have been encouraged to tow the party line in exchange for living in oppressed safety.
Liliana, for what it's worth I voted for you, and I am also for the 5:00 am closing... I have always stood for what I believed and was never afraid to verbalize it. Sorry that you lost. Qudos to you for not letting others intimidate you!!!!
Giana M. Leyva
Liliana I also voted for you and I think there should be a recount. Remember the chads? I am sure there must be a counting mistake.
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