Vol. 4, No. 3 18 November 2022
NEW NAME
Finally, I was able to get a new title to my haphazard writing. I hope you will continue to read it even if it is dressed differently.
Though I was proud to be mayor of the City I care about, I really didn't want to put an "X-" in the title. It's one thing to put an "X" on my South Miami Mayor hat, but another to put it on a webpage.
Thank you to those who let me know that they would like me to continue publishing. I received 15 positive response to my question: "Do you still want to receive these?." And no negative ones. I suppose because that those don't want to receive what I write, don't read it.
NEW COMMISSION
On Tuesday, the new Mayor, two new Commissioners and two veteran Commissioners held one of the longest meetings there has been in years. Part of the reason it was so long is that there were 13 items on the agenda, 10 of which were submitted by one of the veteran Commissioners. Another reason was that the three new people had almost no idea what several important items were about. And, although some of the items were about resolving to hold discussions about the content, a lot of the content and background on these items were explained and commented upon during the meeting. There are two ways that this could have been avoided. (1) The new people could have learned most of the background material before the meeting (or even before being elected), or the sponsor could have waited until they had more time to get familiar with several of the issues that the Commission has been working on for the last dozen years. It confirmed for me my suspicion that the new people have not been following many City issues.
Another disturbing occurrence is that the new Mayor unilaterally and with no explanation to the Commissioners or the more-than-usual number of people sitting in the audience, why he was taking the liberty to limit the public's time to speak from the Commission-passed 3 minutes to 2 minutes. I understand the public has the right to make comments for an hour. If there are more than 20 people signed up to speak, then it would make sense to limit the time. When a group of people seem to want to say the same thing, past mayors have asked them not to repeat or have asked for a show of hands about how many agree with what has already been said.
How an item had been amended was often unclear to me. I imagine the City Clerk is going to have a difficult time figuring that out from the recorded exchanges.
Some people from the audience spoke eloquently about the importance of maintaining the solar panel rule.
NEW FACTS
Shortly before the Commission meeting, I had learned the following about the solar panel installations since the Commission passed the Ordinance in July 2021.
One Solar Panel installer stated that
Number of solar projects completed: 17
Average project cost: $9,200.00 Average savings in electricity: $102.00 monthly
[12 x $102 = $1,224.00 annually] Average pay back period: 7.6 years Out of the 17 projects,
11 homeowners came back after buying the home and asked to increase the size of the system,
4 added batteries to make the home resilient. The cost of the solar in these homes was less than 1% of the cost of the building.
Get it installed before 2032, the sooner the better. Who knows when the credit might be lowered.
"The federal residential solar energy credit is a tax credit that can be claimed on federal income taxes for a percentage of the cost of a solar PV system paid for by the taxpayer. (Other types of renewable energy are also eligible for similar credits... .)
The installation of the system must be complete during the tax year. ... In August 2022, Congress passed an extension of the ITC, raising it to 30% for the installation of which was between 2022-2032. ... It will decrease to 26% for systems installed in 2033 and to 22% for systems installed in 2034. ...
There is no maximum amount that can be claimed."
NEW IMPLICATION
One veteran Commissioner reminded all in attendance that before the current gym, the site was occupied by a karate studio. I believe that he was trying to imply that the noise of a karate learning/practice session is similar to the noise of a boot-camp-style group gym session. Because I have classes in a karate dojo, I know that there is no heavy equipment used in training, there is no pounding of falling weights, no medicine balls thrown against walls and metal accordion doors, and no shouting - not by sensei, instructors, or trainees. In karate, respect for each other's opponent is built into the practice. Karate is about defense, not aggression.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Since six of the thirteen agenda items resulted in the Commissioners' agreeing to hold discussion meetings or workshops, there may be opportunities for the public to express opinions about the stated topics. Certainly, because they will be in the sunshine, the public is allowed to attend these events. If attending is not possible, preferences can be emailed to Commissioners. Watching for announcements - and reading agendas - will be the way to discover what, when and where these discussions will take place.
RENEWED DEFERRAL of CONCLUSION
Not all actions on November 15 were problematic. I am looking forward to hearing greater clarity and more opinions from all Commissioners.
I live on 74 Terrace, and have a question about parking on Thanksgiving Day. I am having company for dinner. There will be four cars. I have parking for three. I was told at City Hall that if any of my friends has a Handicap tag (which one does), she can park at a “Pay to Park”. space for four hours for free. I asked what would happen if she were at my house longer than four hours. The woman I was speaking to just shrugged her shoulders and told me my friend “would get a ticket”. I have tried to come up with solutions for the parking problem to no avail. I have two questions- first- is it tr…