So said Kelvin Baker when he got the coveted job as City Manager of Lauderdale Lakes.
Now that Lauderdale Lakes Commissioner Gloria Lewis didn’t have to go “outside to hire a consultant who’s not my color,” she and the former CM of North Miami Beach and Opa-locka should get along just fine.
Commissioner Patricia Hawkins-Williams, however, was less than thrilled by the choice her colleagues made. Her concerns about the overpopulation of gas stations in Lauderdale Lakes took a back seat as she lamented to the Sun-Sentinel that no background checks were done, and that “the entire process has been very unprofessional.”
Despite her complaints, Hawkins-Williams voted in the affirmative to hire the man who single-handedly destroyed the finances of the City of North Miami Beach in the few short years he was at the helm.
In all fairness, Baker did try to fix Opa-locka’s budget woes, but he was working with a group of elected officials who were collectively dumber than a box of rocks. The Mayor and Commissioners routinely disregarded the budget as well as Kelvin’s advice.
As I reported in Kelvin Baker throws in the towel, “He kept telling the Commissioners that there wasn’t enough money for all the things they wanted to buy, but they wouldn’t listen. Even though they kept on ignoring the problem, hoping it would solve itself, when it all hit the fan, they blamed it on the messenger.”
As predicted, the Miami Herald reported yesterday that Opa-locka is facing a massive budget shortfall. But, since no one in Opa-locka has a clue – about anything – no one even knows how much of a hole they’re in as they face a new fiscal year, which begins TOMORROW!
The Herald pointed out, “While [City Manager Steve] Shiver said the gap is under $1 million, the city’s finance director insisted the shortfall was closer to double that amount, about $1.9 million.”
Truly, Mr. Shiver has his work cut out for him.
Meanwhile, the Lauderdale Lakes Commissioners were oh-so-thrilled with their pick, they invited him to start right then and there before a contract was even drawn up.
Good luck with that.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
This is the same guy who signed checks for millions of dollars in fradulent invoices and later claimed “he didn’t have a clue at what was going on”. That was an understatment but it was the most honest words he ever uttered. Now its the Commissioners of Lauderdale Lakes who don’t have a clue.
So let’s see…Baker couldn’t balance the budget in Opa Locka for three consecutive years…also heard that he constantly plays the race card…and he has a degree in divinity studies! Possibly another phony deacon, just like the former CM in Lakes, loser jon allen? He’s someone you would never hire in a legitimate, respected city but luckily for him Lauderdale Lakes is a cesspool of ineptitude and corruption. So he’ll fit right in. And he’s the right color…so what else matters? Haaaaa!