Trying To Play It Straight In North Miami

More as a goof than anything I actually wore a suit and tie to the last North Miami Board of Adjustment meeting. I still had the beard and the unruly mop of curls up top.

I'm really kind of pissed with the city about being on the board. It pays a whopping ten bucks for each monthly meeting, the same as it did about forty-five years ago when gas cost a quarter and coffee was a dime.

The mayor and city council were also locked into their 1960's vintage pay scale until a couple of months ago. Then they voted themselves a generous expense account followed by a vote for lifetime health insurance. When they discovered that the citizens didn't rise up and impale them on sharpened stakes they decided to give themselves a humongous raise, making up for nearly half a century of no increases.

All I'm really asking for is to keep up with inflation, plus enough expense reimbursment to cover the cost of driving around town looking at the properties that are seeking variances. Last month that was 24.5 miles, according to Mapquest. The IRS says 48.5 cents a mile is right. The council seems to feel that there's no money available. I recently ran across some nearly twenty year old buttons that say "I'm Voting For Al Kaplan For Council". Time to start passing them out perhaps? Maybe Al Kaplan for MAYOR!