December 21 - 27, 2010
COMMUNITYNEWSPAPERS.COM
Page 5
KFHA shakes up the command Michael Miller EXECUTIVE EDITOR
AROUND TOWN Was it really a surprise December 8 when a closed-door meeting of Kendall Federation of Homeowner Associations replaced its long-established leadership team of Miles Moss and Lawrence Percival? (Both vow they’ll stay active on the Board). There’s little doubt that dwindling interest in KFHA affairs developed in recent months until MDX saw fit to put up gantries on the Shula and Snapper Creek X-ways, drawing hollers and hoots from a lot of Kendall folks. Biggest KFHA attendance we can recall in 2010 nearly packed the room September 27 when the ‘Roll Back Tolls’ movement began by independent request. Standingroom crowds during pre-election sessions of KFHA do not count because politicians bring supporters by the score, usually outnumbering the ‘public’ audience. Among KFHA problems: personal infighting, very likely in closed board meetings, crippling to any organization. KFHA has had its fill in recent years with more than one individual or cause being singled out as a behind-the-scenes culprit. The organization has also been criticized for posing to represent all homeowner associations but supporting candidates through a PAC committee that bears the identical KFHA name. Legal separation doesn’t justify the dual role. It’s just bad PR. There’s also the continuing issue of an organization that likes to say it represents
“thousands of homeowners” but only attracts 15 or 20 bonafide members to meetings. The public meeting December 13 drew less than 10 people, despite a topic of interest to all homeowners advising foreclosure prevention and procedures. Both Moss and Percival should have been thanked for their efforts that have kept KFHA afloat, direct its beneficial activities and act as its stewards, despite personality clashes. After all, its meetings for the past year have been the only regular public forum in Kendall now that Commissioners ended East and West Kendall Community Council non-zoning meetings. (Continental Park’s HOA fulfills a like role in East Kendall to make up for the loss of those citizen sessions). So we wish KFHA, Lee Zimmerman, Don Kearns & crew a really Happy New Year while we thank Miles and Lawrence for their community service that all too often goes unrewarded if not unrecognized, petty feuds and hurt feelings aside. Like it or not, it’s the way things often get done in democracies to serve a greater good. Those who kept the speaker’s platform intact deserve equal credit with those who may follow. Lily Perez says she “lost the election” but “not the vote” when thanking KFHA in person for its support at the December 13 meeting, passing around a delectable tray of candied cupcakes. Can’t remember the last time that any candidate, winner or loser, has done that in a post-election session. Lily’s gesture gets an appreciative nod of thanks from this corner (and the cakes were great, too). ‘Are the walls painted?’ asks Martha Backer in a postscript to her oft-unanswered plea to synchronize county traffic lights among other items on her holiday
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PUBLISHER .................................................................................................................................. Grant Miller EXECUTIVE EDITOR .....................................................................................................................Michael Miller EDITOR.................................................................................................................................. David Berkowitz WRITERS, COLUMNISTS.............................................................. Ron Beasley, Kenneth Bluh, Robert Hamilton, Linda Rodriguez-Bernfeld, Gary Alan Ruse, Lee Stephens, Al Sunshine, Richard Yager ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES..........................................................Albie Barnes, Beatriz Brandfon, Roberta Bergman, Celia Canabate, Diane Chasin, Henry Chau, Sharon Christian, Cecile Fanfani, Diane Maddox, Denzel Miles, Ann Robbins-Udel, Fara Sax, Lori Schwadron, Diane Sedona Schiller, Walter White LEGAL ADVERTISING ..................................................................................................................... Georgia Tait BOOKKEEPING ............................................................................................................................ Jesus Toledo PROOF DEPARTMENT....................................................................................................................Isabel Vavrek GRAPHIC ARTISTS ......................................... Catalina Roca, Isabel Ortega, Vera Salom, Sergio Yanes PUBLISHER EMERITUS......................................................................................................................................... Ron Miller MIAMI COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS Aventura News, Biscayne Bay Tribune, Coral Gables News, Cutler Bay News, Doral Tribune, Homestead News, Kendall Gazette, Miami Beach News, Miami Gardens Tribune, Palmetto Bay News, Opa Locka News, Pinecrest Tribune, South Miami News, Sunny Isles Beach Sun We will not return solicited or unsolicited editorial material including stories, columns and or photographs. Please make sure that you have duplicate copies of the material.
wish list. “Well, some things did get done,” she adds. “We have sidewalks fixed, parking at a local park and if DPW would replace the 144 street sign they put up with the 143rd, it would be nice…actually saw a county truck yesterday!” County Commissioners & DPW, please note! Did you know amidst your holiday rush that you are also in the middle of Gluten Free Baking Week (you read it here first!)? Thru December 25, Kendall’s recentlyopened Portofino Coal Fired Pizza (11535 Kendall Drive) offers a gluten-free crust option for all pizzas and desserts. Now, what more can you celebrate? Sppeaking of good eats, the just-opened Moe’s Southwest Grill (8746 Mills Drive) at The Palms in Town & Country Center is now serving made-to-order burritos along with southwestern fare, the sixth to open in Miami. And, it sez here, there’s a glutenfree menu for kids! So what’s ‘gluten’? We’ll save you a Wikipedia trip that says “Gluten is the composite of a prolamin and a glutelin, which exist, conjoined with starch, in the endosperm of various grass-related grains.
Gliadin and glutenin (the prolamin and glutelin from wheat) comprise about 80 percent of the protein contained in wheat seed. Being insoluble in water, they can be purified by washing away the associated starch,” and adding: “…a food made from the gluten of wheat (is) made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starch dissolves, leaving insoluble gluten as an elastic mass which is then cooked before being eaten.” I hear Aunt Yenta once again yelling: “Enuff already!” Happy Holidays to you and all within our Community Newspapers family circle. Tought of the Day:
We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from life. — Sir William Osler Richard Yager contributed to this column. Got any tips? Contact me at 305-6697355, ext. 249, or send emails to <michael@communitynewspapers.com>.