Village of Indiantown

Former commissioner James Campo used to like comparing Sewall’s Point to Mayberry. I never thought it was an accurate analogy.

The fictional Mayberry N.C. of Andy Griffith fame was a small town where it was so peaceful the sheriff didn’t carry a gun and his deputy, played by Don Knotts, carried an unloaded pistol keeping the one bullet he was allowed in a shirt pocket. Just the fact that Sewall’s Point has a police force of 10 officers for its 2000 residents tells you it isn’t Mayberry.

When I watched the last meeting of the Sewall’s Point Commission, I thought of the town of Mudville from the poem, “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Thayer written in 1888. Maybe it was because I had just watched part of a baseball game on TV. Or maybe it was what I perceived as the commission wielding imaginary ones at each other and especially at the manager and at times other staff members.

The night’s unpleasantness started with approving change orders on the road and sewer work. Commissioner Tidikis started by questioning why these issues were not foreseen, especially some of the landscaping work, and not included in the bid price. Another contentious issue for him was the need to reinforce a driveway with concrete a non-permeable alternative.

It wasn’t as if Tidikis’ questions weren’t justified. It was the way he asked them. The tone seemed to suggest that both Kimley Horn, the engineer monitoring the job and Captec the town engineer and designer were being paid lots and did not correctly spec the job nor adequately supervise the contractors. Throw in the animosity that Tidikis has for Bob Daniels, the manager, and you can see where I throw Mayberry out the window and bring in a place that has men with bats swinging away as an alternative.

Anyone who has ever done any type of home improvement project knows that there will be unexpected expenses. A plumbing line buried in a wall is rotten and needs to be replaced or a beam is showing termite damage. Change orders are to be expected.

Kaija Mayfield, who is a CPA and is a veteran commissioner, is a thoughtful member. It doesn’t appear that she has much of an agenda except to improve the town. Commissioner Frank Fender has also come a long way from when he was first elected. Dave Kurzman shows concern and is humble enough to understand he is not an expert on these construction projects. They don’t always agree but I haven’t seen them being very disagreeable.

Vinny Barile, who is mayor this year and is in his second period as a town commissioner, has institutional knowledge. He appears to be more even handed than Tidikis. Yet there is a definite disconnect about how he believes the town should proceed in most things than the other three.

Barile as mayor has insisted that he be called last when voting. That gives him a political advantage. It means in 2-2 decisions, he has the deciding vote. It would be better if the clerk had a rotating order for voting so that no one person has an advantage.

When it comes to change orders, it isn’t possible to shut down the job to wait for a decision to be made at the next commission meeting. You must trust your manager to be looking out for the town’s interest. I don’t believe Tidikis trusts the manager.

However, the vote was 3-2 with Tidikis and Barile voting no to making the payments.

There doesn’t appear to be any joy in Mudville after any commission meetings.