The A-Word. Annexation Workshop, 9/21/13.

No, the other A-word.  The one you thought I meant.  I bring it up, because it has been spoken twice recently in genteel Village settings.  Once was at the August Commission meeting, when Cooper so unnerved Bob Anderson that Bob turned to Cooper, told him to shut up, and called him an A**hole.  This is not Bob.  Today, while we were waiting for the annexation workshop to begin, one of my friends, who would very much not appreciate it if I named her, looked at Steve Bernard and told me he's an A**hole.  This source of the A-word was much more unexpected than Bob's exasperated utterance.  It seems very mild-mannered and typically unflappable people think Bryan Cooper and Steve Bernard are A**holes, and those observers lose their composure saying so.  Well, who knows what to make of that?  I suppose these commentators look less uncivilized if they're proven right.

Ah, yes, the annexation workshop.  It was well-attended, as Village meetings go, although Bob Anderson did point out that only maybe 30-40 people, out of 3000, came.  He considered that an unsatisfyingly modest representation of the Village.  Perhaps so, but better than usual.  Not only were there a number of people in attendance, but a range of people, with a range of opinions.  That part was very satisfying.  I hope, and suspect, Bob would agree.  There didn't seem to be any mindless dupes, except at the Commission dais.  And the reason I know what all these people had on their minds is that Noah Jacobs was very uncharacteristically generous about letting people speak.  He allowed almost all the time of the workshop to be used up by the public.  And he didn't cut anyone off.  The only people who were limited in their opportunity to talk were the Commissioners, who opined at the end.  I don't know what got into Noah, or what left him, but it was all very gratifying.  And after Steve Bernard had his say, and others commented about what he said, Noah was even willing to shut Steve up, when Steve decided to speak over others' comments, and the other commenters asked Noah to muzzle him.  Impressive, actually.

The content of the meeting itself wasn't all that interesting.  There was some elaboration of facts, which was very good, although some of the facts were not of the "true" variety.  But at least there was discussion.  And residents got to state and explain their opinions, which were interesting, and thoughtful, and stimulating.  I think it's fair to say that those Commissioners who are not brain dead were given something to think about.  There was pretty good agreement that there were important and noteworthy pros and cons.  The only possible problem is that some Commissioners apparently are brain dead, and seem unwilling to consider annexation.  The purpose of this meeting, by the way, was not to agree to pursue annexation.  It was to decide whether the Village should continue on the path of exploration.  That exploration will cost us money.

But here's where we could see evidence of brain death.  The same Commissioners who thought exploration was a waste of money, especially if it turns out fruitless, have recently been most free to unload Village money, generally on things the Village doesn't even want, or the Commissioners themselves don't want.  And the bobbling heads were bobbling when Steve Bernard started in on his long list of unanswered, unanswerable, and irrelevant questions, much in his patented style.  As I have always said of Steve, if you don't know anything about an issue, and you assume Steve tells the truth, the whole truth..., it all sounds so reasonable, and even compelling.  It's a little hypnotic, actually.  If you don't have a mind of your own, Steve's is a convenient one to borrow.  And that's just the way he likes it.

One fun development occurred during Steve's screed (hard to pay attention, but the task is to try, without getting sucked into the hypnotic suggestion) when Steve, referring no doubt to Chuck Ross and me, who were just behind him in line to speak, said that Commissioners, and other prospective stooges, should not fall prey to hysteria about the Village being susceptible to bankruptcy, or getting decommissioned back to the County.  Do you want to know who said the Village would become insolvent, and stop existing as an independent municipality in "10 years?"  Bryan Cooper.  Oops.  Steve caught a bit of friendly fire there.  And it's not as if Bryan was complaining, and certainly not proposing to do anything to prevent insolvency.  He was just letting us know.  Which raises the very interesting concept of an elected official who refuses to participate in any Village events, and apparently doesn't even care if there is a Village.  In fact, it appears he's actively sabotaging the Village.  What on earth this guy is doing on a dais, being paid by us?  Beats the hell out of me.  Neither Bryan nor Steve likes it when I refer to Bryan as a "terrorist."  I'm open to suggestions of a better word.  Don't suggest the A-word.  It's taken.

The three musketeers seemed to agree about something, though.  I think Bryan was on board with this.  Noah loved it.   Barbara Watts says that if any of us is willing for the Village to have a commercial aspect (that's what we're considering annexing), then we should erect a little strip mall, upscale, I think, next to Village Hall.  There were lots of reasons this was an unspeakably dumb idea, but they weren't raised.  After the meeting, however, I did approach Barbara to tell her that her reasoning was faulty.  Saying that if any of us is receptive to a commercial area "in" Biscayne Park, it might as well exist next to Village Hall, is disrespectful of zoning.  But Barbara didn't care about that.  Her idea is that if we annexed a commercial area, then the whole Village would share commercial zoning.  (Of course that's not true, but Barbara's argument only works if she assumes it is true.)  But that doesn't suit her, and she pointed out she doesn't like fences.  (I know, it's a non sequitur.  If you drive by her house, you'll see what she does like.  Personally, I wish she had a really high fence.)  But I pointed out that this wasn't about what she likes.  It's about what the residents of BP like and want.  And what's best for the Village.  She countered that she had run on a platform of not liking fences.  I suggested that it is her job to represent everyone in BP, not just herself, and I asked her what she would do if everyone in BP, except her, wanted fences.  She walked away.

So that was the workshop.  We were left with more questions than answers, and some questions cannot be answered.  For us to learn any more than we know, we have to "explore," meaning we have to spend money.  It's a gamble, and the possible payoff is that we annex, we improve Village finances, and we both control and improve an area of the County that is marginal and sometimes the source of problems for us.  It's not a bad gamble, actually.  As both Roxy and Chuck Ross pointed out, it is in the County's interest for us to annex and to succeed.  So we should assume they'll help us in any way they can.