Change is in the Air, and it’s Refreshing!

And I’m not referring to our local weather, which is still bloody hot and humid.

I thought it was about time to comment on, in my opinion, our “New and Improved” Village Commission. After the turnover of Commissioners (and previous Mayor) I have made a better effort to attend Village meetings and other informational gatherings. And here is what I have seen taking place first hand:

• The days of disrespect and disruption on the dais are behind us. And thankfully so! This is not to say that we are beyond disagreement among Commissioners, but there is no longer the element of obvious trivial and unproductive behavior which had plagued our Commission for too long. And as a byproduct of this, resident attendance is somewhat up from previous years. It’s a good starting point.
• As mentioned in the title, change is in the air. This Commission, under the leadership of new Mayor David Coviello and Village Manager, Heidi Shafran, have led to changes that will reduce some of the tax burden to our homeowners while streamlining operations at the same time. And let’s not forget about the successful campaign to secure one million dollars from the State to finally provide for both the (much needed) restoration of our Village Log Cabin and to build a new Administration building. I realize that some of this “change” has not been embraced by all, as is typical, but that does not mitigate the need to move forward with a new vision for our collective future.
• The overall feeling of vitality and direction from our Commission. And THAT is refreshing to me!

However, there are still areas of improvements to strive for:

Meeting Lengths

Commission meetings are still clocking in around the four hour mark. Gulp! We spoke previously of the need to attempt to become more efficient as this will save both time and money… and I believe lead to better community participation. To strive to not have our agenda become bogged down too often with issues that do not affect our Village, etc. I do understand that we have had some unique circumstances this year that added greatly to the time allocations, but still, this is a target issue that we should review and look to achieve in future.

The Elimination of the Distribution of Direct Misinformation

Several residents spoke out about this subject during our Commission meeting last night.  This was due to an email that was circulated to [only a select group] prior to the meeting. This email, which was based on what is now predictable anti-establishment behavior, was twisted, incomplete and lacking of full facts and non-biased discovery. In other words, same ole’ stuff. Once again, all efforts made were to distort facts in an attempt to create controversy and support the views of one resident.  It is by design that these emails are only issued over topics of controversy. It is by design that they are intended to misinform those who, for whatever reason, continue to trust in the author.

We suffered as a community through these, at times, “anonymous attacks” during our last election and over several issues since. Would be battle plans and threats are laid out on issues that don’t even qualify for further consideration. It is akin to nothing more than to “kick the beehive.” This type of disinformation and subsequent community divide is not helpful for our Village and should not be encouraged.

I wrote a post on this blog on June 7^th  addressing this very subject. Excerpts: “It centered on too many of our residents not taking the time personally to do their own due diligence and fact finding. If they had, there would have been far less conflict because they would have understood all of the reasons for this change and agree or not, at least understood the motives. It would have been, could have been, more of a discussion and less of a mob mentality trying to bully the Commission with threats.   We must all understand that there is a divisive element within our Village, and it feeds on the uninvolved and uneducated. They don't want you to know the truth but to rely on "their version" of it, which is typically combative, twisted and incomplete. The best way to combat and diminish this group is to educate yourself! This will expose their true motives and help to eliminate further community divide.  So, my hope is that in future we all will seek information directly from the source and learn all we can about important topics during the proper discussion period. This will require some personal sacrifice of time, but what you will gain in understanding will be your payoff.  

So, in closing, based on the results of our elections and what could be considered dwindling support, it looks as if many have gotten the message. Again, it is a good starting point.

 

Milton Hunter

Biscayne Park Resident