Friday, September 25, 2015
A Two-Way Street
At the special Commission meeting to approve the budget last night, the usual topics came up. Included were Recreation Department funding, and the dais.
Why do we have to provide recreation services and facilities, some complained, when so many of the users are not even BP residents? And why should we spend such a lot of money for a dais, some asked?
There are two things to remember about these issues. One is that the State of Florida just gave us over a million dollars to build our new Administration building and to renovate our log cabin. The State neither gets nor asked anything for this money. We asked them for it, and they gave it to us. Every resident of and visitor to the state contributed to that money. Not one of them, except those of us who live in BP, will realize any benefit whatsoever from the money they gave us. I have yet to encounter any BP resident who is unhappy about the grant.
But when it comes time for us to provide for others, by making available a nice field, a basketball court, and a recreation building with restrooms and a drinking fountain, we suddenly don't believe in sharing. It's all only about us.
The other thing to remember is about those two blocks that contain the fields, the courts, and the recreation building. Arthur Griffing did not put that there. Those two blocks were developed with grants, again, from the State of Florida. And again, they didn't ask for much. They just gave us the money, so we could build facilities for ourselves.
And yet again, when the memory of the grant gets slightly hazy, we want the facilities only for ourselves, and we resent the idea that neighbors from adjacent municipalities come to us to use these facilities. It's fine with us if the residents of and visitors to the state share their money with us, but we don't want to share what we used the money for.
We considered restricting those two blocks to BP residents only, and maybe to charge anyone else (to inhibit them from using the facilities), but we found out we couldn't do that. It seems the State did want one thing for its money. It wanted us to make the facilities available to anyone.
Some years ago, when our Manager was Ana Garcia, there was an idea to reclaim the recreation facilities. We contacted the State, to offer to pay back the money they gave us, in exchange for which we would control the facilities. If we wanted them only for our own use, we could restrict them that way. No, the State said, they did not want the money back. They wanted us to continue to share with our neighbors.
As for the dais, if the State of Florida was willing to give us, free, over a million dollars to provide for ourselves a new building and a renovated old one, can't we contribute to the project, too? The new Administration building and the log cabin mean nothing to any citizen of or visitor to Florida. They will never see or experience them. But they gave us over a million dollars to make this nice. These buildings, and their appointments and furnishings, mean a great deal to us, and we will see and experience them all the time. We can stop being so cheap and so niggling, and show the State that this means more to us than it does to them. Because it does. Or it certainly should.
By the way, in response to the complaint about the cost of this dais, if we were simply to pay for it, and not borrow the money, it would cost each home (not each resident) $20. Once. Done. It's a very small amount of money for a beautiful piece of furniture that will be a wonderful credit to the log cabin and the Village, and that will last many decades.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
ReplyDelete"An Outsider Looks In"
Fred’s blog post: “A Two-Way Street” raises some important issues.
The Village of Biscayne Park was gifted a grant to build a new Administration building, and rebuild their prime mascot, the Log Cabin. The State of Florida asked nothing in return except that BP provide a sense of community sprit by making its facilities available to anyone who is interested in partaking - certainly a reasonable and gracious request.
Now the matter of a new dais has become the discussion du jour, and Fred invites each BP family to contribute $20 toward that cause – a mere pittance for what will ultimately be acquired and appreciated.
Aside from the “share and share alike” mentality – a theme that was drummed into our heads as far back as childhood, is another important message that Fred’s blogs evoke: that of a sense of community camaraderie and commitment to being, as the BP slogan suggests, “For the Best We Can Be.”
Little can be accomplished without teamwork. That’s true in Westport, CT where I live, and it’s true in Biscayne Park, a quaint and charming Village with its own unique appeal. What better way to show one’s allegiance than to become involved? It is through contributions both fiscal and personal that change can occur. It is how communities thrive and evolve.
What strikes me most about Fred’s blogs is his unswerving loyalty and dedication to Biscayne Park, and all that he tries to implement by encouraging a sense of good will amongst the residents. He doesn’t give up, he makes his feelings known, and his voice resonates loudly and creatively.
Every community needs a Fred Jonas. How lucky Biscayne Park is to have him.
Judith Marks-White
Westport, CT
Judith,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments. You made two errors. I think I'm responsible for one of them. I realize I was ambiguous in detailing when and under which circumstances the State wants us to share. It wasn't about the log cabin. We're welcome to use that any way we want, and we have already talked a good deal about renting it out. That, more than maybe anything else, is why some think the dais should be portable: to make room for other functions.
Your other misstatement is about the slogan: "For the Best We Can Be." That is not the Village's slogan. It's mine. I ran on it. I stick by it for myself. But it's my sentiment only, and no one else is required to adhere to it.
Fred