I've Said It Before, And I'll Say It Again.

 Before we begin, I just want to say how disappointing it was that no one had anything genuinely bad to say about Roxy Ross.  As I said, there's so much grumbling and innuendo that I assumed someone must have real material.  Apparently not.  It was a ripe missed opportunity to give Roxy what some of us seem to allege she deserves.  We're almost led to conclude that she's terrific, and there's nothing negative to say about her.  That can't be right.  Could it?

Anyway, I was talking to one of our neighbors about, you know, the upcoming election, and I pointed out to the neighbor that I myself am a candidate in it.  My conversation started with Mr Neighbor, but Mrs Neighbor quickly appeared, and she said "we know Judi."  Yes, I reassured, we all know Judi.  At least many of us do.  

But this isn't about Judi.  It isn't about me.  It isn't about any of us as individuals.  It's about the Village, what kind of Village each of us wants, and which candidates are poised to pursue, and try to deliver, that Village.  And clearly, we don't all coincidentally want the same kind of Village.  (It's just in the broadest sense, in that we all chose to live here instead of Hialeah or Miami Beach or Chicago.)  Some of us want a Village with lower taxes, never mind what we can't do, because we're underfunded.  Some of us want a Village that isn't prone to large and persisting flooded areas after it rains.  Some want a Village where few "outsiders" are likely to go, or "cut through."  Some want a better recreation function.  Some want a Village with more lighting.  Some want a Village with less lighting.  But that's what elections are about: what kind of place do you want to be in, and which candidates will help you get there, or stay there (if you're already there).

So the question becomes, if you know Judi (or you're impressed at how many more yard signs Mac Kennedy has than anyone else does, or you think it's cool that Art Gonzalez and William Abreu probably speak Spanish, or any other factor you could name), and your friend Judi gets elected to be a Commissioner, or the Homecoming Queen, or whatever you're voting for her to become, what comes after that?  In Judi's case, she tells us a tiny bit of what she'd like to see in the Village.  She'd like more civility and transparency.  OK, let's say Judi gets elected, and from day 1, there's more civility and transparency.  Then what?  Now that we all talk nice, and no one keeps any secrets, what happens to Village functioning?  Does that mean we lower our taxes, or raise them?  Do we have more street lighting, or less street lighting?  Now that we're cordial and open, do we keep flogging WastePro, find a different contractor, or start writing big checks for new garbage trucks and more public works employees, so we can rebuild our own sanitation department?

There's an adage in medicine, and it goes "primum non nocere:" first, do no harm.  I reject that approach.  Second, if you like, you can try to avoid creating problems.  But first, and the whole reason for the medical profession, is to try to solve medical problems in the people who have them.  If your first goal is to avoid doing harm, then don't do anything.  Let the patients stay sick.  You didn't cause their medical conditions, and if you don't intervene, then no one can accuse you of having caused anything adverse.

Many of us know Judi.  Many who know her like her.  She happens to create very impressive glass jewelry.  All of that is great, and none of it has anything remotely to do with the Biscayne Park Commission, or with the functioning of Biscayne Park.

I said it before, and I'll say it again, you're not voting for Judi.  You're not voting for me.  You're not voting for Mac or Art or William Abreu or Will Tudor.  You're voting for the Village, and for yourself.  The vast majority of Village residents don't come to Commission meetings and aren't on boards and don't do much of anything about Village functioning.  They deputize someone else to do it for them.  Those are your Commissioners.  Choose them not because of who they are, but because of who you are.  Choose them because of what Village you want to live in, and because you have reason to believe they'll build you that Village.