From the back of the bus

Today was sort of a bus drivers holiday, where I got to sit in the audience and watch our elected Town Commissioners endure the verbal battle between the Longboat Key Club and the Islandside Property Owners Coalition. Our little slice of heaven island is democracy in action, with a heavy dose of bureaucracy thrown in for good measure. I happen to be one of nine Planning & Zoning Commission members, and we're appointed by the seven member Town Commission. At issue is a proposed $400 million revitalization of a planned development which would feature a 5-star hotel, a health spa, convention center, golf course refurbishment, and two condominium towers to pay for it all. If you wanted to read more about it, I'd suggest the website of our local Longboat Key weekly, at www.yourobserver.com. The battle features lawyers and consultants from here to the horizon, and after eight long days of discussion before MY board, now the entire brigade of high priced talent moves to Act II, playing before the Town Commission. I'm not sure anybody has scored a decisive blow, and our board voted to kick this can down the road to their board on a 5-2 vote. Our Chairperson and yours truly were absent on the final morning, but I am on the record as supporting this infusion of cash into our economy.

Our island is also in the middle of an election cycle, and with the inherent delays expected in making a decision on the Longboat Key Club proposal, it is problematic that up to three of the current sitting members won't even be there for the final vote. So, counting noses and trying to predict the direction of the wind becomes key to the proponents and the opponents. This week we have a primary runoff election in full swing (we do early voting) to determine which two of three candidates will face off later in the month. The Commission, following the concept of a quasi-judicial hearing format, has their hands tied and cannot in any fairness discuss the plan outside of a fully-in-the-sunshine public hearing. I'm pretty good at counting noses, but this one even evades my practiced eye. As there were several "no" votes on my board, I'm sure there will be a couple on the "big" board, and all it takes to torpedo the plan would be four votes. If the plan passes, a lawsuit will surely follow from the losing side. As a student of the process, I find this entertaining, but I suspect very few others do.