Is Karen Rushing to judgment?
Clerk bemoaned decreasing revenues due to a fall in the number of tickets written on Longboat.
STEPHEN REID
Editor/Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com
Kudos to our most politically savvy Police Chief Al Hogle. He rebuffed Sarasota Clerk of Court Karen Rushing’s implied request to issue more traffic violations (see story, page 1).
The clerk bemoaned decreasing revenues due to a fall in the number of tickets written on Longboat Key and other area municipalities. Hogle countered that the burdensome fines have led to more warnings, less tickets. It should also be noted there has been no increase in traffic accidents associated with handing out less tickets.
What is of concern and highly troubling is the appearance of pressure by the clerk’s office and Rushing’s use of raked-over statistics to suggest that fewer tickets will lead to budgetary woes. A letter like Rushing’s should never have been sent from the clerk’s office.
It is no doubt under the guise of info gathering to help in budgeting. It smells ratty; as if she wanted to remind the department of its responsibility to use an easy river of revenue. Perhaps we should all take turns parking in Rushing’s designated spot next to the DMV for a day and pay the fine just to crack a budgetary smile on her face.
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Please be divisive
We should all be pro-divisive. Who among us is not tired of the simplistic charge of accusing someone of being divisive? It has been reduced to the rank of calling someone prejudiced, liberal or the all-time blue-collar classic — “not Christian.” As if the act of calling someone divisive is not intrinsically being divisive.
True leaders naturally transcend opposition through the sheer power of their message and actions. But today’s presidential politics reek from candidates tripping over themselves to gain distance from any salacious remark, any harsh opinion by a follower, whether it is Geraldine Ferraro’s bland assertions about Barack Obama or the ranting of Reverend Wright.
As Freud said, conflict is identity. And whether you have Longboat town commissioners or dueling presidential candidates, the absence of real issues will force candidates to make personal distinctions. Also, as in Hillary Clinton and Obama, when the candidates agree on most issues, all that is left to examine are the cracks in their character.
From Obama to Longboat Key
Longboat Key’s past commissioners got along a little easier because issues were buffered behind a backdrop of a robust economy and rising property values. As soon as the state budget crisis hit, three commissioners — George Spoll, Bob Siekmann and Randall Clair — responded by immediately and sometimes dogmatically tightening the town’s belt. Others, Lee Rothenberg and Joan Webster, clung to the lifestyle and level of service of the past.
Immediately, budget meetings disintegrated. Pension discussions turned sour. The town manager’s raise loomed as troubling. And all this from a state mandate coupled with a receding economy.
When sanity met necessity
Yet still the town benefited from these twin doses of sanity and necessity. Functionally, the commission is already making fast gains. Here is how and where:
Hal Lenobel was selected as mayor as most residents already know. What was important is that George Spoll took defeat graciously and made a move after Lenobel was nominated to make the vote one of unanimous support.
For his part, Lenobel, by several accounts, ran an efficient workshop Thursday wherein commissioners each had their say, then moved on without debating ad nauseam. What could have been a six-hour meeting was handled in four.
Yet progress was made in those hours. Deserving of kudos is Clair, whose retooling of the town’s fertilizer ordinance was supported and moved forward to first reading.
Commissioners also decided unanimously that they want to stay directly apprised of the methodology the Planning and Zoning Board develops to address the passed referendum questions. Commissioners recognize the importance of the changes in reconstruction rules and tourism units as the most significant change in town building policy on the horizon.
Fanning old flames
Also, by all accounts, the Webster/Spoll fissure is more a case of fanned flames than actuality. The two, by appearances, worked well together and, while divided on issues, avoided rhetorical fisticuffs.
So, after a year of venting, mayoral plotting and sub-plotting, something stronger has emerged. This commission will disagree wholeheartedly at times, but the sense is they will agree to disagree and move on. It’s been a long journey out of darkness.
