Brad Saivetz, professional engineer, professional planner, member of the Planning and Zoning Board and professional gadfly, has done it again. Addressing the Vision Plan, he has dissected it with his professional aplomb and shown it for what it is: a specifically directed proposal to change Longboat Key to an in-and-out tourist destination.

In addition to the Longboat Key News, this column is also e-mailed to about 700 longtime subscribers. Over the years, many of these recipients have shared their thoughts with me. Some just a few words of praise or not, but some have come to represent points of view different from mine and are extremely helpful in keeping me at least cognizant of other ways of looking at things.

Occasionally I will get an e-mail from a reader that tells me that I am not always communicating my point of view as accurately as I think. With your indulgence, let me try to clarify my guiding principles during my Longboat Key life and beyond.

The Town attorney will likely remind Webb and others that freedom of speech is held on a higher constitutional plane than the freedom to stamp out dissent.

After a July 16 editorial in Longboat Key News, Planning and Zoning Board member Brad Saivetz came under fire from fellow board member and chairwoman BJ Webb who called for an examination of his actions. Former Mayor Ron Johnson also wrote a letter calling for Saivetz to resign from the Planning and Zoning Board.

Remember the famous episode with the Lynch girls who had that fabulous Irish pub in mid-key and were forced to close it and relocate to St. Armand’s Circle?

A funny thing happened on the way to the appointment of a new member of the Planning and Zoning Board. Newly seated Commissioner Lynn Larson cast the deciding vote to appoint Brad Saivetz to the P&Z. He was elected by a 4-3 vote by the Town Commission.

Planning and Zoning Board member Bradford Saivetz wrote the following letter detailing his take on the ramifications of the proposed zoning changes by the Longboat Key Club. The following are the highlights:

Surely Bradford Saivetz is not mortal. With a wave of his hand he can stop a beach from being built. With a few utterances entire development plans crumble and in other circumstances skyscrapers are elevated far into the sky

Despite Vice Mayor Jim Brown telling newly appointed Planning and Zoning Board member Bradford Saivetz to go home and relax, that his seat was safe and he would not support removing him from the board, Commissioner Lynn Larson pushed to reconsider the entire matter — but not until after Saivetz, following Brown’s words, had exited Town Hall for home