The Town Commission has decided that not only should they change whatever rules bothered the judge in the Longboat key Club lawsuit, but they should also go back and rewrite all the rules and codes.

They claim this is their duty because this is what the people want. Whether this is the case or not, and I think it is a very thin reed upon which to make such a major change, it really won’t make any difference.

Whither goest Longboat Key is not in the hands of the commissioners or the people that they purportedly elected to make these changes, it lies with the money.

Back in the eighties when Florida was expanding, there was no argument that the rules and regulations that were put in place created the upscale residential community that it has become. In the meantime, other factors have come into play.

After a series of hurricanes, the state changed the rules on coastal construction. FEMA made its presence felt with the tight enforcement of the restrictions on heights. These rules have made building on the key very expensive. It is too expensive to build commercial properties that require businesses to pay $25 a square foot and too expensive to build tourist accommodations that could accommodate the room rates that would be needed.

Whatever the code changes, you can take it as a given that the 20-odd so-called mom and pop tourist spots up and down the key will never be rebuilt as resorts but will one by one become the site of luxury housing.

No one is going to spend the money necessary to fix up Whitney Beach Plaza as a commercial mall, and the Hilton is not going to put up the financing to buy the properties on both sides of the hotel that would be needed if they wanted to add the 100 rooms they say they want.

The Colony will never get their pieces together. Only a hotel giant like Marriott or Fairmont has the financial wherewithal to assemble the plot and make it pay.

The Longboat Key Club by overreaching has made its property unsellable. Although they are trying to sell, they know from previous attempts to refinance that banks won’t lend if you are in court, and they are really in court up to their ears.

Money will be made in real estate on Longboat Key but it will be made in residential development. This could help the golf club in creating new members and in selling new slips at the marina, but the extra hotel, which would just compete with the one it already depends upon for a major source of its income, will not happen.

The hole in this doughnut is the summer season. For reasons that have nothing to do with local conditions, the Europeans no longer come. The condos that are available for rental will still restrict the length of stay because changing condo laws is a very hard thing to do, and so far the owners of the condos are very happy with the situation as it is.

If the commissioners wanted to put their minds to doing things that actually would bring benefits, they could redirect their efforts away from trying to hold back the tide. There is a Yiddish expression that covers it, when translated it says, ‘it won’t help.’

The IPOC/Loeb Realty Partners decision gives the town the opportunity to retake control of their own destiny. The proposal by Loeb for a $400 million extravaganza of condos, hotels and a conference center was too much for a group of untrained community volunteers to assimilate so they just said ‘yes’ without considering the full extent of their folly.

To this day, I think it would be hard to find any resident who could accurately list what was approved. If you are quizzing yourself, here is the package:

• Hotel: 11 stories over a parking garage, 196 rooms for tourism, 76 residential apartments

• Residential condo tower: seven stories high over a parking garage, 27 apartments

• Three villas containing 20 units

• Five mid-rise buildings, residential with 32 units

• One conference center

• One clubhouse

• One spa/wellness center

• One large parking garage

This number of separate projects would be overwhelming if they were distributed throughout the entire city of Sarasota, let alone a small bit of one gated community at the bottom end of one very small town.

To avoid being sandbagged in the future this might be a good time for the town to look carefully at very specific sites that will be addressed one way or another down the line.

To serve as a guide, you could look back to how potential problems were anticipated with the intention of attempting to guide the final results.

In the case of the Village, the planners realized that normal building codes would be impractical on the smaller lots that had preceded the current codes. As a result, they created an overlay zone that allows different standards that make for better rehabilitation of older residences.

A second example of thinking ahead was the problems created by the lots adjacent to the very narrow canals in the northern portion of the town. If an owner wanted to rehab, once again the lots were very small and backed right up onto the water’s edge. Setbacks from the canal have been changed and in the future, a home can be rebuilt with the porch almost on the canal, a very attractive prospect. This concession has been used to almost totally remake Venice, Calif., where an aging area was converted to upscale development. Hopefully, as the demand for waterfront property once again becomes high, the same results will happen in this currently run-down area.

Looking ahead, the Longboat Key Club has an empty piece that was created when the tennis center was moved to Harbourside with enough courts to satisfy the most ardent member. This would be a good time for the town to figure out what they wanted and amend the site plan that allows for the club to update and also pleases the neighbors.

The last issue that should be addressed is the overabundance of land zoned for commercial use. This would include not only undeveloped or virtually abandoned property but the older decaying strip malls like Whitney Beach, Buttonwood and the area around Harry’s Restaurant. I think they should be rezoned as residential either multi-family or single occupancy depending upon the site and the surrounding area. It is a fantasy to think that any developer is going to rebuild commercial property that could generate the rentals such an investment would require, so all they are doing is decaying more every day and contributing very little to either the commercial renaissance or tax base. Of course, all would be grandfathered and the property owners would make their decisions on an ad hoc basis.

The amount of commercial put aside in the early planning called for a population of 75,000 people. You could rezone more than half of the commercially zoned area without hurting commerce or creating any inconvenience for the residents.

While reviewing the commercial zoning, I think it is time to revisit the correlation between number of tables in a restaurant and parking spaces. If we really looked closely, I think you would find that three of the four most successful restaurants are already in violation of the parking allocations. Maybe if a restaurant is so good, people will double up before they get there or usage can be spread out over the day into night. It is a very demanding provision for a start-up restaurant and is counterproductive.

By cutting back the amount of commercial property available, you make what is left more attractive and increase the demand for the businesses that serve the town. The Centre Shops plaza is OK but it could use a facelift and some additional outdoor dining. With more tenants to choose from, the elimination of some of the other commercial land might be just the motivation needed.

These are just some ideas. I am sure that there are others that might improve on these but it would be a start toward making sure the town determines its own future. There are enough citizens who have spent their professional career doing this work to create a committee that could really set Longboat Key on a smooth course. It is how we wrote the sign code that was accepted almost unanimously.

The town manager has suggested that the town purchase the balance of the land that abuts the new Publix project. This would finally bring together the original thinking of Arvida and the town to make the entire area a town center with walkways, band boxes and more of the landscaping that has been done so effectively on the other side of the road in front of Town Hall — a true town center.

You old timers remember when the focus of the town was to make Town Hall and the adjacent areas pleasing to the eye and add charm and beauty to the overall ambiance of the village. At that time, they even didn’t mind spending tax money to achieve these goals.

To make this once again possible, it is vital that the town planners have their say in how the Publix plot is going to look.

This can only be done if the Planning and Zoning Board is given a stronger say in what happens since there is some evidence that certain members of the Town Commission have been involved with the preliminary planning of the facility.

There are still some independents sitting on the P&Z Board who have actual experience in developing major commercial sites and have no axe to grind. Removed as they are from political concerns, they can rescue the project and make it a better operation for everyone. Publix will benefit from having a facility that they can point to with pride. It would not be the first time the P&Z Board has saved a developer by improving the design.

The P&Z Board could analyze the proposals and suggest conditions of approval to make it a visually acceptable proposal. There are certainly things that can be done better. The CVS building sitting up and towering over Gulf of Mexico Drive is one problem that if not addressed will haunt the town forever. The overall height is another. There is also a potentially dangerous traffic flow, which given the driving habits of some of the citizens could create havoc in high season, especially since the new Publix will bring more nighttime drivers. It should be kept in mind that if Publix succeeds in their plans, their new building will attract many new visitors, and not just shoppers but diners. This could become a highly desirable place to come to eat and have a coffee klatch. It certainly is what happens here in State College at our Wegmans, and I can’t imagine Publix not doing the same.

It would be a shame if the current mood of libertarianism should leave a permanent mark on the most exposed spot on the key. For some reason both on Longboat as in the country at large, conservatives who previously led the way in restricting zoning and building codes seem to have switched sides and have adopted an “anything goes” attitude on the assumption it will improve business. I can remember when the most severely restricted areas like Hobe Sound, Harbourtown and Naples were bastions of the Republican Party and showed the way for new communities like Longboat Key and developers like Arvida.

Some of my readers took exception to my suggesting that it wasn’t up to the town to try to save money for Publix by going easy on the rules. I believe you should set standards and let them work within them. Some want the town to go easier on Publix than Sarasota. It makes no sense. Other than possibly the Colony property, this is the most conspicuous and important area to be still developed on the entire key. It needs a more careful and disinterested professional approach. It will be there for a long time. They have to get it right. They won’t get a second chance.

Happy New Year everybody!

To keep Longboat Key a quality community requires the residents’ involvement. The town has been blessed with volunteers who have been hugely successful in their business life and who have offered their services gratis to help make the town what it is today.

Certainly Brad Saivetz qualifies as one of the group. Mr. Saivetz is a fellow of the American Society of Certified Engineers and a recognized landscape architect whose firm has been involved with many civic projects in his hometown of Boston.

However when Mr. Saivetz takes the time to offer his professional advice on the area that will reflect the “very essence and character of the island,” he is dismissed in a very rude and off-handed manner by Vice Mayor David Brenner. (Note: The Saivetz letter is a matter of public record and a copy can be obtained by contacting Town Clerk Trish Granger.)

In an email to Michael Leeds, an officer of the development company that is working for Publix, he forwards a letter from Saivetz to the P&Z Board with the attached note “This is from a local gadfly and be prepared if he shows up.”

I confess I am astounded to find that a town commissioner elected to represent the town is working in concert with an applicant in a development that is vital to the interests of the community against the concerns of a fellow resident. By telling Leeds to ignore Saivetz, he is in effect telling him to ignore the issue that Mr. Saivetz is raising, i.e., the concern about the treatment of the parking lot on this very large and significant portion of the front row of the town, Gulf of Mexico Drive. I haven’t any idea as to the problems it raises with the Sunshine Law or the impending quasi-judicial character of the procedures, but I can tell you it has an odor.

The issue that Vice Mayor Brenner seems to feel not worthy of consideration is how the new Publix is going to look from the GMD. Parking lots are not ever going to be a source of beauty, but by taking advantage of well designed landscaping the curse can be vitiated.

Gadfly indeed! Brad Saivetz has been called many names in his time and I have probably employed some of them myself, but his appraisals can never been dismissed lightly. He is a highly qualified expert, and any suggestions he might offer in issues regarding his area of expertise should be examined on their merits. It is an incredible act of chutzpah on Brenner’s part and an insulting way to treat any citizen regardless of his background.

Mr. Saivetz was concerned about a clause in our building code that referred to a “mature tree” as one with a diameter of two inches and four and a half feet high. Obviously we would not describe this as a tree but as a sapling. Mr. Saivetz took the time to photograph recent Publix parking lots to demonstrate to the P&Z what they should consider as a requirement for the new building that is in the approval process. If the town approves anything less than Publix has already provided in Sarasota, it will create an unsightly view that will take years to alleviate.

Our zoning ordinance calls for a park-like environment. Mr. Saivetz is to be commended for calling attention to the possibility of this important attribute falling between the cracks.

With the current environment of supposed “pro growth” as expounded by Mr. Brenner, it is a darn good thing that we have someone like Brad Saivetz to ask the important questions. The P&Z Board is blessed to have the services of Alan Hixon, a registered landscape architect and former professor of the subject at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he created the department. Hopefully these two Yankees can use their professional training to make sure that the impression a visitor gets from driving down Gulf of Mexico Drive reflects the parkland quality that previous boards and commissions worked so hard to create.

In addition, it might be helpful if David Brenner thinks more about what is good for the community and less about his own opinions of his fellow citizens.

Everyone remembers the old chestnut about a camel being designed by a committee, well from press reports it appears this was the method chosen by the new manager, Dave Bullock, to arrive at his decision on how to handle Monica Simpson, the now former head of the Planning and Zoning Department.

Ms. Simpson is to remain available as a consultant but without any executive privileges. The idea is that Longboat Key will still have the advantage of the brilliant analysis that Ms. Simpson provides without the staffers getting yelled at when they screw up.

This is one of those ideas that sound good but have a basic flaw. If Ms. Simpson is to be called in when a developer submits his or her project, she will not be in the room during the crucial part, the pre-planning.

In the past, especially when the P&Z Board had as members two of the most distinguished architects in the country if not the entire world, many ideas were kicked around with all of the parties at the table, resulting in much better designed results.

Although at this time there is no one on the P&Z who qualifies as an authority on anything, the next election might be the start of a return to sanity; and if this occurs, you will need the fulltime services of Ms. Simpson.

If the manager decides that it would be better all around if Monica were to be in on the take-offs as well as the landings, that would require her presence a lot more than is currently considered. Since cost is a factor and Simpson is now being paid by the hour, this really could prove a problem.

Since it is not likely that there have been any brain transplants, the balance of the staff is not going to get any smarter if Monica is not around, and tensions will still prevail.

In the early days, Longboat Key paid their lawyer by the hour and watched the clock like a hawk. As a result, the town’s own attorney did not sit in on the writing of the zoning and building codes, which remain problems to this day.

To correct the deficiencies that we had in the codes, we were planning to rewrite the entire codebook. Unfortunately, the State Legislature passed the Harris Act, a law that severely restricted municipalities in their governance. Since previous laws were grandfathered, Longboat Key decided to live with what they had, but it hasn’t been easy. Contract workers can cause more problems than the money they are supposed to save.

Manager Bullock is right in saying he cannot operate the department without her and he has as much as admitted the staff needs attention, he just hopes their delicate psyches will survive Ms. Simpson on a part-time basis.

The day after it was announced that there was to be a candidate to oppose current Vice Mayor Dave Brenner, I received the following message:

“Ray Rajewski is a neighbor in the bayou and friend of mine. We served together for five years on our board. Ray has good creds, e.g., he got the Bay Isles Master Association to reduce the assessment rate after pointing out that it was higher than the ad valorem taxes imposed by LBK! If he wins against Brenner and stands in opposition against all the commission is trying to undo, perhaps that will spur on others to run against Brown and Younger when they’re up for re-election. It would be great to see a domino effect and a restoration of good governance.”

The writer of this message is a person with whom I have had dealings, and I place a great deal of reliance upon his judgment. If we assume that Mr. Rajewski measures up to this unsolicited appraisal, the coming election with Rajewski opposing Brenner can be a watershed moment.

Very rarely in Longboat Key elections are the issues so clear and explicit. David Brenner came to Longboat Key politics with a clear objective. From his position as an advocate of commercial growth for the Chamber of Commerce, he made it crystal clear that he felt Longboat Key needed a radically different approach to commercialism and tourism.

It had been the policy from the early eighties on to encourage residential development with just enough commercial activity to satisfy the needs of the people living on the key. Tourism was, to be frank, discouraged. The same so-called mom and pop motels up and down the key were made nonconforming, and it was an accepted fact that they would eventually give way to large private homes or small multi-family condos on the gulf.

As the seasonal residency rose, the opportunities for the commercial establishments fell. It can be argued that some of them failed because of poor management. Many like me did not see the actions of the town causing these phenomena but simple economic reaction to what the population wanted.

During that period, the assessed evaluation of the ad valorem tax base grew by more than six-fold from less than one billion to $6.5 billion. Since a sizeable portion of this was in the rise of current property, everyone seemed satisfied. It didn’t hurt that the millage rate for the town tax came down by 50 percent.

When the nation and even the rest of the world experienced the collapse of the real estate bubble, Longboaters, as well as everyone else, looked for someone to blame.

This is where Mr. Brenner stepped into the limelight. He blamed the fact that your house or condo was selling for less on the theory that there weren’t enough stores and enough tourist beds on the island and that this was the direct result of town policy.

Consequently, he has led the charge to change everything including the comp plan and the mission statement.

The small tourist camps are now able to rebuild with the same density; hotels and other developers can avail themselves of hundreds of extra density and the Longboat Key Club can do whatever it wants to do regardless of the desires of the adjacent neighbors. It should be noted for the record that as of now, no one has taken advantage of these offers.

Brenner is currently sitting quietly as the Publix redevelopment will include a new CVS building sitting practically on the GMD, and he is the leader in seeing that a new cell tower shall stand in all its phallic glory overshadowing the drive as you go north.

To accomplish this, he has brought with him two followers, Commissioner Lynn Larson and Commissioner Phill Younger, but without Brenner to lead and show them the path, they will fade away. Commissioner Larson, although running unopposed — a fact I deplore, is still almost clueless in her understanding of the functions of civic government and will wander in the wilderness if her guide is no longer sitting near her on the dais.

Because of State Law, the candidates have had to declare an extra month in advance so it is still early to start campaigning or even to advocate in a newspaper column, but if Ray Rajewski is the guy I have been told he his, Mr. Brenner is in for one helluva fight. And if you are one of those who have been complaining about the direction the town has been taking, next March will give you a chance to make a change.

This is an important election. Make sure you don’t miss it. Absentee ballots will be available, and I might remind you once or twice before then.

The Longboat Observer is conducting a straw ballot that is trying to throw light on how the citizens feel about the proposed cell tower adjacent to GMD on the property of the Longboat Island Chapel.

These are legitimate questions but unfortunately straw votes are about the worst way you can go about getting the right answers. Straw balloting along with referendums is a lousy way to govern.

On referendums, it is easy to manipulate the vote since the amount of words that can be placed on the ballot leave no room for proper disclosure. It also feeds on the emotions and makes for poor decisions. Please note the havoc that Proposition 13 had on California. It has almost ruined the best educational system in the world and has made moving from one home to another a colossal financial calamity.

Once on Longboat Key, we held a straw ballot that asked whether the people wanted to spend the money to renourish the beach. It failed overwhelmingly. Of course, it was a poorly constructed plan but that wasn’t considered. All that the town commissioners were told was their constituents were against the beach.

Fortunately a citizen, Gordy Haglund, offered an intelligent plan that made sense and is still being utilized. Consequently, Longboat Key got the beach it needed.

Hopefully, this will be the manner in which the current commissioners address this potential behemoth.

I have no opinion as to the need for a tower. I haven’t seen any technical data. I understand that the problem is confined to the north end of town. We lived in the north end for 15 years but either I was not using a cell phone then or it hadn’t posed a problem.

Instead of trying to first identify the need and then discussing the possible alternatives, the current plan is to bypass this methodology by just simple fiat. Make the site a PUD so you can do what you will as long as you get four votes without having to face the basic questions: do you need it and do the people want it?

Consider what might be done if it is determined that there is a problem and a sizeable portion of the community is asking for a remedy. Some have suggested differing methods. If they are practical, I am sure some company would want to offer their services.

If a tower is indeed the best option, there are alternative sites not as intrusive that could be considered. A suggestion of one of my readers that sounded interesting was to place it on the campus of the Art Centre. In our 20 years of living on Longboat Key, I still had trouble finding the place; I can assure you it will not be an everyday sight. The tower operators pay good money to keep their tower on your property so that would add an additional incentive. Another potential site would be near the Police Department since they already have electrical equipment displayed. This would be an additional source of revenue for the town. If you really want to get it out of sight, there is always Sisters Key, also owned by the town.

The desire of the current commissioners to do whatever it takes to help the commercial interests and create an income source for the church, not for the rest of the community, is indefensible. First they should identify the need and then find the best way to solve the problem. The way to go is get all the facts on the table and have a proper election, not use a technical subterfuge that bypasses full discussion.

For the past two years Vice Mayor David Brenner along with Mayor Jim Brown have led the charge to expand the commercial activity on the key. It will be interesting to see how Vice Mayor Brenner’s opponent, Ray Rajewski, views these matters. It should make for the first significant election since Gene Jaleski defeated incumbent Randy Clair running on the single issue, his opposition to the Key Club expansion.

Unfortunately Brenner will be the only pro-growth commissioner being challenged this next election but the result might get the attention of the five others.

The tragedy involving the molestation of young children has hit my town and the university located here with the punch of Katrina.

Not since the Kennedy assassination have I seen so many people so involved and so distressed. It has touched almost everyone living here.

The national press is focusing on the story as a football story with big time sports as the culprit. That is not the case. It is a family story, a small town story with “Peyton Place” overtones.

State College is a really small town. Everyone knows everyone. When we were talking about it in the gym this morning, one of the guys was the first director of the charity run by Sandusky, The Second Mile. Another one had his kids trading sleepovers with the Sanduskys; another was a trustee of the University. In addition, one of the accused, Gary Schultz, is the chairman of our board here at the Village. Most had socialized many times with the Paternos. Two of them usually sat next to the young man who witnessed the incident, Mike McQueary, at church, and we all had met the school’s president Graham Spanier.

It doesn’t excuse the conduct of the people who didn’t speak up but it helps to understand what happened.

Although for the past four years, everyone in town knew that Jerry Sandusky had acted improperly with young boys, no one knew the extent of his actions or the background. It was like a family where everyone knew about the crazy uncle in the attic but no one wanted to embarrass the family by mentioning it — and this is a town where you couldn’t cover up a cold.

How otherwise intelligent adults who should have known better did not realize the consequences of not getting a child molester off the streets boggles the mind, but it happened. Sandusky before the facts emerged was the most revered man in town. Joe Paterno was more respected because of his record but he could be irascible at times, whereas Jerry Sandusky had founded a charity devoted to the mentoring and assisting of disadvantaged children with branches all over the state that had aided tens of thousand of youngsters and was outwardly a lovable guy. Tough old players like Matt Millen and LaVar Arrington teared up on national television just talking about him.

Penn State will never be the same. It has definitely finished Joe Paterno’s career on a sour note. The courts will decide the future of the Athletic Director Tom Curley (on administrative leave) and the former Vice President of the University Gary Schultz, both of whom are accused of not reporting it. The president of the university Graham Spanier is out. The annual Renaissance Dinner that is held to honor the persons who have done the most for the community, which this year was to honor Dr. and Dr. Spanier — has been cancelled, and the new beautiful child care facility on campus that is scheduled for opening next month might have to be renamed, since the current name of the facility is the Gary Schultz Child Care Center.

In the fall of 1947, Penn State was invited to play in the Cotton Bowl in Texas. When the invitation was conditioned on Penn State leaving behind their two black teammates, the captain of the team, Steve Suhey, said no thanks. “We are Penn State” and we go as a team or we don’t go. They went, they won and for more than 60 years, loyal fans would cheer “WE ARE PENN STATE!”

This is not a cheer that will be heard for a long time, maybe it will sometime in the future but not in my lifetime. It is a dark time in Happy Valley, and nobody gives a damn about a football game.

The controversy over the placing of a cell tower on the key continues but the advocates are trying to take a shortcut and a rush to judgment by avoiding the normal process that requires a request for a variance based upon need.

There is certainly a reasonable question concerning the reception on the island for cell phones and other Wi-Fi devices. You can ask some who will tell you they never can get or send a call, and there are others who will swear they have never had a single problem.

The reach of a cell tower radiates out from its base equally in all directions. Therefore, it is easy to see that Longboat Key is on the outside perimeter of any circle. This is especially the case in the northern part of town. Since the population is small and therefore the market tiny, no operator had pushed to place a tower. There seems to be one now, but in their haste to embrace this applicant the Town Commission and their puppy dog P&Z followers are so anxious to get it on board, they are forgetting not only proper procedure but concern for the wishes of the majority. They are passing up the opportunity to thoroughly examine all sides of the issue that could create a consensus, not an open wound.

If there is a vital need, a proper study will reveal it. Even if it shows that there is a benefit, these same hearings will bring forward the pluses while exposing the minuses. After all, a cell tower is not a very attractive sight and there is quite a bit of talk about the question as to the lowering of values for those who are most directly affected.

If the commissioners could slow down for a minute, they could let all of these questions be discussed in open meetings and then come to a decision.

If it is decided that a cell tower is necessary, then and only then the town should select a site that would be the least intrusive and request bids from the industry. Although there would have to be some major electric work done, if the tower was seen as that unsightly, it could be placed on Sisters Key.

By declaring the small plot of ground on the church grounds a PUD in order to get it placed, they are admitting they couldn’t get it through using normal methods. By not requesting a variance as was originally proposed by the town attorney, they want to avoid the difficulty of proving “a need.”

Since this new group has taken over Town Hall, they seem to be taking a “father knows best” approach, and in the matter of a cell tower they decided the town must have one. Not unsurprising, this decision carries with it the enthusiastic support of the Chamber of Commerce.

It is the wrong way to go and could backfire. I think that this is a very public admission that the project doesn’t have the support of the local residents.

The prospect of a 150-foot edifice immediately off GMD is not a vision that will escape the public’s attention.

The commissioners should be attentive to the best interests of the residents. If they need a cell tower, let it be placed where it will do the least harm. If there are other ways to alleviate the alleged problems, let these also be evaluated.

When the idea of restoring the beaches was first broached, there were meetings where many different methods of beach restoration were presented. It was by listening and examining all of the alternatives that a consensus was built around the final decision.

To do an end run around the regulations and bypass public discourse will be destructive to the tranquility and neighborliness of the entire town. A tower will be standing for a long time. Let it not be a symbol of the arrogance of a chosen few.

Marshall McLuhan said that the medium is the message.

If that is the case, than the media on Longboat Key are pushing out what may be a very wrong message.

To read the quotes in the local papers, Planning and Zoning Director Monica Simpson is ‘Conan the Barbarian.’ If you read these in most cases unattributed quotes, you could be crying out for Ms. Simpson’s head.

Having known and worked closely with Monica, I couldn’t put together the person I knew and the person that was being written about in the paper.

We knew that there were some hard feelings inside the department when Monica succeeded Jill Jeglie. Another employee thought that he should have gotten the job and continued to demonstrate his resentment. As commissioners and having worked with Ms. Simpson on Shane Eagan’s proposed removal of the tennis courts at Islandside, we all thought that St. Denis had made the correct decision. I recall that she also had the enthusiastic support of then P&Z Board Chairman Bob Diamant.

Because Monica had worked for Jill, I thought it would be interesting to see if she had any thoughts on the matter.

Consequently, I caught up with former Director Jeglie and asked her for an appraisal of her former assistant. With her permission, I want to pass on her answer:

“During my tenure, Monica really stepped up to the plate. The department was very busy. She never shunned responsibility. She worked very hard to make processes more customer-friendly. She helped me without undermining me. She did not lose her temper without a reason, nor did she display one. She worked well with others. She mentored an employee who was not pulling his weight in her division. That employee’s job had been in jeopardy with a previous director and Bruce had proffered laying him off on several occasions to allow us to hire an experienced, more productive planner. I kept him on and both Monica and I worked with him. Frankly, Monica probably did a lot of the work he should have been doing. Ironic but from reading the excerpts I believe he may be one of the complainants.”

It has been said many times: if you want a certain answer, ask the right questions. I think it behooves new Town Manager Dave Bullock to step back a pace and ask some better questions. A hostile environment usually means some physical fears or specific acts of endangerment, none of which is alleged in this case.

This involves a loyal employee, incidentally a working mother, who has given 10 years of loyal service to the town. There is no one currently working for the town who has the ability or the training to take over. If Monica has to be replaced, it will require a national search. Remember we got Ms. Simpson because of her sterling career in Texas. This will leave the department already depleted with no true professional in charge. It would make more sense to try to resolve the issues and find out the reasons behind them.

Keep in mind, Monica has had to do two jobs, dealing with the necessary planning with applicants involving major projects and making sure the normal process of permitting goes smoothly. This workload primarily created by the five-year battle about the expansion of the LBK Club has been intense as well as politically controversial. The department is understaffed and everyone there has had to work harder to keep up.

Coming in as a new manager is a tough chore. It would make Mr. Bullock’s life a lot easier if he had a head in the crucial position of planning and zoning that understood where all the bodies are buried. He shouldn’t believe everything he reads in the paper and he should take into account who is saying it.

Monica Simpson is too valuable to just toss aside because of some sour grapes and hurt feelings.