A tale of two towns

Contrary to the constant incantations coming from the commission and the chamber of commerce, the residents residing in the northern reaches of our community really would rather not rely on commercial developers or academics to tell us what we will or will not do with our real estate. When I read that the town does not have the money to include the residents in any north end development study, I think of the half million the town just spent for a lot adjacent to Bayfront Park. The current commissioners seldom use the word resident, preferring instead to dwell on commercial interests. Who pays the taxes?

In 1998 or 1999, the then commission commissioned a community overlay project at the north end of Longboat Key. The express purpose of the project was to have the residents in the area decide their own destiny. The then town planner, Marty Black, did a masterful job of including a large segment of the community in a lengthy and democratic process of defining an overlay for the future development at the north end. The current commission could dust-off that community overlay plan and use it as their template for any future efforts to redevelop the north end. There is no need for an undergraduate exercise. The residents have already spoken. It is the duty of the commissioners to adhere to public policy.

It seems we now have two towns. The one that exists and is doing well as an exclusive, low density seasonal retirement community, and the one envisioned by the current developer-friendly commission that calls for vague but sweeping changes to our building codes and comprehensive plan. If the current commission did not have big plans for commercial development on Longboat Key, there would be little or no need to gut density and height restrictions. It is a typical tactic of developers to first takeover the local government, and then quietly destroy the resident's property protections. The north end overlay plan was created expressly to prevent unwanted over-development and to protect a way of life that attracts hundreds of homeowners. The north-end residents have already created a development overlay and they expect our town government to honor their wishes.

The current commission has falsely traded on the global economic downturn as a rational for reshaping our codes and comprehensive plan so as to allow unimpeded development in the near future. If you are looking for an analogous situation, one has only to look at the tragedy of Panama City Beach or Atlantic City, where residential property values plummeted after a wall of high rise hotels and condo-tels were constructed for miles along the beach. The flavor of the communities were destroyed so that a few could make millions.

Promoting a schizophrenic community atmosphere, where perspective home buyers are uncertain if they are buying into what they see or what is threatened by a developer-activist town government. This schism is undoubtedly affecting home sales. Stable communities surrounding us are experiencing much more robust property sales.

The direction we take as a community, in the next year or two, could very well be decisive in the future values of our homes. Most everybody already knows that the Loeb Partners are actively trying to sell the Key Club; there are apparently several interested buyers. As usual the asking price is unrealistic. I wonder how long the British retirement funds can hold out before they will have to sell. What happens to the proposed Key Club development when the property is sold without any definite court ruling on the legality of the proposed expansion. Since the Key Club is mostly comprised of raw land, its greatest value lies in high-density high-rise development on both sides of GMD. It seems likely that the residents of Bay Isles will be presented with a similar, if not larger, scenario for their community as now confronts the property owners at Islandside.

It seems that it would be more advantageous to head in the other direction, towards a low density completely residential community. Let's face it, the mom-and-pop resorts are slowly being sold. Tourism is declining. The Key Cub doesn't even have a hotel and they are too penurious to have wifi in the rooms at the Inn on the Beach. Wouldn't it be better for our community, as a whole, to see these properties turned into exclusive homes, similar to what is happening along GMD right now. If more land was available for residential development, I am sure more large homes would be built. Casey Key is an example of a thriving completely residential island community. Instead of electing and supporting commissioners that seem to want to make way for high-density high-rise condo-tels, that do nothing to increase residential land values, we might do better electing commissioners that use the word "resident" more often than the word "development".

The coming election gives the residents an opportunity to tell the town government they want a low-density exclusive residential community.. Contrary to their claims, I believe the current commission has not been positive for home sales and home values. People do not move to a community like Longboat Key for the tourism and the conventions. Longboat Key needs to redefine itself in the 21st century. Our strong points are are low density and our exclusivity. Let's not spoil it.

My meetings with the town manager

I hope my initial impressions of Longboat Key's new town manager are more prescient than Commissioner Brenner's previous evaluation of our town government. So far Commission Brenner's positive evaluations have been shown, by later events, to have been somewhat premature. To date Bruce St. Denis and Monica Simpson have been fired. I sincerely hope that our finance and utilities directors fare better. For the two former town employees Commissioner Brenner's positive evaluations have been oscvlvm mortis (the kiss of death).

I have had two lengthy meetings with Dave Bullock. I am impressed.

My first meeting with Mr. Bullock occurred soon after he took over as the town manager. The meeting was both friendly and professional. I was immediately struck with his obvious smarts and professional experience. If anything, I came away from my first meeting with the town manager feeling that I had gained a better understanding of the technical aspects of town management as a result of our talk. The two of us discussed current issues confronting Longboat Key, along with the political, legal and financial hurtles associated with getting things done in municipal government. It was apparent to me that Dave Bullock is an expert on the philosophy of government and its intricacies.

Mr. Bullock expressed his belief that he intended to approach every challenge from an informed perspective. However, he also stated that be believed that there was a counter-balancing need to act in a timely manner, as opposed to endlessly discussing an issue. He and I may disagree about the point in the process where action is appropriate and discussion ends. As town manager that is his prerogative, since his success will be measured by his effectiveness.

I believe that Longboat Key, and most especially the commission, will welcome a consummate professional guiding the town towards our future. When I was a commissioner I complained about the then town manager giving the commission inadequate information and his agenda of choices, thus preventing the commission from making well-informed decisions. I hope those days are behind us and we will witness a government process without agendas and inadequate information.

My second meeting with Mr. Bullock took place last week and was more focused. I specifically wanted to address town communications policy and beach management. To my surprise Mr. Bullock was not only up to speed in many aspects of these two areas, he was ahead of the curve in analysing various cost/benefits scenarios for any discussions about community wifi. What a pleasant surprise!

The two of us discussed alternative beach management technologies. I found the discussion to be open with the added input from a seasoned municipal government manager who understands the challenges of the state permitting process and state agency agendas. We talked about who should pay for what. I like debating with someone who enters the discussion as a professional, interested in positive outcomes and not afraid to look down the road with a realistic yet positive attitude.

In short I could find nothing about Mr. Bullock that was disconcerting. I see an intelligent hard working quick learner with little or no political agenda. What a refreshing change. I hope the commissioners will avail themselves of his professionalism and open their eyes to what he presents to them for their consideration.

And you thought I didn't know how to tell a happy story.

Goin Down the Road Feelin Bad

This week I am using this column to reprint an article by Richard Russell, who has predicted every "Bear Market" for the past 30 years. Recently Russell has repeatedly expressed confusion about the world economy. However, this article articulates basic economic realities that we all might do well to understand.

"Take the pain." That's what American population and pols have been unwilling to do. To undo 60 years of inflation, they refuse to take the pain. We've refused to take the pain ever since WWII. A great group of bubbles has been created since WWII. But they are starting to pop one by one. The biggest bubble of all, the debt of the US. That debt must be addressed. To address that debt and all of the debt that has enveloped the US we must absolutely take the pain. Which is why I label this site, "Take the pain."

That's what nobody wants to do, and the politicians serve the people by keeping money flowing to avoid the pain. Question: Why is it that you never see compounding and debt mentioned in the same sentence? Answer: Because it is a poisonous combination due to the new trillions that have been pumped into the US economy. Based on the massive amount of money pumped into the US economy inflation should start to appear in 1-2 years. With inflation comes higher interest rates. Rates are synthetically low today but by 2013 they will be rising along with inflation. This is when the compounding of the debt starts. 

The US National debt is at 16 trillion, 40 percent of the debt matures in one year or less. The average maturity of all US debt is 4.3 years. All this debt has been rolled over at historically low interest rates. This is going to change. As inflation accelerates, rates move higher. The entire tax-take of the US is now 2 trillion. This is a tiny amount compared to the cost of interest on the national debt. In other words, the US will have to borrow huge amounts of money in order to stay solvent. The national deficit is increasing annually by more than 1.5 trillion per year. Thus the tax-take doesn't begin to cover the interest on the debt. Within a few years a massive amount of money that is pumped into the economy by the Feds will set off inflation. With inflation, interest rates will rise. 

Remember the entire federal debt must be rolled over every few years. It will roll over and compound with rising interest rates, a death knell for the US economy and the dollar. As the process continues, the exploding and compounding national debt will crush everything in its path. The dollar will collapse, and the US will no longer be able to borrow the money needed to cover its interest and expenses. The stock market is not going to wait for these events to materialize. It will start discounting the trouble way before it happens. I see any rallies (as the one we're seeing today) as oversold bounces and they should be sold into. 

The preferred position is no stocks, gold, and 10 ounce silver bars with some cash for practical purposes. We are headed for uncharted waters and in time all central bank created currencies will be crushed. Gold is the only currency that is not someone else's liability, and it should be accumulated. 

In the end, the problem is neither the US population nor its politicians are willing to take the pain. There are no free lunches, and there are no corrections with out pain. The pain is set in stone. It's appearing now in unemployment and loss of purchasing power and spreading poverty.

Richard Russell 

Spending Priorities

Last evening our commissioners spent over $425,000.00 to purchase a piece of land adjacent to Bayfront Park. I believe this was an unwise expenditure that accomplishes little, when the money could have been spent to enhance our community's attractiveness to visitors and perspective residents in more effective ways. Instead, we hear claims by the commission that a large project at Bayfront Park will somehow contribute to the island's welfare.

The money could have been used to create an island-wide municipal wifi network that would benefit all residents and visitors while modernizing our telecommunications image. Imagine the benefits for our community from having access to broadband internet access from our beaches, motels and businesses while creating income for our community.

A small part of the money could have been used to build several Bocce Ball and Pickle Ball courts at several locations around the island to attract people to share their time with one another. Instead we now have another acre of land.

About a decade ago the voters were asked to approve a bond for a proposed community center at Bayfront Park. The referendum, backed by our current mayor, was resoundingly rejected by the voters. Mr. Brown will not give up. He thinks the town's attorney and suspended, but soon to be returned, planning director will help him find a loop-hole in our weak codes in order to build a multi-million recreation center without having to ask the residents.

Longboat Key developed as an exclusive seasonal retirement community. Developers created large self-sufficient enclaves complete with swimming pools, recreation areas and spaces for social activities. Additionally, our population has aged and is now less mobile than ever before. Even if it is  desirable, it will take decades to reshape the social structure of Longboat Key to the point where the residents of all our self-sufficient condominiums are willing to take the extra effort to get in their cars, fight our seasonal traffic and participate in activities at a community center. If a community center is designed to accommodate our in-season population then it will be an expensive white elephant the other 8 - 9 months of the year, when few people are living on the island. Of those few summer residents, many are working or have families and will be unable to make use of a community center during the day.

The yearly cost of maintaining a large recreation center will far exceed the hundreds of thousands we already spend to maintain Durante Park, which is a wasteland most of the time. I frequently ride past Durante Park and seldom see any activity there. Why then do we want to build yet another expensive public facility that will be under-utilized and not attract tourists. Tourists are here solely for the beach experience, not a workout. Why build a costly recreation center for a community that has shown little propensity to engage in communal social activities.

Last week I sensed a further decline in town staff moral when they saw an eager commission effortlessly spend $450,000.00 on a piece of property, while at the same time not being willing to spend any money on long overdue employee raises for over three years. I complained at a commission workshop about this paradox. I was told that funds could not be moved to facilitate pay raises for employees. Now we see a token bonus to a hundred hard working staff with families that equals about 2/5ths of what the commission just spent for an acre of land. I look at this as being counterproductive. Our residents want great service and a functioning town government. Instead, the commission sends out signals that the entire staff is worth less than a piece of land that few residents will ever use.

To pay for the proposed community center, the current commission will probably ask that the town manager re-instate Ms. Simpson as the planning director, perhaps even with a raise, and once again rely on Ms. Simpson and Mr. Perssons to find a way to pay for a ten million dollar plus edifice at Bayfront Park, without seeking the approval of the taxpayers. I am so sure of this commission strategy that I have bet a lunch on it.

Several months ago, I wrote an article advocating utilizing available space in two existing buildings adjacent to the Publix property to quickly create an inexpensive community facility. If it was found that there was strong community support for a large community center, then the taxpayers could probably be persuaded to approve a bond to build a structure at Bayfront Park. Instead, the commission looks like it's willing to speculate with millions of your dollars for a project that has no previous credibility in our community.

The Bias of Ignorance

If what I am witnessing at recent Planning and Zoning Board meetings is the best this community can do, then perhaps it is time to do away with such a hopelessly biased institution and seek management of the town's affairs elsewhere. The PZB has deteriorated to being a group of appointees who are there because of who they know.


"This is stupid" says a resident after yesterday's PZB meeting. "This is the worst I have ever seen". I know this person has lived on Longboat Key for a long time and is one of the few residents who pays attention to the workings of town government. I see smirks and rolling eyes and yes laughter where no joke is intended.

The PZB meeting resembled the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Some board members looked lost and ill- informed. Other board members minced minuscule concepts unrelated to the question at hand. At times it appeared that several board members were unaware of what was being discussed.

The planning department staff also appeared to be unsure of what was happening. At one point a staff member was questioned about the relevance of his report. His response was that we was telling the zoning board what they wanted to hear as requested at a prior meeting. He referenced the minutes from a prior meeting. Several attendees chuckled. Eyes rolled again.

As usual the chairperson was curt and abrupt and at times looked ill-informed or confused. We all should be thankful that Commissioner LeNoble, and his fellow commissioners, had the foresight to defang this politically appointed clique some years ago.

What is bias of ignorance? It is an unintentional bias that results from not knowing what one is talking about, of being ill informed, or so politically motivated, as to be unaware that severely limited decisions are being made, and never questioned. It is the lack of informed discussion-making at PZB meetings that promulgates still more ignorance based bias.

Anyone attending recent PZB meetings has to confront a rude chairperson who makes it know that she considers meaningful and studied input from residents to be "biased" propaganda as far as she is concerned. At the same time she welcomed a one hour twenty minute presentation by a cell tower lobbyist. The PZB chairperson did not find the lobbyist to be biased. Hmmmm. Who said "Don't confuse me with the facts, I know what I think"?

At two previous PZB meetings dealing with cell tower issues, it was evident that the members of the board were clueless that anything exists except cell towers. For these people Distributed Antenna Systems, Fixed Mobile Convergence and other alternative technologies are foreign words. In the area of telecommunications, where the PZB is concerned, the world is flat. They appear to like it that way if you review the questions put forth by various PZB members. As a body they have been singularly incurious about ways to improve cell phone reception without destroying real estate values and shutting out new and superior telecommunications technologies for years to come.

At the last PZB meeting there appeared to still be considerable ranker about the Commission's reversal of the PZB's recommendation that Moore's Restaurant be forced to sell at the bottom of the real estate market. I am proud that I was one of the four commissioners who voted to uphold the will of the voters, who overwhelming supported the referendum to allow Moore's to be rezoned residential. At that time it seemed that a couple of the PZB members exceeded the bounds of public office and that they should have been reprimanded or removed from the PZB.

We need to find a remedy for what is taking place at PZB meetings. We need to stop whatever is causing the rolling eyes and exclamations of indignation and dismay. The PZB has become a political hack for special interests on the island. Perhaps if the PZB became an elected body it would prevent the political packing that presently permeates what I consider to be a dysfunctional body. Because of their unabashed bias and lack of informed decision-making, the PZB is doing more harm than good in our community.

The More You Know

"The more we know" is a recurring theme in my efforts to add to the community conversation. I have contended for decades that small town government lacks the resources to find optimal solutions to community challenges such as our communications infrastructure, our pension plans funding and our beach management practices. Many of these challenges are technologically complex even for much larger communities with departments of specialized workers. I have always worried that we are making poor choices because we fail to recognize our limitations as a small town with only a few minimally trained workers in each department.

The previous town manager frustrated many commissioners and town staff with his unwillingness or inability to investigate a range of options for the many issues that confront any small municipality over time. He was known for quickly forming uninformed opinions and then refusing to get off the dime even in the face of overwhelming evidence that his positions were unproductive.

The journey is the destination. This is an adage that might serve well as a road map for a town government with limited staff resources and an unpaid commission. Small communities must rely on outside advice, hopefully from disinterested experts in various fields of knowledge. Small town governments must resist taking the short route and taking the advice of the first "expert" to come down the road or worse yet an "expert" who espouses some sort of political agenda. Making the journey the destination  requires a commission that is ever vigilant to well camouflaged propaganda and motives.

Traditionally our town manager has assumed the role of "decider" since the town manager presents the commission with most, if not all, of its information. He also formulates the choices available to the commissioners and in general holds most of the cards. The current commission has been a good deal more active than previous commissions. I feel that this has been positive for our community even though I may disagree with some of their policies. I hope the commission will enjoy a long honeymoon with the new town manager and work as a team to intelligently formulate informed decisions concerning some fairly complex problems.

It is easy to make decisions in an information vacuum. The more we know about all the challenges  confronting our community, the more likely we will make better decisions. The problem as I see it is knowing when you need to know more. Often problems appear to be easily understood when in fact there are subtle nuances that complicate the decision making process. Taking time to throughly examine issues may be the only way to arrive at any sort of sound conclusions.

Ask a Question

• Do Background Research
• Construct a Hypothesis
• Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
• Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
• Communicate Your Results

The bottom line is that our town government needs to cast a broader information net in the future. We need to enlist more experts in the process. We need to insist that these experts be truly disinterested contributors. Decisions need to be based on a sound understanding of the problem and an open-minded approach to resolving the problem.

We are a small community with limited governmental resources. We are not alone in this. I have found that there is already a wealth of information available by consulting with other communities with similar problems. What we should not do is assume we know everything.

See also: http://lbk-folk.blogspot.com/2011/02/skeptical-advice.html

Faux Sure

Faux Sure is a mixed-use of languages for sure. It is meant to point to the predicament the community finds itself in, where a small group of powerful people have hijacked the town government and are telling us we need to greatly expand development on Longboat Key. The problem is how do we know they are right? If they are wrong they will destroy Longboat Key as we know and love it. This self-assured group is working tirelessly to rewrite both the land use codes and the comprehensive plan in an attempt to deconstruct the very codes and comp plan that have been used to create our great and unique community. How about another Plymouth Harbor behind Publix and/or at Whitney Plaza?

What are the Faux Sure people offering you and me? What do we know about their career histories? Would you want a clique of unknowns to have control of your finances? What do you really know about the present commissioners? What will happen to the market value of your property on Longboat Key if they are wrong? Expanded commercial tourism seldom mixes with low density exclusivity.

Up to now it made little difference who was on the commission because the town had a strong town manager who was easily able to control the commissioners by limiting their choices and feeding them well massaged information. So long as the town manager was on a strong course the commission was sure to follow.

This is no longer the case. We now have an activist commission who are on an accelerating quest to rewrite both the land use codes and the comprehensive plan to allow developers to have a free hand in developing large projects on the island with little accountability required. The commission has gone through four town managers in less than a month. What does that say to anyone wishing to apply for the town manager position in the future? The Faux Sures have re-instated the building department director when it is convenient for their purposes for short periods of time, in the midst of what may be a bona fide employee grievance process, by firing our police chief as the acting town manager. I was at the special meeting where Mayor Brown humiliated the police chief infront of the community. This was obscene. This sordid affair should have been carried out in a less offensive way. An already fractious situation has been exacerbated by ill tempered words and actions. Damage has been done and trust and confidence have been diminished. It is unclear if Ms. Simpson has been reinstated or not been reinstated. She appeared before the most recent planning and zonimg board meeting so one would assume she had been reinstated. Everything is unclear at the moment, the commissioners are unusually quiet and town hall is walking on soft boiled eggs hoping nothing else happens.

Where do we go from here and how to we find out if the Faux Sures are on the right track? We seem to have reached a point where the entire governance of Longboat Key is on shaky ground. The position of town manager has been compromised by five commissioners who shoot first and don't bother to ask questions later.

The current commission has now demonstrated that they either do not intend to be limited by, or do not know, the confines of their elected offices. We do have a town charter and that charter needs to be followed and obeyed. In recent years I cannot recall when the town attorney has been unable to find a way to support the commission. I find it hard to believe that everything the commission wants to do is always legally OK.

The Ends Justifies the Means?

Certain town politicians are now espousing the rationale that we must retain the Planning and Zoning Department director because she is too professional to lose. They are employing this rationale as their justification to excuse the director's behavior that had been allowed to go on under the former town manager. I am sorry that this story is not pretty. This article is based on official employee testimony that exposes the town to further criticism. As time goes on we may discover that all was not sweetness and light under the leadership of the former town manager. Personally, I cannot imagine being in the work environment described by numerous employees in the building department. In fifty or more years in the workplace, I have never witnessed anything like what is contained in the employee interviews. To say that girls will be girls or that managers repeatedly swear at staff, dismisses unacceptable behavior and abuse of power over employees with children to feed and mortgages to be paid. I am unable to stay silent in the face of numerous instances of humiliation and denigration. How this was allowed to go on for so long is something that needs to be investigated.

The commissioners appear to have a clear choice between their "useful" zoning director and the well being of an entire department. To me there is no choice and there is no lack of even more qualified land use and municipal code experts who can be retained by the town. We already hire consulting experts in several areas of town activities such as utility and beach projects. Marty Black comes to mind as an extremely qualified consultant who is already familiar with the town's codes and comprehensive plan. I believe Mr. Black is far more qualified and licensed than Ms. Simpson. Why not retain Marty Black?

No one is irreplaceable and no one should be indispensable when it comes to working conditions. If only one or two building department employees had complaints about their work environment, there might be a case for trying to mediate the manager / worker relationship. The current situation involves ten employees and descriptions about extreme and prolonged behavior patterns.

When one examines the input from all the land use experts who have disagreed with Ms. Simpson's interpretations of the town's poorly written codes and comprehensive plan over the years, it might be an unpleasant shock for the commission, the town's land use attorney and the town attorney if a new well qualified manager was hired to replace the current planning and zoning director. Perhaps that is why the commission has trespassed into areas of the town's charter that deny commissioners the right to hire and fire town employees. And that is just what the commission has done by hiring the former town manager's assistant to be the acting town manager, and then having her, in turn, return Ms. Simpson to the workplace, in spite of the fact that a well qualified acting town manager recently placed Ms. Simpson on leave until an investigation of her actions was completed. When the commissioners crossed the line in our charter they may have exposed the town to litigation. What the commission did was pure shenanigans to retain Ms. Simpson as a predictable interpreter of the town codes and comp plan.

I am one of many who feel that the current commission is abusing our charter and codes and that Ms. Simpson has repeatedly demonstrated her willingness to "find a way" by contorting and misrepresenting the the town's codes to suit the wishes of the pro-development commission and town attorneys. If Ms. Simpson had been doing a rock solid job of interpreting the town codes and charter, why has her work been challenged by so many residents and so many law suites?

I have always questioned Ms. Simpson's role in the cell tower struggle. I sincerely believe that she has been openly biased in favor of the cell tower builders. Rather than lead the commission to a place of informed decision making, Ms. Simpson has instead repeatedly told the commission that in her professional judgement that cell towers are the best solution. To the best of my knowledge, and having had conversations with Ms. Simpson, I am not aware that she possesses any expertise in the area of wireless communications. However, that has not stopped Ms. Simpson from leading an unsuspecting commission to baseless conclusions.

Marty Black would be an ideal solution for the present town dilemma. We do need expert advice concerning the future of our community and I believe Mr. Black would be of invaluable assistance.

Your Cell Phone and Fixed-Mobile Convergence

Much of the success of recent Apple products has been their elegant user interface making IPods/Ipads/IPhones easy to use. Google Android has emulated the Apple approach with great success. Simplicity of use has proven to be a viable business model. Smart phones and other smart data devices are taking over the world, or so it seems. My daughter and sub-teen grandchildren recently informed me that, even though I am "the greatest grandfather in the world", they only do texting, and that voice calls and email are yesterday's news. As I said technology is taking over our lives.

The cell phone carriers have not been oblivious to user wishes and demands. As a result, data usage on cell phones, notebook computers and pad devices has been increasing exponentially. In an effort to further simplify using a cell phone,, the carriers are migrating towards what is called Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC). FMC is the bringing together of previously disconnected communication technologies (cellular and wifi) to form a seamless umbrella of access for all modern data devices including smart cell phones such as IPhones, pad devices such as IPads and IPods and notebook computers.

The ultimate goal of FMC is to optimize transmission of all data, voice and video communications to and among end users, no matter what their locations or devices. In the more immediate future, FMC means that a single device can connect through and be switched between wired (wifi) and wireless networks.

AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Rogers and other carriers currently offer FMC to their business clients. Modern computer driven communication technologies enable companies to meld together various networks into a transparent web.

Any discussion about cell towers needs to be weighed against the overwhelming onslaught of newer technologies that offer vastly improver service along with simplicity of use compared to cell tower technology. FMC will offer phone users the option of a single phone number that will connect to land line phones, cell phones and other data devices such as IPads. FMC offers the opportunity to greatly reduce cell phone and/or land line costs while improving reception.

The backbone of Fixed-Mobile Convergence is the marriage of cellular networks with wifi networks. Most people on Longboat Key already have wifi in their homes. The town needs to extend wifi coverage throughout the community by installing a community wifi network on the island. Currently there are more than 126,000 square miles of municipal wifi globally, with the majority being in North America and Asia. I work with local tourist facilities where people ask for wifi access far more than they want cell service. Visitors want to be connected more than they need voice communications. We already have fairly good outdoor cell coverage. There are small pockets of poor service, along with individual residences with building construction issues. All these individuals can easily solve their indoor reception problems by switching carriers and/or using a wifi based FMC app on their cell phones.

Fixed-mobile convergence works will all cell carriers, even for foreign visitors who will no longer need expensive SIM cards or expensive global cell phones. In addition, all their other data devices will also function throughout our community.

Fixed-Mobile Convergence will deliver superior indoor cell phone access compared to any sort of cell tower that may or may not be constructed with one or two carriers. Cell towers will never improve access for all our data devices that we love and seem to need.

Fixed-Mobile Convergence is already in use by all the major cell carriers. We may never get a cell tower depending the economy and our community's continuing shift towards seasonal property owners. On the other hand FMC will be island-wide, indoors and outdoors for all data devices including smart cell phones. We need to embrace today's technological advances and leave the past behind us.

Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?

Presently 1 in 6 Americans live below the poverty line. At the hight of the Great Depression 1 in 4 were unemployed. No one knows if the world has seen the bottom of the current recession. There are billions of helpless people hoping for the best and expecting the worst. When one lives in paradise one tends to forget about the fear and the suffering that has overtaken so many in America. This article is about three families I have known for decades and what confronts them for perhaps the rest of their lives.

All the characters in my tale are in their late sixties or early seventies. All are, how shall we say, well bred and well educated. All are from upper-middle class backgrounds with doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs as parents. All were doing splendidly until 2008. All are currently living on social security, having spent their retirement money to ride out an economic maelstrom that lasted a little too long and consumed their homes in the process. Their situations have oddly brought them to the stark realization that they are destitute at about the same time. I have been the sad witness to it all. They are some of my closest friends. As my Argentinean friend described the economic collapse in his country - the rubber band stretched and stretched until one morning it snapped. Just like that  millions or people were in deep trouble with nowhere to turn. So it is with my friends. For the most part they have exhausted every source of assistance. They are confronted by years of old age and poverty. For them there will be no years of rest. I am so sad for my friends. It is a horrible reality I had never considered, since I was distant from the poor, living among the well-to-do in paradise.

The plight of my friends has smacked me in the face with the reality that we live in uncertain times, and but for fate I could be in a similar situation. I still could lose everything if there is an economic collapse in this country. I somehow side-stepped the stock market declines of 2000 and 2008. I was too risk-adverse to speculate in the housing bubble. I am lucky I guess.

I have Ivy League friends who are stockpiling sealed food stores and purchasing weapons and lots of ammunition. It seems all my "wise" friends have already purchased gold and silver in what they feel are sufficient quantities to ride out the worst, whatever that is.

My friends are now looking for jobs, any jobs, anything to earn money to pay the rent and buy food. My friends tell me about the dehumanizing experience of applying for jobs on-line, which is how it's done these days. It is well known that as a worker gets older it becomes more difficult to compete with younger workers. My friends are well aware that someone in their late sixties or early seventies applying for even entry level jobs faces a challenge. Why would an employer, in today's labor market, hire an old person?

The friends I am writing about have all hit the wall of realization at about the same time. They all realize that they are economically stranded but they are all still trying to deny it. Their new futures are so far away from their expectations that they are having a difficult time grasping the true meaning of desperation.

If my friends were the only ones facing a bleak old age there would be a good chance that they would be able to find a way back to some semblance of economic stability. But there are over 40 million Americans currently living below the poverty line. My friends have become part of a frightening statistic that may or may not become even worse. No one knows at this point in what is still being called a recession by both Democrat and Republican politicians and the media. Most likely those 40 plus million Americans, unable to make ends meet, have a different name for what they are experiencing.

Good luck to us all, especially my dear friends in their time if disillusionment with the American way.

Perhaps being an ideological anything is counterproductive if our divisions force our government to remain inactive. Let's all find a way to make America once again financially secure so my friends can go to bed tonight without fears of what tomorrow may bring.

You Should Know

You should know that your developer-friendly town government is rapidly trying to install tall cell towers up and down Longboat Key. The planning and zoning board is discussing opening up all town property for tall cell towers in direct repudiation of cell tower codes put into place less than three years ago after strong opposition to cell towers by the community. The town is doing this without any needs assessment or economic impact studies. Below are the results of a few studies about the impact of cell towers on real estate values.

The Bond and Hue - Proximate Impact Study:

The Bond and Hue study conducted in 2004 involved the alanysis of 9,514 residential home sales in 10 suburbs. The study reflected that close proximity to a Cell Tower reduced price by 15% on average.

The Bond and Wang - Transaction Based Market Study:

The Bond and Wang study involved the analysis of 4,283 residential home sales in 4 suburbs between 1984 and 2002. The study reflected that close proximity to a Cell Tower reduced price between 20.7%
and 21%.

The Bond and Beamish - Opinion Survey Study:

The Bond and Beamish study involved surveying whether people who lived within 100' of a tower would have to reduce the sales price of their home. 38% said they would reduce the price by more than 20%, 38% said they would reduce the price by only 1%-9%, and 24% said they would reduce their sale price by 10%-19%.

"As a licensed real estate broker with over 30 years of experience, it is
my professional opinion that the installation of a Cellular Tower can significantly reduce the value of neighboring residential properties"

Lawrence Oxman, Licensed Real Estate Broker

The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a denial of a Cell Tower application based upon testimony of residents and a real estate broker, that the Tower would reduce the values of property which were in close proximity to the Tower.

From Longboat Key real estate brokers:

Bruce Myer, of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, said that he doesn’t believe a tower is needed. “Based on the level of service that is achieved, I don’t see that it would be a help to real-estate values,” he said.

Hannerle Moore, a veteran Realtor with Michael Saunders and Co., also questioned whether a cell tower was needed. She said that she uses Verizon, which works with few interruptions on the north end, and said that she recently had a buyer for a $3.2 million home who walked away from the sale out of concerns about the proposed tower. “People perceive it as ugly, but, more importantly, as a health hazard,” she said. “Today’s buyers are into living longer and healthier, they take the time to go to Whole Foods and exercise, and they’re not going to move into a community with a cell tower.”

I have discussed cell towers on Longboat Key with several other island brokers. They all agree that cell towers in an exclusive community negatively impact real estate values and sales.

Oddly Longboat Key real estate agent Barbara Ackerman of Caldwell Banker responded to a request by Jim Eatrides, who is trying to get a 150 foot cell tower at the Island Chapel, to evaluate the impact of a "stealth" tower on Longboat Key. It should be noted that Ms. Ackerman recently sold Mr. Eatrides home on Longboat Key. Ms. Ackerman states “As a real estate professional with extensive knowledge of and experience in the Longboat Key real estate market, my opinion is that the proposed tower would not have a negative impact on nearby residential properties.”  Perhaps Ms. Ackerman did not know that the proposed tower is not a "stealth" tower but a rather imposing edifice 42 inches in diameter at the top (see picture below). It should also be noted that in Mr. Eatrides cell tower application, now before the town, that Ms. Ackerman's assessment stands alone with one other impact study from a blue collar neighborhood. 

Ask yourself if you had options would you purchase property close to a cell tower? If no, is it because you believe that other people will not want to purchase a home near a tall cell tower?

What the planning and zoning bord and the commission are about to do may seriously impact real estate values on Longboat Key in the tens of millions of dollars in lost property values as a direct result of unsightly cell towers in an upscale community.

Is it worth it to apease a few residents and a local cell tower developer? That is for you to decide. Do we need island-wide wifi for our notebooks, smart phones and IPads more than we need improved indoor cell phone reception for a few seasonal residents on the north end? Our mostly appointed commissioners are most likely on the verge of causing real damage to our real estate values. Why?

I urge every resident to become part of the discussion. I feel things are bad enough without our commissioners causing further declines in property values.

Proposed 150 foot cell tower as Island Chapel.

The Blind Leading the Blind

Why does the commission and the planning and zoning board avoid technical issues such as water/sewer pipeline projects or deciding which equipment is purchased by our police and public safety departments, while at the same time seeking to micro-manage far more technically complex issues such as community-wide telecommunication?

At a recent commission meeting Ms. Simpson, the planning and zoning department director, told the commissioners that the town's public safety managers might want to locate 800 megahertz antennas on cell towers to improve the current spotty public safety band radio reception on the island. Spotty 800 MHz reception is common in all sorts of communities from large cities to rural areas. Many of these municipalities employ vehicle mounted booster radios with high-gain antennas to insure adequate radio reception inside buildings and outlying areas. Having a vehicle mounted signal booster provides a strong signal wherever police and fire staff are located. Having the radio signal in close proximity to the hand-held radios is a superior solution to a distant cell tower, where the signal may be attenuated by intervening buildings and trees. There are many companies that supply the public safety sector with 800 MHz vehicle mounted booster packs. I assume that our fire and safety personnel already use vehicle mounted booster packs. I assume the booster packs work well. I hope the town has not been waiting years for the possibility of using a cell tower when good safety communications has always been available.

Why are we looking at cell tower solutions that have a profound negative impact on property values when there may be far less invasive solutions? Is the commission sufficiently informed to make optimal decisions in highly technical engineering fields?

Too often the previous town manager used his golden Rolodex of no-bid contract vendors to inform the commission about various topics. For the past 20 years I have cautioned the town about limiting itself to the proposals from a single company that also stands to make a lot of money if their advice is accepted. I congratulate the current commission for breaking a decades-old dysfunction by demanding that town staff do a more thorough job of supplying the commission with accurate and complete information. However, if the messengers are themselves uninformed then the process cannot succeed. Such is the history of cell towers on Longboat. To date, the entire cell phone process has been a monologue conducted by a cell tower salesman who represents himself as an expert. For some reason the previous town manager and Ms. Simpson have doggedly insisted that the cell tower salesperson's pitch was all that the commission needed to know.

I have no idea how a cell tower salesman managed to convince Ms. Simpson and the former town manager that they need look no further than the top of a 150 foot tower to solve all our communications needs. Unfortunately, this is a very limited solution for a much greater challenge that confronts our community as we begin to enter the baby-boomer era of fast evolving wireless telecommunications technologies. 

During the past four or more years that the cell tower company has pitched their rather imposing structure at one place or another on Longboat, there has never been a discussion about the adverse impact on local property values. Finally, two prominent real estate people have come forward and affirmed that cell towers in upscale communities seriously impact surrounding property values. Today the Observer printed their comments. I am sure more real estate people will join the chorus when they realize that a cell tower will scare people away from our community. People who can afford to purchase property anywhere they choose, do not choose communities with ugly and unsafe cell towers in their midst. 

Longboat Key deserves a well designed modern communications infrastructure. Unfortunately the town staff in charge of advising the planning and zoning board and the commission appear to be too cozy with the cell tower salespeople. I am uncomfortable seeing Steve Shields, planning and zoning staff member in charge of the current cell tower application at the Island Chapel, with his arm over the shoulder of Mr. Eatrides, cell tower applicant, at Harry's Cafe, beaming from ear to ear. I am uncomfortable with Ms. Simpson repeatedly sitting with the cell tower salespeople at advertised commission and planning and zoning meetings. I dislike the appearance of bias and a good-old-boy relationship between public servants and salespeople looking for favors. I am not alone in having strong objections to either Ms. Simpson or Mr. Shields having anything to do with cell tower applications or town communications policy. I do not feel that either employee has the requisite credentials or technical background to be in charge of such a complex and important element in our community's future.

We need to do better now that we have turned a new leaf so to speak.

Asking for Informed Government

This picture is a licensed surveyor's to-scale rendition of the proposed 150 foot cell tower at the Island Chapel using the dimensions appearing in Ridan's application. The upper 60 feet of the tower is 42 inches in diameter and 72 inches at the base.

Please note the recently purchased Grand Mariner luxury condominiums in the background along with the church steeple. The Grand Mariner building lies within 260 feet of the proposed cell tower that will be located directly in their line-of-sight.

 Did you know that on September 1st the planning and zoning board spent over an hour listening to a lawyer named Gary Resnic, from Gray Robinson in Boca Raton, about multiple cell towers on Longboat Key? Neither did I, until after the planning and zoning board meeting, even though Steve Shields, who is in charge of the current cell tower application, was asked about the meeting agenda two days prior to the meeting, and said the only agenda item was the transportation elements of the comprehensive plan. Mr. Resnic's hour plus presentation did not appear in the published agenda, so no one from the public was informed about a major discussion by the planning and zoning board about cell towers. What has happened to fair and open government in our community that people are sneaked into advertised public meetings? The planning and zoning board then spent less than 20 minutes on the advertised transportation agenda item. I also wish to point out that even if a resident had accidentally attended the meeting, their participation would have most likely been limited to all of 3 minutes. A few years ago when an industry expert from Next-G traveled hundreds of miles to address the commission about DAS, the commission granted him all of 3 minutes, while listening to the cell tower salesperson for hours on end, meeting after meeting. On two occasions the town manager conducted private meetings with the cell tower salesperson, outside the commission chamber, in the middle of an advertised public commission meeting. If the planning and zoning board now contends, after talking to a cell tower lawyer for an hour, that it has vetted the island's communications needs, and commences to once again recommend multiple cell towers up and down our island, then I feel they have failed their fiduciary obligation to serve the public to the best of their abilities. I contend that talking for an hour with a cell tower lawyer, who admitted that he had no technical knowledge about cell towers, the need for cell towers, or the public's desire to have or not have tall cell towers within their community, then the planning and zoning board has failed their duty.

The last time the planning and zoning board recommended multiple cell towers on Longboat Key, the community responded with a petition, with over 630 signatures from north end registered voters, that they did not want any structures over 35 feet. They packed the commission chamber on several occasions and the commission voted unanimously to retain our current cell tower codes. That commission listened and are to be congratulated for being responsive to their constituents. The current chairperson of the planning and zoning board recently stated that we now have a different commission with reference to long standing cell tower policies supported by decades of previous town commissions.

Now we have a commission, along with their appointed planning and zoning board, that do not appear to be even slightly concerned with what the residents want. For the past two years the word resident has been seldom mentioned by the commission. On the other hand, we here more and more about how it is the town's obligation to promote business and development on Longboat, and that the codes and comp plan must be gutted to welcome unbridled development. Cell towers will most likely be their first concerted effort, and their actions will have a severe financial impact on surrounding property values, while reaping huge financial gains for cell tower companies. All this without ever asking industry experts to educate the community about what is best for our exclusive town.

The unwillingness of the commission and the planning and zoning board to get input from anyone except cell tower salespeople, and cell tower company lawyers, will most likely prevent more technically advanced forms of communications from ever reaching our island, thus impeding our path to becoming a technically advanced community that will attract tech-savvy baby-boomer home-buyers. This has been confirmed by a large cell tower company executive.

Our neighbors on Anna Maria have retained an industry expert to assist their efforts to rewrite their communications codes. Here the commission will control the process to include input exclusively from cell tower salespeople and their lawyers. This is unfortunate if your are a homeowner. Our community needs island-wide broadband wifi along with less expensive alternatives to the high fees being charged by Comcast and Verizon. When visitors come to our island they bring their IPads and notebook computers. They want wifi far more that cell phones since they already have VOIP phone apps such as Line2 on all their smart devices. These apps are carrier neutral so even people with small carriers receive great cell phone reception indoors and outdoors if wifi is available.

The Key Club might attract more and younger quests if they offered wifi in the hotel rooms instead of just in the lobby area. Longboat Key is badly behind the times in terms of modern communications available in most other up-scale communities. Pervasive wifi is essential to compete in these times. Cell towers are antiquated and soon to be replaced by less expensive technologies. Ask your children what they think? Do you want a cell tower salesperson to decide your communications future?

If the commission and the planning and zoning board make uninformed decisions, advised only by cell tower salespeople and their lawyers, they will undoubtedly make uninformed decisions and we all know what that usually means. Who will buy homes in a community that is controlled by people who have no regard for well established and proved community codes? Who will buy homes in a community divided by strife and lawsuits and a town government that has ceased to listen to its people?

Of Crocodile Tears and Propaganda

Crocodile Tears:

Last evening I witnessed an interesting spectacle at the end the the commission meeting, in the form of an emotional reaction by the commissioners to the perceived mistreatment of Commissioner Larson at the hands of a guest columnist in the Longboat Key News, and thus by extension to the editor of the paper, Steve Reid. To his credit, Mr. Reid defended the basic American right to a free press. As an American who has had members of my family fight in every war of freedom ever fought by this country, including two family members who fought in the Revolutionary War, I object to anyone trying to intimidate the press, even though I often disagree with entire segments of what now sadly postures as news in this country, both on the far right and the far left. It does not help the commission's case that at least one commissioner has publicly called for the demise of the LBK News. Unfortunately, the other paper has morphed itself to a social register and real estate listing for their advertisers. I don't know anyone who goes there for credible news.

It alarms me that another columnist in the LBK News used a disgusting four letter word to describe the president of the United States of America, and not a single commissioner voiced any objections. I am proud that I did respond strongly to that mean-spirited slander. There were no four letter words attributed to commissioner Larson, yet last night the commissioners spent about twice as much time complaining about that newspaper column than they spent on approving the 2012 budget and millage rate combined.

I have been politically active on Longboat for over 25 years. During that time I have read many articles in both local newspapers that were highly critical and unflattering towards certain town staff and/or elected officials. I include myself as one of them. When one willingly becomes a public figure one also accepts that not everyone will agree with your views and actions. I wonder why the commissioners have once again forgotten that they are politicians and fair game for public scrutiny. If you become apoplectic about some columnist saying that a commissioner acts unintelligently, and you do not react to much worse personal attacks on your country's president, then you lose credibility through inconsistency.

Propaganda:

In response to my comment in the LBK News, asking the town to once again consider alternative beach stabilization technologies, in light of a recent Army Corps of Engineer's mandated three year test of the Granger Plastics "Sand Saver" devices on the shores of Lake Michigan, the mayor responded "Not one well-known company has anything positive to say about the company Mr. Jaleski is supporting. Why is this not apparent to Mr Jaleski ?". My response is two-fold.

First, the inaccuracy of the statement does nothing to further the community dialog surrounding the glaring failures of the commission's current beach policies. The taxpayers have just thrown $4 million plus dollars into the Gulf of Mexico in the past three months with little to nothing to show for it at the north end beach. I am requesting that the mayor produce a certified list of all the "well-known companies" that have nothing "positive to say about the company". Here are a few "well-known" companies that will not be on the mayor's list - Department of Defense (DOD), Temporpedic, and DHL Global, along with many other well-known Granger Plastics clients. I believe the mayor owes Granger Plastics and me an apology for his baseless attack on both Granger Plastics and me. He has shown disrespect towards me as a resident and he is also blatantly wrong. This type of mean-spirited misuse of public office needs to be answered and that is just what I am doing here.

My second complaint is more serious. I find it dangerous when a high-profile elected official uses that position to make frequent unsubstantiated personal attacks on all those who dare question his power and prowess. Too often I have read the same response from this elected official, to those who question his judgment, in the form of - he/she/they don't know what they are talking about. I like to believe that such comments are beneath our town officials. Once again at last night's commission meeting this response was hurled at Al Green. Of course, this only highlights the fact that the commissioners probably have no idea that their meetings are recorded on digital audio and video and are available on-line. I often use these facilities when I am fact-checking.

Last night's unfounded commission attack on Steve Reid, and freedom of the press, seemed to be hypocritical and unattractive. I am an opinion columnist who tries to inform the residents of my community about what I believe to be important alternative views to those put forth by the town government. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we disagree. I always try to be constructive and always offer alternatives. I love Longboat Key and only want the best for our town. I strongly object to threats and intimidation by certain elected and appointed officials.

Don't Get Cute

Excuse me if I profess to being a little confused about what it is that the commission and the Key Club are doing these days.

For the past eighteen months we have been told repeatedly by the commissioners that they are hard at work developing tourism and retail business on Longboat Key. So far their efforts have not produced a single improvement in either sector of the island's economy. To the contrary, the commissioners have been unable to have a positive affect on declining home sales and prices, as well as more and more shuttered businesses. I am reminded of a billboard along the freeway in Seattle in the early 70's that read "Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn off the lights". I am sure that the commissioners are as aware as anyone else of the passing months and years of economic decline on the island. I do not believe that long-range plans and projections will have a positive impact on our current dilemma.

Perhaps their efforts might be better spent promoting Longboat Key today and not some commercial Shangri-La that might or might not materialize in a decade or two. I am afraid that most of us will not be here to see any possible benefits from their tourism expansion plans.

I have read one commissioner's comments that the commission is merely trying to restore tourism to the level that existed on Longboat twenty years ago. I am afraid that will be insufficient in today's tourism market. Building a dozen ten story hotels on the north end of the island, with retail shops on the ground floor, will not transform our elite residential retirement-home community into any sort of viable tourism destination for more than a few months a year. And that is if anyone in this country still has any money. I believe many taxpayers need to sell their homes now, not fifteen years from now.

For the past twenty-two months the commission has dedicated itself to transforming our comprehensive plan and building codes to conform to a blueprint submitted by the Key Club in the form of ordinances 2009-25 and 2010-16 . One commissioner has stated that the Key Club application illuminated the inability of our comprehensive plan and codes to accommodate increased density, and that is why it has become the duty of the commission to change the town's regulations. The commissioner failed to mention that caps on density were put there intentionally by the wise architects of a community development plan that has created one of the premier second-home retirement communities in the world. At the same time the commission and town attorney contend that all the time and money being spent by the town and taxpayers has nothing to do with the Key Club, and therefore the Key Club does not have to reimburse the town for costs associated with altering and litigating numerous alterations to the comp plan and codes, that in fact were first defined by the Key Club as being required to make the club expansion street legal. I am confused when public officials say two things at the same time that are exclusionary.

The Key Club management and their legal minions represent another enigma for me. I was on the original commission that initially listened to many paid lobbyists for the Key Club expansion proposal, including Mr. Lesser, who assured us that the Loeb Group was a friendly neighbor in our community. Reading the most recent Key Club forum article in the LBK News, the Loeb Group and their lawyers now sound like shrill petulant three-year-olds in a candy store, who have just been told they will just have to wait until all the court suits have been completed before they may be able to increase their raw land value, with the willing help of a professed developer-friendly commission. I am saddened by the harsh hard-line legal threats currently being used by the Key Club. Whatever became of the warm and friendly Key Club? I wonder if Mr. Lesser realizes the folks he is threatening can easily purchase the Key Club, but are smart enough to avoid investments with diminishing returns. Perhaps the Loeb Group is experiencing cash-flow problems and needs to speed up the whole process of gutting our land use codes. Unfortunately the Loeb Group chose to use politics instead of government to try to achieve unwarranted density increases at Island Side. Now they are reaping their own rewards. To his credit the town attorney tried to persuade Mr. Lesser to use a less problematic approach.

More and more of those people in favor of turning our idyllic tropical paradise into Reddington Beach are using insults and intimidation to try to achieve their ends. Perhaps the time has come for the silent majority to come forward and become part of the democratic process. If you are not willing to participate then you have no right to complain no matter how you feel about tourism on Longboat Key. 

Reduced Standard of Living

World Consumption of Resources by Per-capita Income



We in the United States consume roughly 24% of the world's natural resources while we represent less than 8% of the world's population. We can do this because we are the richest society. Until recently our economy could afford to purchase these resources on the world market. Before the 21st century a majority of the earth's people lived in 3rd world countries lacking the industrial base to even make use of resources, much less be able to afford things such as automobiles, air conditioning, running water, super markets, etc. Prior to this decade American's consumption of over a quarter of the earth's resources had little impact on unindustrialized nations since their economies were stagnant and

demand for additional resources remained fairly low.

Everything has changed. We now live in a global society. Many countries and regions are rapidly emerging into industrial economies. I read a UN study that calculated that when a country creates an industrial economy, its consumption of resources increases six fold.

Crude oil prices reflect the new global supply and demand economy, where we pay between $65 to $90 to refuel our large automobiles. Likewise the cost of building supplies and even basic foods are quickly being enveloped by the world economy. Poorer countries are already paying the price of the world's inability to grow enough food. Food prices have nowhere to go but up. As more and more people become members of industrialized economies they will have more money to spend, which will inevitably drive up prices.

America has paid a price for its high lifestyle. I have read that if you combine the national debt, private debt and decades long trade deficit debt, the figure exceeds 60 trillion dollars. The US has most likely stretched its credit to the point where our nation may be forced to devalue its currency and restructure both governmental and private debt. It is doubtful we will continue to be able to afford our luxurious lifestyle in a global market where more and more millions of people are gaining affluence and will be able to compete for the limited resources that are the direct result of the growing global population.

What will life be like when Americans have to live within their means? I try to imagine existing on less than 1/3rd of what I presently consume. Most residents on Longboat are at the top of the economic food-chain and are old enough that we will avoid the inevitable changes brought on by the emerging global economy. Still if we do not begin to tighten our belts we may discover that the party is already over and that like Argentina and Greece we are faced with immediate and harsh economic realities.

Let Them Eat Cake

What will life be like on Longboat Key when Publix demolishes all the existing buildings at Avenue of the Flowers and replaces them with a new shopping center? A process that may take the better part of a year.

I hope our commissioners are going to tell us that they went to Lakeland and persuaded Publix to somehow maintain a food market and drug store on the island while the old structures are being replaced.

If the commissioners think that tourism, retail and restaurant businesses are suffering now, imagine Longboat Key with neither a food market nor a drug store for an extended period of time.

Ask yourself if you would recommend Longboat Key to friends if they have to travel over ten miles into Sarasota or Bradenton to obtain the basic necessities for vacationing on our island in a rental condominium unit or house. I suspect both Publix and CVS do a lot of business even with day visitors to our beaches.

I am told that there will soon be an anchor business in the Whitney Plaza market space, after two years of being unoccupied. If the commission had foreseen the problems that will arise when Avenue of the Flowers is torn down, perhaps they might have negotiated some sort of arrangement, where both Publix and CVS would renovate the Whitney Plaza buildings and open temporary services at the north end of the island. Such an arrangement could have gone a long way to alleviate the quality of life issues that will most likely result from not having basic services on Longboat Key for months and months. Of course, sales profits would be the motivation for Publix and CVS and would end up costing the chains little to nothing to make the temporary move.

Perhaps the town might have donated both legal and staff resources to assist Publix/CVS to make repairs to the Whitney Plaza buildings, which are somewhat in disrepair. The town is already donating legal and staff services in Mr. Loeb's efforts at the Key Club. If such an arrangement had been negotiated between Publix/CVS and Whitney Plaza, the island residents and tourists would have somewhere to buy food and medicines while Avenue of the Flowers is being rebuilt. Additionally, the owners of Whitney Plaza would at least have had some income for a year and be left with greatly repaired structures.  A win-win solution.

The commission has committee after committee and meeting after meeting presumably working on how to help developers expand their efforts on Longboat Key. It is unfortunate that the commissioners appear to have forgotten about we the people and our basic needs.

The commission's failure to help find an alternative solution to shopping for basic needs on Longboat while Publix is out of service may have a major impact on the reputation of Longboat Key, at a critical time in our community's efforts to improve property sales. Maintaining basic services is job one for any government. 

Great Indoor Cell Phone Service All Over Longboat Key

Line2 Cell Phone App for IPhone, Android and Blackberry Phones

Anyone who wants to save money, whether it be on their monthly land-line bill or their cell phone bill or both, might want to look into the highly reviewed Line2 cell phone service being offered on IPhone/IPad/IPod, Android and Blackberry wifi enabled phones for $10 a month. Here are a few good reasons for having Line2 service on your cell phone.

1. Great cell phone reception inside your home with fast data. Longboat already has good in-car cell phone service except when driving past Avenue of the Flowers. I have never dropped a call in my car for many years except near Publix.

2. Line2 users get unlimited local and continental long distance voice and data for $10 a month. Calls can be placed and received on your cell phone anywhere that wifi is available.

3. Line2 will port your current home phone number over to Line2 at no charge. Or you can get a new phone number or port any phone number. Verizon charges $29 a month for their basic Verizon Freedom^® Value land-line service. Comcast charges about $30 monthly for their VOIP phone service, which is what I was using before I switched to Line2. Now I get local and long distance for $10 a month with my same home phone number on my cell phone. I have cut the wire!

4. Using the Line2 service will enable you to reduce your monthly minutes on your cell phone contract for both voice and data, since all the calls you make and receive at home on your cell phone using Line2 will  not count against your cell phone plan. This will also save you lots of money.

5. While traveling you can make and receive calls on your cell phone from family and friends at no charge from your hotel room or public wifi hot-spots around the world. If there is no available wifi then you can always use your normal cell phone service.

6. Line2 service includes unlimited messaging with the added convenience of voice-to-messaging so you won't even have to type. Thank goodness this feature probably won't work while you are driving.

The Line2 app looks and functions just like the regular phone app on your cell phone.

If you are renting your home then the renters need not worry about being from a foreign country or having a cell service provider that has no coverage in this part of the country. Simply have them download the Line2 app for free for 30 days. It couldn't be more simple.

The term "convergence" is fast becoming part of the mainstream cell phone conversation, as carriers try to off-load traffic from their beleaguered networks, and wifi is the way they are all headed. Already T-Mobil offers service exactly like Line2 to their customers. All new cell phones are wifi enabled and automatic wifi calling from cell phones will soon be an integral part of cell phone service.

If you are one of the Longboat Key residents who wants, but does not have, good indoor cell phone coverage, then Line2 may solve your problem while saving you money. You can try Line2 for free for a month to see if Line2 fulfills your in-home cell phone needs.

I am quite happy with Line2. It is transparent to use, looks and works just like the existing phone app. I figure I am saving $50 a month since I was able to terminate my land-line service with Comcast and reduce my voice and data plans. I no longer worry about long phone calls on my cell phone while I am at home. I find I use my cell phone more since I placed the Line2 app on my IPhone.