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.