Flip-flops aren't just for walking

With the weekend came the opportunity to hear the local press’ assessment of the Kissimmee charter review committee. The press coverage is, shall we say, enlightening regarding the psyche of our commissioners concerning the committee, as well as the assessment of the committee members.

Or should we say potential committee members? From reading Mark Pino’s column, it appears that not everyone who was appointed to the committee has yet accepted the appointment. Is it possible that some commissioners made appointments without confirming that their appointee was willing to serve?

In describing the backgrounds of the candidates, both papers spoke only of criminal records (or accusations) when discussing former commissioners George Gant and Steve Burke. Well, not exactly, as Pino seemed to suggest that Burke wasn’t interested in serving. In any case, the press will continue to keep the individual members’ backgrounds at the forefront of the discussion, enforcing the public opinion that those in government should be held to a higher standard. We wonder if this commission had given any thought to the shadow that now could be cast over the committee.

Commissioner Carlos Irizarry is quoted by the News-Gazette as saying “They know the rules better than us” when advocating appointing former elected officials to the committee. We find this statement disturbing.

We are still trying to unravel the whole “flip-flopping” that occurred with regard to appointing former elected officials. Apparently, Commissioners Gemskie and Van Meter tried to convince their peers to appoint new faces to the committee, but then appointed former elected officials after they perceived that the other commissioners were doing so. Yet, the only commissioners who appointed former elected officials as their individual appointees were Irizarry, Gemskie, and Van Meter. So, we have to ask, since Commissioner Van Meter was first out of the gate to make an appointment, what persuaded her to change her position? Once Van Meter flip-flopped, Commissioner Irizarry appointed Steve Burke, who we are still not sure will take the position. Then Commissioner Gemskie decided that an “ordinary citizen” wouldn’t have a chance against all these high-powered former officials, so he went into the commission alumni directory and selected Joe Hemphill? We wonder if any of the commission notes which are public record would have revealed the commissioners true choices had they not felt the last minute pressure to appoint former elected officials.

That kind of pressure is pretty amazing, since these were individual appointments, not a case of a commissioner needing to get majority approval to pass a motion. Actions speak louder than words, especially leading up to an election.