Failed Vision

A couple of weeks ago the non-profit organization 'Community Vision' gave its annual 'Community Report Card' update to the Kissimmee City Commission. Gone from the report were the typical practiced gleefull cheerleading routines pointing out taxpayer subsidized projects that had held our community together with band-aids for far too long. Gone was the cheery disposition from the organization's Executive Director who's cheeriness during the All-America City debacle was the first indication that the Award meant more for non-profits than it did the community at large. Gone from the report was any sense of direction in which the community should turn to make things better. The vision for the community, it would seem, is not looking all that good.

As the director finished her briefing, we waited to hear ideas from our City Commissioners and heard nothing. Reports from the County Commission meeting indicate that same scenario repeated itself in their chambers. No ideas, no vision. Many would think that with an all star cast of who's who sitting on the Community Vision Board of Directors that a solid vision for our community vision on how to move forward would be only a simple phone call away, but still no vision. The WayneWho staff was not all that shocked by the fact that the idea well had run dry since, when you look at the cast of characters on the Community Vision board, you notice the same recycled cast of characters from almost every other board in the community. You also notice the same politicians and special interest personalities that seem to come together like white-on-rice. Considering every agency in Osceola County seems to be on the brink of financial ruin, it seems that instead of relying on the same group of people who have helped create the problems in our community, the groups would start to branch out and bring in some new blood. Of course that would take vision, and as we stated earlier, there seems to be no vision left in our community.

So where will the community go from here? Who will lead us to better days ahead? Well the City Commission spent most of it's meeting last night arguing how the titles of vice mayor and mayor pro-tem should be decided, so obviously they are not going to be a big help. The county commission is still wrapped up in making sure the favors for campaign supporters are finalized before the bottom falls out of the budget and another round of layoffs begins. The school board is... let's just say they are not really holding it together that well and should not be relied on for much of anything except for a good dance-off now and again. Many of the individuals these organizations have come to count on to serve on boards have begun to abandon their posts like rats from a sinking ship. This was proven at the same Kissimmee Commission meeting as commissioners argued over who would be stuck on the Community Vision board. It seems no one wants to get sucked into any organization that might look like a tax money blackhole. So the question remains, where do we go and who will get us there?

We would say that the answer is more simple than most would think. There is only one group of people who can force governments to be accountable for their actions and responsible with the money we entrust in them. There is only one group that can, by the power of voice and vote, force government to follow the strict vision of the people it is meant to govern. The answer is you. You have the power to not only layout the vision for your community, but you have the power to make sure it gets implemented. Remember that it is you that makes government work and not the other way around. It is not the vision of campaign mailers and billboards that will build a better community, it is the ideas from members of our community that will.

It might sound simple, but in the absence of any false vision created by government officials and non-profit tax-subsidized organizations, it is the vision that we should explore and trust first. You have been selected to serve.