The Contest

Finding new ways to sell a home, housing development, or strip mall center in Osceola County has become more of contest than it has urban planning. To this end, the Destiny Housing Project has upped its gamesmanship by bringing in Dominion Development Partners to sell the idea of a Alternative Energy Water Industrial Park to justify building more homes than our county could every support. The developers are anxious to let the "Contest" begin because they want to find out who is truly the master of our domain.

While the most trusted source of honest information in our county, Ex-State Representative Randy Johnson who is leading the charge for the Destiny housing project, has been out touting the development as the 'First Eco-Sustainable' community, he has been concentrating hard to keep his rhetoric under control so his claims are not proven to be premature. These claims depend on decisions from the State of Florida and Osceola County Commissioners. Mr. Johnson understands that to be the master of our domain, he must outlast his supporters as well as his detractors.

Most of the project supporters have already slapped their money on the counter and declared they were not only out of the contest, but would gladly lose again if they had to. Some nice ego stroking by pitchmen like Mr. Johnson can set the heart a flutter and make the very idea of an unemployment rate of 15% sound agreeable. History has shown that, County Commissioners have never been known for their ability to say no to a huge development and do not want to be the masters of their domain, even when the residents of their community want them to be. For them, the urges to develop are much to strong, and it is to easy to declare, "I'm Out."

The plan now is to tempt the detractors of the project into giving in to their need to release their stronghold on the development community. The promise of a dominating partner who will create an "Alternative Energy Industrial Park" might be just what it takes to attract those with alternative tastes. While the park is still just a late night fantasy, it seems that the promise of a technology incubator in a secluded area of Osceola County might be just what it takes to generate the groundswell of support from those who know better. Anticipation, after all, is exciting.

Since the WayneWho staff has no plans to leave behind the community we love for the promise of the County's new "Clean Slate Society," our excitement level for the project hasn't really changed. It could also be that now that all of our staff have had to go back to work, or seek a second source of income, our excitement level for the pitchmen, and pitch-women, who helped to create this economic nightmare remains low. We should also note that our feelings on the Destiny Housing Project reflect the sentiment of many of those who are working to survive in Osceola. This might explain why the Destiny Developers are being forced to clean up a PR mess that they have been losing since the start of the project. While those who aspire to be "green collar" workers might be easily seduced, most of us old "blue collar" types have heard these promises before. We know what losing this contest really means.