Love That Filler

With the start of Baseball season underway, the WayneWho staff loves to take in a game now and then to enjoy all that our ballparks have to offer. There is nothing better on a weekday than catching the Rays and enjoying a hot dog or two. Hot dogs always taste better at the ballpark than they do at home, so it is worth the gas on a trip to Tampa to savor the flavor of fillers we can't actually identify. The same thing goes for Kissimmee City Commission Meetings. Lots of fillers that we are just not sure about, but with enough mustard, we eat anyway.

Tonight's City of Kissimmee Commission meeting is a good example of useless filler mixed with some real issues that will probably not get the attention they deserve. The first 'Proclamation' filler on the agenda is to proclaim this week, All-America City Week. This is the one year anniversary of our grand slam win (among the other winners) of the All-America City pageant bestowed onto us by the National Civic League. For those who remember our slide into home plate for the pageant last year, you will remember that no one from the National Civic League visited our city, and that the only criteria was to pay an entrance fee, pay to send a team of cheerleaders to Tampa (with private money, unlike the year before), and then once we were declared one of the winners, pay the National Civic League to use the winning logo. From the looks of our city compared to a year ago, the only real winner was the National Civic League because everyone has to pay them. The WayneWho staff thinks our city looked much better before we won the pageant. The signs went up and the businesses pulled out. We can only assume that this is a chance for those who want to run for office again to remind everyone of their pageant success so when they illegally use the All-America City Logo on the next set of campaign postcards, it will mean something.

We assume that this discussion will elicit more cheers from the commission than the discussion on adjusting the types of businesses allowed in the Historic Downtown corridor. It seems the main focus, that we agree with, is to make sure the Downtown Corridor does NOT end up with a 'Check Cashing' or 'Payday Loan' front in its mix. The problem that we see with the changes to the ordinance is that the commission has relied on staff to create the vision for what the downtown is to look like without communicating with the business community already in the downtown. What types of businesses are talking to building owners to rent a space that are automatically being turned away? With the addition of all the new bars in downtown, are there other types of businesses that should be looked at to continue to build a nightlife? And, the most important question, is that really the downtown our community wants? Relying on staff to create this vision from the safety of their offices is probably not the best long term strategy if the plan is to win a pennant. Staff has consistently steered the commission and policy in the wrong direction creating many errors on the field. While this has not always been the fault of staff because of the bizarre directions given by the commission, staff has still not proven to be the best choice in visioning a real community.

While we would encourage the commission to look at passing this item, we think that a quick meeting with the current business community in the Downtown and the groups that represent it should be done first. Not as much to change this amendment, but to make sure that the vision that is being created is one that will ensure us a series title. If nothing else, it might give everyone a chance to sit down and enjoy a hot dog or two.