Politics of Division

Kissimmee City Commissioner Artero Otero has decided to push forward with his agenda to incorporate "In God We Trust" into the city logo as a way to further divide our community. It appears that his goal now is to create a religious and social climate of hate to send a message to President Obama and local democrats that their 'socialist' ways are bad. He wants to do this by taking the expensive logo change initiative directly to the voters so they can not only pay $200,000 to change the logo, but they can also pay an additional $67,000 for a special election to decide on how the city's stationery should look. All of this expense Commissioner Otero justifies under a banner of patriotism where he admits that unless the phrase "In God We Trust" is added to the logo, he will not feel patriotic because of the "socialist" direction of our country. Maybe this is because Commissioner Otero does not know the history of our most recent national motto, "In God We Trust."

The words "In God We Trust" were placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment that existed during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861 which was written by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania. Secretary Chase instructed the Director of the US Mint James Pollock, who believed that the United States must become an official theocracy, to develop motto for US Coinage. In "God We Trust" was first used on the bronze two-cent piece which was issued from 1864 to 1873. The use of "In God We Trust" has not been with out some lapses. The motto disappeared from the five-cent coin in 1883, and did not reappear until production of the Jefferson nickel began in 1938. Since 1938, all United States coins have had the inscription. Later, the motto was found missing from the new design of the double-eagle gold coin and the eagle gold coin shortly after they appeared in 1907. The motto has been in continuous use on the one-cent coin since 1909, and on the ten-cent coin since 1916. It also has appeared on all gold coins and silver dollar coins, half-dollar coins, and quarter-dollar coins struck since July 1, 1908.

In 1955 Congress passed a bill to have the motto placed on paper currency, and it first appeared on bills two years later. In 1956, Congress passed a resolution declaring "In God We Trust" the national motto. Our Country's original national motto, "E Pluribus Unum" ("out of many, [come] one,") celebrating plurality and diversity, still appears on the Presidential Seal and on some paper currency.

During the height of the cold war in 1965, commonly known as the McCarthy era, public profession of religious beliefs was seen as a litmus test of the ideological war against those who were 'godless' communist and was when the motto "In God We Trust" replaced "E Pluribus Unum." It was during the same time frame that "under God" was added to the secular Pledge of Allegiance and "so help me God" was mandated to end all oaths for federal justices and judges. It is interesting to note that the original Pledge of Allegiance, which was crafted by a Baptist minister, was completely secular and contained no reference to a “God.”

For those of us who consider ourselves good God fearing Christian patriots of the original ideals of the United States of America, we still believe in our original motto of "E Pluribus Unum" which is obviously what Commissioner Otero stands against. His attempt to create an atmosphere in local government that only those who believe in his god deserve the attention of government has moved Commissioner Otero beyond the realm of bad policy and into a realm of separatism. While the WayneWho staff applauds Commissioner Otero convictions in his religious beliefs and defend his religious rights, we have to question if his ability to work for the all the citizens of our community is still possible? Commissioner Otero has made it painfully clear that he will refuse to defend all of his constituents if their social or religious beliefs land in the realm of what he sees as "socialist," so we have to wonder if he should resign from his seat because he can not accomplish his duties?

Like many other great republican leaders, maybe he should resign to continue his fight for his style of government on a much larger scale. Elected officials are not suppose to have the luxury of picking and choosing who the represent based on beliefs, but this is a debate that some would like to have. Our belief is that elected officials are elected to represent all law abiding citizens for whom they were elected to serve. Commissioner Otero has made it clear these are not his intentions and we have to wonder if the job of being a commissioner is just getting in his way?

While we have received many e-mails about recall efforts to remove Commissioner Otero from his seat, we would argue that this is not the right direction for our community. Creating more hateful dialog is not what will heal this community. Right now, both sides of this argument are digging in and are ready to break our community apart. The WayneWho staff believes that rest of the City Commission has done a fantastic job of calming the waters while being respectful to all sides. We believe that they have followed the spirit of founders in respecting the beliefs of everyone. We hope that as Mayor Swan stated last week that this issue is truly behind us. We will pray for that anyway.

"No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship." - Thomas Jefferson

96 Days

The Kissimmee City Commission is in the process of having staff work on a permitting process to close a public street 96 days out of the year. The bars and restaurants on the newly renovated Dakin Street are requesting that the city allow them to close the public street in order to hold "events" that might promote shopping. While we applaud the zeal of the businesses on Dakin Street to find ways to increase their profits, the WayneWho staff is not at all sure that doing it in this manner is what is best for our community and the economic redevelopment of downtown Kissimmee.

The great failure of the Church Street drinking corridor in downtown Orlando leads us to believe that creating an alcohol centric fun zone on a public street is probably not the best message Historic Downtown Kissimmee wants to relay to the hardworking families of our community. While we have enjoyed the new restaurants, and the more 'mature' scene that now exists in the downtown, how long will it be before we have beer funnels and puking kids competing over $1.00 drafts. As some of the restaurants and bar owners said when they addressed the commission, "closing the road brings in increased foot traffic which brings more business to their establishments." So does $1.00 drafts and wet t-shirt contests, but we do not believe that is the environment that taxpayers have been paying to create.

The WayneWho staff believes that the commission should not set a precedent by allowing a public road to be closed for 96 days out of the year. If a binge drinking corridor is some in the community are after, let it be part of the 192 Redevelopment on private property where tax dollars and taxpayer liabilities are not on the line. The commission should continue to work with the Dakin Street businesses in their efforts to put on successful monthly events that draw in community members instead of allowing events that may turn visitors off to the whole downtown experience.

As one patron noted to the City Commission, “We usually go there for nice clean fun," which leaves the nagging question of what happens the rest of the time? Now that we finally have a great mature and professional nightlife in downtown once again, it would be sad to ruin it.

Local Governments are Victims?

The WayneWho staff has noticed a theme that continues to pop up once in awhile on other blog sites that we don't particularly agree with. It is a common theme that we hear week after week from our local governments as well. The idea is that local governments are just victims and it is not their fault that things in this community have gotten so bad. Not true. Local governments are directly responsible for how and why things are so bad in our local community and this should not be forgotten. Our local leadership failed us.

While we agree 100% that the blame for our current national economic problems are outside of the scope of our local governments and that because of these issues local governments are finding times much tougher, it does not explain our complete local economic picture. Our local housing crisis was made worse by the actions of our local governments. Adopting the ponzi-scheme mentality of using impact fees to pay for all our our needs, forever, has left us with no money or the infrastructure that was supposed to be built. Developing a taxpayer funded "economic development" program instead of creating the infrastructure sought by so many companies, has left us with few jobs and even less revenue. And of course we have our own developer wannabe politicians to thank for the disastrous affects of the "Build-Baby-Build" mentality that has left us with little to no value in our housing markets. These are areas that our governments screwed up all on their own and can not be explained away because the price of Aspirin has gone up. We are in trouble because of bad local policies.

The trick that seems to be trying to be played is confusing national economic problems with local policies. While we do agree to some extent that the "blame" for our national condition rests with everyone because of reckless consumptive practices, locally the argument does not hold water. The WayneWho staff believes that it is wrong to blame the voters for everything that has, and is, happening. In Osceola County, voters have time and time again voted for people who promised to control growth. The promises have been in the newspapers, on campaign pieces, and told to us directly at debates. Yet we have watched those promises evaporate as the campaign contributions find their way into the pockets of those who made them. While it is easy to act like the public has sat back and done nothing, we have watched, meeting after meeting, where the public cries to stop a development have been listened to with deaf ears. The public's fault? We think not.

When we look at the present day arguments about having to raise taxes and fees to pay for government services, we have to wonder about all the promises that were made to cut-the-fat. It was only when government was faced with an emergency cash shortfall because of years of deficit spending that the promised cuts began. Up until that point government had only gotten bigger and more costly. Did the voters vote for bigger government? No. Season after season the voters responded to candidates that promised to cut-the-fat, but like so many of the campaign promises we vote on, it never happened.

Where does that leave our community? The taxpayers are going to have to pay for the mistakes of local government as well as the problems created by a faltering national economy. We are going to get the double whammy. Once again local governments are going to simply enjoy the easy use of their taxpayer supported debit cards by making some quick withdrawals at their local "Automatic Tax Machines" (ATM's) instead of doing their homework and making the cuts they have been asked to make. Raising taxes is not a difficult decision. Making the necessary cuts is what is difficult and until our local governments can show that they have done that, the issue of raising taxes and fees should be off the table. If not, then the only victims are the residents of our community.

Logo Truth

So now we finally have the truth about why Kissimmee City Commissioner Art Otero proposed the addition of "In God We Trust" on the city's logo. According to an interview done by the Orlando Sentinel:

"Commissioner Art Otero, who proposed the addition, said he was prompted to suggest the change because he doesn't agree with the direction the country is going under the Obama administration, which he referred to as 'socialist.' He said his initiative was not based on faith but on patriotism."

"This nation has been moving toward more liberal postures such as homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion and the legalization of marijuana," Otero said. "I'm against that way of thinking. Those are not the values upon which this nation was founded. I think we need to fight for the values we're losing."

So the expense is justified to stick one to President Obama. Nothing says patriotism more than not supporting your Commander in Chief during a time of war. Classy, very classy.

As far as Commissioner Otero's argument about President Obama's push towards "socialism," we have just one question. Will Commissioner Otero give up his government provided, taxpayer funded health care? This must be the socialist direction Commissioner Otero is talking about since all the other "socialist" cries from mis-informed republican "leaders" have faded away. Most of the banks have repaid the TARP funds and GM just went through the quickest bankruptcy proceedings in history of the country. What other claims could Commissioner Otero be trying to falsely tie to our President? President Obama has specifically said he against the legalization of marijuana and he has said he is against gay marriage? Sounds like Commissioner Otero and President Barrack Hussein Obama have alot in common. That only leaves the issue of government provided health care as a 'socialist' issue, unless the scary "liberal" demons chanting in Commissioner Otero's head have given him other insights that we are just not aware of. We also have to wonder that if direction of the country is really the motivator behind the logo change, does that mean that Commissioner Otero liked the direction the country was headed in a year ago? This would at least explain Commissioner Otero's infantile concepts of the responsibilities of local government. Spending $200,000 of taxpayers money to let people know how you 'feel' about a few issues during an economic crisis is not a very conservative approach to government. It is wasteful.

Fix our roads, provide us good public safety, and spend your own money to let the world know about your feelings instead of raising our taxes to do it.

From out For Bid - To Out To Lunch

During last night's commission meeting, the Kissimmee City Commission decided to, once again, run from a simple and good decision for taxpayers, and instead create an opportunity to expand the size and cost of government. The decision was based on discussion item 8B - "Solid Waste Franchise Agreement" and whether or not city government should open up the bidding process to allow other private companies an opportunity to bid on a contract that Waste Management has enjoyed for many years. As we noted in our article from yesterday, the decision should be simple. Open the contract up for bidding so a selection committee could decided what the best option for the taxpayers of our community. Even the opposite of that, which would be to keep the contract with Waste Management would have been an acceptable choice based on staff's accounts of the quality level of service the company has provided to the city. Of course leave it to our city commission to stick a square peg in a round hole.

The decision that was made was to extend the contract with Waste Management for 1 year and, in that time, have staff research how government can take over the and replace the private component of solid waste collection. Basically, our commissioners just decided to increase the size of government and increase the price tag it takes to run it. All of this while at the same time deciding government should force out private competition. This decision will allow government to take over private business interests even though the testimony from staff clearly showed that quality and cost were not issues. The commission just took a simple decision and turned it into a lose-lose situation for the residents and businesses of our city.

So what is next on this issue? Simply put, residents are going to hear alot of imaginary service, cost, and valuation arguments based on fictitious information from other municipalities. This is how government hides itself in its protective bubble and internally justifies bad decisions. Staff will put together a power pointless presentation and answer 'we don't know' to any real questions that get asked. The community will be told that the takeover will cost one price, but then in the next budget cycle the numbers will jump much higher. Then, as we have experienced so many times in the past, fees will be raised or created to cover the hidden costs of the expansion of government. Then when the public decides to fight back to stop the increase in fees, government will threaten to cut other services to shut them up. Just watch the upcoming discussion on Fire Fee increases if you don't believe us.

The point of this article is simple. Limited government that can live within its budget can not continue to conquer and expand itself. There is a huge difference between going out to bid to test the markets and expanding government into a socialist state. As our leaders head into budget workshops to decide how to make necessary cuts to survive the upcoming year, does it make any sense to be planning to add more expenses? Maybe in the "government is that answer to everything" bubble, it does. The WayneWho staff just doesn't fit in that bubble.

Out For Bid

First we would like to start off by saying we appreciate the Osceola News Gazette's article this past Saturday that represented some of the critisims being voiced by those who were affected by the flooding rains (4 inches) that overwhelmed the City of Kissimmee's storm water system. We hope that questions about the failure of the system over such a large area continue to be asked and that city government can divert some energy away from designing logos and put it into fixing failing infrastructure. If nothing else, maybe someone should ask where all of our "Stormwater Fee" money has been going if it has not been going into updating and upgrading our stormwater infrastructure? Where did the money go?

As far as today's article, we will keep it short. On tonight's City of Kissimmee Commission Meeting Agenda, or script as we like to call it, there is an interesting item up for discussion. Item 8B is a discussion on the "Solid Waste Franchise Agreement" which is currently held by Waste Management who employs our Mayor, Jim Swan. The agenda item is intended to give the staff direction on whether or not to open open the door for bids on the agreement to other companies, or if they should keep the contract locked with Waste Management.

The WayneWho staff believes this as a very simple choice. Open the bidding process to make sure that the taxpayers are getting the best deal possible. This does not indicate that Waste Managment has problems, or is a problem, but in times such as times such as these wise decisions are made based on research. By openning up the bidding process, a level of transparancy can be created as well as a sense of fiscal responsibility. Maybe if researching better deals were done more often, taxes and fees would not have to be raised year after year. Do the right thing and put it out for bid.

(Sidenote: The WayneWho staff refuses to comment on the personal relationships of out-of-state bloggers and problems they may, or may not, be having with their local electorally challenged counterparts. While we have received many e-mails on this subject, we feel it is not our place to get involved with the personal issues and/or the relationships of others. We just don't feel that any of these topics belong in our realm of un-news. We just hope that those involved can kiss and make-up before feelings really get hurt.)

The Mess

The WayneWho staff has had a busy week trying to help some friends clean up after the flooding that happened earlier this week. The whole area is pretty much a big mess and will probably be that way for some time. While the floodwaters have gone, the damage to the heart of Kissimmee will take some time to repair.

While we have caught a few of the news briefs about 'unprecedented rains', 'more rain than the system was designed to handle', and about how 'some blocked storm drains' contributed to the mess, our favorite comment has to come from our City Manager. In the face of this mess, he simply states that 'Everyone should have renters' insurance and flood coverage...' Sure, just like the fairy tale that growth was going to pay for itself, reality is far different from the out of touch point of view of this administration. Maybe residents could afford rental insurance if they were not spending so much money on gas to drive to other counties for work or if they were able to use their fire fee money to pay for it, but these are discussions for another time. The point of this article is focus and linking renter's insurance to clogged storm drains is not a focused argument.

The WayneWho staff understands that the best efforts of man can, and will, be thwarted by Mother Nature from time to time. This is probably one of those times. Our problem is that it is hard to look a the history of our commission(s) and know that our best efforts were put forward to keep the floods under control. Arguments that have focused on 'All-American City Awards', 'Revitalizing 192', 'Government Run TV Stations', and 'Logo Changes' have taken the focus off of the basic and boring job that is local government. That is the job of providing public safety and infrastructure to the residents who pay taxes for that purpose. While their is no glory in creating a functional drainage system that can handle 5 inches of rain in 1 1/2 hours in a hurricane prone state, it is probably the most relevant. Maybe the money spent on all the frivolous sideshow issues could have been put to better use for our residents. Maybe not. The point is that we do not know and there is a general consensus that government does not know either. Frivolous issue after frivolous issue has taken the place of municipal management. As a community we are left asking, are we getting what we pay for or are we just being entertained?

The WayneWho staff wants to make it clear that we do not blame the city or the commission for the weather. We understand that the weather is controlled by a much Higher Power and that some how this mess is in His plan. Maybe it was meant to show He thinks we need to focus on what is important, and that adding His name to a logo is not one of those things? Or maybe, like the City Manager would suggest, the rains were meant teach the Biblical importance of renter's insurance? These are questions we just can't answer and that we leave to our readers. For us, we are just going to focus on drying out our socks.

Did Staff Lie?

An interesting discrepancy was uncovered at this past week's City of Kissimmee Commission meeting. While we understand that the commission feels that it is important to make small insignificant changes to give the appearance that they are doing something, we feel that wasting time on logo changes to try to help Commissioner Art Otero feel patriotic is not helpful to the citizens of our community. While we do not wish to discuss Commissioner Otero's waning patriotism, we do have to wonder, after yesterday's un-news article, if this is a growing trend with newly elected officials? Regardless of these issues, it was during the discussion of possible changes to the city's logo, which sounded more like the nonsensical singing of Nero as Rome burned, price discrepancies were questioned by Commissioner Cheryl Grieb. The WayneWho staff feels that it was this part of the discussion that begs the most attention and possible investigation.

About a year ago, Commissioner Grieb had suggested that the City of Kissimmee hire a design firm to create a new logo that would help to improve the city's marketing efforts. Much like the City of St. Cloud had done, Commissioner Grieb felt that a new logo would help to redefine our community. Her mistake at the time was in suggesting that the city remove the 'Cow' from the logo. The public reacted negatively and the project found itself without much support. The information that killed the project was a report from city staff that it would take $200,000 to change the logo.

Fast forward to present day and now to change the logo to help a commissioner finally feel patriotic, and the amount of money that it will cost to change the logo is around $745.00. WTF? How can the number drop from $200,000.00 to $745.00? Is the economy that bad or did staff mislead the commission a year ago? The excuse from the City Manager is that the price difference is related to the speed at which the commission at that time wanted to change out the new logo. This is not the full truth by any means. If you listen to the tapes of those meetings, time frame of a new marketing deployment was only lightly touched on. When the Commissioners discussed rolling out the new logo changes more slowly, it was staff that directed the discussion towards a hasty deployment. When the numbers came in at over $200,000 dollars staff never said that there were ways cut the expense, or delay the expenditure over time. Quite simply put, staff misled the city commission.

What we find really disturbing is that staff is once again misleading the commission. It will still cost around $200,000 dollars to change out the logo, it is just that it will broken up over time. The WayneWho staff finds it sad that the commission would allow these types of expenditures instead of finding ways to reduce the costs to citizens and the businesses of this community. Raising fire fees on small businesses to pay for logo changes just seems out of touch when the area is in economic turmoil.

Our last points on this issue would be that if the commission is going to follow this misguided path, wouldn't it actually be more intelligent to do what Commissioner Grieb suggested? That is to hire a professional firm to develop the logo and let the public decide what they like? Why is it our city logo has been hijacked by the commission and staff and is being changed without public input? Is this the logo of the city commission or a logo that represents the City of Kissimmee? Maybe something as drastic as a logo change should be directed by professionals working with the public instead of individuals with absolutely no marketing experience, working behind the scenes. Seems like a simple conclusion to reach for us, but we guess we will have to see if the commission wants to involve the public or not.

The Color Purple

The WayneWho staff is glad to be back. Taking a little time off from our retirement jobs to make the trip to Arlington for Independence Day just seemed like the right thing to do this year. No matter what party, or political philosophies, honoring the men and women who have died for the freedoms and the independence that makes our country unique is never cliché, but rather a time for understanding the cost of freedom. With over 300,000 buried at Arlington National Cemetery, it is easy to see that the cost is that of our country's greatest national treasure, its people. You can't help but be humbled in the presence of those who have fallen while serving us, under a flag of red, white, and blue, for a national purpose instead of a fleeting personal quest. While we must always remember the courage that it took to create and sign the Declaration of Independence, we must also remember what it has taken to keep the beliefs in that document alive. Standing in Arlington, you can't help but remember and feel a sense of morning turn into a sense of hope.

As we said though, we are glad to be back. We are glad to get back to see what nuggets of information we can find to turn into top of the line un-news articles. So after a little rest, we called a staff meeting and started going through e-mails and searching the internet(s) for possible ideas. That's when we ran into a strange sight. Osceola County's own supervisor of elections web site http://www.oscelections.org/ has gone purple. Actually, not just purple, but purple with hues of pink as well. Even the image of the American Flag is muted under the the color purple. Feels like a kick in the teeth to cover up an image of national pride with the colors of the British Royalty we declared our independence from and shed blood to achieve. Of course for those only focused on the political prizes like our new Supervisor of Elections, Mary Jane Arrington, and her son, County Commissioner Brandon "Valentine" Arrington, paychecks are more important than history. National pride is only something we slap on a postcard to get elected so we can get in to do whatever we want.

For those of you who may have an affinity for the color purple and the British Royalty it represents, we apologize. It is a free country and our citizens have the right to change things to suit their own wants so they can find their own level of patriotism. The WayneWho staff are all just too old to find comfort in changing colors that don't run. We feel that the color scheme of a governmental agency funded by tax dollars of United States citizens, representing our democratic voting process, should reflect the color scheme sewn into our first flag by a hard working widow who ran her own upholstery business. If red, white, and blue were good enough for George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross who commissioned Betsy Ross to sew our first flag, maybe those colors should be used to honor the streak of independence and democratic values born into all Americans.

The WayneWho staff also found something else that bothered us. Local tax groups, county officials, and city officials have all been hopping on the 'Buy Local' rhetoric. As we have pointed out on several occasions, 'Buy Local' means nothing because unless you are in the development business, local governments make sure that they use out of county businesses for other outsourced tasks. This case seems to be no exception. At the bottom of the Osceola County Supervisors of Elections website you will find the line "Powered by ePolk.com" which takes you to a company out of Winter Haven. While it seems that this company is a good company, we just have to wonder if our local officials have any amount of loyalty or local pride left in them.

Anyway, as we said, we are glad to be back.

Composure

The WayneWho staff believes that the Osceola News-Gazette, in its editorial titled "Developer wants to scold us?", lost its composure and strayed from the path of journalistic integrity. Leveling attacks at a few of the individuals responsible for the mess known as Signature Crossing after it had been safely voted down lacks professionalism and we know that you can do better.

First we would like to state that we understand the frustration and sense of disgust towards the process that came through in the Gazette's editorial. Listening to developers and out of town special interests scold, mock, and talk to our community like we are a collective bunch of morons gets old quick. Welcome to how every regular citizen in this community feels and has felt for a long time.

We understand why the Gazette would pick up the sharp-tongued opinionated attack rhetoric that has come to symbolize our brand of un-news, but we feel there is a better path that could have been taken. Instead of trying to be 'hip' and tearing into the vile nature of the cast of 'Affordable Housing' characters, a better editorial could have been done on the absence of common sense from those elected officials that stood behind this project. If it were not for last minute changes that the School Board Members knew were going to come back to haunt them, this vote would have gone the other way. Several on the board still believe that this was a good plan and that the public was wrong for questioning them and trying to stop the project. Many in the public were castigated for their opposing views on government subsidized housing in the middle of a real-estate meltdown, by not only the developers, but by our own elected and community leaders as well. This is the typical treatment the public receives when it dares to step in front of the podium to voice its concern. Frustrating indeed.

While the WayneWho staff does feel that the reverse scolding by the News Gazette was warranted, we hope that they do not feel that their part has come to a close. Investigations into campaign contributions and board influence need to be done. Discussions on campaign finance and influence peddling need to be had. Articles on how our community can protect itself from the self interest of monied developers need to be written. If nothing else, the Osceola News Gazette needs to become a better part of helping to vet local candidates by sharpening their own skills at understanding municipal government policy. Sometimes more can be done by asking good questions instead of losing your composure in a yelling match. Get back to asking good questions.

E.P.C.O.T.

Part of being old is having the right to be a curmudgeon. It is the gift we receive as the hands of time take everything else. Another part of being old is having the wisdom to know when you are just being a curmudgeon for no good reason.

WayneWho is against the Destiny Housing Development. No matter how many angry e-mails we get from 'Green' consultants, we are not going to change our minds that 40,000 more homes will ever be good for Osceola County if the jobs and a great infrastructure is not put in place. Putting some fancy 'Green' spin on the sales brochure for another tract-home development is not building the community of tomorrow, it is building the next BVL. No offense to our neighbors in BVL, but the county let the developers who built your community put one over on you big time. This is the same thing we see with Destiny. While we are very intrigued by the promise of green technologies, we know snake-oil when someone is trying to sell it.

WayneWho was against Light Rail. While we still continue to talk about the need for it, we have to admit that Paula Dockery was right. It was a bad deal on a transportation system that was anything but mass transit. It was a single thread of movement that would have fallen victim to ridership woes because local governments would have continued to cut the funding for the bus lines that were needed to feed the system with riders. For the burden of the price tag Central Florida was about to get stuck with, it did not make sense.

So as curmudgeons, we were about to just give up on the whole concept of our communities getting their collective acts together enough to ever really compete in the future. We were on the verge of making a pitch for returning the whole area to farm land.

As we were debating the issue, one of our staff was reading a letter to the editor in the Orlando Sentinel from a Frederick Hart of Orlando. His letter titled "Disney World is epitome of quality transportation" talks about a presentation Walt Disney gave to legislators and the public outlining his plan for the Experimental Prototypical Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). Mr. Hart writes, "His boulevards include mass transportation in the forms of raised monorails and magnetic-levitation trains as well as covered pedestrian walkways to protect people from the harsh Central Florida sun. Unfortunately his vision for an EPCOT died with him. All we got was a theme park." Brilliant words.

We have received some e-mails with these ideas before, but being of the 'Curmudgeon Clan' we never really gave it much thought. We decided to use 'the Google' to see if such a plan existed. Sure enough we found several essays on Disney's plans for his "Progress City" as it was originally called. From the essays, you can easily see that Walt Disney's true beliefs, as highlighted in his projects in Florida, were the expanding corporate control over democratic rule. We have to wonder what Walt's feelings would be on the complete corporate meltdowns we have seen over the past couple of years. Maybe there are still some advantages to Democracy.

Regardless of his political views, we have to wonder if it is not time to drag some of his ideas, for the real version of EPCOT, out of mothballs. Instead of creating a public-private partnership with CSX, why not do it with Disney. They already have working mass transportation systems that are included for the price of a visitor's ticket, and they seem to be able to do it without cars backing up at railroad crossing gates. While monorails and other people movers may not be the taste of today, maybe there are some concepts in the original EPCOT plans that can be used. If not, we assume that a whole team of 'Imagineers' might be able to figure something out.

One thing that is clear from the research is that after spending a good amount of time in Los Angeles, Walt Disney had realized something that our local politicians are just now figuring out. The auto-oriented transformation of our major cities were problems, not successes. His goal was to find ways to put cars in their place and pedestrians back into the plan. While not all of his transportation plans have come to fruition in the theme parks, the designers have come extremely close. Judging by the economic success of the parks, it is hard to argue they are wrong. The sad part is that the Central Florida communities, whose fates are most intertwined with the Disney Projects, have no real public transportation systems. Basically if you want to get to Disney, you have to drive. The best public transportation systems in Florida are just amusement park rides. We find this sad because Disney's 14-miles of a monorail system that carries a reported 80,000 passengers per day, is said to be one the most extensive mass transportation systems in the world. All this right next door to communities that are shutting down bus routes.

While not one of the WayneWho staff are Disneyatics, we understand the concept of hiring a consultant that can offer real world advice based on real world accomplishments. It just does not make sense to us to have the guy from the 'Subway Sandwich' company plan a city of 'tomorrow' when we already have one right next door that is already functioning. We are also fully aware that many of the ideas and concepts that could be the most useful to our local communities died with Walt, but like we said, there must be something that could be dusted off and given a second look. The issue is that you can not build an eco-sustainable city if you have cars driving in and out of it every day. Since 'Destiny' can not show us they can create all of the jobs needed to keep the community self-contained, more cars on the roads are going to be the end result. Osceola can't take care of the roads it has now, even though they are spending a 'record' amount of money on them. Something has to give.

We hope you made it this far in our 'Jay Wheeler' sounding tirade and that you enjoyed it for what it is. This is just a call for our communities to keep thinking about transportation. The death of light rail seems to have caused many to just give up and walk away. We find this sad, because the idea behind light rail actually had found unprecedented support from multiple counties that were actually working together instead of fighting. What failed were the shaky business dealings and sneaky changes that were behind the plan. That's all. Central Florida residents are still in favor of some type of mass transportation system and want some relief from the nightmare known as I-4. It is either that or we start planting orange trees again.

Maybe it is time we go talk to the Mouse.

Source:
The Original Epcot

Then End Again?

We wanted to re-publish an e-mail that we received from Tom Long who has been taking the lead on the Preserve/Signature Crossing housing project. The WayneWho staff figures this bit of good un-news for our community is good as is, so we will take a page from the Osceola News-Gazette and put up Mr. Long's e-mail as is.

One note to the School Board, which any of you who attended the meeting would understand. As Osceola County's most trusted un-news source, we do not consider ourselves to be 'The Media.' We are more like an un-media source providing un-news information to readers who don't really read those 'damn blogs anyway.' What you call lambasting, we call debate on what we believe are critical issues of policy. While the WayneWho staff understand governments aversion to these types of discussions, we still enjoy having them, especially when we can find a way to make a policy point with an un-news article about a self cleaning public toilet. Nobody ever said policy had to be boring.

As for this post, it seems that the community has been able to stop a wasteful development project. As Mr. Long states below, this is not really the end. Even if the Preserve/Signature Crossing project never reappears, other bad projects will. Vigilance is the price of our Democracy and the job of every American. It is not a price that should be paid by only a few. We hope you enjoy an e-mail from one of the few.

"Fellow Taxpayers,

Hopefully for the last time, I can say that Signature Crossing/The Preserve, is finally dead in Osceola County.

The School Board voted 4-1 to deny it moving forward. David Stone said that this has been a drain on the district. Julius Melendez said the project kept changing and questioned the cost, to date, to the district. Cindy Hartig said the District would be in competition with the citizens. Jay Wheeler was the only one willing to spend your tax dollars against your will. Remember that next year.

I would like to personally thank everyone and every group that has helped end this waste of our tax dollars. I especially would like to thank those of you that took time out of your lives to attend many Saint Cloud City Council, County Commission, Education Foundation and School Board Meetings.

We must remain ever vigilant. This took three years to kill and it has been reported dead before. Greed has an unlimited life span and who knows what tax drain plot will come our way again.

Tom Long"

Signature Crossing IV: From the Ashes

By now all of you know that the Preserve/Signature Crossing Project has reappeared. Much like the character Jason in the Friday the 13th movies, after being left for dead the project has risen from the grave stronger than ever and ready to do more damage to our community. This time the developer, Jonathan Wolf, of Wendover Housing, has completely side stepped that argument he was originally making about helping the local community and has gone straight after the money. This time he has cut out all local boards, because they are subject to the will of the local community, and he has partnered with an Atlanta based 'non-profit' that has experience in forcing communities into building un-needed tax exempt housing projects. While most of the communities that they have established these types of projects in are much larger cities with larger populations of the poor, rural Osceola county seems to be their next target because of the easily accessible local tax money that our school board is all too excited to waste.

We could continue this article by once again explaining the reasons our community cannot afford this project. We could once again explain the fact that the rental prices to be charged are NOT affordable. We could once again explain that this whole project is about politics and not people. But we are not going to explain any of these things. Our readers already know the plot.

We have to confess that the WayneWho staff was actually happy to see the return of the project. Just like in the Friday the 13th movies, each sequel gets worse and has less and less to do with the original. The Preserve/Signature Crossing fiasco is the same. One bad story after another to explain why Wendover Housing should get our state tax money and the residents of Osceola County should get stuck with the bill. What really brings a smile to our face is the political wreckage that this project has created. We have a School Board exposed for their incompetence and for wasting taxpayers money on issues outside of their realm of responsibility. We have a non-profit organization, The Education Foundation, backed by a County Commissioner that has been exposed to the public for its lack of care for our community. And we have a trail of political contributions that light the way for even the tamest of local campaign finance reform. In the eyes of many who have kept up with this project, the process has failed and we can see that it has been hijacked by special interests. While we know that much like the grotesque face of Jason Voorhees under the iconic hockey mask, the nasty underbelly of our local governments is hard to look at, we would remind our readers that we must not turn away. The face of evil may be ugly, but the face of apathy is much worse.

We hope that those who have been working to expose the truth about this project continue to put in the time on behalf of our residents. This is a bad project for our community and will prove to be a drain on our resources for years to come. While we are glad that projects like this and Destiny come around to give all of us an insight into how our government really works, we find it sad that more often than not even bad projects like these get through. Nonetheless, the WayneWho staff is looking forward to the 3D version of the Preserve/Signature Crossing series. Thats when you truly know a series has Jumped-the-Shark and is about to finally go away.

The End??

As 'They' See It

The Osceola News-Gazette this past week published another comical "As I See It" 'editorial' to continue the series. This time it was from Congressman Bill Posey of District 15 which covers Osceola county and some areas just outside of our border. In his "As I See It" article titled "Washington is finding itself very much out of touch" he attacks the Cap and Trade-Energy Bill, H. R. 2454, and promotes the idea that we should continue to risk the security of our nation by keeping our country dependent on oil from rouge nations. As the WayneWho staff read his article we quickly realized that these printed words were not his own thoughts and that Congressman Posey was just reprinting bogus claims from right wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. We are not sure which is more sad, the fact that Congressman Posey does not know that he is repeating and reprinting claims that have been proven false, or that he believes that instead of representing the people who elected him into office, that it is his job to be a puppet for lobbyist groups.

His first claim is that Bill HR 2454 will be a "1,600-$3,000 energy tax on every family in America" which is a claim that has become one of the main generic talking points disseminated by the Heritage Foundation and CEI. This claim is based on figures from a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the very authors of the study has publicly stated that the "GOP's use of the study is 'simplistic and misleading' and that it ignores key provisions designed to cushion the impact on consumers." And to stick with the "simplistic and misleading" train of thought while we are talking about Congressmen Posey, his argument, as stated in his article, is that we need to stop this tax so "Americans have more discretionary income in order to bring their family to central Florida and to our beaches for a much needed family vacation." WTF? Did Congressman Posey just sleep through the last two years of economic turmoil? Did he not see all of the news reports on the effects of reckless personal spending and that the American public has soundly rejected continuing in this way. The American public has changed its track towards the conservative idea of saving their money instead of blowing it willy-nilly. While all of us in Florida want to see a rebound in tourism, we do not believe that we want anyone vacationing in this state who can not afford it.

Congressman Posey, our state and county needs you to be more than a mouth piece for the very organizations that created the framework for this recession. We need you to understand that our state needs to diversify its economic base by creating the jobs of tomorrow instead of relying on the tourist industry. The incentives for creating green industries alone that Bill HR 2454 puts forward are critical to the economic recovery efforts in the State of Florida, and they are critical in breaking our dependency on foreign oil. We need you to help bring jobs into Osceola County, not take them away while using pretend numbers that you do not even understand.

Our final thought on this issue is a simple question. If Congressman Posey is against creating green industries and does not believe that global warming is a threat, does he believe in eco-sustainable communities? Or is his line of thinking the real writing on the wall for the Destiny housing project? Is the truth really that the jobs that are being promised by the supporters of Destiny will never come because the legislation to help them get off the ground will never be passed? Is that why we have a rush to start home construction in the 'clean-slate' city? Get the homes built and then pull the "ahh-shucks, we didn't know they would shoot down the funding for the jobs," routine. Maybe if Congressman Posey spent a little more time with the people in his district, the ideas coming from Washington, that were overwhelmingly supported by the voters of our country last November, wouldn't seem so out of touch.

SourceWatch:
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Heritage Foundation

FactCheck.org

As We See It

Newly elected Republican State Representative Mike Horner has received a lot of local media attention in the past few weeks so the WayneWho staff decided we should make sure to pay some attention to him as well. Much to the surprise of many of our readers we would have to give Representative Horner a B+ for his first session in Tallahassee. While many of our readers will say he either did better or worse than the arbitrary grade we have given, we think that his record in this session needs to be looked at on bills he participated in individually. It is hard to grade a freshmen Representative on the successes and failures of State Government as a whole. While we feel that state governments let the residents of Florida down this year, Representative Horner stood up for his community. While we do not agree with all of his positions, we feel that on the big issues he took stands that benefit our residents, and that is what representative government is all about.

One of the issues that Representative Horner has made his top priority is covered in an Osceola News-Gazette "As I See It" article this week titled "Insurance Gamble Threatens Us." In the article he states that "The greatest threat to Florida’s economic recovery and future prosperity is the financially unsound state-run insurance program, Citizens Insurance." We would have to disagree. While we do agree that the state run Citizens Insurance program has become a complete mess and needs reform, we have to look at why it exists. Many private insurers, both small and large, failed to protect residents of our state who had been paying their premiums without issue. While it is very 'Republican' to beat the drum for private entities as opposed to government run entities, the truth of which is better is often hidden in rhetoric. The simple fact that Representative Horner does not bring up in his column is that many Central Florida families were left to their own devices by private insurance companies. The same 'Private' companies used trickery and deceit to get out of paying rightful claims. Better capitalized companies could afford the lawyers to drag out processing claims for months while the state remained covered in blue tarps. It was a time of state wide disgrace.

Reform is the key. The ray of hope that we see in Representative Horner is that he understands the processes and knows that reform is needed. We just hope that he understands that reform is needed at all levels and not just on the Citizens Insurance program. We also hope that typical political buzzword scare tactics like throwing the word 'bureaucrats' into an article do not turn Representative Horner into what Representative Frank Attkisson had become, a right wing ideologue that had forgotten what good government was really about. It is hard to take a politician seriously that tries to scare us about 'state bureaucrats' when those same politicians champion quasi-governmental agencies that operate at the whim of the same 'state bureaucrats.' Our roads, tolls, growth and economic development futures are all in the hands of these same bureaucrats and quasi-governmental agencies that operate outside of the control of the public. If Representative Horner believes that these people are bad, then maybe he needs to start working on dissolving some of these other agencies that have hurt our local area and our residents.

To close we would only bring up one other point. Does Representative Horner believe that insurance is "greatest threat to Florida's economic recovery and future prosperity" because of problems it is creating in the home building community? As with most politicians, he did not clarify what he sees as 'economic recovery.' His close ties with the development community and years of championing the oversupply of our housing market makes us very suspicious of his motives. Almost every sane economist says that Florida's number one threat to economic recovery is the oversupply in housing and the failure to create any sustainable industries. Are the economists wrong and the bureaucrats right? We believe that these issues need more explanation because recreating the housing bubble is the wrong move. We would also like to see Representative Horner's 'As I See It' article on HB 360 which just gave developers the upper hand in continuing to promote sprawl and enabled unneeded, and unwanted, developments like Destiny . If he is going to promote sensible reforms and regulations on a state run program, then maybe it is time to admit that the the citizens need to be protected by sensible growth management regulations.

The WayneWho staff hopes that this article does NOT create a tone of attack on Representative Horner. We had honestly thought he was going to turn into a puppet for the Dark Side, but it seems that he still has some fight for the people left in him. We look forward to reading your philosophical articles on other issues and we will enjoy the debate on these topics as we know the Osceola News-Gazette will keep printing anything sent to them without properly vetting the pieces first.

As wee see it, it was a good first session.

Destiny's Wrath

The people say it's stupid. The State of Florida says it is a mistake. Even our housing happy County Commissioners wince with pain when they have to talk about anything other than the few jobs the Destiny housing project might bring in. Not even the lure of fanciful water taxis transporting the spoiled upper class to the 'Green' retail outlet of their choice seems to be building much support in the community. But that has not stopped the 'clean-slate' city of Destiny developers from trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Osceola County residents. It seems that the community that our County Commission, Economic Development clique, and the developers of Destiny itself wanted to write-off in favor of their new city, is now important to them. You can see the name Destiny slapped on all kinds of event sponsorships in an attempt to lull our community into a more favorable opinion of the idea of destroying more of natural Florida to make way for more homes. We guess like any good developer, they just can not take 'no' for an answer.

We assume it is in the spirit of Destiny trying to re-write its own destiny that the President and CEO of the oxymoronic Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC), Ray Gilleym, was brought in to educate us dumb country folk. In a letter to the Osceola News-Gazette he writes, "I am writing to voice my support for Destiny, the only proposed completely eco-sustainable community in Florida." It is too bad that Mr. Gilleym and his little group that has met with limited success in the Orlando area was not more focused on building sustainable communities instead of communities with pretend titles. While some of the principals of the clean-slate city as far as being greener are commendable, the community will be far from eco-sustainable all on its own. Its eco-sustainability is based on factors that will actually be more detrimental to the surrounding communities that will be forced into a supportive role. Maybe the Orlando EDC should focus its efforts of creating sustainable communities that are not riddled with foreclosures in their own back yard instead of trying to expand the level of ignorance across the border. Simply put Mr. Gilleym, adding 50,000 homes into a battered housing market would not help our local economy. Adding 50,000 homes means we need to add at least 80,000 jobs to support those who would be fooled into moving into this social experiment. What was the record of job creation last year for the Orlando EDC Mr. Gilleym? That's right, the job pool shrank. Maybe Mr. Gilleym should write a letter explaining his group's record to the Orlando taxpayers instead of trying to make things worse here in Osceola County.

To the Destiny housing developers: It does not matter what you sponsor or who writes letters for you. The proof will be in the jobs. You need to be able to prove that you can create 80,000 sustainable jobs. Green, not green, blue collar, or white collar jobs should be the focus. Until it is proven that 80,000 jobs can be created, any approvals on building more homes, let alone a new city should be 'No' votes. Our community can not afford more broken promises under the banner of Economic Development no matter who writes the letter.

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.

Out of Ideas

Reminiscent of Kissimmee's 125th Birthday Celebration Event that a sitting Commissioner, at that time, took charge of and then ran out of ideas for, the Kissimmee CVB seems to be in the same spot. As many of you will remember, there was a self-proclaimed Kissimmee Commission Cheerleader who cheered week after week about what a great event the 125th Birthday Celebration was going to be until it was discovered that no real plans had been put in place for the event and said Commissioner was scrambling for ideas and input. After quite a bit of bad press most of us thought that we would not see another botched event unfold like that one did, but hey, this is Osceola County after all.

Hold on to your confidence socks, because the WayneWho staff was just forwarded an e-mail from the Kissimmee CVB seeking the same kind of direction for the fall marketing season. Yes, the people sucking up tourist tax money because they are supposed to have the marketing thing nailed down are asking for any concepts or ideas people might have to help get the Kissimmee Market through the time period between Labor Day and Christmas in a year of economic turmoil. The e-mail states, "the Kissimmee CVB is looking for ideas for targeted special events for the upcoming Fall travel season. The CVB would like to find several concepts to develop, preferably that have the potential to grow into annual events that will attract visitors to Kissimmee and Osceola County from outside of the Central Florida area. ...Please send any ideas for potential concepts to Tom Lang, CVB Director." Basically Mr. Lang's idea is to fritter away money on any crazy idea that the tourist industry might put forward to get access to this tax money. Instead of doing the smart thing and lowering the prices, by cutting the tourist taxes to make our area more attractive to those with fewer and fewer vacation dollars, we are just going to blow the money on anything. Of course that means that we will all have to endure Power Pointless presentations that show how a specific crazy event idea is going to '..create jobs in an effort to stimulate the economic climate by engaging groups of fall travelers' or some other type of made up wording that will easily confuse the CVB board and the County Commission into fessing up the Benjamins. Get the popcorn popping.

The WayneWho staff's first reaction was that of Mr. Donald Trump. Your Fired! Mr. Lang was hired to put the CVB back together and bring ideas to the table on how we could better attract more visitors into our area. Anyone who was able to graduate elementary school could probably figure out that being the head of the 'Visitors' Bureau would somehow translate into working with and attracting visitors, but maybe we are just asking too much. After the WayneWho staff calmed down we realized that we should probably give the guy a break because at least we have not heard of a scandal breaking out at the CVB for at least a couple of months. Things at the CVB could probably be much worse than they already are.

In the spirit of the anger turning to shock moment, the WayneWho staff decided that there might be an opportunity for us to hit the tourist tax lotto with a doomed-for-failure plan like this from our CVB. So we brainstormed for a micro-second or two and came up with the idea of a Guitar Hero Tournament. Guitar Hero is still a pretty popular game and there is even a website that will tell you how 'Run a Guitar Hero Tournament.' And if Guitar Hero is not to your liking, then our other suggestion is to create a 50 foot high Plinko Board and do a Plinko competition. 'The Price is Right' fans are a zany bunch and they would drive to Florida to see something that freakish. We could even fly-in Bob Barker to give the event that high-end celebrity feel.

Just remember, you heard those ideas here first so you tourist tax addicts come up with your own ideas. We had the Guitar Hero and/or Plinko ideas first.

Ca-Ching.

The never ending story

Much like a DVD of “Bob the Builder” on repeat play in the back seat of a family minivan, it’s time for the annual replay of everyone’s favorite conceptual vision, The Future of 192.

The 192 visioning process has become a self-fulfilling fulfillment of self. For to create a vision, you must have a process. During the process, you must refine the vision. And it is a process to articulate the vision that has been processed once it has been envisioned. Planners plan, and consultants consult.

While we wait for the end credits on “Bob” to run through as the DVD begins another loop, let us commoners ask...

For as long as the current 192 vision has been floating around, it has focused on mass transit. An east-west bus corridor (ie reserved bus lane), connecting to a downtown commuter rail station to move people north and south. The city’s internal and external experts say this is a key feature of 192 development, and it’s still a large part of the latest vision review, mere weeks after the state said no to SunRail. So, local leaders, who is right...the planning professionals who champion mass transit, or the elected officials who voted it down? How did the vision of the Bronson park, including a bus stop, jibe with your discussion last year of where the local Lynx station might be located?

Another focus of the vision is on “clusters” or “stations” or whatever the conceptual word is. The idea being that the desired purpose of the clusterstation is to show what type of buildings are appropriate for that area of 192. As the professionals say, once they have established the standards, when someone wants to build a tall building or a short building, they’ll know where to put it along the corridor. But the chicken and egg process of envisioning the clusterstations continues, because, even if someone wanted to start a project today, the city still hasn’t established their clusterstation standards in year whatever this is in the project. And who would plan their four story building if there was a chance that they were going to be proposing it in the clusterstation that would turn out to allow two story buildings?

And, of course, there’s the money question. The question of “where will we get the money” comes up often in this discussion. But, truly, that is the man-on-the-street question...the question that someone asks when they’re shown a summary of this multiyear project and given five seconds for a response. The studied questions to be asked from those who have been involved with this project should be more along the lines of “if we implement this vision what will the return to the community be?” and after receiving that answer, “what are we willing to invest to achieve that return, and over how long of a time period?” as well as “if we do nothing, what is the impact?” and “what is the minimum action we must take to prevent further erosion of the corridor?” All of this assumes that you can quantify the costs and returns of a vision.

What the annual book report on the vision process tells us is that, in order for redevelopment of 192 to be successful, the area around the corridor needs much higher residential density, higher household incomes, and better transportation options. If it were only the 192 corridor that was suffering from these deficiencies, that would be enough of a challenge. On the other hand, when someone finishes the book and fixes those problems for this one area, those lessons can be applied to the rest of the local community as well. Maybe we’ll even name a road after the person who comes up with the successful strategy.

For the short term, perhaps local officials would accept this suggestion. Start the process by showing your commitment to making initial fixes to transportation along the corridor. Invest some staff time, but probably not a lot of money, in ‘syncing’ or ‘timing’ or ‘fixing’ the traffic lights along the corridor so that a vehicle moving through the corridor does not need to stop at every traffic light along the way. While traffic is being streamlined, complete the zoning regulations or design guides so that those who are penciling in their plans for when the market turns around can know what kind of buildings might be acceptable to the community. Perhaps even start working on that long-rumored commercial property minimum maintenance ordinance in the corridor.

In the meantime, we’ll see you at the next round of visioning meetings.

Magic Win

As most of you know by now, the Orlando Magic won the Eastern Conference Title on Saturday night against the Cleveland Cavilers who were the favorite to win. While our un-news site is not usually devoted to sports, our staff decided that we could not let this moment of Central Florida pride and inspiration slip by without some comment.

Congratulations to the Orlando Magic team and coaching staff. Your ability to believe in yourselves against all of the 'critics' and being able focus on playing stellar basketball is a testament to your professionalism. While a few Osceola County residents spent their weekend sitting in their underwear, in the dark, hunched over their computers chirping about secret identities, one real secret identity was revealed. Dwight Howard is Superman. There is just no denying it. Whether, or not Kobe Bryant will prove to be his Kryptonite remains to be seen. For now we will just have to 'Believe in Magic' and the power that the Florida Sun can give to some.

For those so wrapped up in the political underworld that they can only derive inspiration from those like Doug Guetzloe who revel in the politics of personal destruction, maybe you should stop pecking out attacks and watch a game or two. You might learn something about the spirit that really makes us Americans.

By almost all accounts from so-called knowledgeable sporting consultants, the Orlando Magic had no shot at winning this conference. The Kobe-Lebron match up in the NBA finals was a given to many. The Cleveland Caviliers had the best record in the NBA, but the Magic, as a team, soundly defeated them and the critics who said it could not be done. Teamwork was the key. If 'Regionalism' worked like this, we would all be on board.

But what lessons should be learned by the local tin-foil beanie-hat-wearing conspiracy commenters who attack other blogs for fun? The most basic lesson would be the great philosophy behind the Terminator movie franchise; "There's no fate but what we make." Destiny can be changed if you are up for a good fight. We saw evidence of this last week when the 'Signature Crossing' housing project fell apart. Many believed it was a done deal, but because of the persistence of some in presenting real facts through the spin of developers, the disaster was stopped. We saw this evidence as an inevitable gas tax was shot down when a community said no more. We again saw a similar version of this as those who believe they control the destiny of our community were caught in a RFP review scandal in the county. Perceived destiny often times must take a back seat to drive and determination.

What other lessons can be learned? As the Magic players said on Saturday night when they clinched the title; there is more work to be done. This is a lesson for all of us. Victories are passing moments in time. Winning is not just about checking off items on a to do list. Winning is not just about slapping together some half hearted meetings where old strategies are covered as something new. Winning is about turning dirt, hard work and playing every game like it is 'Game 7'.

For those of us at WayneWho headquarters, we pledge to continue to provide our community with our best in un-news stories. We do find it interesting that the challenge in the NBA finals has taken on a challenge we have faced for a long time. East vs. West. Florida vs. California. Kissimmee un-news sources vs. Simi-Valley political consultant bloggers. Looks like the game is on. Bring it California.