Rebuttal to Island Newspaper Editorials

This just in from a very concerned and interested citizen of Anna Maria who wanted it posted before the election tomorrow.

The Islander and The Sun editorials of this past week endorsed the expulsion of Stoltzfus and the addition of Aubry to the Anna Maria City Commission. Most newspapers follow a standard journalistic principle and permit rebuttals to their endorsements. It’s only fair. This is not the place to debate journalistic ethics. What this is is a rebuttal to those endorsements.

Both publications’ contention that putting Aubry on the commission will bring a ““calming” effect is inane, unintelligent, and totally self-serving. Not to mention that it demeans the intelligence of the voters.

The largest voter turnout in the city’s history last November sent a mandate of landslide proportions to development interests: We removed a sitting commissioner, backed openly by PAR (initially denied and now admitted); and we prevented another PAR puppet from taking the dais. How can putting Aubry, a central figure in the Pine Avenue Restoration efforts, even remotely be considered “calming”?  

How can electing someone so closely tied to an organization that retaliated against the citizens’ mandate by hiring a convicted felon (something they initially denied and then admitted) to bring down dedicated city preservationists be “calming”?

How can creating a majority of PAR sympathizers on the commission, with the ability to re-write our Comp Plan to fit the PAR Plan, be “calming”?

How can putting on the commission the designer of a jam-packed, over-flowing Pine Avenue (and adjacent residential streets) to fit PAR’s flouting of Land Development Regulation requirements for on-site parking be “calming”?

How can electing someone whose wife asked Harry to work “inside the tent” with her and her husband to accomplish his and her ends, outside the democratic process, be “calming”?

Anna Maria needs to retain Harry for the same reasons he was elected in the first place. His message is clear and remains the same it was then: Leave Anna Maria alone!

The national and international press has forever touted Anna Maria for its uniqueness; it’s laid-back charm; and its lack of “commercial” domination evident in most all other beachside communities. The endorsements by the local press of Gene Aubry for commissioner clearly illustrates neither of our tabloids have a stake in keeping our city the way it is. And each has a lot to gain by letting it go the way of the rest of Florida: More businesses, more people, more weddings, wider roads, more congestion, and more revenue. Now, I ask you: How calm can it get?

Once again, it’s mandate time. Once again, time to vote with your hearts. If you know someone on the fence in this issue, pass it on!