Like A Marble Staircase In A Quaint Beach Cottage...

Pine Avenue parking is once again on the agenda tonight at City Hall and anyone interested in what direction this thing will take should show up and ask some questions. While the concept of “meandering sidewalks” appears to be where the City Commission is headed, how that ultimately works, legally and logistically, is far from decided.

The “meandering” part of the proposed plans refers to essentially serpentining the sidewalks from the right-of-way abutting the street, where the City Code currently requires them to be, to the space between nose-in parked vehicles and buildings on certain commercial parcels creating an easement separate and apart from the street that the City thereafter maintains. You can go ahead and consider “certain commercial parcels” as those developed or to be developed by PAR.

The rub comes from those three thorny words “right” and “of” and “way.” That’s land under the city’s control, land and infrastructure maintained by your tax dollars. Without the right-of-way a meandering sidewalk, whether they call it a “public” or a “private” parking plan, cannot work. There is simply not enough room. Proponents would have you believe the City can simply swap out the respective pieces of the sidewalk like a jigsaw puzzle up and down Pine Avenue wherever developers seek to wedge in as much parking as legally allowable and everything will be copacetic. But...

More Pugilistic Sleight Of Hand. How Special.

A while back we talked to you about PAR asking the Court for “sanctions” against certain locals because PAR essentially says that they have been victimized by the Nally’s and these “others.” We said their whining was more than ridiculous (we actually used a bit more-pointed language), especially considering the predatory way PAR principals go about their business. You can catch up by clicking and reading it HERE.

Well, after PAR filed the baseless motion to dismiss and the tear-jerking request for sanctions, the Nally’s asked the Judge to “strike” the filing, as in toss it out, appropriately arguing “it is without lawful authority, impermissibly seeks to raise new claims and issues and impermissibly seeks to contest [Nally’s] claims….” In other words, it is a complete waste of everyone’s time and certainly the city's resources.

The Judge obviously agreed. As you can see by clicking HERE, he granted the Nally’s motion to strike, tossed the dubious filing and told PAR that it has 20 days to file an answer to the Nally’s claims. In other words, let’s get to the meat here guys. Oh, and gals of course.

So does PAR take the hint?

It's All About Priorities...

By Bill Yanger


Another in this continuing series of imagined conversations over coffee at the Rod & Reel Pier. Any resemblance to persons or personalities, real or imagined, is entirely coincidental and mostly unintended.



Good morning.

G-G-G-Good m-m-m-morning. G-g-g-god I h-h-h-hate this frikkin’ cold weather.

Suck it up, it’s warm in here. And if you’d wear long pants that’d help.

Don’t own long pants. And the walk down the pier sent that north breeze up my shorts to places better left unmentioned. Kinda fun actually…

Ahhh geeeez, I could do without the meteorological anatomy confessional. Sit. Here’s your coffee.

Thanks.

Don’t imagine you’re fishing today.

That’d be a no. Kidding me? Any yellow-mouthed lunker worth chasing is hunkered down with his she-trout under a blanket of turtle grass waitin’ out this chill. Boys ain’t thinking about eating today.

So what’ll you do with yourself?

Treadmill.

What?

Yeah, Nice Ring Sire. I Think I'll Pass...

So we’ve talked with you HERE about the recent uptick in legal maneuvering taking place on and around Pine Avenue and focused on the continuing spat over Comp Plan compliance and parking. We wish we could tell you it is looking positive but we would be lying. While there are new possibilities for civil discourse and thoughtful resolution, some old habits die hard and it isn't pretty.

To recap, Bob and Nicky Hunt sued the city in December over PAR’s 308 Pine Avenue plan being approved but only, of course, after PAR had sued the city because its 308 plan had been denied but before Eugene Aubry swooped in to save the day and cast the deciding vote for approval PAR’s second time around. Got that? Take a breath because we’re just getting started.

Pancakes and Scallywags

By Bill Yanger

They’re back. Here's another in this continuing series of imagined conversations over coffee at the Rod & Reel Pier. Any resemblance to persons or personalities, real or imagined, is entirely coincidental and mostly unintended.


Good morning.

Hey! Grab a seat.

What the heck is that?

What?

That. On your plate.

THAT is a stack of pancakes.

I know it’s a stack of pancakes genius. What is that stack of pancakes doing on your plate.

Uh…soaking up all this butter and gooey maple syrup and waiting for me to eat ‘em?

Exactly!

Yes, exactly. Am I missing something?

You promised.You coulda had a frikkin’ heart attack, man! You know how bad it is for you and you said you’d never give in, that if they brought it to the table you’d just push it away. You said…

I know what I said. That was then. And I meant it, I really did. But, dude, get real…things change. Just being realistic under the circumstances. I'm hungry...and I like pancakes…a lot.

Things change? That’s your answer? Here’s realistic for you: your blood pressure has to duck to get in the door, man. Cholesterol, too. You have people depending on you. You can’t eat that stuff. What’s next? You gonna take a cigarette from the next guy offers you one, too? You promised. We believed you.

Wow, you like me…you really like me…

On Second Thought...

Our recent praise of the kumbaya karma wafting around town lately was, it now appears, a bit of wistful thinking.

First, word arrives that Bob and Nicky Hunt have sued the city over its approval of PAR’s 308 Pine Avenue site plan back in November. The suit, which you can see HERE, mirrors the Nally lawsuit against the city over approval of the 216 Pine site plan, not surprising since the same lawyers represent both the Nallys and the Hunts and the issues are essentially identical. Stayed tuned.

And speaking of the Nally suit, PAR’s recent success at site plan approval with a kinder gentler commission certainly has not quenched their lust for the courtroom. Not satisfied with their own lawsuits against the city, all of which remain pending, PAR asked the Nally judge to let them join that party too. The judge allowed them to “intervene” in the ongoing case and PAR’s new lawyer Andrea Mogensen, she of Michael Barfield and recall election fame, wasted no time rattling sabres. Based upon this intervention in the Nally suit over 216 Pine, one suspects PAR will join the Hunt 308 Pine suit as well or seek to consolidate their own 308 case with this new one.

So let’s try to get this all straight.

Kumbaya, James Madison and Interested Men...It Matters

There are particular moments in public affairs when the people stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be the most ready to lament.
                                         -James Madison, The Federalist No. 63



After the thunder and lightning of this city’s politics throughout much of 2010, that whiff of kumbaya-scented incense floating down Pine Avenue of late is, to many, a relief. Mayor Selby has held to pre-election promises of bridge building and consensus seeking, to the snickering delight of some, the quiet chagrin of others and the reluctanct self-loathing acquiescence of the Fourth Estate. But, hey, he’s got the sides talking like he said he’d do and that is worthy of a sincere pat on the back.

Holiday gatherings and the spirit of the season have imbued a sense of camaraderie, real or imagined, among the elected, the electors and, inevitably, those who seek to manipulate both. And a week from today, the P&Z Board will be back at it, discussing yet another new parking ordinance on Pine Avenue and the manipulators will be front and center. In this context, “manipulator” is not necessarily a derogatory term. We all manipulate others in our lives in some form or another by negotiating, controlling or influencing to our advantage (Come on, admit it. Who went out to get the paper when it was 35° this morning and how was that decision made? Hmm?). The point is this: yes, it’s been relatively peaceful since the election and that’s a good thing but the elephant, Pine Avenue parking, is still in the room. And so are those “interested men.”

But a funny thing happened on the way here.

Just Breathe

By Bill Yanger

The back fender clangs staccato as the salty beach cruiser bounces off the pavement and onto the sandy path that leads to my church. A seagrape leaf, red veined, round and waxy, hangs just close enough to slap my shoulder and two plump breasted dove take to startled flight, wings whistling in reproach of the sudden intrusion and harmonizing with the melodic hum of a late day sea breeze through the brittle limbs and needles of Australian pines tilting, always, to the lee.

Scattered orphan pine needles provide traction over the shifty sand as the path bends first to the left around a scarred and sagging sable palm and then back to the right toward my sanctuary. I jump off just as the tires bog. I lay the bike behind a dune sprouting tufts of sea-oat grasses and look out over the brigades of kindred dunes marching in either direction while morning glories pop with purple panache along their jade-green railroad vines snaking between.

I squint at the path funneling out onto a blinding whiteness, like a giant sugar bowl has tipped and spilled its contents in front of me, broken only by a cresting high tide depositing a ragged line of Sargasso clumps and sea cockles before disappearing into an emerald infinity called the Gulf of Mexico. The air sniffs briny and young, as if newly conceived, then freed to flutter and soar.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

By Bill Yanger


They’re back. Here's another in a continuing series of imagined conversations over coffee at the Rod & Reel Pier. Any resemblance to persons or personalities, real or imagined, is entirely coincidental and mostly unintended.


Good morning.

Hey! Nice…uh…coat.

Like it?

Yeah, some climber just called from Mt. Everest, he wants it back.

What can I say, it got cold, like overnight, and the thing’s toasty.

Dude, you’re wearing khaki shorts and flip flops.

It’s not that cold, come on.

Right. So anyway, why the bandage on your hand?

Nothin.

Nothing? Sure looks like something to me, all wrapped up professional like. Cut yourself carving the Thanksgiving turkey?

Nope.

Open a knuckle changing spark plugs in that thing you call a boat?

Nah, she’s runnin’ sweet as ever.

What then?

Ain’t a big deal. Just learned a tough lesson, that’s all.

Looks like a painful lesson. It still hurt?

A little sore yeah but I’ll get over it. Just won’t do that again. Ever.

What again?

Kind of a long story.

You got a steaming cup a coffee and here come my scrambled eggs as we speak. Plenty of time. Talk to me.

You’re sure a nosy S-O-B.

Damn right. And you’re stubborn. Just tell me the story before I stick this fork in that wound of yours.

Pass The Soap Please

Having spent the better part of this past weekend speaking with voters in Anna Maria about next Tuesday’s election, it is enlightening to find so many who have arrived at decisions based upon their own thoughtful consideration of the facts and their evaluation of the candidates for mayor. Most people we spoke with obviously realize the importance of this race and seem to have put the necessary time into considering the issues, the candidates and the significance of their vote.

Of course, there were those who either could not articulate a reason or simply could not be bothered to do so. Their vote, their right, one supposes.

Others provided reasons that were simply, well, out there. For instance, one gentleman spoke of being “very impressed” with Mike Selby after reading Mike’s first mailing, the interview piece. Impressed, that is, until he saw that the post mark on the envelope was from St. Petersburg. He explained that Harry Stoltzfus’ mail also had a St. Petersburg postmark and, based solely on that evidence, he concluded that “those two are joined at the hip.”

Understand this: I’ve known this gentleman for 35 years. I respect him. He is a savvy guy and about as smart as they come so if this was the best he could do to connect Mr. Stoltzfus to Mike Selby I was not going to argue. But, to give him the benefit of the doubt I asked the postal clerk at the Anna Maria post office if Anna Maria mail is ever post marked St. Petersburg. “Of course it is,” he said, adding, “If it is bulk mail or put in the outgoing mail slot, it is bundled and sent to St. Pete for processing. It only gets an Anna Maria post mark if it is processed here at the desk.”

So much for that conspiracy theory. I hope my friend reads this and reconsiders his reasoning before he casts his vote. I am sure he would now admit that an inconsequential postmark on an envelope does not make Mike Selby’s resume any less impressive.

Mike Selby's Proven Leadership: Been There, Done That

As the Anna Maria mayor’s race nears its two-week final countdown, the question of “proven leadership” has popped up a few times from voters interested in the respective experiences of the candidates. That phrase “proven leadership” may mean different things to different people but we think it’s enlightening to summarize the issue with some “been there, done that” examples that starkly set candidate Mike Selby apart in this race:

• 30 years of real-life management experience both within and at the top of government and private organizations both large and small.


• 30 years of making payroll, keeping the lights on and growing his own business, one of California’s largest commercial developers, from scratch.


• 30 years of earning a living competing as an aggressive, effective and, most importantly, thoughtful commercial developer.


• 30 years of being accountable every single day for managing people, resources and policy in an effective and profitable organization.


• 30 years of give-and-take, of compromise, of effective delegation and problem solving at the helm his own organization and working cooperatively with city and county governments, large and small, on development issues.


• 30 years of being a listener not just a proclaimer, of being a decision maker not just a rubber-stamper.


• 30 years of being accountable to those he employs, those with whom he contracts and those who have depended upon him showing up every day to make sure the job gets done.


Mike Selby has “been there, done that” his entire professional life. He’s knowledgeable, dependable, successful and most importantly, he’s accountable.


Mike Selby is a “proven leader” by any definition.


Remember that when you cast your vote.


And stay informed.

Repost...All In The Family: She Think's It's A Conflict Too.

(Originally posted October 3rd but the message remains important).

The election for Anna Maria mayor is but 30 days away, one month from tomorrow, and campaigning should kick into high gear in the next few days. As pointed out by the Bradenton Herald’s Michael Bender HERE with the rise in absentee and early voting, voters are making election decisions long before election day. As a result, those key reasons why voters cast their vote for or against a particular candidate, must be addressed in advance as well. We’ll endeavor to provide our perspective on the candidates and some of the issues for you to consider in the coming weeks. Today though, let’s talk about one issue: Conflict of interest.

Does the possibility of close relatives, say father and son or mother and daughter, or even husband and wife, serving simultaneously as mayor and commissioner raise as many red flags for you as it does for us? What about sunshine law implications? Since he/she does not serve on the same governmental body, a mayor is free to independently discuss pet votes with commissioners without the straight-jacket of sunshine restrictions. Concerning? As you will see, others who are perceived by some to have influence think so and we agree with them.

Let’s break it down.

Home Is Where His Heart Is...

With only 25 days left until the election, the candidates for mayor of Anna Maria could choose any number of relevant issues to talk about. Say, how the city spends the taxpayers’ money and the candidates' real-life experience with handling the responsibility of a $2.1 million budget. Or how about the ongoing debate regarding how commercial development can coexist with Anna Maria’s desirable tranquility and, importantly, what hard-earned development industry wisdom the candidates can offer to facilitate that coexistence.

Of course, that would require that the candidates actually have the real-life experience of being directly accountable for multi-million dollar budgets and have the wisdom one can only glean from going to work every day for decades as a de facto commercial developer. Only one candidate in this mayor’s race can make either of those claims: Mike Selby.

So faced with that reality, what is Sandy Mattick to do?

Islander Gets It Wrong...Again

In our continuing quest to persuade you that should you choose to read the local weeklies at least do so with a healthy dose of skepticism and, well, don't bet your grocery money on their accuracy.

After THIS and THIS one would expect an extra effort at getting it right. But, no.

Below an ominous headline of "Deadline Looming For Stoltzfus Response" the on-line piece (under Rick Catlin's by-line) proceeds to report to you that Mr. Stoltzfus must file a response to THIS order by October 1, 2010, as in today. But the Second District Court of Appeal's September 16th order gives him 20 days to file the response. The Islander evens says so in its story.

You do the math.

So, be skeptical. And stay informed.

Can You Hear That?

By Bill Yanger

They’re back. Here's another in a continuing series of imagined conversations over coffee at the Rod & Reel Pier. Any resemblance to persons or personalities, real or imagined, is entirely coincidental and mostly unintended.


Good morning.

Hey, mornin’. Mmmmm, can you feel that?

Feel what?

That…you know, that feeling.

Can I feel a feeling? Are you on that blood thinner again?

No, man. Come on, close your eyes.

Is this a joke?

Not a joke. Just close ‘em…good. Now what do you feel?

Stupid.

Get over it. No one’s looking except that waitress but anyway she thinks you’re twisted.

She thinks I’m sexy.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want, But All You Want’s The Truth

The recall furor is over but the agenda remains the same.

In her never ending quest to stroke the hand that feeds her, Bonner Joy, the editor and publisher of The Islander, has purposefully deceived you again. And this time there’s no hiding it.

It wasn’t enough to embarrass herself and her staff when she promoted the results of her sham popcorn “straw vote” last fall with front page fervor announcing winners who turned out to get the fewest, by far, real votes of five commission candidates.

It wasn’t enough when, after dishonoring Commission Chairman John Quam’s quiet strength with the gavel, she claimed to have endorsed him when she’d done nothing of the sort.

It wasn’t enough to report that several more people had been targeted for public records requests by her pet “government watchdog” Michael Barfield but conveniently leave out the fact that her reporter too was targeted.

It wasn’t enough when she allowed her reporter to make up quotes from thin air and to completely ignore a commission meeting speaker meltdown so egregious that two commissioners and the mayor found it necessary to shout the speaker back to order.

Sun: Mayor Breaks A Tie Vote. Uh, Wrong.

With interest in the November 2nd mayor's race increasing, one topic of discussion inevitably is what happens in a tie city commission vote. Gene Aubry has promised to abstain from PAR votes, though what that means has yet to be defined. But assuming it happens, assuming Aubry does honor his pre-election pledge that some voters may have relied upon in voting for him, and he declines to vote on, say, a PAR site plan and the vote goes 2 - 2? What then?

In it's editorial out today, The Sun wants you to believe the mayor casts the deciding vote. But that would be wrong.

A cursory review of Sec. 3.08 of the City Charter reveals that “No action of the Commission … shall be valid or binding unless adopted by the affirmative vote of three (3) or more of the Commissioners.” A tie vote is just that, a tie, and the subject of the vote therefore fails. The mayor has veto power but that's an entirely different discussion for another day (maybe soon).

Hey, it could be an honest mistake and, if so, Sun publisher Mike Field will say so, publicly.

Or maybe not.

Stay informed.

Bill Yanger

Aubry’s Opportunity, Lingering Questions and Strategic Expediency: We’ll See

By Wednesday Gene Aubry will be sworn in as an Anna Maria city commissioner. After months of hearing the recallers’ and their lawyers’ cry of “Let the voters decide!” the voters did decide, by a 16 ballot swing of the 693 cast. Not exactly a mandate but, hey, a win is a win is a win. Aubry is now the commissioner. And though many questions have been answered in the frenzied last few weeks, just as many remain.

Will Mr. Aubry honor his published pledge “to recuse himself from any votes that have to do with” PAR?

Does the law even allow him to do so? If not, how does he abide such a pre-election promise?

If he can lawfully abstain, how will he and, we suppose, the City Attorney determine which votes “have to do with” PAR?

The answers will reveal themselves as Mr. Aubry’s tenure unfolds. We urge him to take this opportunity to analyze what is at stake, distance himself from the ever-circling undesirable elements of division and feculence and consider that Anna Maria is so much more than a five block stretch of Pine Avenue. If he brings the class and savvy he exhibited in his career to his work on the commission, then a few surprises may be in store for those who have come to doubt his intentions, or more meaningfully, for those who may expect a quid pro quo. We’ll see.

There are, however, other questions surfacing in the wake of this turbulent summer.

Lessons In The Rule Of Law, Due Process and Tiny Olives

It is a profound understatement to say yesterday’s ruling from the Second District Court of Appeal turned every Tom, Dick and Former Inmate into a legal scholar, braying I-told-ya-so’s and citing the “rule of law” as if it were a concept they discovered on the back of a cereal box this morning. Granted, at least one of them has spent far more time in courtrooms than any of the lawyers in this case and perhaps has felt the impassioned thrust of due process far more personally than the rest of us. Another has provided the greatest form of flattery by attempting to parody this blog, your blog. We know parody, parody is a friend of ours. Trust us, the other blog is no parody. That’s not to say it is devoid of humor. With a user name like “tini-olives” one wonders whether it’s a hint at the blogger’s identity or an admission of physical prowess. Considering the blogger’s bold anonymity, one must assume the latter. To all of them we say “thank you” for logging on and reading, several times a day most days, so that you too can stay informed. Yes, we are here for you, too.

So, in deference to the zeal of the brayers, let’s at least attempt to analyze the Court’s order yesterday and its implications moving forward.

Slick, Yes. But Worth It? Your Call.

Okay, let's say you are running for Anna Maria City Commission in a special election. The election is contentious to say the least. Maybe the most contentious in memory. You never say anything bad about anybody, you claim, but you are clearly identified with one camp; heck you've worked for them, your wife works with them. You spend time shooting the breeze under their purple sign on their authentically faux '"Old Florida" front porch in their requisite faux front porch chairs, while waiting for someone, anyone, to actually show up looking for that certain Appenino Porcini Oil (real, not faux, at last!) to drizzle over a hard-to-find Taleggio cheese ("Wait guys, look, here comes someone, act natural, act like you live here, act...well...act like Old Floridians...come on, really, don't scare this one away too...").