Mayor Fred Hammett and council members Bill Willson and Rick Tacy were using up some time at the March 13th council meeting by grumbling and complaining about the County Commissioners, the County Executive, and the referendum that was going on as they spoke.

    That is not unusual as there are, from time to time, somewhat uncomplimentary references to the county government aired at Council Meetings and at the Planning Commission meetings, where the resident curmudgeon, Jim Myers, often complains about this and that.

   In this case the Mayor indicated that he felt the county may have acted inappropriately, perhaps illegally, in using county funds to send out a mailing to residents urging them to support the referendum which provided that the city and county must be jointly involved in city decisions involving annexations and similar actions that potentially affect the density of development and therefore impact on infrastructure costs and county taxpayers.

    He had asked City Attorney, Bob Anderson, to research the matter. Anderson reported on two cases with somewhat differing facts, one of which, at the Supreme Court (FL) level, seemed to suggest public officials had the right to present information to the public on issues they felt were in the public interest. Anderson had not completed his research and also wanted to be sure that the county used public rather than third-party funds. What he did present did not seem to this layman to offer much support to a Venice city challenge to the County Commissioners, but that is what judges are for. Meanwhile Anderson bills the City for his services, as is appropriate under his arrangement. The point is taxpayers support such inquiries and they should not be frivolous.

    Rick Tacy asked whether having Anderson pursue this matter further was “moot” since the vote was going on. (Is it necessary to remind readers that during the voting that day over 70 percent of county residents voted with the county commissioners and about 69 percent of Venice residents also did?). Vicki Taylor asked if what the Commissioners did was much different that what the city did to gain support for the bond issue a few years ago.  Anderson leaped into the breach and said that presenting information was ok if it was fair and balanced, (so to speak), and Venice’s was. I have taken a totally unscientific survey of friends gathered for a gentle libation that evening and none of us came away with anything other than the clear memory of the City wanting that bond issue to pass.

    John Simmonds said that he had spoken with Commission Chair, Nora Patterson, and she felt their efforts were legal and appropriate. As I recall he did express some reservations about the county having the vote after the city signed the JPA, which was the gist of the discussion. Willson then grumbled about needing to stand up to the county and Tacy seeing the tide was running the other way, joined in with a similar observation about not letting them run over us, The Mayor asked the members if they wanted to go ahead, and no one objected so he told Anderson to go ahead.

    To their credit, Jim Woods and John Moore said nothing as I recall and Vicki Taylor had made her observation.

    I was not going to write about this, but Greg Giles, News Editor of the Gondolier Sun, reported, briefly, that I spoke as a citizen during the public comment period, so I thought I ought to fill in the blanks.

    I suggested to council that I often heard some of them speak negatively about the County Commissioners and somewhat had made a rude remark about the county exec earlier. I pointed out that did not bode well for the cooperation that I and others hoped would come out the Joint Planning Agreement. (I congratulated them on that effort.) I also noted that I did not hear the county commissioners speaking negatively about them at meetings, whatever their private feelings might be.

    Despite this light-hearted treatment, I think Hammett, Wilson, Tacy and Simmonds (on other occasions), should grow up and stop whining about the county commissioners and county actions. I think citizens want them to work cooperatively with the Commissioners and do the right thing for the city.

    That is not to say that the county has not made growth decisions which impact on the city without proper discussion and negotiation, but the Joint Planning Agreement should provide an avenue that runs in both directions. City and county officials need to put the past history of poor cooperation and communication behind them and start on a new path. Negative remarks will not help.