Ed Martin's INSIDE VENICE FLORIDA Blog          Thursday, 20 November 2008 "Why Would Anyone Want To Be An Elected Official." During the November 19, 2008 court hearing, carefully balancing the needs for information by the plaintiffs in Lorenzo et.al v. the City of Venice, et.al. while protecting Constitutional Rights and the burdens of complying with such discovery requests, Judge Robert Bennett mused quietly, “Why would anyone want to be an elected official?” It is a question, that in one phrasing or another, I have heard increasingly frequently from citizens, friends and associates around the country. Particularly, they wonder why I, after a long career in public service, would interrupt retirement to get involved in running for office and being thrust into what is sometimes a mean-spirited environment. “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I think the above quotation from Mahatma Gandhi is the best answer I can give. I have wanted to change, hopefully for the better, a number of things I have experienced in my life. With Peggy, my wife, we hoped to contribute to bringing about some changes in fundamental racial interactions, opportunities for people with disabilities and for women and more understanding between persons of different religious beliefs. We hoped to “be the change” in these areas in a small way and to encourage peaceful solutions to conflicts small and large. Here in Venice we found an already wonderful community, but as we watched for over a decade, we felt that its very nature and uniqueness were in danger of being changed by excessive development, not well-planned and sustainable growth. “What to do?” In addition to supporting organizations which had similar goals, I began to write on issues impacting on Venice and the local newspapers were willing to print my opinions and thoughts. It did not seem to be useful enough. So I felt running for Mayor would be a way to “Be the change I sought.” “Being Mayor.” I do not regret running for and being elected Mayor. It is an opportunity to serve and, for the most part, I feel it has been productive and believe it will be even more so. We are planning for the City and developing priorities that citizens have expressed clearly. I am pleased with initiatives we have taken to work cooperatively with the Business community. I meet regularly with Main Street members and the Chamber of Commerce, and the council has approved a Task Force to help guide our efforts to strengthen the economy. We have also begun a Task Force to guide us in what is probably the citizens’ most precious resource, our environment. The 800 pound gorilla in the living room is the “Lorenzo” suit. Any of you reading this are almost certainly familiar with its major themes and this is not the time for me to discuss them in any detail. I look forward to its resolution and to increased opportunity for understanding on the part of the citizens as to the nature of the issues. Meanwhile I am continuing to try to “Be the change…” and look forward gratefully to the opportunity to serve which the voters have offered me. Post A Comment Posted By Ed Martin at 4:54 PM in Category:Inside Venice Replies 23 Nov 2008 Jon Preiksat Ed, Good piece. Below is something I wrote that may or may not be of interest to you and your readers. It is about the monumental problems facing Citigroup in trying to survive the tsunami that hit it last week. Jon Jon Preiksat’s Preamble to the Article: When I read the article below, Citigroup Failure Imminent, by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D., I started to think about “failure” and how can a massive international financial conglomerate “fail” in an instant of time and get crushed by their own ingenuity? What if I, like Citigroup, was resting on $2 trillion in assets up until a week ago? Then in less time than it took God to create the entire universe, earth, the flora and fauna and then us….”poof” ...there was not even a hard breeze and my entire $ 2 trillion immediately start to vaporize right before my eyes and there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop it before it is gone…forever. At least we are assured that everything God created is fundamentally sound. Not so for the creations developed in the laboratories belonging to the god’s of Wall Street…The Masters of the Universe. Unfortunately for me and millions of other folks, I bought some of those products. I asked myself: When I used hard earned money to buy those products, did I place stronger faith, trust and belief in the god’s of Wall Street than in the God of the universe? I must admit. I did. Blindly and without any qualms or reservations. Jon Preiksat Venice, Florida November 23, 2008 MONEYANDMARKETS» http://www.moneyandmarkets.com