admission and omission

The City Manager admitted last night that for the 8 yrs he was on the Council, maintenance and repairs of the water and sewer system was avoided like the plague. When it was suggested by a resident that his admission made him a part of the problem, The City Manager confirmed it.

Yes, our streets will be torn up and we will be inconvenienced, but hopefully no worse or longer than if the City did it. Will there be cost overruns? change orders? additional charges? If so, how much? Once the deal is done on Sept 3rd we will be at the County's mercy. The mayor DID have one good idea during the discussion, to have a plumbing company or three on call for late night emergencies. I wonder how much that would cost. We will have to wait to see if its necessary.

I disagree with EVERY other thought the Mayor has though, beginning with his new gym legacy project and continuing thru his failure to fill his Board seats. At least one is STILL not filled more than TWO YEARS after it was vacated. We have NOBODY in this community whom he can find to fill that slot? He is just hopelessly out of touch with today's environmental (and economic) realities. Clueless is the word that comes to mind, and that's bad enough, but he apparently doesn't care either, about the issues facing Springs residents these days. His legacy seems to be his one and only focus now. He has stopped listening to the majority of residents long ago, won't look at all the options (due diligence) to get the best deal for us, and won't let the people have their say at the voting booths either, about major issues that will impact us financially for decades! This is the kind of representation we want? need? and/or voted for? No way.

Rob Youngs is responsible for the other Ecology Board seat NOT being filled TWO YEARS later. he continues to say that he is "looking into" a candidate to fill that position but TWO YEARS later, he and the Mayor have both failed to fill their respective seats. Can it be that they agree one THAT one thing? that the environment is not important ?

Our illustrious Mayor is on record not being willing to even "look into" the possibility of getting a grant that would provide rain barrels for our residents during this 2-year drought and water restrictions. Somehow he believes that global warming, acid rain, ice flows melting, rain forests being cut down, and droughts on a worldwide scale are the responsibility of each person individually to remedy; which is, of course, absurd.

While each person can make their own contribution, to state that an individual could, or should, be responsible for finding a solution with NO help or assistance from the government is ridiculous. The governments should be taking a leadership position and leading the charge, not shirking any responsibilities and shuffling the responsibilities off to the individual taxpayers.

Last month the state of Florida had a Water Conservation month and seminars were held all around the state. The state government of California has taken a leadership position in regards to passing legislature to reduce toxic emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency is federal and actively involved in ALL phases of environmental concerns. Think globally, act locally!! Governments at ALL levels, county, state, regional, national, and international, are actively involved in the preservation of our planet, except us !! Miami Springs' government is blissfully unaware and/or uninvolved with this process, accepting no responsibilty for contributing to the problem in the past, or its current and future solutions.

If that nonsensical thinking were to be applied to international terrorism, it would be the individual's responsibility for the resolution of that problem too. Preposterous, illogical, call it what you want, it makes NO sense.

No, that is why we elect governments and representatives, to help us combat the problems that we can't fix by ourselves. Do our representatives really believe that they were elected just to fulfill their own personal legacies/reward their friends/line their pockets? What about the people who elected them? When and where do THEIR interests enter into the picture?

There is a rain barrel project here in town that could provide plastic 50-gallon rain barrels for our residents at a minimal or no cost using volunteer labor but the Council provides NO support, NONE, and has not even looked into the possible benefits to our residents. How come? Cisterns have been used for centuries yet somehow the Mayor wants to have the concept tested for 6-12 months locally first, before it could be even considered.

Earth to Mayor Bain ! Lake Okeechobee is 25 inches lower than average and we have been having a drought in ALL FIVE Southeastern states for the past TWO YEARS ! Can it possibly be that he is just blissfully unaware? in his own little legacy dream world? Or is it that he JUST DOESNT CARE ? You decide.