Progress – Backwards

A present-day cultural icon once said in his native tongue “Para atrás, ni para coger impulso!” – which for the benefit of the seven people in Florida that don’t speak Spanish, the infamous saying translates to “Backwards, not even to gain momentum!”

The Argentinean doctor’s 40 year old saying, in a misanthropic sense applies to Marco Island. But as another, though honest icon, once wrote, how “curiouser and curiouser!” it is as we progress backwards.

Congratulations and much appreciation to council members Ms. DiSciullo, Mr. Kiester and Mr. Forcht for voting against continuing the sewer project.

As to the rest of the Sanhedrin, you may want give at least a semblance of being informed, lest you look any dumber – not the citizens of course as that image is irreparable, but to the other interests you serve.

Here are the facts, yet again, for you curious four:

• There is no study of any kind that connects any septic tank to any form of pollution invading or otherwise affecting anything. This author, after reviewing every report provided by the city, will attest to that fact. Did you miss a report? The email from Mr. Moss stating unequivocally that there is no such study suffices. Check out the report yourselves.
• The sewage processing plant handling paradise has had spills. Ergo, they – the government – have in fact harmed the environment. This fact has been documented on this site and by the state of Florida.
• Sewage treatment plant spills in other paradises like California and Washington have increased many times over this year as compared to last – as also reported on these pages.
• Every citizen, visitor, tourist, part time resident, full time resident, Cuban that was just dropped off on Residents Beach by human smugglers, illegal alien, worker, weekend over-60 Harley enthusiast and coyote (you know, the ones playing golf on the Marco Island golf course) will benefit from, or be adversely impacted by the sewage treatment plant.

So, let’s keep making multi-million dollar decisions with serious health consequences based on misinformation.

And then onto POP. With history to guide us, as provided by some members of the city council and by nearly all of the “staff”, could this fine organization not have anticipated what happened?

When people and governments act in good faith, the intent is what counts. Those who seek the perennial advice of lawyers seldom act with good intentions. Knowing how some of the council acted and said when it came to this initiative, POP should have entered into this endeavor only after covering all of their bases. POP must have known after months of contention and personal insults that the government would go to any length to block the initiative. Read: block what the voters want. In this case, until POP reviews its legal options, the reason for the defeat appears to be a requirement by statute. The long-distance response by POP is that it just isn’t so. So once again we are left to wonder. Which begs another question – why wasn’t the senior representation of POP at the city council meeting representing their/our interest when this matter was being debated?

A suggestion to the council: listen to your voters and in the rare case when the informed majority is “wrong”, don’t alienate them. [Yes citizens, sometimes the majority in the American democracy are wrong, as in dead wrong – like slavery, legalized discrimination of women and blacks, infanticide, the House Un-American Activities Committee, etc..]You were not voted into a body which forms a representative form of government to do what businesses want or to act on what you guess is correct. Federal representation is where we entrust our representatives to make judgment calls and to do what they think is best, since there are many issues for which we can not opine intelligently since do not have access to certain information (e.g., military secrets). But at a city level, where there is a sunshine law? If you do what the majority want, and that majority is just as informed as you are, then there would be less contention, less lawsuits, and more leeway. And democracy would actually work well.