http://staugustine.com/opinions/2015-04-25/editorial-time-put-distance-between-distraction-and-destiny-st-augustine?page=1#.VT54ZjpiNhA
Editorial: Time to put distance between distraction and destiny in St. Augustine
Posted: April 25, 2015 - 6:30pm
Meaningless quote:
“A good oxman does not quarrel with his ox”
— Unknown
Despair that democracy is breaking out (just as at Mosquito Control, where we stopped $1.8 million unneeded no-bid "sole source" helicopter)
Monday night’s city agenda, on its face, might be free of the tension and high theater we’ve witnessed over the past few months on the St. Augustine City Commission. Let’s all hope so.
Meaningless journalist babble:
The rift between commissioners and mayor isn’t imaginary, nor is it unprecedented in city politics. Winning elections can be heady stuff, and winners — mayors or commissioners — can get a little “mandate-creep” crawling around in their heads. The pendulum of politics here has swung wildly in the past, and manifested itself at the polls.
So democracy is "ugly?" What a misguided belief system!
Take, for instance, the Bridge of Lions restoration controversy or the parking garage proposal behind the Lightner building. Both of these made and melted political mini-cartels here. It was ugly then, and it’s ugly now.
Mayor Shaver committed truth about City Hall, and the Record's owners and controllers are mad as wet hens"
Mayor Nancy Shaver, whether intentionally or not, lit the fire when she chastised sitting commissioners publicly early in March. She went so far as to utter the “word-heard-’round-the-town” in relation to her fellow commissioners: “Embarrassment.”
Record has no idea what it's talking about, sends junior reporter to meetings, and never has anything intelligent to say; falsehoods about "group of hecklers" are libel and Lashon hara:
We’ve been watching this particular set of officials closely and do not remember anything remotely embarrassing in their actions or decorum. Conversely, the most notable embarrassment came at another March meeting of the city when a group of hecklers, made up predominately of the mayor’s election team, disrupted the meeting with catcalls and laughter. It was all mildly reminiscent of the street performers’ etiquette a few years back — and every bit as classy.
Cliches by the carload, reflecting shallowness:
Ms. Shaver has an agenda, and that’s fine. She is, historically, certainly not alone in that regard. But she needs to realize that it is no more important, smart or timely than those of her colleagues on the commission. They have a constituency of their own, and equal status on the board.
More libel and Lashon hara from Nancy Sikes-Kline, former speechwriter for hick hack ex-Mayor JOSEPH LESTER BOLES, JR.:
For her part, veteran Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline has publicly been the moderate voice in the political chasm. But she was candid with The Record in a conversation last week. She said the mayor needs training, available from the Florida League of Cities. She said a mayor needs to be a leader, not a lightning rod. A leader, she says, builds trust, credibility and sets an example. “That isn’t what’s happening on her watch.” Sikes-Kline was also cautionary. She said Shaver’s brand of veiled disrespect, condescension and intimidation tactics on fellow commissioners “only works once.”
Crybaby emotion from someone trying to stop investigations of City Hall waste, fraud and abuse, misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance:
“She needs to stop campaigning and start governing,” Sikes-Kline said. “It’s brewing an undercurrent of distrust.”
Smug, unsourced assertions of correlation (not causation) as to unnamed alleged sponsor pulling out from 450th -- unreliable hearsay -- accompanied by smug assertion ("it's not Watergate")
But the problem extends beyond the walls of City Hall. One former city official who asked for anonymity said “the acrimony is poisoning the 450th.” And we know of more than one sponsor involved in the birthday bash who’s pulled out because of the mixed signals coming from city government. This is both a celebration and a reminder of a heritage and culture unique in the U.S. It’s not Watergate.
Glittering dramatic generalities from the former Record fishing reporter -- suitable for framing from a newspaper called "The Mullet Wrapper" since Morris Communications Cartel bought it from the railroad in 1982:
City Manager John Regan has done a good job of inserting himself as a buffer to all the angst, falling on his own sword in the process. His efforts may be paying off. The rumblings we hear from within city government is that the rift is closing. The pendulum is arcing tighter. Egos are deflating. Claws are retracting. And that has to happen, honestly, if the wheels of governance are to move ahead.
Meaningless petulence:
From the most dispassionate and practical side of the situation, Shaver is hurting her own constituency. How far can she pursue her campaign platform without the support of any of her peers?
Meaningless pejoratives:
The coercive position from which she attempts to play “is a weakness, not a strength.” Sikes-Kline said. “It’s been such a distraction for everybody. We need to get on with it.”
Silliest. Record. Editorial. Ever.:
Indeed.
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