"I felt the crowd, and it warmed me."
-- FDR, on appearance at Philadelphia's Franklin Field, 1944 (my mother attended)
Tonight was Mayor Nancy Shaver's first time to preserve at a full City Commission meeting. A week ago, she was sworn in by Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince, with the 1820 family Bible held by Mayor Shaver's daughter, a NOAA environmental scientist (above).
How cool is that!
No sports cliches here.
Mayor Nancy Shaver is a natural born leader.
We will soon, after years of work, finally have a functioning city government for the first time, perhaps ever.
People are empowered to ask questions, demand answers and get them.
And, mirabile dictu, our Nation's Oldest City has a citizen legislature that is 80% female. No nation or state has a higher percentage, it would appear. Academic literature suggests that women make better decisions because they are less impulsive and less likely to "bet the farm" on data-free decisions.
Judith Seraphin mentioned the warmth of the crowd. People were inspired to speak their minds and attend without hostility from City elected officials and staff. What a difference a decade makes.
Vive le difference!
Three cheers for change.
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