Did controlled growth in Venice take a hit with Joan Farrells childish decision to resign?
Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC
I have been asked about my thoughts regarding Joan Farrells decision to resign. This is the second Venice council member in the past few years to resign, both being Democrats. The last time Brian resigned, the Republican controlled city council chose their candidate of choice, Rachel Frank. We may not be done choosing candidates either because I believe Jim Boldt has turned in paperwork to run for mayor and that would open his seat up and the council would have to vote on a new member to replace Jim.
Joan quit because she felt the council was not following the will of the people, so she wanted to take a stand. A stand that resembles my one-year-old grandson’s outburst when he does not get his way. However, what she has done is hand another seat over to my party, the Republicans. Now this seat will go before the council to vote on the next council member, who will hold the seat until the next election cycle. Who do you think will vote to replace Joan? Do you think it will be an individual that carries the same views as her on growth and politics? I can almost guarantee the next council member will not be a Democrat and may not have her views on growth in Venice, since 5 of the 7 seats are held by my fellow Republicans. Just like before, Jack Brill (Sarasota County Republican Party Leader), whom is under the influence of Pat Neal, will call each council member and tell them who he wants to replace Joan. So, Joan’s childish antics will do more harm than good to her views on growth within Venice and her party.
Now, keep in mind that I have been an advocate for controlled growth going back years, which is a bit different than Joan’s view of no more growth. An odd position, since she recently moved to Venice on the growth wave. Unfortunately, a lot of people like Joan do not understand that laws like the Burt Harris Act stand in the way of politicians in favor of the developers and prevent them from doing the right thing. Often doing the right thing on growth leads to lawsuits, which the city does not have a great record defending themselves against. So, many of the council members try to do the right thing without dragging the city through a long-drawn-out legal battle.
Joan noted several issues like the Jacaranda rezoning issue, traffic safety, storm water issues and some other items that have come before the council. I believe she noted that the council was not voting for the will of the people, which are the vocal residents that email, call and show up to meetings. However, of the over 20,000 votes within the city, should this small group of advocates be deciding the will of all the residents within the city? I am assuming that is what the other city council members don’t believe that Joan’s vote is all that matters when it comes to the will of the people.
Joan should have finished out the term that she committed to serving. I followed Joan and noticed that her approach alienated many of the other members. Instead, she should have taken an approach of reaching out to them and looking for options for a more controlled growth approach. Joan’s approach was akin to the Ron Feinsod approach, which led to more issues than results. We need council members that strongly advocate their positions but understand that they may have to consider concessions, so that they can reach a consensus. 🙂
My friend Earl with the Herald wrote a detailed article covering Joan’s resignation, which you can read by clicking — >>> here.
Thoughts?
In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I am a registered Republican.