Lack of communication or lack of interest — not one citizen showed up for the last council meeting. I had forgotten that there would not be an August meeting, therefore one had been scheduled for the last week in July in place of the usual second Tuesday of the month.

The meeting was brief, lasting less than an hour. The most significant item on the short agenda was a salary increase for the village manager, which passed unanimously. Mr. Lombardi, has met the challenges of starting a new city and earned his raise.

Aftermath of the penny sales tax vote — I was surprised by the margin by which the proposal was defeated. I thought it was going to be a close vote. Instead it was soundly defeated by a 2-1 margin. This sends a strong message to politicians. Money alone will not solve transportation issues. Mass transit — even if it was supported by a decent number of riders — also is not an answer.

The problem has more to do with simple math than lack of money. Places like New York City have a tremendous traffic problem, yet they have one of the best subway systems in the world, with a huge number of riders. It is simply a numbers issue — great numbers of people trying to get to the same places at the same time. If our short-sighted, unimaginative government leaders continue to allow high density construction in every direction, including to the edge of the Everglades, traffic will be a minor quality of life issue compared to the lack of clean water and quality air.

Money can only help prolong the inevitable. Control growth! I would pay an extra penny to offset growth.

Parks — It has taken three years for the Village of Pinecrest to get control of the parks within our boundaries. We now officially own and run all of the parks within Pinecrest. Our newest park, Pinecrest Park on the site of the former trailer park, is at Pinecrest Parkway (US 1) and SW 124th Street. The clearing is complete and construction is ready to begin.

It is scheduled to open sometime next summer, maybe for July Fourth. The site plan can be seen at Village Hall. It would be a service to the community if the Village put a picture of the site plan up at the construction site.

For those of you that would have preferred a Publix instead of a park, the Publix Supermarket by Dadeland Towers (former site of Extra) is coming along. It is scheduled to open sometime this fall — late October is the target date as of this printing.

I was happy to read that the former location of Luria’s is going to be a rug company and not an Old Navy store. It sure is comforting to know that there is no shortage of these stores. One just opened at Sunset Place, there is one at S. Dixie Highway and 136th Street and soon there will be another opening across from Dadeland, in those lovely, boxy pre-fab buildings under construction. So much for the Charrette’s concepts.

It’s hard to believe that school begins in less than two weeks. Enjoy the rest of the summer.