In our quest for a Village Hall, the Village Council and the Mayor eventually steamrolled ahead with the acquisition of two acres on 104th Street. Not only did due diligence investigations show that this was not such a bright idea, but elected officials utterly disregarded our pledge to avoid encroachment into residential areas. The Mayor and the Village Council completely underestimated the negative reaction of the community in the vicinity of the 104th Street site. I use the word "we" because even though I strongly opposed the 104th Street site and voted against it, I bear the responsibility of not being able to convince the rest of the Village Council to come to their senses and not to be blinded by the economics of the decision.

Apparently it took the uproar from many residents in our Village to get the Mayor's attention. Often times what goes on in this town has little to do with public meetings pursuant to the Sunshine Law. Like the rest of the town, I read the newspaper articles which quoted the Mayor to the effect that she was pursuing a "swap" of the 104th Street site for Wayside Park on U.S. 1 to build a Village Hall. I applaud the ultimate goal although the circuitous and somewhat arrogant route for reaching that goal is worthy of note.

If the "swap" for Wayside Park is approved by the County, we then have to decide what use will be made of our "surplus" two acres of residential zoned property for which we have invested approximately $850,000.00. Perhaps we should dig a new pond at the 104th Street site and use the dirt to fill in the pond at Wayside Park. We can then transfer the ducks from Wayside Park to the new park site on 104th Street. We need those ducks as constant reminders of how government sometimes operates.

To reach Barry Blaxberg, call (305) 381-7979 Ext 309 or e-mail blaxberg@blaxgray.com.