I was unable to attend last week's EPC meeting in defense of our wetlands but I did tune in to catch the end of it. I was very impressed with my fellow citizens as they fought for our environment and held our elected officials accountable for it to the dismay of developers. Seeing them in action is always inspiring, but in addition to their regular performances, there were a few I didn't expect. As the motion by Commissioner Rose Ferlita to approve the staff recommendation was made and seconded by Commissioner Mark Sharpe, Commissioner Jim Norman jumped in and started to push for the staff to work on classifying the wetlands. This is something that the staff, the advisory committee, and the citizens were on record as AGAINST, yet the developer community wants it. Commissioner Brian Blair seemed like he was going to make a second motion to include this and tried to take his cues from Norman but fumbled. Sharpe boldly intercepted Norman's attempt to weasel this directive to staff and even EPC director Dr. Garrity showed a hint of a backbone as he told Norman that the staff was against classifying the wetlands. Blair, still looking like a deer in headlights (after it has been hit), finally just comes out and asks to hear Norman's opinion but does not end up making a second motion. The staff's and citizen's recommendations passed unanimously and even though Norman and Blair voted for it their comments indicated to me that it was not because they wanted to. November is good for this county and so is public awareness.
So, kudos to Sharpe for taking a stand and not allowing Norman to bully the staff. Thanks to Ferlita for making the motion in the first place, and Commissioner Norman……….you might want to try clicker training with Commissioner Blair……it seems to work for dog trainers. Blair was still speaking when Commissioner Al Higginbotham adjourned the meeting……..the camera was on just long enough to see everyone get up and leave while Blair still continued on.
What can you do? Stay informed and get out and vote.
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2008.
