COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER….
Over the last few months, BocaWatch has raised issues of how local elected and appointed officials are ‘beholden’ to the developers and their representative. Also, BocaWatch has often been asked what its position is concerning the All-Aboard Florida initiative….
Well the highlighted editorial below found in the Palm Beach Post Op-Ed page on February 19, 2015 captures a sentiment often heard within the voices of BocaWatch’s readership. A sentiment deserving of consideration….
On the first item, BocaWatch, in January, published Part One of its ‘Sleeper’ series highlighting this ‘beholden’ notion and aimed at pointing out elected and appointed officials with pro-development propensities and interests that ratify citizens’ concerns for overdevelopment and excessive growth.
Identifying individuals sitting in positions of power who are developers and/or agents for developers raises important questions as to who should be voting on policies that dramatically alter the lives of all us citizens, and, raises the deeper question of who should be removed from these positions and replaced with open minded individuals without the developer in mind.
On the second question, All-Aboard Florida, the sentiment captured in the highlighted piece, albeit from a resident of Jupiter, is equally applicable to us residents of Boca Raton. If you replace ‘Jupiter’ with ‘Boca Raton’ and ‘Harbourside’ with ‘Archstone’ and/or ‘The Mark’, you see that their plight is the same as ours’.
Your input on All-Aboard Florida is welcomed but for now, BocaWatch adopts this sentiment and admits that it could not have said it any better….
BocaWatch
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MONEY SMOTHERS VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
As a citizen of Palm Beach County and the State of Florida, I am shocked and dismayed by the lack of concern for the voice of “the people” but our government-at all levels.
Since I am a native Floridian, I have witnessed this over a long period. This enables me to have a different perspective than someone who lives here seasonally or has not lived here for very long.
Our government, at all levels, are so obviously beholden to developers, politicians and money that is sometimes almost laughable. The voices of the people who actually live and work here – and their quality of life seem to be of no consequence.
All Aboard Florida (AAF) is an example of this extreme disregard for Floridians’ quality of life. It benefits a few and diminishes the safety and quality of life for many.
Our current amount and frequency of freight trains is already doing that. Often, a freight train – that is stopped on the track for a disturbing length of time – closes off four major intersections in Jupiter, greatly decreasing the chance of reaching the hospital in an emergency.
Adding AAF, or more freight trains, will only make it worse – not just for the citizens of Jupiter – but for many other coastal communities. To add insult to injury, AAF would not even stop north of West Palm Beach for northern Palm Beach County residents.
In Jupiter, we now have Harbourside, thanks to our town officials. This monstrosity is the opposite of what local government likes to call the “funky fishing village”.
We – the people who live and work here and who care about what is happening around us – need to keep voicing our concerns no matter how much we feel it falls on deaf ears.
We Floridians need to keep track of who, among our local and state governments, supports and benefits from these projects-and vote them out.
LINDA FORE, Jupiter
