Turbulence At Town Hall

Last nights city commission may be most known to residents for it's decision to not reschedule Fantasy Fest, something the working public overwhelmingly supported.But for me what was most obvious was how wobbly the commission dealt with the stress of the issues brought before it. The Key West City Commission looked like a vehicle whose lug nuts were not tightened enough...wobbling and appearing ready to lose a wheel and careen out of control.

The stress was brought on by the weight of it's agenda and the packed house - most there to support keeping Fantasy Fest as scheduled. (Fantasy Fest won, and will be held December 7-10.) The meeting began with a report on the city's finances, wracked by hurricane damage, business interuptions, and clean-up costs, and set the commission on edge. As the meeting progressed, one by one, the commissioners each seemed out of touch and rattled.

• Rossi was confused as to what he had seconded
• Bethel enraged the crowd by suggesting they were outnumbered by the anti-Fantasy-Fest-in-December "silent majority"
• Menendez delivered more than one meandering sermon with no punch line
• the Mayor/Chairperson threatened that the public shouldn't make this personal (and even scolded one resident who mentioned Bethel's name during her allotted 3 minutes)
• and most menacing of all was Kholage who stared down the crowd and threatened in old-fashioned Bubba style, that if you push the commission, next time the commission will push back (later he would apologize for the comment, and tried to tone down his rhetoric).

I can only imagine how they'll deal with the real problems coming down the pipe.

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