Editor’s Note: For anyone doubting if the Indian River County Commission, the Vero Beach City Council and the Indian River Shores Town Council caved to ultra right wing wackos when they voted to withdraw from the 7/50 regional planning effort, the following column by Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers’ columnist Anthony Westbury is an instructive read.
ANTHONY WESTBURY/SCRIPPS TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Long before I worked for a newspaper, I was a city planner.
That was in the 1970s, when Britain went through an economic bad patch. There was little development and even less money in local government. It wasn’t the greatest time to be a planner.
Most of the plans I helped produce ended up on a dusty shelf somewhere, unloved and unused.
“Yes, very nice,” my bosses on the council would say, “but we have no money at the moment. Could you do another one?”
My point is this: Drawing up fancy plans never actually got anything done. There has to be the political will to turn plans into reality.
So, I’ve been alternately amused and infuriated by recent letters to the editor that label the South Florida Regional Planning Council’s Seven50 strategic plan an “abominable socialist scheme.”
Read More:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/sep/09/anthony-westbury-break-out-the-tin-foil-helmets/
Indian River Guardian 
Thank you for publishing this article. I am constantly amazed that there are people in our community who are so easily deceived by the conspiracy nuts who are opposed to what is nothing more than basic common sense. Planning is integral in every aspect of life so there is no reason that Indian RIver County should not and would not be able to learn from the planning experiences of others.
Education is the key to combating the ignorance that some people want to perpetuate.
If I weren’t so stingy, I’d pay the $ so I could read the Scripps newspaper online article by Mr. Westbury. However, I will read it eventually. It is easy to be distrustful of something we don’t fully understand. Sometimes it’s just a matter of taking the time to do so.
Frankly, it’s not a bad investment.
The rabid opposition to a rather benign regional planning effort would be comic if the consequences were not so potentially tragic. But any good tragi-comedy has a good dose of irony. And so it was that just days after the county commission caved into the fright-wingers they suddenly realized that the Indian River Lagoon was dying. Here was a perfect example of a regional problem that requires regional effort and resources to resolve. But no. Ignorance of what 7/50 is really about, and the stupidity to see through the idiocy of the conspiracy nuts has kept the county from accessing regional resources to address the most pressing environmental problem of our community. Thanks fright-wingers.
Thank goodness that the commenters here have some sense! I was so happy to read Anthony Westbury’s article in the PJ today. It said everything I have wanted to say, though he did so in a much more eloquent manner. It makes me so angry when I read the paranoia that resides in this town. How embarrassing that the IR County Commission and City Councils of Vero Beach and Indian River Shores are the only entities out of 128 to opt out!
Many of the people who make outlandish, negative comments about Agenda 21 and 7/50 Regional Planning efforts look educated, so I’m always shocked by what comes out of their mouths. The shame of it is that our so-called leaders have actually listened to them. Perhaps education will help, but we better get a move on!!