COMMENTARY

MILT THOMAS

These aren’t my 2016 New Year’s resolutions; they are what I hope are resolutions by others who have caused us some grief in 2015.

For instance, I would like the Press Journal to resolve they will discontinue what I call parasite ads. That includes the annoying front page ad “outsert” (as opposed to “insert”) you have to rip off to see the real front page. The other parasite ads are those stick-ons, which often attach the annoying outsert to the paper so when you rip it off in anger and frustration, you also rip apart page one (and page two).  Why not simply print those parasitic ads directly on page one? The paper is mostly ads anyway. I would rather have a front page half news and half ads, than try to piece together the remains of pages one and two after disposing of the parasites as well as the plastic sleeve that protects them.

I would like the Republican presidential aspirants to resolve that insulting their fellow candidates reminds voters too much of how Congress in general has operated in recent years and will not demonstrate the leadership qualities voters expect to see. As the saying goes, you don’t grow taller by cutting off the heads of those around you. (Apparently though, that doesn’t apply to Donald Trump, the Insulter-in-Chief).

I hope the Vero Beach City Council resolves to do the right thing in developing a plan for what has become known as the Three Corners – power plant, water treatment and postal annex properties. And if “liberating” the waterfront means the same as what happened to Royal Palm Pointe (the City invested $6 million of public money and prime commercial real estate is slowly being converted to private luxury housing), please resolve to pass land use and zoning ordinances that reserve at least some of the property for public access to waterfront. You know, the reason many people live here.

Probably the most important issue facing citizens and government of Vero Beach, Indian River County, Sebastian and Indian River Shores, is the fate of – the Indian River Lagoon. (No, not the future of Vero Electric.)  The Lagoon represents our quality of life. Every county that abuts the Lagoon is diverting attention and dollars to reversing the damage caused by all of us; that is, every county except our own. We have opted out of joining the Indian River Lagoon Council for fear it adds another layer of government. Fortunately, the communities of Vero Beach, Sebastian and Fellsmere saw fit to join the effort. Indian River County and the Town of Indian River Shores have opted instead to spend a million or so fighting the City of Vero Beach and Vero Electric for lower electric bills. Add to it the money FPL has spent influencing local voters to topple Vero Electric so it can expand its monopoly and it is clear that no consensus exists on priorities for our county’s future. I would like to see the County Commission and Indian River Shores Town Council resolve to spend taxpayer dollars on a cause that benefits all citizens.

We can all agree on one subject though – resolving to stop the All Aboard Florida Frightline system from happening. If the millions of taxpayer dollars spent by our County Commission to block the massive rail project results in stopping it, then it will be money well spent. If it turns out our voice counts for little against the likes of Miami, Orlando and Rick Scott, then it will be more tax dollars wasted on top of the Vero Electric fight.

Wouldn’t it restore our faith in local government if the County Commission resolves to keep short term rentals out of purely residential communities? Surely, the right to privacy inherent in single family home residential areas supersedes the right to disrupt that privacy in the name of property rights. It’s bad enough we endure annoying telemarketing phone calls within our homes without enduring loud music and trash next door.

Finally, I am certain Waste Management will resolve to put more emphasis on the “management” and less on the “waste” in 2016. I noticed yesterday that the garbage men hand-tossed those expensive, specially designed oversized trash containers just like they did before and didn’t bother using the new automated loading arms fitted on those shiny new trucks. So other than reducing the number of trash pickup days from two to once per week, please tell me again what exactly were the benefits of this new bug-ridden system?

All that notwithstanding, I hope you all have a Happy 2016!