A Times Editorial

At Fowler's forum, only his opinion counted

Whatever small amount of community goodwill that developed during last week's series of town hall meetings on the mandatory garbage collection proposal evaporated Friday night when Commission Chairman Jim Fowler put on another of his sickening displays of power politics and arrogance.

The 30 or so residents who bothered to show up for Fowler's meeting (the five commissioners held at least one meeting within their own districts) did so knowing that the chairman was the biggest cheerleader for the proposal and that his views were not likely to be swayed by the wishes of his constituents.

Few, however, could have foreseen the demeaning manner with which Fowler treated those he purports to represent.

The evening began with an updated report on the financial aspects of garbage collection program that insulted the intelligence of the audience members by breathlessly proclaiming that collection rates would drop upward of 60 percent under the plan.

What would bring about such savings for the customers? The reasoning went that because the property owners would essentially pay the haulers' tipping fees themselves through assessments by the county, the haulers naturally would reduce their own profits by passing the savings along to their customers.

Besides ignoring recent history, when the county cut the haulers' fees and the savings were not passed along, the county has absolutely no leverage over the haulers to insist that they adjust their prices accordingly, a point that many in the audience grasped.

Free enterprise, they were told, would force down the costs. But it's exactly that free enterprise that the citizens have now and would lose under the proposed franchising system that Fowler champions.

That was the least offensive aspect of the evening, however.

Unlike the other town meetings last week, where public participation was encouraged and appreciated, Fowler conducted his meeting as if he were a petulant lord who had been forced to grant an audience to his unworthy serfs.

He limited the speakers to three minutes, a time period that he strictly enforced by using a timer. It should be noted that none of the other four commissioners felt the need to curtail their constituents so severely.

Rather than receiving respect and answers to their questions, the audience members were treated with disdain. All knew that they had only 180 seconds to speak on a matter that even County Administrator Richard Wesch has described as the most complex issue that he has ever encountered. When one woman reached her alloted time limit, Fowler ignored her comments and told her brusquely that her time was up and she must sit down.

Perhaps knowing the effect that his arrogance has had on audiences, Fowler made sure that an armed sheriff's deputy was stationed nearby to intimidate any member of the public whose anger or frustration might get the better of his judgment.

This shameful performance is what the public has come to expect from Fowler, but it is not what they deserve. The public has told the commissioners repeatedly, at two large hearings and in last week's series of smaller meetings, how they feel on this subject. Overwhelmingly, the residents have said they do not want mandatory garbage collection.

The point of the town hall meetings was to allow county staff to detail the garbage management problems and to explore possible solutions. That was a worthy goal, even if some cynics chalked the entire process up to the county merely going through the motions to try to placate the angry masses.

Those residents who took the time to attend the meetings and to participate in this exercise in democracy should be applauded for meeting their responsibilities as citizens. For the most part, the commissioners lived up to their side of the bargain as well.

That is, until Friday night, when Fowler once again reminded the citizens of Citrus County that their opinions and wishes do not matter to him. As he said during last year's election season, he knows what is best for the community and he is not obliged to carry out the wishes of the public who hired him to be their representative.

And, as he told the audience members on Friday, your job is to sit down and shut up.

Share your views

The Citrus Times welcomes letters from readers for publication.

Because of space limitations, letters should be of reasonable length.

Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length.

All letters must be signed and must contain the writer's address and telephone number. Addresses and telephone numbers will not be printed.

Send your letters to Greg Hamilton, editorial page editor, Citrus Times, 301 W Main St., Inverness, FL 34450. To fax a letter, call 860-7320. Send letters by electronic mail (in text only format) to Hamilton@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright