Sunday, December 11, 2011

You never know who you are going to bump into...

After the Holiday Parade, I wandered out to a local watering hole and soon began talking to two gentlemen.  One happened to be a former two-term City Commission Craig Sherrit from Wilton Manors.  We began the conversation as I overheard him refer to our lovely City as "Lake Worth-less" - sort of like waving a red cape at a bull.  When I mentioned my involvement in Lake Worth and two attempts to run for a Commission seat, he admitted that Lake Worth did have some nice neighborhoods.  I mentioned that I had been on the Planning and Zoning Board for eight years and he immediately said, "I didn't do any of that - that is political death if you want to run for anything.  It's best not to be on those boards cause you build up a lot of enemies."  I told him the damage had already been done and he may indeed be correct.  We got talking about the firing of our City Manager last week and he said that they have had the same City Manager in Wilton Manors since 1998.  Everyone seems to be happy with how the City is run - for the most part.  They have the same basic government as we do - a Commissioner/Manager form with a weak Mayor.  The Commission seats carry four year terms, but the Mayor is elected every two years.  He liked the longer terms.  His two terms then means he was on the Commission for eight years - and he just got tired of the grind of meetings after meetings and chose not to run again.  They also moved their elections from March to November while he was in office, so he gained an extra eight months like one of our past Commissions.  He invited me down for a full tour and I just may take him up on it.  Thought you'd be interested in the exchange.