Wednesday, March 15, 2017

A win and another win and another thing to remember: Almost nobody remembers the score 2 days later.

Soon-to-be-former-Commissioner McVoy, PhD, and Maryann Polizzi may find solace that both Omari Hardy and Herman Robinson won in squeakers.

By tomorrow no one will be walking around saying, “Hey, Omari only won by a few votes” or “Herman should have won by more.” The numbers are meaningless. The fact is our City Commission has undergone a major shift. A seismic one.

And then there were none. McVoy, in blue shirt beaming at the grand opening of the Casino back in 2012, is off the Commission. McVoy was beaten by 27-year-old Omari Hardy in his first political race.

Losing an election is not easy. I know. Been there and done that twice.

If you’ve never heard the term, “Hermanese”, you will soon enough. I’ve worked along side of and served with Herman for many years on boards and committees. I’m probably one of Herman’s best translators. Many times heard people say, “What did Herman just say?” And then all eyes would turn to me. Herman is a really smart guy. Extremely intelligent and deliberate.

And another thing about Herman: he’s one of the most kind and caring men I’ve ever known.

The sour grapes will be this new City Commission will just be a “rubber stamp”. Herman is not and neither is Omari Hardy. Probably one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received was from Hardy. He told me one of the reasons he decided to run for a seat on the Commission was due to reading my blog.

Commissioner-Elect Hardy has strong opinions. He’s not shy in the least telling people what he thinks and he’ll do the same thing as a commissioner. But unlike the former commissioner in that seat, Omari Hardy will be respectful to his colleagues.

And lastly, about three weeks ago started getting phone calls from the most unlikely of people, former political opponents and others I’ve fought in the mud with over the last 10 or so years, and the conversations curiously never took to politics. We talked about history and architecture and things like that. And then we said goodbye and wished each other well. And we meant it.

At Mayor Pam Triolo’s State of the City Address last January she talked about the “New Lake Worth” and I remarked on this blog a little later that a “fresh breeze” seemed to be blowing through town.

Some time this week call somebody you fought with over a long-past campaign and maybe you still have the scars to prove it. Call and say “Hi” and just start talking. Our City is much different today. There’s a lot to talk about.

Younger people like Omari Hardy are taking over now and it’s time to embrace that. Our City isn’t only about the things we disagree about, it’s also about things we agree upon as well. There were a lot of things I agreed with Chris McVoy about. What was most disagreeable were his methods and tactics—but that’s all over now—a “fresh breeze” really is blowing through our little City.