Meeting on Sheriff takeover?

From the WPTV website: "The Sheriff has given the city a deadline of August 1st. The city commission is expected to vote on the merger July 29th. At this point, it appears the merger has enough votes to pass."

As of 8:16 p.m. Monday, July 28, 2008 from the City's website:

Okay, so the unions and the Commission seem to be making compromises to make this happen after staff got the necessary information together - finally - to make a decision. But, is there one more meeting in the "shade" before a public vote is taken on this? Or, is there a public hearing, as reported on the 6 p.m. WPTV Channel 5 news, tomorrow - that isn't on the website but somehow meeting the minimum requirement for public notice?

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw's ultimatum was to get him a decision by August 1st, or his department is moving on.

Why do we have to wait 'til the last minute on momentous decisions such as these? How long has the staff and Commission known this was in the offing? I remember talking about the prospect of it during my campaign early last year.

Let's do it but can we do it with less drama and without a ticking time bomb in the background during the negotiations? And, can we do a better job informing the public about the process? Have the pros and cons of this ever been discussed at an actual City Commission meeting?