Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ_Boston
I agree that the event could have been handled differently but to suggest that TV residents don't have community outreach is just not accurate. You can find dozens of examples of TV residents involved in such things as local food kitchens, meals on wheels, a local farm that provides food to those in need, the largest ratio (in the nation!) of volunteers to workers in our local hospital (TVRH), etc. etc.
|
Russ, come on. It's not a matter of the Relay for Life "could have been handled differently". The developer torpedoed Relay for Life in an attempt to extort money for his Moffit project, period.
That being said, I couldn't agree with you more on charitable volunteerism in The Villages. There is a lot of it, and that is great, but that isn't what I was writing about.
My point was: interest in, and participation in, community governance and administration? Very little. Because of Developer control over the local media and governmental organs, unless an event makes national news, like the IRS investigation or the poaching scandal, the average Villager is clueless about the actions of the Developer, the operation of the numbered and center CDDs, and the local county and town governments. How many people can name one CDD board member in their Districts? I can't. (While I think I know more knowledgeable than most, I am far from on top of the situation.)
As I said in my earlier post, that is understandable-- most of us, including myself, moved here to take life easy and play, not to thread our way through the Developer-created maze of CDDs, transactions between the Developer and the CDDs, and agreements among the CDDs. That is real work and no fun at all. The result is that the Developer gets a pass on a lot of stuff that should be scrutinized.