Angie goes on my list of people whose every post I will read..
yum, those are good.
Kitty

City Commission Meeting Mondays
 

GCM,
I thought there must people like you around the corner here with experience in city management...thank you for taking the time to give us a nutshell of why it makes sense to promote economic development. Many of us retirees are reluctant to use our energy to compose a cogent succinct page of text.


City Commission meetings are Mondays at 7 pm
July 22 agenda http://www.wildwood-fl.gov/vertical/...er_-_4_pgs.pdf

Come back Schisamax
 

schisamax, I wanted to get out of this post too due to contention. the moderator wisely ignored my request to close it. I'm pming you to see if you will change your mind. I think the major detractors have had their say. Asking you to come back to the thread, your ideas are needed. City Commission mtg tonight at 7.

bk is on the right track for those who wish to effect change in this matter: Obtain knowledge.

One needs to learn about what efforts have been implemented successfully and more importantly, unsuccessfully; what is currently underway in either planning or operational stages; and what is on the drawing table.

Consequently, attending a city commission meeting is not the most effective first step, for a variety of reasons, some of which are illogical. Please believe me on that! :)

One would be better served by reading the minutes from at least the most recent 18-24months of meetings of the P&Z, Econ Development, and related committees and also at least from the last two annual budget workshops and public budget hearings.

(For example: the link that I provided previously in this string was of minutes from the March 2011 P&Z/Special Magistrate/Local Planning Meeting. A cursory review of those minutes shows, among other things, what Wildwood's future population growth is projected to be, mentions three housing developments, and references the annexation of the area in/around Brownwood.)

By reviewing those minutes one will have obtained knowledge, a feel for the direction where the city is heading, and a sense of who the players are and what their individual agendas might be.

Then, the next most effective step one would take would be to attend the meetings of the above-mentioned groups/committees. One would be able to put a face and personality to each name that one has seen in print and see the intra-group dynamics.

At this point, presuming that one's desire to continue involvement in the cause has not dissipated, one would be in position to begin establishing the personal interactions and making the connections necessary to gain entry into the decision-suggestion or decision-making circle.

For what it's worth, the foregoing is the course of action I would undertake.

thanks again..will do.

Oh kitty are we on for the meeting tonight 7pm you enter thru the north east doors

I'd like to come but I'll be following GMC's advice rather than bumble around making mistakes I've been advised against. I'll make them, but not ones I've been told about in advance.
K.

Well I did not want to think that I was picking on you or for you to feel I am an angry old person
And l don't plan to tell you what to do with your time. If you look at all the posting with the views everyone had the idea that wildwood was so bad off. I have lived here many years and there have been many people that have caused a lot of problems enjecting ideas. Wildwood has been kind of a laid back town and that is what people liked in the winter it was a snow bird heaven because it was just off 75 and if you wanted shopping it was a short drive to leesburg or ocala. It is close to the gulf and ocean. And one of the big draws rent was low both for rvs and others. So along comes the villages at first ok, but then later and larger so some folk feel push out. A big rub the village has their pools club houses and ect these are for there life style, but now the village can also go into the towns and use all their thing ( get the idea I have mind but I will use your too) so I guess change isn,'t always good. I don't want to upset anyone that is no my make up. Guess at my age maybe back off on thing and enjoy what I have left. If you feel you can make a difference jump right in there but remember when you jump there are pit falls. Good luck hope to talk to you on lighter subjects

Thanks for your post. Your thoughts are valuable and I continue to read them with interest. I'm a small town florida girl who spent most of her life with my nose to the candy store window, so I know how it feels to be one of them.
I think we ought to spread some love and money around Wildwood.

A post earlier by KathieI caught my eye and I hope to help with a project to collect school supplies for children.
45.7% of Wildwood's children live below poverty level. 80% qualify for free/reduced lunch.
Be well,
Kitty

Grannynance:

I presume that you read my previous post (No. 119 in this thread), so I trust that you realize that I fully understand your position, opinions, and observations. I certainly respect what you have said and will say about this matter.

Candidly, I feel as you do about Johnny-come-lately folks; it is a normal reaction. Truthfully, you can search topics and threads on TOTV where even villages folks have sometimes demonstrated a Johnny-come-lately response to new posters/residents.

You and I live in different cities but we both live in the same county. And as I very briefly pointed out, what happens in Wildwood- or any other city in Sumter county- does, in fact, affect you, me, all of us county residents.

The challenge for the City of Wildwood senior administration is daunting and on-going: they must continuously find ways to fund the services they provide to its residents.

It is clear that many Wildwood residents love and enjoy their city just the way it is and has been. They want to maintain the status quo.

Unfortunately, for the Wildwood administration charged with providing what residents want, there is no status-quo when it comes to funding. The cost to provide what the residents have loved does not remain status-quo from year to year; the costs just to maintain status quo services increase.

Very simply stated: the cost to a city to maintain status quo services today is greater than it was yesterday.

The cost to a city to maintain today's status quo services tomorrow will be greater than it is today.

Clearly, in order just to maintain the status quo, a city must proactively strive to change and progress.

The additional challenge is that a city must not only identify, develop, and implement change and progress but also balance or blend it with the status quo its residents may want.

If a city fails to meet that challenge, it will regress instead of maintain; and those involved- residents, business owners, and city administrators- will have lost what they individually and collectively have held dear for so long. And, that would be a tragedy.

Very very nice post GMCNEILL

Yes!!! Over 1300 in my school district alone! Not counting the ones living in the sheds behind the house because mom's boyfriend won't let them in the house. Or the one's living with grandma, grandpa aunt, uncle and child in a popup camper with three dogs. Or the 13 year old girl that has to go to the neighbor's house every couple of days to shower. Or the kid who's dad went into jail the same day mom got out. Or the kid living in the bed of a pickup truck with meth addicts laying on the ground around. These are just the students I had last year. My school has 1300 students and is 3 miles from The Villages border. This is just scratching the surface, I could go on for a while with what we see there every day. We give free breakfast and lunch because that's all these kids would get. It's not their fault. Their parents will not change. We must change the kids. We must change their belief in a better world or we are screwed folks. I don't have the answers, but I can sure tell you where the problem is!

Which school, fan? I've lived and worked in rural Florida. I hear your dismay...been there doing social work.
I'm about to launch a backpack and school supplies drive for the Wildwood area. Wonder if we could quickly get word out for all the counties to donate.
Kitty
by the way, you've got guts and heart and soul. I'm tipping my hat to a hero.

Kitty, it's much more widespread than you may be aware. It is not just the rural areas. jbd's description fits many of my students as well. Hard for other counties to help, they have their own homeless to take care of. But good luck, you are doing a good thing and I know your heart is in the right place.

thanks Doug, where do you work? As a social worker in GNV I found far better resources near urban centers than rural ones to intervene in social situations. My heart never listens to me, anybody can get hold of it.
At least we aren't tilting at windmills...