Having just come through the holy season of Passover and Easter, I’ve experienced introspection.
I realized in my zeal to have the best possible planning and zoning commission, I may have unfairly criticized Bobbie Lindsay, our Town Council president. For that, I apologize.
Having lived and volunteered in our town for almost 50 years, I better than most understand the work of our Town Council. It’s truly a remarkable institution with dedicated volunteers, most of whom try their best. I can think of only one difference in opinion — that being the makeup and role of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Still, I feel that some of the civility and respect that makes Palm Beach so special seems lacking today. In years past, neighbors used to solve differences over a drink at 5 p.m. Now, they rush to circuit court. What has happened?
Listening to a recent Shore Protection Board meeting (March 27), I had a similar reaction when a former board member called for a “17th-century public shaming” of The Breakers, our town’s largest and I think, most forward-looking, employer because The Breakers was exercising its legal rights. Yet the chair of the board didn’t interject, object or criticize, and in fact, permitted the discussion to go on and joined in the demand for a public shaming.
This, I believe, is wholly inappropriate. Have we relegated ourselves to a 17th-century way of dealing with a disagreement? Not only is The Breakers the largest town employer, but it also gives new meaning to the words “town-serving.”
Do we forget that The Breakers provides the town with a transfer plant whereby the little trucks that pick up our daily trash transfer it to larger ones on the way to the landfill? Do we forget that The Breakers has a huge open space (golf course), when legally it can build 200-plus condominium units? Do we forget that The Breakers does everything with class and panache that is second to none? If there’s a legal basis for the argument, fine. But if we must resort to public shaming, it leads one to conclude a legal basis is lacking.
What happened to our organizational values in our mission statement, whereby we are guided by “respect for everyone” and aspire to the “highest ethical standards”? Calling for a public shaming of The Breakers hardly shows respect. It shows a high disregard for the values that make Palm Beach exceptional.
The Town Council, in its supervisory role over its advisory boards, ought to admonish the Shore Protection Board and apologize to The Breakers.
Martin I. Klein, Palm Beach
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Letter: Shore Protection Board’s critique of Breakers was out of line
Reporting by Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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