Answering Some Questions

Every week or so we will endeavor to answer some of the questions raised by commenters to the extent that we have not already addressed them in a post. We hope to make this an regular feature of this blog. This will allow us to answer questions from commenters whose comments were otherwise not publishable. (See our prior post, "About Publishing Comments.") So let's get to it.

An Anonymous commenter states about our post, "Some Good Signs From The TAMPOA Board":

"interesting take of the board meeting. Some of it accurate, some not accurate. Add to that sprinkled commentary with a bias. . ."

and asks:

". . . why weren't you at the meeting? there was little in the way of disagreement presented except for the need for increased communication to the membership to which the board agreed. there was little if any of the dissent you have been proclaiming. why didn't you present to the board any of the complaints that you print in your blog?"

". . . why, if you feel so strongly about the issues and the board's "mishandling" of them, don't you run for the board to correct them?"

". . . are you a tampoa member? . . . it does come down to credibility."

The answer to the question suggesting that we were not at the recent Board meeting is we don't think the commenter was really there or he would have seen us.

And we certainly have a different view of whether there was little, if any dissent by TAMPOA members. On the contrary, unlike our assertedly present friend, we have noticed a real shift in the concerns of TAMPOA members over the Board's admittedly bad handling of the Southard Street controversy. We sat and watched a TAMPOA member take the Board to task at the meeting. And there were other comments that could hardly be viewed as supportive of the Board.

Moreover, TAMPOA members who were once supportive, have begun to rethink their positions in light of the triple-digit rise in their assessments. The Board members have received a good many emails; more than they normally receive. What's more, the Board has begun to change as a result of the dissent that our allegedly present friend has missed. There appears to be a sense on the Board that they need to do a better job of communicating with the TAMPOA membership, something we have said here. Now the Board may have begun that process. This realization didn't just magically appear. It was driven by TAMPOA member criticism, including that published as posts on this blog.

And, to answer another question by the same anonymous commenter, yes, we really do live in Truman Annex. Longer, we might add, than our allegedly anonymous commenter has lived there. TAMPOA membership is automatic (and compulsory) for residents of the Annex. Our commenter should know that (if he really lives in the Annex).

The same commenter asks why we did not present to the TAMPOA Board "any of the complaints" raised in this blog. The answer is that we have communicated privately with a number of Board members, including the Board President, about our concerns. They know what we think. We know, also, that they regularly read this blog. Unfortunately, sometimes talking with a few of the Board members is like talking with the Key West City Commission. You don't always know whether they're home.

The commenter also asks, why, if we "feel so strongly about the issues and the Board's handling of them," we don't run for the Board. That is a tough question. It's not that we haven't thought about it. The truth is we haven't decided. There are a number of unanswered questions in our mind. One of the biggest is whether having another person on the Board to add to the now lone dissenter there will change anything, given the current "political make-up" of the current Board. Put more plainly, will there be enough votes on the Board to make a real difference? Maybe. Maybe not. We don't know.