Hi everyone.
I went to the Canvass Meeting today (really cool actually). I took my kids for a civics lesson (of necessity). The Canvass Board, and Mr. Bobanic, the Brevard Supervisor of Elections, and his staff were very kind, thoughtful, and professional. In fact, I would encourage people to go to one or more of those public Canvass Commission meetings when they occur the future. And, take your children too. As parents, I believe we too must teach our kids about our civic (and American) duty to vote rather than just leaving that up to our wonderful but busy teachers! Instilling in them the importance of voting, and the various processes and stages of it, is a good investment in all of our collective futures.
I also got word that I will be sworn in next week, as per the Charter, and take/assume Office November 15, 2023 at 6 pm at the regular Monthly Meeting! Adam as well.
The agenda is not yet posted, nor have I seen or gotten a copy yet--But after a number of interesting emails, and some clarifications, its now Official-November 15, 2023, 6 pm.
So, I just want to say thank you. Thank you!
Our Mayoral election (like many of the other municipal races, IHB, etc., which were all extremely tight as well), was painful in many ways for many of us.
But its now time to heal and reflect and get down to business together.
I have some ideas I plan to propose to hopefully reduce (or prevent) some of the tension and “pain” that happened from happening again, if possible.
However, I will also continue to speak directly, or even sternly, (as politely and as civilly as possible) if necessary in order to still call out bad, secretive, or disingenuous behavior for what it is, rather than to pretend or sweep it under the rug.
I DO plan to listen to, work with, and treat ALL the citizens of this Town with respect, and not just to those who were/are supporters.
I hope they will eventually give me a chance, and I will try my very best.
I mean that.
I will hold no grudges.
Humility is not a weakness but a strength.
Its not always easy, and I am certainly NOT an expert at it. But I remind myself, and so does my wonderful mother, that we should always try to actively practice it to prevent atrophy or excessive pridefulness.
Time and earnest effort can heal all wounds.
This is no different.
I can only control myself, but I will do that at least and let time do its thing.
I am really excited to work with everyone and move forward (by hopefully rewinding a few zoning things and a particular Air BnB exemption by putting those on the Agenda Asap for discussion and debate).
And when that happens, you ALL will need to come and be present and participate.
I also plan to do few more deep dives and some research into a various code provisions related to Air BnBs and to work quickly on some action plans, ideas, potential solutions, and loophole closings as well as clarification suggestions if and when necessary. If one thing does not work, I won't give up, I will just keep brainstorming and seeking solutions.
I plan to raise and propose several ideas/options for a number things related to Public Records and Transparency, Increased and Effective Communication and Outreach and Public Service announcements, and listings of Prioritization particularly of Infrastructure and then actually Publishing that, and Updating it as well.
I would like to propose some kind of Citizen Advisory groups, either formal or informal or both.
I plan to work on and use that blog - Community Voices - as a starting point.
Read it and add to it and send those to me!
Please, please, please do not hesitate to tell me what you think, tell me your ideas, concerns, questions, suggestions anytime. And please just call me Al or Ali! Titles make me uncomfortable.
I want to keep up the momentum of citizen engagement and to that end, I plan to propose a few ideas I have and to keep brainstorming more -- to make sure you all, the citizens, are heard, treated with respect and given timely, full, complete information, and to reduce tension, intimidation, condescension, and fear.
So, let's heal, let's remember we are all human, we are all neighbors, mothers, friends, etc and let's be kind and work together.
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.” – H.E. Lucckock
Thank you,
Al Dennington
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