Letter: Selling Out The Public

Government of the people, by the people and for all the people of Palm Beach County is public consensus in policies of our national award-winning comprehensive land use plan. To establish the will of the people in due process, the public was required to be consistent in every word of every policy for the long-term funding of services, and protection of our natural and built environments against the Browardization of project-by-project western expansion.

But politicians, who can’t be elected by the general public, only “allowed” each citizen two minutes to speak before dismissing public effort, public consensus, public policy, petitions, existing communities’ comprehensive plans, negative impacts, food and fuel farming, state enclave limits and permanent open space laws.

Smart plans of the people perished. Now the costs and impacts of a developer-driven western population explosion under a few politicians and county staff are vague. So far, the public is denied permanent open spaces like the Northeast Everglades Natural Area in major projects, yet 2,000 housing units “removed” from a project can reappear in 2,000 acres of temporary “open space.” Why would public servants turn their backs on the people, resources and character of Palm Beach County to replicate development of Broward County?

Rita Miller, The Acreage