Nobody asked me, but -
. . . Largo has returned - after much public clamor and exposure in this newspaper - to making commission agendas and supporting materials accessible on the city's web site. The big questions - why the switch to the inaccessible method in the first place, and how much did this foolishness (switching back and forth) cost the taxpayers?
. . . One local poohbah has gained a reputation, we understand, among Florida municipalities for always snooping for a job opening; all hands are on to him, of course. No one wants an inveterate job seeker on board - loyalty does count for something in some quarters. It's called fidelity.
. . . Every time I start to lose faith in my fellow human beings a tune into Jerry Springer briefly and have that faith restored.
. . . In the aftermath - Largo City Hall was besieged with thank you e-mails from folks who appreciated the City Commission's nothing doing decision on the crematory on Wilcox Road. Biggest outpouring in years.
. . . Also in Largo - some folks are wondering if the commission is working for the administration or vice versa (as it should be). Proceeding with the "forbidden fence" is the latest example. And, of course, the administration is none other than one Steve Stanton.
. . . Is this true? Our trusted spies tell us that Andy Guyette, Largo commissioner, is at ALL Gator football games with City Manager Steve Stanton and Largo's $2,000-plus a week lawyer, Alan Zimmet. It was well known that Stanton and Zimmet were as close as pages in a book. But should an elected commissioner allow himself to be romanced by two hired hands?
. . . County Commissioner Karen Seel was recently awarded the Tampa Bay Business Journal Business Woman of the Year in the government category. Kudos to this most worthy woman who works so hard. One of the truly good ones.
. . . Wonders Never Cease Dep't. - A friend tells this one - He couldn't find his luggage at the airport baggage area. He went to the lost luggage office and reported same . He said she smiled and said, "Don't worry, because I am a trained professional and he was in good hands." Then she asked, "Has your plane arrived yet?" Huh?
. . . Does anyone really pay any serious attention to that shrieking harridan, Ann Coulter?
. . . Al Grieshaber, the Indian Rocks Beach city manager who is an inveterate job hunter, got turned down for the Manatee County administrator job. According to the September 22 edition of the Bradenton Today Herald, Grieshaber was eliminated because he had the "hardest negatives" among finalists for interviews.
. . . The $259 that Largo taxpayers laid out for Mayor Pat Gerard to attend the Florida Ethics Law Summit in Tampa last month may have been money well spent considering her abominable record with that subject.
. . . How's this for euphemizing the English language? On Largo's agenda for October 3 was this item - "Serenity Gardens Central Care Facility Site Plan Review." Actually, the subject was the crematory that Moss-Feaster (Commissioner Harriet Crozier just retired from that funeral parlor) wants to put right in a residential neighborhood. The language was bent, folded and stapled on that one. (Anything to keep the cold, hard facts from the public - the item was buried in a 110 page PDF file that interested residents without high speed, sophisticated equipment would take a week to download.)