Too Much, Too Late
Beachwalk Opening Celebration
By Nick Fritsch
The Beachwalk roadway and sidewalk opened a few weeks ago with a soft opening. It is absolutely beautiful and captivating. If you haven't strolled Beachwalk, plan to do it very soon. The temperature and the weather are perfect.
Now the city's Economic Development Department proposes another opening. A whole weekend celebration is the plan, July 18-20, to celebrate a "grand opening," while spending more than $22,000 from the city manager's budget.
Three council members, Frank Hibbard, George Cretekos and Paul Gibson, felt that the staff proposal for celebrating the opening of Beach walk missed the target. They cited concerns for the high cost, that the media would not like covering the opening twice. Old news is no news! The mayor added that we have missed the opportunity when we could attract a large number of residents during the comfortable temperatures of April.
You might wonder how they would be so out of touch. Of all the city departments, the Economic Development Department should certainly understand "missed opportunities," the current economic climate and the "less is better" attitude of the taxpayers. Even after feedback from the council, both representatives proffered their full proposal and continued to embellish the reasoning behind their proposal. They appeared to be clueless.
Yet, all of the council supported a celebration to express gratitude to Congressman C,W. Bill Young, past council members and others who were instrumental in making Beachwalk happen. The council's direction to staff was to focus on an appropriate celebration and to seek business partners for what ever plans beyond a minimal few thousand, say $3,000 to $4,500 dollars for fireworks.
We will see how it unfolds in the weeks to come.
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