Around HereBy Leo CoughlinThe budget struggle goes on in the cities, towns, hamlets and villages around here and while there have been no reports of hot-blooded fisticuffs over the possible loss of life's amenities as supplied by tax funds, there is much grumbling about possible losses. Take Largo, for example. Leaderless and drifting, the city aroused the populace when reports got out that two parks - really they are more like nature preserves - would close. A passel of folks showed up at City Hall protesting the idea and citizens begged and pleaded that, in particular, Bonner Park not be closed. Tut, tut, Mayor Pat Gerard indicated with calming words that said no plan was really afoot and, in fact, it had not even been discussed. Her Honor needs to hi herself down to the city's westernmost precincts, down there by the Intracoastal Waterway (a little south of where she herself lives), and take a look at Bonner Park (a place a little hard to find, when you come right down to it). At such time that Gerard does examine Bonner Park she will find a sign posted there by the city, the city of which she is the mayor and chief executive officer, advising that the park will be closed. One could take that as a stunning illustration that the left hand indeed does not know what the right hand is doing within the Largo City Hall. Five of the six electeds did not earn the appellation "bobbleheads" for nothing. Is there some confusion? After all, Gerard did carefully enunciate to concerned citizens, whose park it actually is, the city being just a fictional entity by the grace of the State of Florida and the beneficence of the citizens who pay the taxes, that not to worry, the park would remain open. Maybe the city staff - in a departure from what goes on these days - should have advised the mayor and her elected colleagues of what they were up to. But, in a leaderless city, they probably figure why bother, we're getting away with anything we want to do. There is a question of great magnitude to be brought up, but it is being saved after this next point is made. A stochastic likelihood of Bonner Park being closed is bolstered by the review of two deeds that conveyed the property to the city. Alan Zimmet, the city attorney who draws down a hefty $2,226 a week for part time work, has determined that the city indeed could close the park but could not, under the terms of the conveyance, sell the property to a private party. So, you see, the groundwork has been laid to do something, hey? But here is the big - more properly - the $80,000 question. Budget cutters say that by closing Bonner Park that is the amount that could be saved. And what in the "h-e-and two sticks" is that $80,000, more than $1,500 a week, spent on? Good question, right? Gerard, when she gets a chance to meander down to the park (she could do it on the way home) to check out the "to be closed" sign she was apparently never told about might weigh that $80,000 question. Bonner Park is probably a great place to walk the dog, hear the birds sing, observe some flora and fauna, but, believe it, there isn't very much there. Oh, there are some bathrooms and some trash cans to empty and there is small playground. Other than that, there's a beat up parking lot and a rough road getting there. So what in tarnation is more than $1,500 a week being spent on? Most likely, the $80,000 is an amount assigned to Bonner Park but is money being spent elsewhere. It is a budget trick, and especially useful in a budget like the one Recreation and Parks has. That is a creature swollen all out of proportion and in the bloated empire that Parks and Rec has become nothing should surprise you. Wake up electeds! Better yet, wake up voters!
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