Palmetto Bay is certainly lacking where Village of Pinecrest isn't

A good friend of mine, who lives in The Village of Pinecrest asked me yesterday why I thought there was such a disparity in politics and leadership between Palmetto Bay and Pinecrest. I thought it was a very acute observation since this individual doesn’t live in Palmetto Bay and doesn’t necessarily follow politics. It was also a very interesting question since Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay have relatively close demographics in regards to education and income and we both incorporated at basically the same time.

To start, I’ve had the pleasure to know the Mayor of Pinecrest, Cindy Lerner, for the last couple of years. Mayor Lerner is a beautiful human being inside and out. She is also extremely, extremely professional in her position as Mayor.

Regarding the remaining Pinecrest Council members, I’ve only had chance meetings with them, but my observation is that they too are very professional and represent all Pinecrest residents, not just the minority. With Mayor Lerner at the helm, the Council’s main objective is to resolve the issues of their constituents rather than inventing problems that don’t exist.

The leaders of Pinecrest appear to genuinely love children and families and they are very welcoming to religious organizations, schools, outside events and all the things the current leaders of Palmetto Bay seem to detest due to noise, dust and traffic. The Pinecrest leadership is also welcoming to non-residents, while the Palmetto Bay leadership has repeatedly proven not to be.

Visit one of Pinecrest numerous parks on any weekend and you’ll find children of all ages playing soccer, baseball (the Howard Palmetto Khoury league that was kicked out of Coral Reef Park), football, tennis, basketball all hours of the day. In fact, a large majority of children playing organized sports in Pinecrest live in Palmetto Bay. Can you imagine?

I hate to publically disclose this, since I’ve lived here for over 50 years, but if I had to recommend a “Village” which was family-friendly, I’d recommend Pinecrest due to the shortcomings of Palmetto Bay’s current leadership.

You might wish to compare all the warmth you feel in Pinecrest versus that of Palmetto Bay’s leadership. If Palmetto Bay Councilwoman Joan Lindsay spoke to you, would you feel all warm and fuzzy? Is she a person who would talk to you in a way that engages you as an equal and is interested in your concerns? Would she have a tone of camaraderie and cordiality or would she seem distance and condescending? I think the answer is obvious. How about Councilman Brian Pariser? Is he the kind of Leader that represents friendliness or warmth in our Village? Those two alone, with the power they wield in our Village, create the feeling that the Council is anything other than warm, inviting and inclusive. That is just a fact.

Therefore, my analysis to my friend is just that, the Majority of our Leaders in Palmetto Bay have their own agenda. They really could care less about being inviting, and are certainly not family-friendly.

The way a City, or in our case a Village, carries itself starts with the Mayor and Elected officials. They have made our Village just the opposite of Pinecrest, our sister Village. For now, there’s only one good sister. Hopefully, one day in the near future, if the run-off election turns out like it should, our sister Villages will become twins.