March 8, 2022- Council Meeting
Several members of the public spoke to the council this morning in opposition to increased building heights downtown. I hope we can keep increasing public attendance at meetings as a visible show of strength. This is my speech:
Good Morning Council Members,
Today marks 2 weeks since I introduced myself to you and announced a public petition asking you to preserve our historic downtown with a 35’ building height limitation. I had high hopes then but why should you listen to me since I’m an amateur? I have no experience running a campaign and I’ve never made a petition before.
Well, I’m here to report, this has been 2 of the nicest weeks I’ve spent living here. I couldn’t have picked a better supported issue in all of Venice! I’ve spent hours on my feet, giving out brochures to strangers and asking them to support the petition. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. The hundreds of people I’ve spoken to during the last couple weeks have been tremendously supportive, complimentary, appreciative,… people have thanked me over and over again, as if I’ve done something special. When I’m out distributing brochures, I have people coming up to me and asking if they can have a brochure or sign the petition. It’s funny that I, who has never held public office or run for anything, am getting credit for stepping up and listening to the public response. All I’ve done is guess how much people love the downtown, and truly, I couldn’t have been more right.
The problem here is that you may not be listening to the public. You may think this will upset a few people and then blow over. If so, you have greatly underestimated how much people care about the downtown— and, if you were even considering approving the planning committee’s recommendations for a height increase or future exemptions. I can tell you after only 2 weeks of getting feedback about this issue, if you don’t start listening to your voters, you are going to make a serious miscalculation. It would be a grave mistake to underestimate how strongly the public feels about preserving our historic downtown. I ask you to listen to your voters.
Thank you.