Monday Was 'Bash McClash' Day At The Herald

Many readers will enjoy this riposte to the two OpEd pieces in Monday's Bradenton Herald attacking County Commissioner Joe McClash. He recently declared his independence from subdivision developers in a forceful editorial he wrote for last Sunday's Sarasota Herald-Tribune, which was apparently an embarrassment for the Herald, whose editors tend to support every proposal that comes down the pike.

So, while I didn't intend for this site to become a partisan of Joe's chairmanship of the County Commission, his courageous stands on development that outpaces road improvements and on Bright House fees has stirred real admiration in me.

Accordingly, I responded:

August 21, 2006

Dear Editor:

Two OpEd pieces attacking County Commissioner Joe McClash on the same day? It's obvious that the Herald is getting desperate to preserve its editorial franchise in favor of uncontrolled growth.

When taxpayers and voters say over and over again that they do not want to pay for new roads for developers, do not want 14-story condo towers on the waterfront, and do not want to raise gas taxes, the Herald always finds a way to pooh-pooh their concerns as though someone had given your editors a crystal ball and divine guidance to read it.

In fact, one of the greatest ironies of the recent Republican congressional debate sponsored by the Herald on METV was the frequency with which the hopefuls cited the Sarasota Herald-Tribune as a source. That paper has scored one of Monday's OpEd attackers, Sen. Bennett, for his self-dealing real estate interests. It is no surprise that he now comes to the aid of developers in East Manatee.

Your own paper has failed repeatedly to mention that Lakewood Ranch was given a $4 billion bonding authority to build roads and doesn't need taxpayer help to manage its many profound impacts, a fact that totally denudes the threadbare arguments of the other McClash attacker.

It is rare indeed when a County Commissioner stands up to developers and cable franchisees like Bright House, the Herald's news "partner," and demands they pay their own way. Your paper needs to start setting its own interests aside and should defend McClash, who speaks for the great majority of Manatee County residents and taxpayers your editors so blithely patronize.

Joe Shea
Bradenton, FL
941-753-1136