Robin Miller Speaks Up For Village of the Arts

The amazing human being who runs several of the world's most influential Websites is a resident of downtown Bradenton's Village of the Arts, a great idea that has not yet been fully realized. Robin (roblimo) Miller of the Open Source Publishing Group was kind enough to invite me to his home office - adjacent to his wife Debbie's art gallery - in Village of the Arts, and his Website displays the strong commitment he's made to Village in the form of interviews with many of the area's residents and gallery owners.

But residents of the Village have a number of problems, mostly with promised-but-undelivered infrastructure, and met with snickering city officials last night to get them addressed. Naturally, Robin Miller was there, and this morning his Website features a terrific review of the meeting you won't read in the Bradenton Herald:

Why Bradenton City Government Must Support the Village of the Arts

roblimo | Bradenton/local, Politics, Business | Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007

Last night, Bradenton city officials met with Village of the Arts residents and gallery owners for the first time in three years. The local paper ran a story about that meeting this morning that got the gist of it right, but didn’t come to grips with the main issue: that the Village of the Arts is one of few attractions that gives Bradenton a unique identity, and deserves the city’s support for that reason alone.

In the back of the room, where the newspaper reporter couldn’t hear, several city employees scorned Village residents who wanted more city money spent on improvements (street lighting, sidewalks, and signage) in their neighborhood but, at the same time, complained about rising property taxes.

“How can they want it both ways?” one opined sotto voce.

What those city employees may not realize is that many Village of the Arts residents bought houses and opened businesses based on published City plans for the area. I know my decision to buy here, and my wife’s decision to open a small gallery here, were spurred in large part by my reading of the city’s 2003 plan for Village of the Arts improvements.

When I read the city’s 2003 plan for the Village of the Arts, back in 2004, I didn’t see any footnotes that said, “Hah hah - just kidding,” or, “If we actually do all of this (or even if we don’t), expect your property taxes to double or triple over the next couple of years.”

Basically, what most Village of the Arts residents and business owners want from the city is to see that 2003 Village of the Arts plan carried out. We want the improvements that were promised in 2004, promised again in 2005, but never quite happened despite major tax increases since then.

Funny how that happens, isn’t it?