A standing-room-only crowd angrily greeted supervisors at Friday morning’s Community Development District 8 board meeting.
Residents said they were upset that they were not consulted by supervisors before the vote was taken. They said they were also caught off guard by the vote because it had not appeared on an agenda prior to the meeting.
And the crowd erupted when CDD 8 Chairman Sal Torname denied that the board had voted to put down side striping. He said the supervisors had simply voted to direct staff to gather information about the cost of striping.
However, District Manager Janet Tutt essentially spiked Torname’s version of events when she read an entry from the minutes of the previous meeting.
In September, Supervisors Torname, Ray Banks and Victor Ray voted in favor of striping. Joe Elliott and Dennis Hayes voted against it.
Torname attempted at the onset of Friday’s meeting to cut off public comment by immediately asking for a motion to table the issue of side line striping.
But the more than 100 residents at the meeting roared at that notion, indicating they feared that supervisors would resurrect the issue out of the public’s eye. Watch video of Friday’s contentious side striping meeting here:
“Listen to them. Listen to what they have to say,” said former CDD 8 supervisor Duane Johnson.
Residents lined up at the podium to vent their anger. Many were armed with petitions signed by their neighbors.
People were so enraged at CDD 8 supervisors they began asking district counsel about the process of recall might be to rid themselves of the supervisors who voted in favor of striping.
The legal counsel indicated there is no process for recall. Two CDD 2 seats are up for election in November 2016, including Torname’s seat.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure of the crowd, Ray ultimately opted to rescind his September motion in favor of striping. The vote on Ray’s motion was 4-1, with Torname voting against it.
