San Juan Politics...Same ol', same ol'...I thought we put this behind us...

It seems like San Juan politics just can't let go of the way things used to be run. So from the more things change, the more they stay the same files, here's one for the books. According to a report out of today's edition of The Monitor, San Juan City Commissioners Bobby Rodriguez and Pedro Contreras met last week with a Monitor reporter to make a presentation on proposed land development in south San Juan. Other people in attendance, according to the report, were Greg Ayala, Director of the San Juan Economic Development Corporation, and Charles Schuster, President of the San Juan Plantation Association. Wow, so many chiefs, not enough indians, huh?

But anyway, the report states that San Juan's mayor, San Juanita Sanchez openly criticized Commissioner Rodriguez for not informing the mayor, the mayor pro-tem Eddie Rodriguez, and Commissioner Claudia Gonzalez of last weeks meeting. Commissioner Bobby Rodriguez is quoted in the report as stating that he'd forgotten, and "if there was some confusion I was responsible. I will try to improve on my communication skills, as I have asked the mayor to do so." Gee, you think? How many years must a someone walk before one can no longer use the excuse of forgetfulness.

Now, to Commissioner Rodriguez's credit, I have attended city meetings before, and in those meetings, well...you can't accuse the mayor of playing nice with the Commissioner. But, first off my opinion's subjective to say the least. After all, we can't go around judging people's attitudes simply by what we see at first glance. Secondly, the mayor isn't calling meetings out of quorom to discuss development projects for the city. That's the way things USED to get done. I thought there was a new way of getting things done. A better way. One that would benefit the community as a whole. Last time I checked, I was not informed of any meeting by the commissioners and the San Juan EDC. Of course, I was also not informed that the City Commission meetings would be held on Monday instead of Tuesday. So who's to blame. Jesus, we could go around in circles playing he said/she said can't we?

But damn it, we have better things to argue about. The city needs to move forward in a more positive light, and if all we're going to do for the next few years is wait for one faction to completely vote out the next while playing these childish games, we're better off starting from scratch with a whole other group.

Word to the wise, if anybody wants to make due on moving the city forward regardless of what "faction" one belongs to, they better start by getting the community more involved. Period.