The Palmetto Bay Council is considering two resolutions to rename public property in honor of two current council members.

Naming public assets after living politicians still in public service is self-serving -- and wrong.

The pending Palmetto Bay Nov. 2 meeting agenda includes resolutions calling for renaming Palmetto Bay Park in honor of Mayor Eugene Flinn and naming the Palmetto Bay Library's Amphitheater and Community Room to honor Councilman Ed Feller and his wife Arlene.

Politicians love to memorialize themselves and others in the naming of government buildings, streets and parks.

We've seen this legacy routine at the national level for years. According to the Chicago Tribune, nearly half the bills Congress passed in 2007 involved the naming of post offices, buildings and roads.

ABC's John Stossel used the phrase, ``Edifice Complex'' to describe this practice. In his ``Give Me a Break'' report on ABC's 20/20 program, Stossel noted the increasing trend toward naming public buildings after living people, especially politicians.

``I understand why politicians like having their names on buildings,'' said Stossel. ``It's an ego boost. And the free advertising doesn't hurt their perpetual reelection campaigns. But you shouldn't have to pay for their monuments to themselves.''

Palmetto Bay Park and the village library were built with (and maintained by) taxpayer money -- our money. These community assets belong to us, the residents of Palmetto Bay.

If any sitting mayor or council members wants a public asset named after them let them pay for it!

Even better -- if the council wants to enact a law regarding naming public property it should be this:

An ordinance barring the naming of buildings or streets, parks or anything else after living people.

The Edifice Complex has no place in Palmetto Bay. Perhaps our elected officials can begin building more lasting ``legacies'' with good governance.

JIM ARAIZA

PALMETTO BAY

CORAL GABLES

DOG OWNER SHOWED

CONSIDERATION

Recently a gentleman was walking his beautiful greyhound past our house. The dog stopped and deposited his offering on our lawn. With that, the gentleman produced a plastic bag and cleaned up after his pet.

While Coral Gables does not have a pooper-scooper law, maybe this considerate person will set an example of courtesy and consideration for other dog walkers to follow. Here's hoping.

BARBARA GRIBBINS

CORAL GABLES

PALMETTO BAY

FACILITIES SHOULDN'T

BE NAMED FOR LIVING

Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn and Councilman Dr. Ed Feller: I just learned that you will be naming Palmetto Bay Park (Perrine Park) and the community room at the library, respectively, honoring yourselves.

[The Palmetto Bay Council is scheduled to consider the renaming at Monday evening's meeting.]

While I personally do recognize both of you have rendered a very commendable service to the community, I have reservations about these type of honors being bestowed upon oneself while still in office making such official decisions.

These honors are typically reserved for persons posthumously who have rendered services over a very long time.

GUNTHER KARGER

PALMETTO BAY

PALMETTO BAY

THEY SHOULDN'T NEED

SUCH RECOGNITION

Since when do we glorify our living politicians by renaming parks after them? Have we forgotten that our elected officials should ``serve'' the people without the need of recognition.

This speaks volumes about politicians that seek office to gain power and personal honor rather than serve the people.

Why would Mayor Flinn even want to be affiliated with Palmetto Bay Park? After all, his original idea for the park was a sports complex with eight lighted softball fields to host regional tournaments -- right in the middle of a residential neighborhood!

Many of the residents from around the entire Village of Palmetto Bay remember all too well the stressful months, debates with council members and Flinn's originally proposed outlandish sports park that would have negatively impacted the quality of life in our neighborhood. Ultimately, the park turned out quite nice for the neighbors, but it was not his doing. It was the dedication of the over 300 residents who protested his proposed sports complex and pushed hard for a park with a proper balance of green space and fields for young ball players.

I believe a politician's single and most important goal is to simply do the ``right'' and ``best'' things for the people they serve in their community without ``marking'' their accomplishments for all to see. On Monday, the Palmetto Bay council will meet at the Deering Estate to pass two resolutions to rename Palmetto Bay park after Mayor Eugene Flinn and the Community Room/Amphitheater at Ludavici Park after Dr. Ed Feller. Please, I urge you to make a stand against renaming our parks in honor of living politicians.

We do not yet know what legacy our politicians will leave behind and we should not honor them until we do.

JASON PRUSSING

PALMETTO BAY

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