Besides, I have zero faith in this entire process. With Tom Creech and Ed Taylor of Amalthea Investments (Marriott) hovering around at this and the previous day's charrette (and no other developers represented), it doesn't take a genius to surmise that the fix is already in and this is just one massive corral designed to lead the sheep blindly into the slaughterhouse.

The Marriott is coming. You will like it. But first, here are some coloring books. You'll never see the knockout hammer coming.

I'm not necessarily opposed to a Marriott at the airport. Well, not totally, anyway. But this whole stealth process of nailing down airport land for a massive and glitzy hotel complex that Aris Mardirossian's Amalthea Investments started back in early 2006 (possibly earlier), with surreptitious help from the city manager's office, has me very bothered, very deeply. The fact that Mardirossian's team members can be easily identified by their stained bibs at this lamb-roast is disturbing to say the least. Balanced with that is the conspicuous absence of City Manager Marty Black, who again on day two popped in and out faster than anyone could say "Marty, let me ask you something..."

There were approximately 125 people that attended the morning charrette workshop. The Gondo reported 75, but the Gondo didn't show up until the afternoon session after a number of people had left early.

Envision Venice redux
The morning portion of the meeting was run almost exactly like Envision Venice -- attendees were broken up into groups for breakout brainstorming sessions. A facilitator asked pre-established questions and recorded all of the ideas and responses on a large oversized conference-sized legal pad. In spite of the serious subject matter, the process has a kindergarten feel to it. Designed to be egalitarian, the process invariably ends up being more than a bit demeaning.

Once I realized that this was a replay of Envision Venice, my cynicism kicked into full gear. I remember Envision Venice, that bit of grand and expensive chicanery, all too well. The process was purportedly designed to let the city know what our expectations were for the future. Hidden in the the closet and unknown to anyone outside of the city's inner sanctum was Mike Miller's downtown Manhattan Project and an abortion of an ordinance written by Miller's attorney, Jeff Boone, that came to be known as Conditional Mixed Use ordinance. The CMU ordinance basically codified the concept that anyone can build anything that they want downtown as long as the proper wheels get greased.

The ink had barely dried on the first draft of the Envision Venice conclusion summary when Miller's herd of CMU elephants was let out of the closet. The proposed CMU ordinance smacked of heavy-handed pro-development legislation that was the exact antithesis of the Envision Venice process. Councilman John Moore voiced his protest in a logical and well-reasoned statement (text), but big money won out over logic when Citizens for Quality Government prez C.J. Fishman hammered it home in his famous 'I own your ass' speech to city council in support of the ordinance (video).

The entire city blinked awake and collectively realized that they'd been conned in a sudden epiphany that lasted for almost two minutes. Then they went back to playing golf and organizing condo association pool parties. The CMU passed into law.

Here on day two of the charrettes: encounter groups. Focus groups. Crayons and coloring books and team leaders. Ideas and wants and needs, inked out in magic marker on oversized legal pads displayed on artists' easels. Ain't we got fun?

Gaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhh!!!!! Christ on a cracker, does city hall really think we are this stupid? More importantly, are we really this stupid? Cuz in the morning portion of the charrette, I watched a lot of people earnestly playing with the crayons, all of them trying to color between the lines.

I firmly believe that this whole charade is designed to slow down the process to give the illusion of citizen input so that the whole mess can be pushed past the November elections. It'll give the incumbents enough demographic feedback so that they'll know the appropriate promises to make to gather enough votes to stay in office past November. In December, they'll bloody well do what they originally intended to do anyway.

Avoiding the main event
I spent much of the day hovering around the groups, chatting amicably with folks I don't normally get an opportunity to chat amicably with. Development attorney Jeff Boone and I had a long and fascinating discussion about local politics and the politics of land development.

Councilman Bil Willson and I had an inadvertently hilarious conversation about the upcoming elections. Willson told me that Ernie Zavodnyik had just announced to one of the focus groups that he was indeed running for city council. I misunderstood and thought he was talking about Ernie Carter, a local who has come out of nowhere to announce his candidacy in a race against Jim Woods.

Airport Manager Fred Watts observes one of the encounter groups

Facilitators guide citizens through the process that leads to the Marriott concierge and front desk

Gondo publisher Bob Vedder (left) sitting next to a smiling Taxpayers League prez Herb Levine, and they are not killing each other

Airport Advisory Board member Jim Leis (left) and Mayor Fred Hammett

Development attorney Jeff Boone (center) talks with an unknown resident, Chamber of Commerce CEO John Ryan (right) listens in

Airport Advisory Board member Nick Carlucci (left)

Airport Advisory Board member John Yurasko (left) and Herald-Trib columnist Larry Evans

Amalthea/Marriot consultant Ed Taylor listens to Levine making a point

Facilitators read back the gathered idea detritus to the crowd

Amalthea/Marriott consultant Tom Creech (in blue fish shirt)

Council candidate Ernie Zavodnyik

Carter redefines the concept of absolute cluelessness. He has so far run an addled ADD campaign that can only be described as a sad and psychotic comedy. Referring to Carter, I stated "I don't know how he is going to be able to get more than 40 votes. There's something not right in the guy's head, Ernie comes off like he's retarded or mentally ill."

Of course Willson thought I was talking about Ernie Zavodnyik, an admittedly brilliant but quiet retired attorney from Illinois who nearly beat John Simmonds for a council seat last fall. Willson was incredulous that I could say this about Zavodnyik, especially after this web site had given Zavodnyik a glowing endorsement prior to last year's election. Willson's reservations about Zavodnyik point to experience in local politics (and probably Zavodnyik's staunch anti-development views) but Willson didn't want to go so far as to use the word 'retarded.'

We straightened out the confusion, but for a moment there, Willson thought I had fallen off my stump.

As to experience, I argued that that was a false issue: Jim Woods was appointed to council this past year to rave reviews from his fellow local legislators, yet he had never attended any council meeting that I know of prior to his consideration for appointment. Woods has proven himself to be likable, studious, intelligent, attentive, and almost totally lacking in innovative ideas, more akin to a Yale cheerleader than a member of the debate team. Willson staunchly disagreed.

I like Willson, he's a good guy who honestly speaks his mind. We've disagreed on a number of issues over the years, but he'll always talk, he'll always listen, and he'll always take opposing views into account before making a decision.

At the end of the day
In the afternoon session, the "facilitators" read back to the crowd all of the disparate ideas that had come out of the morning's brainstorm groups, reading from page after page of oversized jotted notes.

As to the resulting gigantic idea sheets -- these will be briefly analyzed, summarized, and tucked away in a file cabinet before being appropriately ignored. The sheets would probably all be burned as quickly as possible, but those pesky public records laws won't allow that. If Envision Venice is the established pattern, citizens will get a somewhat-but-not-too-obvious set of stilted results leaning as close to pro-development views as city hall thinks it can get away with.

While somebody thought there would be some purpose and meaning in going through this kindergarten approach to city planning, I can't come to grips with it. With all of the emails that city hall has received, with all of the angry fists in the air in the public input portions of city council meetings, with all of the letters to the editor in local papers, with all of the angry posts on this web site's message board, with the overwhelming 2-1 passage of the so-called control-growth amendment to the county's charter this past March -- with all of that, you would think that city hall might garner a slight clue that they ain't gonna get airport development without the very real possibility of a major political coup that will knock them on their asses and out into the streets.

Hence these charrettes, a stall and delay tactic designed to move the decision past the elections.

It worked once with Envision Venice. Venice is stupid, the citizenry will never figure out that this is the same game, not until after they've been had. Stretch them out long enough and they'll get bored and go back to their golf games and condo association pool parties. That appears to be what city hall is counting on with this charade of charrettes.

I dunno. Maybe city hall is right.

I hope the Marriott has a reasonably priced breakfast bar.