Let's look at the chart
My first active involvement in city politics was the 2002 elections, in which I volunteered for Jim Leis' campaign. That was also the year that I joined the Venice Taxpayers League.

John Moore was an unknown quantity. The fact that the the Boones, Venice's leading land development attorneys, and their newly formed PAC, the so-called Citizens for Quality Government, were endorsing Moore gave him the taint of yet more political puppetry. In retrospect, Moore turned out to be nobody's puppet and one of the best things that has ever happened to the city.

Other elections, though, in fact nearly all of them since, turned out to be dark and sinister affairs.

On that election day of 2002, I noticed an army of people wearing firefighter union t-shirts at the polls waving signs for the CQG candidate. I thought that was kind of odd. But it happened again next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. Every year, in fact, right up until the CQG imploded going into this years election season, when the firefighters stepped out from the CQG's shadow (and the CQG stepped into the firefighters' shadow).

Every year, the firefighters have had a special interest or two that they were interested in. The overwhelming majority of their members are beneficiaries of the city but not residents (I have documented only one union member so far that is an actual resident of the city). As such, the union is naturally in favor of anything that is pro-growth that would swell their ranks and reduce the possibility of cutbacks and layoffs.

Last year, the big issue that the firefighters were pushing for was "Pay For Spray" -- add-on fees onto our water bill for fire service. That went down in a flame of citizen controversy. Meanwhile, ex-fire chief Mike Rogers was lobbying for a control tower and an extra fire station on airport property, this to come from airport and sales tax funds.

This year, the CQG is licking their wounds from a resounding defeat last year in what could only be termed as a perfect storm for a citizen takeover of elected posts statewide. With the CQG in hiding, out comes the Suncoast Firefighters as the big money campaign, with a candidate who is taking a strong stance for yet another buildout at the airport -- which is, purely by coincidence, straight out of the Dan Boone playbook. The union itself swears it has no agenda, no special interest, nothing at stake in this election. They swear that they want nothing, no special attention, no special project... they just want a good, clean candidate (who admits that he has never been to any city council meeting until this past month and who wants to expand the airport... an airport that he also admits that he has never been to until this past month).

The union is putting a hell of a lot of effort into a candidate that they say will give them no benefit whatsoever. I believe them. After all, they are firefighters.

For instance, the firefighters union would never want to get the city to start their own ambulance service under the aegis of the Venice Fire Department. Political insiders in city hall who have told me about this plan would have to be wrong. The firefighters haven't said a word about it. I'm sure they would be forthright and tell us all if this were their real plan. I am a trusting soul -- I was born yesterday, after all.

Down in North Port, the very same firefighters' union (and their candidate for North Port City Commission) wants to do away with builder impact fees and instead float a bond for infrastructure for new land development. Which is also straight out of the Dan Boone playbook (the Boones do a lot of land development representation in North Port as well as in Venice).

So is the firefighters' union in Venice a stealth front for the Boones and the backroom cigar boys? To find out, let's take a look back through the years.