Pinecrest Business Association
draws 100 to hear County Manager

January 23, 2007

Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess

More than 100 attended the January meeting of the Pinecrest Business Association, about twice the usual crowd. As with most organizations, many did not RSVP, and there was a flurry of new chairs and tables being produced as more and more people walked in.

This was the first meeting for new PBA president Kevin Charlton. Whether the attendance was because of Charlton’s efforts, or the fact that the speaker was County Manager George Burgess, or because the lunch – ribs and chicken catered by Shorty’s – was free, it was good to see the energy in the room.

PBA’s meetings have tended to run very long in the past, and Charlton had promised to get people out by 1 p.m. He hustled through the agenda and almost made it – it ended at 1:10 – but that’s because there were twice as many people introducing themselves than expected.

Funny, but this probably was one time that people would not have minded staying a little longer. Charlton cut off the questions to Burgess after only three, and there was disappointment in the room. After all, how often do you get to question the County Manager?

Burgess is scheduled to speak again at the Palmetto Bay Business Association in April. That group almost always finishes at 1, and the one time it really ran over was when County Mayor Carlos Alvarez was the speaker, and there were many questions. Probably the same thing will happen when Burgess appears.

Burgess talked about the new South Terminal at Miami International Airport, which he said will open this summer and be “spectacular” and “put MIA on the map as a quality, customer-oriented airport.” (I’ll believe it when I see it.) He said the North Terminal is still years away.

He also talked about the Performing Arts Center, and the Super Bowl (yes, he did buy tickets at face value), and about the 311 service which he said is answered in 20-25 seconds and can connect you to information and help from county services (I tried it, and it works).

On the controversial watershed study, which would allow for apartments a half-mile on either side of U.S. 1 and elsewhere, Burgess said people should not get upset about the details because it’s a 50-year plan. “It’s like trying to predict in 1920 what 1970 would be like.”

He misses the point (probably intentionally) that it’s not the details that trouble people, but the presumptions behind them. First, that the county can come along and decide that it’s OK for someone to buy your neighbor’s house and replace it with a 12-unit apartment building.

Second, that just because 1.5 million more people want to move here, that we have to find room for them. Imagine 1.5 million more people trying to get to work in the morning on U.S. 1? And didn’t we almost run out of water a couple of years ago? Wouldn’t it make more sense to figure out how many more people we can reasonably accommodate, and after that hang out a “No Vacancy” sign? Anyway, you can ask him more about that at the Palmetto Bay meeting in April.

As I watched the Pinecrest Business Association set out more chairs, it reminded me of a trick I learned years ago at a meeting of the Public Relations Society of America: always set out fewer chairs than you think you will need (but have plenty more easily accessible, just in case).

“That doesn’t make sense!” you say. “We should put out more chairs than we think we will need, just in case more people show up!” Ah, that’s why you are an amateur!

If you are expecting 50 and you put out 75 chairs, and 50 actually show up, the audience says: “Lots of empty chairs. I guess they were expecting a bigger crowd.”

But if you are expecting 50 and put out 40 chairs, and then have to get more chairs when those 40 are filled, people say: “Wow, it looks like they drew a big crowd!”

Same crowd. Different perception.

It’s an example of how much perception rather than reality guides our lives. Think about all the decisions you make because you think or believe something, and how little (besides 2 + 2 = 4) you actually know. It’s scary.