“The city of Destin has control over the quantity of growth.”

Barker said when he first came on council in 1996, he was stunned to discover how little power the city has to stop development: Property owners have rights, and development can’t be turned down if it meets the rules.

“There are two universal truths that our citizens and citizens beyond our borders believe are absolute facts,” the mayor says. “First that the city of Destin is absolutely flush with cash.”

Not so, he goes on to say: The majority of the sales and property taxes produced in Destin goes out of town. And the demands tourism puts on the community aren’t matched by Destin’s share of the sales taxes those tourists generate.

The mayor is calling the meeting to order. The video state-of-the-city address should start any second.

Craig has assured me he has all his lines memorized.

The three-year-old is asking her father to read her the brochure for the State of the City address.

No, she’s reading him the brochure. It sounds much more fascinating than when I looked at it a few minutes ago.

I’m always pleased to see them at this kind of event, some of the community are coming in too. Dress is a mixed bagPantsuits, high heels, ties, polo shirts, work clothes, sandals. Seems to sum up Destin pretty well.

So that I can concentrate on liveblogging from this point on.
Right now, we’ve reached that critical mass events get to, enough of a group that everyone’s making spontaneous conversations, catching up on events, introducing each other to spouses or kids, rehashing last night’s Caretta Dunes QJ, trading jokes …
The crowd is heavily slanted to city councilors, staffers, people who are active in local events and families. In front of me, a three year old is giving great thought to which chair to sit in—never mind, her father picked.

And as we all know, writers love free food.

George Eller has arrived. This prompts Greg Kisela to pound Mayor Barker’s gavel. Don’t ask me why.

City Manager Greg Kisela, City Engineer Chuck Meister and his wife Jeannette, PR Director Deborah Thatcher. No public besides me yet (and as a member of the press, I’m not sure I count).

I find it interesting to log onto the Destin Log Web site’s administrative side and see what’s been getting the hits: Crime stories, development stories (particularly anything huge like Harbor Reflections), and weather reports all draw attention.
Events listings (church events, arts events, festivals, etc.) do a brisk business too, which is neat. It’s not groundbreaking journalism but I think it’s a community service.