Well, Dave did a great job. He did try to frame the request in a way that was non-confrontational. Honestly, no one in attendance went into the meeting demanding that heads roll. We were just trying to make the point that the signs took the community by surprise, that we were not pleased with the signs and felt they were not representative of the blend of great design and quirkiness that makes 30-A so fabulous. And that we wanted them removed.
Before anyone was allowed to speak, the interim director moved that the TDC recommend the signs be lowered and landscaping be added. Luckily, someone suggested that the largest ever crowd be allowed to speak. We were told we'd have 10 minutes.
After two people spoke, Kriss Titus tried to close comments, saying they'd all heard and read everything we had to say and that the signage plans were "well-publicized" and that it was a shame we didn't speak up sooner. A few more people were allowed to speak, but when someone said that the signage plan had been done behind closed doors, Kriss Titus again became extremely defensive and insisted they'd made everyone aware of the signs and now a vocal minority was making a huge deal about them. Ed Walborsky, a local attorney, then spoke very eloquently. He pointed out that this turnout (not as big as we expected but big by TDC standards) was for a weekday morning and was a small representation of a much bigger community reaction. He asked the council point blank how many people turning out at that intersection on a Saturday morning would convince them to take down the signs. He repeated the question when they evaded the question -- 1000? 1500? Because we can make that happen, just give us the number.
Next, one council member stated that no guests were complaining about the signs, that it was not our tax money used -- the bed tax paid for the signs, and we didn't understand what they were trying to do. A male council member then took up where she left off, lecturing us on the concept of "branding" and the need for cohesiveness.
I am confident that the group that showed up for that meeting is pretty sophisticated, and that we all understood the concept of branding and the purpose of the signs. Dave articulated the feelings of the group very well when he stated that they did not fit the area and we just wanted them removed. We understood they were expensive, but they do not work for the area. He even floated the idea that the community would raise money to pay for more appropriate signs if they would just recommend the removal of the signs to the BCC.
If the meeting had been handled more professionally by the council, I think we could have agreed that perhaps the DeFuniak Herald is not the best place to to publish information for the 30-A community, and that perhaps we should all be more proactive about getting involved with design issues. We could have chalked this problem up to a learning experience for both the 30-A community and the TDC. Sadly, it seemed very much an exercise in CYA.
The bottom line: the TDC recommended that a workshop be held to decide what could be done to make the signs more palatable to the community. They designated Stacey with the TDC and Claire Bannerman would decide who to invite to this workshop, which I took to mean it would be closed to the public.
I was very disappointed in the outcome. It is my suspicion that the workshop is a way to even the numbers and try to force a compromise that leaves us with the big blue monsters with a little landscaping at the base.
As one citizen observed, "You can dress it up and put lipstick on it, but it's still going to be a pig."
For now, I'll be putting my "Big Blue Monsters Must Go!" sticker on my car and waiting for the TDC to give us a target number for our gathering at the intersection of 331 and 98.
Waiting for a full report. 
