Or should I say, it was. Within the next several months, barring a (pardon the expression) home run of an offer from someone in the community, they'll be leaving their studios and moving to an undisclosed location elsewhere in Miami-Dade.

Many of you, especially those who aren't sports fans are probably saying to yourselves: who cares? (Actually, even if you are a sports fan, you probably don't care that much--the fledgling WAFN is a very distant second in the "sportstalk" ratings race.)

The fact of the matter is, every Doral resident should be very concerned about this development, not only because of what we lost along with WAFN, but also because their departure is indicative of a larger, inherent problem with our community.

In terms of lost business, losing WAFN is by no means crippling. "The Fan" is home to somewhere between 35 and 40 staff members, a pittance compared to larger Doral-based companies like Ryder and Carnival.

However, by losing a "sportstalk" station, one that hosts high-profile athletes, business people, university officials, and other such individuals, you lose an outlet that gave Doral nationwide stature.

For a fledgling community trying to establish itself amongst familiar names like Coral Gables, Miami Beach, and other marquee destinations in Miami-Dade, every opportunity to increase its visibility, its stature counts.

Not only that, Doral loses a component of the business diversity that the members of our community council and the West Dade Federation have fought so hard to create, a diversity that makes Doral an even more attractive place for businesses to relocate.

Thankfully, Doral still has Radio Unica and Univision, two of the largest Spanish-language media networks in the country, but the same shortcomings that forced WAFN to depart might eventually hamper efforts to ensure the continued presence of those two businesses in Doral.

There is no municipal governing body in Doral, as many of you know, and therefore no real local governmental authority that can act on behalf of Doral in such situations, or even take accountability for a blunder such as losing WAFN.

All the unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade have is their county commission, and despite their best efforts it is simply impossible for them to attend to the minutiae that good local governing requires.

In fact, Doral is very lucky that with the arrival of the new millennium they aren't facing a West Kendall scenario, i.e. uncontrolled growth, ill-designed businesses, shoddily constructed residences, etc.

And though I hate to be the bogeyman, the only things that prevented that from happening here are the zoning oversight of the Doral Community Council, the vigilance of the West Dade Federation, the integrity of Doral's businesses and especially the Airport West Chamber, and quite frankly, time.

Had Doral's building boom begun thirty years ago, as is the case with West Kendall, the situation here might be even worse than that of our neighbors to the Southwest (imagine what uncontrolled, unsupervised commercial/industrial growth would look like next to unregulated residential expansion).

And as Doral faces new hurdles, like the proposed Juvenile Detention Center, like the completion of the three long-delayed parks, Doral's leadership will have to continue to improvise, wasting valuable time trying to piece together coalitions, time that could be spent solving problems.

Losing "The Fan" didn't just mean losing "some sports station", as one resident told me--no, it reminds us again how difficult it is to win short-handed, and how tough it is under those circumstances to be a major player, to be considered big league material.

Troop finds a home?
The Doral Park Country Clubhouse is being considered a possible temporary meeting place for Doral's Boy Scout troop, and serious conversations are underway with the West Dade Federation regarding the possibility of their sponsorship of the troop.

Odel Torres, the group's vice president and a member of the Doral Community Council said, "The West Dade Federation has committed to finding a sponsor and a site should our current discussions not come to fruition."

Jesse Jones, the West Dade Federation's other vice president was even more adamant, saying, "Having gone through the scouting program myself--cub through explorer--I consider it to be an essential part of any community. There are things we learn through scouting that our current method of parenting doesn't necessarily teach. I would encourage all parents to get their children involved; scouting teaches values, teamwork, a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of the importance of hard work and pride in a job well done."

Renzo Martorella is the district director called in by the Boy Scouts to help the Doral troop find a home, a situation that was the topic of my editorial last month.

Martorella said that he had received an overwhelmingly supportive, positive response from the article, and that he's much more optimistic about the troop's future today than he was in March.

He said, "I'm really excited to have met these individuals (the members of the West Dade Federation), people genuinely concerned about the future of their community. It's difficult to make a rush decision on a responsibility as great as this, but I'm confident that even if they're unable to help us directly, that through their resources the leaders of the West Dade Federation will do their best to find us a place."

To find out more about the Doral troop or contributing to the Boy Scouts, contact Martorella at 305 364 0020, 305 738 7954, or 954 983 5051.