There are some things you don't mess with on South Beach and one is a dog owner. Sit out on Lincoln Rd. late on a Sunday afternoon and you will witness a parade of dogs and their owners like no other. Owners think of their dogs as their children, not unusual in an edgy, resort town of one-nighters and gross insincerity. So, if you are a politician and want to keep that job, don't promise a dog owner a park of their own and then try to go back on that promise.

The City Commission got just a little taste of dog-owner wrath yesterday, when a meeting was held to discuss reneging on the promise of a dog park on South Pointe, a park promised years ago when The Commission was dancing a profitable jig with wealthy developers and trying to attract even wealthier residents. God only knows what The Commission was thinking when it tried to back out of the deal. Well-heeled condo owners blasted the members with threats and denunciation. "I pay $50,000 a year in taxes, and I still don't have that park," shouted one woman. Others threatened to sell and leave and--of course--someone even came up with the original blueprints agreed to by The City; funny how written documents can raise their head and bite. Members of R.D.O. demanded justice. The Commission--true to their kind--did the best they could: Back down and postpone a decision until another meeting is held on April 15. That one should be even better theater, and it sounds like a mission.