Why is it so hard to have the Martin County Commission accept an offer of free land from Stuart to build offices for the Tax Collector and Appraiser? It seems to me that, for a variety of reasons, locating those offices in the city (particularly downtown) would be a win for both governmental entities as well as all the residents of the county. Rental rates are climbing, so the faster the relocation of those offices to county-owned buildings the better.
Building in most areas of Martin County would mean encouraging sprawl and the added cost of new infrastructure to handle the development. It would be unwise to place offices in different areas from one another. This would result in the public, other businesses that need to be in proximity to these offices, and county employees would be inconvenienced by not being in a central location. The more we can keep government functions in a compact space, the better the efficiencies of scale.
As a city and with a modicum of infrastructure improvements, Stuart can accommodate these offices as well as the associated businesses that will move into the area. By being located within the downtown area, density is not an issue and sprawl is averted in other parts of Martin County. At the same time, other sections of downtown will be redeveloped because of this influx. It is a win-win situation.
Sometimes it seems to me that these two governmental entities are busy working at cross purposes instead of working together. They forget that the citizens of Stuart are also citizens of the county. They vote and pay taxes to both. What is good for Stuart is good for Martin County and visa-versa. One is not better than the other and, in fact, each needs the other to be successful. No commissioner from either body should be disdainful about dealing with each other or their counterparts on the other commission.
This county commission has proved that it can accomplish much in a short period of time, witness the Comp Plan Amendments. It shouldn’t take months or years to decide what to do regarding our constitutional offices. The city commission has done everything asked regarding those parcels. Now it’s time for the county commissioners to fulfill their part. There is no room for prima donnas or indecisiveness.