The city of Stuart has been in the center of my life for 49 years. From fracturing my arm on Commissioner Matheson’s street to getting hauled to the police department for playing cops and robbers in the defunct development that eventually became the Town Homes of Stuart, I have seen this city evolve. That evolution has been mostly positive surrounded by an environmental disaster. As a kid we would sneak on the dock behind someone’s house off North River Point Drive and jump in the river or watch the manatee. As a teenager we would go to the rope swing in the south fork or ski in the north fork, but you don’t see those activities anymore. Even with the water issues we have now I still believe in this city and see a great future for Stuart.
In the next five years I would like to accomplish Stuart’s position of relevance in the county again. We use to be the largest community in Martin County and received positive political attention due to our voting; now we are almost the smallest in population which makes us irrelevant to the county. As the county has grown around us we have allowed opportunities to escape us. I am not a kingdom builder, so it is not about wanting to become a large city, but rather a sustainable city that has a place at the table. I would also like to focus on the live, work, play dynamics of our community. I see opportunities for an open space promenade in downtown for gatherings and events as well as a restructured 10th Street facility that provides athletics, education and recreation. We are actually not that bad in the work portion of the model, but we could do better with trade opportunities and education in our low income areas. As for live, we need some housing work. We have an inventory of very high priced homes and then an inventory of very low priced homes and very little in the mid-market arena. I am patiently waiting for the Azul project completion to see how that apartment population dynamic works in downtown. Maybe cottage homes is the answer, I’m not really sure yet.
I could get in more depth on the specific items I see for Stuart, like a splash pad but it’s really not my vision that matters the most. It is yours! My job is to carry out the vision and policies of the commission and if the things that I see for Stuart differ from the commission then the commission’s ideas will be embraced by me. Getting five individuals to agree on exactly the same thing is very difficult, so I understand there will be times that some things that happen will not sit well with all five, but the majority rule will dictate. I know this isn’t exactly what you had in mind when you asked me to write about where I saw Stuart in five years or what I want to accomplish in that time, but I truly do believe in carrying out the goals of the commission who should be carrying out the desires of their constituents.
I have found over the past four months that this is not an easy job and it is very demanding, but I am up for the challenge. I am a doer, and like to get things done rather than meet about things for months on end. Government is great at kicking the can and I believe if the can needs to be kicked to often then we don’t need the can to begin with.