As the year ends, I am taking stock in what I, as a Stuart City Commissioner, have accomplished in 2016. It has never made much sense to me that you pursue any elected office without identifying what goals you would like to accomplish while in office. I look at being in this office as my full-time job. I feel honored that a majority of voters trusted in my abilities and re-elected me. I don’t want to let down the residents, taxpayers and voters of the City of Stuart.

There are four distinct aspects to being a City Commissioner. All are equally important though the skill set required may be different for each. The first is constituent service. I represent you. So if there is a problem that you are having with our government, I need to find out why you are having that problem and how can we solve your difficulty. That isn’t always possible. Sometimes the constituent is just wrong and/or unreasonable. Other times the problem doesn’t have a City solution because it needs to be resolved by another governmental entity.

Mostly, it just requires that the constituent is put in contact with the correct person in the City. After “Hurricane Matthew,” I read a letter to the editor in the Stuart News regarding someone’s problem with obtaining a permit for a fence. I tracked down where that person lived and his phone number. I then brought the matter to the Development Department to see whether the problem could be resolved. Development did so expeditiously. In that instance, if the constituent had contacted me first before writing to the newspaper, his problem would have been resolved quickly. In this case, I was a Commissioner in search of a constituent…and I found him.

The second aspect is to represent Stuart to the outside world. You can think about it as public relations, but it is more. The mayor is the ceremonial head of government, and he/she will be the public face of Stuart throughout their year in office. I try to be at as many public events as possible to re-enforce the mayor but also to show that the elected government is more than just one person. As a public person, I should participate in other civic and philanthropic organizations and boards. That is why I have chosen to be involved in many Stuart and, especially, East Stuart organizations. It is hard to represent all the people of Stuart if I never see and meet people outside of my personal circle of friends and acquaintances.

The third part of the job is understanding and knowing what is going on in the operation of the City. I would find it impossible to carry out being your representative if I didn’t know how the City fulfills its duties. There is a learning curve when first being elected. As a private sector, small business person, I was used to issuing an instruction and everyone carrying it out. Government is a collaboration. Once you understand that, it becomes less frustrating yet still very challenging.

Since the Commission is responsible for policy, making appropriate policy requires that a Commissioner understands what is possible. The City Manager and staff are critical to moving any policy forward. The nuts and bolts of government resides in staff. The City Commission has only two people that report to us, the City Manager and The City Attorney. No Commissioner gets very far without their buy-in to a particular policy.

The final aspect of the job is thinking about our future. No city is static. It needs to evolve to be relevant. From the services we provide to the way those services are provided, we need to adapt and do so constantly.  How will the City of Stuart take advantage of our changing world to be part of that future in 10, 20 or 50 years?  No part of the United States or the world will look or function the same. What are the trends that I need to know about so that Stuart can be ready to take advantage of those opportunities?

I believe government’s responsibility is to have the necessary infrastructure in place to allow residents, taxpayers and citizens to live and work in our City and increase the number of new jobs and businesses. If we spend the money on the wrong or obsolete infrastructure, then we will not be ready for our appropriate future. If all I do is mindlessly continue what has always been done, in my opinion, I would have let you down. I have and I will continue to act and perform this job in the way I outlined.