Category Archives: Belief in Capitalism

It Is Not About Costco

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People are using the possibility of Costco coming to Martin County as a symbol in the development wars. It has little to do with Costco. It has everything to do with the future of the county.

Many have this idealized vision of what Martin County should be. It should remain as it was in (insert your own year here.)

 

Nothing stays the same. Flower farms were once prevalent on Federal Highway just as today is the retail sprawl that has taken the place of the farms. Yet many say Costco should be located there because it fits with their perception of what should be built on Federal Highway. Current plans have Costco located on Kanner Highway by Cleveland Clinic.

 

Others feel sorry for the family that owns the nursery on Kanner Highway. Rarely mentioned is the fact that the family sold most of the land that is currently being developed along that stretch of road. I guess farming or having a nursery is not as economically viable as land speculation.

 

Then there are those who claim that the now 6-lane Kanner Highway is a residential street not suited for anymore development. They forget that at one time the new development on the block was Riverland and there was not anything else. The condos, housing communities, fast food joints and other retail have been added over the past few decades.

 

Costco is the latest excuse being used by those who want to pull up the draw bridge after they arrive. What they are not understanding is that to control development, you need to allow development to in fact occur. It must happen is a very systematic way to prevent the sprawl that has enveloped our neighboring counties.

 

The best way to do just that is by providing density within an urban core. The City of Stuart and the county’s CRAs are the place to allow this to happen. Trying to keep Stuart or other urban core areas the way they were (again provide your own year) is not possible. All that will do is encourage growth in every direction without a central plan.

 

Two recent examples of just what I mean were the BOCC approving most of Christ Fellowship’s campus to be sold to a builder for hundreds of new homes. Last week, they allowed a swap of an agricultural parcel for an industrial one on Kanner at 96th Street to make way for a possible e-commerce warehouse. This to me is the real danger which is sprawl without any corresponding benefits.

 

Good planning is the continued development within the City of Stuart limits and the CRAs. As a county we will grow, and it will probably continue to be at the approximately 2% annual increase that we have had historically. Do we do that by filling in the blanks within the Urban Services Boundary (USB) and in our towns or by building more and more single-family homes on 2 or 5 acre lots encroaching on more and more ranches and farms.

 

Every time that type of development is approved, it places additional pressure on the surrounding agricultural lands to do the same. Residential development demands more infrastructure, schools, and retailers such as a Publix to service the new residents. This is classic sprawl.

 

Whether or not Costco is built is not germane to the argument being made. At issue is how Martin County plans the future.

 

If the Costco proposal is denied, something will go on the proposed site at some point and it will not be a farm or a nursery. It will certainly not be a development of single-family homes. Development should be encouraged where you have the infrastructure already in place. All manner of housing needs to be built to accommodate all our residents.

 

The question is not whether a Costco will be built but rather how will future Martin County be developed. The answer is not to say no to all growth but to have a plan for how we do develop and then to follow the plan.

 

What Is The Mission?

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What should be the mission of the Martin County Park and Recreation Department?

 

Their mission statement proclaims: “In partnership with Martin County residents, the Park and Recreation Department cultivates programs, parks, and services that improve quality of life, preserves national resources, and satisfies the community needs for recreation, fitness, and leisure.”

Under that statement the County has created a water park. It has created a campground and an RV park, a venue for weddings and other affaires, and is in the process of building a magnificent golf course with clubhouse and a “Top Golf” type driving range. The Department has created a nice restaurant at the beach in Jensen Beach and is creating a dining space with tiki hut and full bar at Stuart Beach.

 

These are all wonderful and beautiful accomplishments. Yet, at some of our functional parks and fields, there are drainage problems, fences in disrepair and inadequate rest and storage facilities for the teams that use them. The new and the shiny always trump the needed expenditures for mundane and boring maintenance. Even though these “bread & butter” facilities are used by most Martin County residents.

 

Mission statements are fine, but it is the services provided to the greatest number of residents that count the most. Should we be involved in a water park better suited to the private sector? For the money it cost to build Sailfish Splash, we should have provided county pools in the CRA areas. That would have been a better use of tax dollars.

 

Why is the department again bypassing the private sector by creating a much more luxurious experience at the golf course than what is necessary to fulfill the need of providing a place for residents to play golf? The same can be said for campgrounds for RVs. And since when should governments be running restaurants?

 

The Board of County Commissioners claim to be free-market, pro-business, and fiscally conservative shepherds of tax dollars. When it comes to the running of this department, that is far from a true statement. The Commission has allowed themselves to be carried away by using tax dollars to fulfill their fantasies.

 

Their fantasies should include the use of tax dollars to make sure existing recreational parks are well maintained and that there are programs that benefit the broader community and the needs of children and adults to recreate. Trying to compete with the private sector is not what government should be doing nor does it do it ultimately very well.

 

If you think that people need more than a hamburger to enjoy their beach experience, sign a lease with a private restauranteur. If an electronic driving range is needed in Martin County, then put out an RFP or RFQ to see if anyone in the private sector will respond. If not, that should tell you something about what you are planning.

 

I would bet that most parents who have kids involved in a sports league would rather have a reseeded field with a working score board and bleachers than a place to have a margherita at a beach. Our poorest residents would much rather have a community pool than a water park where they cannot afford to go. It is time the Commission stop this government overreach and spending of tax dollars. Just provide those programs that most taxpayers want and use at well-tended facilities.

 

What the Commission fails to ever grasp is the 100 people that complain, champion, and cajole on any one item are not the broad swath of constituents, they need to please. Business comes to an area not because of an electronic driving range or a water slide. They locate to places that have good schools, various types and prices of housing, and decent amenities. The private sector can handle the razz-ma-tazze.

The Fairgrounds Next Moves

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The County could pay close to $200,000 to the Treasure Coast Planning Council for a charette to determine several uses for the existing fairgrounds. That is an enormous amount of tax dollars to spend. In an attempt to save the taxpayers that money, the following is a suggestion.

Martin County Fair Association

First, the decision regarding whether to keep or sell the property must be made. If it is decided to sell, there needs to be an appraisal. One of the elements in an appraisal is to determine the highest and best use of the property.

 

In the last meeting, Commissioner Ciampi was of the opinion the property should be sold. I agree that a qualified appraisal should be done. Once that is performed if the rest of the Commission agrees, an RFQ to find a buyer can be written. The Treasure Coast Planning Council’s proposal does not include a qualified appraisal.

 

The best use for the property is not residential. There is a railroad spur on the property. It is across the street from the airport. There is a flea market that is behind the property that fronts Federal Highway. It is in the middle of an industrial area that the County has developed using the available land at the airport.

 

Commissioner Smith’s dream of a transportation hub far from downtown is just that…a dream. About a year ago, Virgin Trains told me that they are not interested in having their Treasure Coast Station at that location. If they build a station, it will be within walking distance of downtown. To be considered is that passenger trains have stopped running due to COVID down south. Every day that goes by places passenger rail on the Treasure Coast further from being realized.

 

The County has already determined what the use of that corridor is. It has worked very diligently to bring lite and not-so-lite industrial businesses to that area. There is now water and sewer to service that need at the parcel. The good paying jobs that we continuously hear we need have been created at the airport.  Martin County has done a great job. So why would you look to stop expansion of that from occurring in this industrial corridor.

 

If the property is sold, it is possible that the manufacturing base would expand. A sale would put the parcel on the tax roll. In a sale, the County could zone the parcel anyway the new owner wants. Because there are no residential neighbors (voters) there should be little push back.

 

If the County wants to keep the property, it could “sell or lease it” to the Airport Enterprise Fund which is under the County’s auspices. Better than that the County could form an Industrial Authority which would place the property on the tax roll. It would be run as an enterprise fund without County subsidy once the startup cost was met.  It could even issue private activity bonds fully backed by the businesses to help build plants and equipment. The businesses would be responsible for paying the bond, and if the business defaults, its equipment would be seized and auctioned. Those bonds are issued tax free.

 

I would even give the newly formed Authority the role of the current Business Development Board. If you did not have to spend a half million dollars a year funding the BDB, you would have an initial funding source for the Authority. Put someone like Assistant County Administrator George Stokus in charge, and it would take off.

 

Whether the property is sold or kept, the highest and best use for the property has been established. I do not want to hear that Commissioners are in favor of good paying jobs and then watch them come up with some grandiose civic plan that will only increase our County infrastructure and expense.

 

We do not need a shelter that may be used once or twice a year during a hurricane. That is why we have schools built to hurricane standards. We do not need another recreation center especially one built so far from residents. Look at all the unused school gyms. Far cheaper would be coming to terms with the School Board to use their facilities when schools are not in session.

 

Since there are no residential neighbors who need to have their voices heard, what is the purpose of having a charrette? The County has already done the hard work to create the right environment for that corridor. Doing the usual Martin County song and dance is an excuse to do the worse thing possible.

 

How about the Commission and staff think about the taxpayer for once? Keep the $200,000 and spend less than 10% of that amount on a qualified appraisal. Then decide whether our County would be better served by a sale or, as I suggest, an Industrial Authority that could expedite providing well-paying jobs and new tax paying businesses.

A Tool In The Tool Box

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The voters of Martin County are being asked to re-authorize a business incentive program. The program is spearheaded by the Business Development Board (BDB). It is small potatoes in the realm of government spending. But it is important to note that since it was authorized in 2010, the program has never given out one penny. It came close…once.

 

So why is it needed? We have been told by the BDB that it is a necessary tool in the toolbox. You know like the special saw you bought in case you decide to make an elaborate rococo headboard.

 

What exactly would the happen if the voters approve the extension and the County Commission ever voted to award individual companies the opportunity of not paying their fair share of taxes?

 

It would allow companies moving into the area or expanding their businesses the opportunity to not pay ad valorem taxes under certain circumstances for several years. You can read the BDB’s accurate explanation of the program here

 

My position has always been that government should not give businesses handouts in any form or manner. The playing field should always be level for everyone. Make no mistake that when you allow Company “A” to pay no or reduced taxes, but not Companies “B” through “H,” government has demonstrated favoritism.

 

Even if everything is perfect and Company “A” hires more employees and builds a new machine to make its widgets, he is paying less taxes than all other widget makers doing the same thing. How is the economy better? If more widgets need to be produced, more widget factories will open because the market dictates that outcome. Business will do what is needed to make more money. These taxpayer subsidized incentives are government induced profit windfalls for a lucky few.

 

You do not build strong economies that way. Government needs only to allow all businesses the opportunity to permit, build, and hire capable employees without undue regulatory burdens. Both Palm Beach County and St. Lucie County offer these type subsidies. While programs such as this type of subsidy are used in those two counties and throughout the country, they do not produce any positive national GDP growth.

 

Time after time companies have moved to an area which gave little or no subsidies to those companies as compared to other governments. Amazon, ConAgra, and other companies base their decision on factors such as workforce availability and quality of life. Even corporate income tax rates are secondary concerns.

 

The best thing Martin County can do is stop taking months (and sometimes years) to green light a new commercial building. Martin County refuses to allow the housing needed to attract employees for businesses. Even when Stuart, on its city-limit fringes, approves apartments and lower-cost alternative housing, County residents cry no and sometimes County staff and Commissioners do as well.

 

Our schools need to produce educated employees in trades as well as other disciplines to fill those jobs. You cannot ask someone to create a business here if you make it so hard to open, their employees need to live in other communities, and they can’t find the necessary trained personnel to staff the enterprise.

 

Government must have as low a tax rate as possible for primarily the employees’ sake. Government needs to provide only those services that government should provide in the least expensive way possible. We do not need water parks and country club golf courses, but we do need adequate recreational areas and parks, roads, and schools. The elected officials need to be good shepherds of our tax dollars.

 

The Business Development Board received $450,000 of Martin County tax dollars last year. It has in the past and will continue to need that money in the future to keep its doors open. The Board of Directors are politicians and nonprofit executives with some private sector members mostly in banking, law, and real estate. (The Board can be found here

 

If you want to save nearly a half million dollars of taxpayer money a year, stop funding an organization that claims to be business-oriented yet needs a government handout to survive. There are five Chambers of Commerce in Martin County and an Economic Development Council. Those organizations are listed on the BDB website as having founded the organization. They should fund it too if the BDB is necessary in their opinion.

 

Better yet if the BDB provided a necessary product or service to the companies it is ostensibly recruiting then that company should pay for the perceived value of that service. Companies pay consultants, accountants, and lawyers all the time for advice. If the BDB has increased Martin County’s tax base through recruitment and retention of businesses, then it should be easy to quantitatively demonstrate that fact to the County.

 

Government never really demands hard facts. It is more than willing to go along with the fiction that something is being accomplished. Words such as develop, round-table, strategic, and collaborative, are often written and spoke at places such as the BDB. Seldom do you hear the expressions of bottom line or profit because to government and to semi-government organizations it is all about the perception of progress as opposed to concrete results.

 

The real difference is in the private sector if there is no profit the business closes. In government and organizations like the BDB there is always a future. They call it more funding we call it more tax dollars.    

 

We need to vote NO on re-authorization in August. Then we need to wean the BDB from receiving public funds. Every dollar spent on the BDB is one less dollar for needed resident services. I would rather make sure the County can pave an additional road or hire a few more employees to clean our drainage ditches each year than pay high salaries and fancy rent in Monterey Commons.

 

County Commissioners hang out with the people that populate the Chambers of Commerce, Economic Council, and the Business Development Board. It is easy for them to continue to fund their friends with your money. We need to make it a little harder to do so.

 

 

Another Government Racket!

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From Martin County to Washington DC, the heavy hand of government intrusion into our economic markets continues.

 

The Federal Reserve is buying corporate debt to juice the financial health of big companies. This, of course, ends up with influencing the stock markets which have no relationship to the broader U.S. economy. The corporatists have friends in high places that allow this absurdity to continue. Yet the staff people who work for these companies are told their jobs have been eliminated.

 

It is a pattern that continues with the massive bailout of these same large corporations by the government where trillions of dollars are being spent because of the economic crisis. In that case, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has the gall to tell the American people that they do not even need to know where all that government largess is going. It is secret and proprietary. If $100,000,000 or even more goes to Steve’s uncle, he is saying the American taxpayers have no right to know where their tax money is going.

 

Locally, our very own Martin County Business Development Board (DBD) wants you to reauthorize its ability to give out tax money. This largess will go to favored existing businesses or companies moving to this area that will supposedly create new jobs. In study after study, it has been proven that money given to companies or to industry does not work in this intended way.

 

Even the jobs created are usually short term and costs thousands more per job than any increased taxes received.  It continues because there are interest groups that keep telling the tax-paying public it is a must have tool in the toolbox.

 

Here is what that tool does. It appropriates the tax dollars from Martin County residents to incentivizes a company to move here to create new jobs. You may say that is a good use of taxes. Yet is it?

 

Let us say that new company makes widgets. But, the widget makers that are already here and employing people are now going to subsidize their competition in the widget business with their tax dollars. Is that the American way?

 

When did it become economically justifiable for the government to decide which businesses are subsidized and which are not? Martin County does not have money to fix roads or drainage, but a friend always helps a friend especially if they can do so with your money.

 

The Business Development Board is supposedly a private non-government entity. Yet it derives almost its entire budget from their friends on the County Commission and other Martin governments. Everyone has a seat at the table but you, the taxpayer. Is this the way government should function?

 

What happened to spending your taxes on infrastructure? The vaunted quality of Martin schools is a fiction when compared to those in other parts of the country. If you want to compete for industry, then our schools need to be the best in the world…not better than Clay County’s. If you want industry, then it needs to be simple to open a business rather than making people spend needless months to get their approvals to do so. We need housing at all levels to support a diverse work force. Yet, we fight it at every turn.

 

The United States, including Martin County, has forgotten why we became an economic powerhouse. It was not because of economic subsidy but rather economic freedom. Existing businesses should not be kept on life support by the government buying their bonds or investing in their stock. Nor should Martin County tax money be used to favor Company A by doling out the money collected from Companies B through Z.

 

Martin County voters will decide the question of tax incentives this election. I urge you to vote no on this referendum and send the message that your tax money needs to be used for new drainage in Hobe Sound and Palm City. That we need to continue to spend money on our rivers and waterways to improve our quality of life. At the same time, let’s send a message that entities such as the BDB need to stop taking money from the government coffers.

 

I know I am tired of supporting the County elite in their good life. How about you?

Booze Expands In Downtown Stuart

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Martin County and Stuart are taking baby steps in reopening. Downtown was especially hard hit in the past weeks when businesses were closed due to the pandemic. The City and the downtown business owners have taken great strides over the past 30 years to make the area a destination spot that drew visitors from literally the entire United States.

 

By writing an innovative code that allowed for individual “mom & pop” stores to thrive, the City showed that downtown would be revived and not turn into an outdoor mall with chain stores and too many bars and restaurants. This may now be in jeopardy because of the City government not following its own code.

 

The plan that was initiated for the downtown’s rebirth had mainly two ideas. The first was to limit chains by using design standards. In many instances, this precluded a Talbot’s, for instance, from renting space. This preserved the small-town charm and unique characteristics that have encouraged tourists and others venturing here to have a great experience.

 

The other part of the plan was to limit the sale of alcoholic beverages to not more than 30% of the downtown area. In that way, Stuart would not become a miniature Clematis Street or Delray Beach. Bars and restaurants can afford to pay higher rents. If allowed to multiply, those quaint boutiques would soon be out of business because they would be unable to compete.

 

Both have been instrumental in creating the downtown we have today. Now that is being threatened by either the City Development Office not knowing its own code or willful defiant actions of that code. A business expansion in one case and the signing of a new lease in another will place the City in an untenable situation.

 

The Black Marlin is expanding (with permits) into the Cigar store that was next to it, and Development has allowed the Cigar store to sign a lease in a new space knowing that its plan is to sell alcohol. Those two actions will result in over 30% of the downtown area selling booze in one form or another.

 

It is astounding to me that this could occur. Only the Commission can change an ordinance…not staff. Yet, here is Stuart with two businesses that have spent a substantial amount of money to expand with staff ignoring the 30% rule. What are the next steps?

 

In all probability, the Commission will retroactively allow for these exceptions to avoid possible litigation. The staff will beg forgiveness if pushed, but the Commission may never even know why they are saying yes to the doing away of the 30% rule. Staff is good at the mumble jumble of bureaucratize.

 

There were good reasons why that rule was placed in effect. Maybe it should be changed after discussion and input. That is not the point here. Staff does not make policy. The Commission does.

 

If staff did not know its own code, that is a real problem. If staff ignored the code because they thought they knew best, that is an even bigger problem.

 

A few years ago, this issue came up when the restaurant in the Arcade Building was being refurbished and expanded. Then before going forward, it was vetted by different interest groups such as Downtown Business Association and Stuart Main Street. A solution was found, and there was substantial public input into that result. There has been no input this time.

 

With all the speeches about transparency and involving the people, it seems to me that the City (or least some of the staff) has decided that it finds the citizens, and maybe even the Commissioners, superfluous. This is the bureaucratic boondoggle that citizens complain about.

 

I hope the Commission pushes back. It would be great if downtown boutiques did so. At the very least, citizens have a right to know who is in charge and why this and other similar things have happened recently.  By ignoring what has worked well in maintaining Stuart’s small-town charm, while remaining a destination, we may find ourselves a different place.

Children, Height and Stuart

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Recently, Stuart has apparently offended several communities on its municipal borders.

 

In both instances, developers have proposals to build multi-family projects on vacant land. Both are located on major thoroughfares. What they are attempting to do is bring new housing to the City that actually looks like it belongs in an urban setting. It’s the kind of housing everyone claims we need until it is next to your home.

 

The first is on East Ocean Blvd nestled next to Kingswood which is in the City. Kingswood is an over age 55 community. Their residents are apparently deathly afraid of having families with children living next to them. At the last LPA meeting on February 20, Kingswood resident after resident voiced concerns regarding the proximity that they would have to the greatest evil they can imagine which, apparently, are kids.

 

Perhaps this is an outgrowth of an increasingly selfish society. Just imagine if these same individuals were objecting to new neighbors based on race, ethnicity, religion, or a myriad of other unacceptable reasons. How about if a developer wanted to build an over-55 community in the middle of a family neighborhood, and the kids objected to grandma and grandpa moving in.

 

The second project is fronting Federal Highway off Harrison Street in South Stuart. The developer wants to build 7 four-story buildings on 13.9 acres consisting of 280 apartments with amenities. There are single family homes in a development known as Springtree surrounding the proposed site to the rear. They are objecting because of traffic, density and the height of the buildings. At least they are not worried about the characteristics of the new occupants.

 

Humans are programmed to hate change. Change to our daily routine. Change to our diet. And definitely change to our surroundings. If it was a vacant piece of land when we moved here, then it should remain as such even though the current location of my house or condo was once a vacant piece of real estate.

 

If you live within the City of Stuart, on its borders or within the Urban Services Boundary, those vacant lots next to you are going to be developed at some point in the near or far future. Those strip centers that are now nearly empty are going to be re-purposed or demolished to make way for something new and probably bigger.

 

You cannot claim to care about our waterways and then object when vacant land in cities, CRAs, and within the Urban Services Boundary are built upon. The alternative is sprawl. The alternative is more and more congestion on our roadways. The alternative is more concrete and less open space in the western part of the county.

 

Single family homes are expensive to build and then to own. Realistically, fewer and fewer of us can afford or want to live in these homes. During the Springtree presentation at the City, a picture was shown of a four-story condo, The Edgewater, on St Lucie Crescent in Stuart which also happens to be my neighborhood.

 

This condominium is surrounded by townhouses, single-family homes, rental apartment buildings, and an office building. My mother-in-law lived at that building for thirty years. My wife and I had an apartment there as our Stuart home for 10 years. For the past 15 years, we have lived in a single-family home that we built less than 500 feet from that building. There are no setbacks or trees to hide the site and certainly not a 350-foot preserve and 50-foot additional planted setback as is planned for the development near Springtree. It is a cohesive, friendly, diverse neighborhood where everyone, for the most part, gets along with each other.

 

There really is no sustainable path forward if we continue with the Florida sprawl. Young people can’t afford to spend $500,000 to buy a home. Most people can’t afford those prices. Slowly, we are pricing ourselves out of affordable, workforce, and middle-income housing in Martin County. This is the legacy of NIMBY. Most Martin residents’ visions are nothing should be built, but if something does have to be, make it a single-family sprawl development. Oh, and no children or neighbors, please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local Government & Affordable Housing

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The Stuart City Commission will have a workshop devoted to the topic of housing next week.

 

I hope the Commission does not meander down a predictable path. Will that old chestnut of what to do about affordable housing be brought up? If it is then the entire workshop will be for naught.

 

For some very basic reasons, the City has little it can do to provide more of that type of housing. The physical size of the City is limited. The amount of property available to erect new buildings is minuscule. Florida’s building code, which is a very good one, results in a more expensive product than 20 years ago. The City itself does not have the funds to subsidize rents. While the City’s impact fees can be lessened a bit, those of the County and School Board can add thousands of dollars to the cost of new development.

 

What the City can do is change its zoning and LDRs especially in the urban downtown area and, more broadly, within most of the CRA. One change could be to eliminate new individual townhouses and single-family homes in those areas. That may seem radical to some, but more and more municipalities and states are taking that approach. In the rest of Stuart, all new construction (including for single-family homes) would be required to have an ancillary apartment. There would be no requirement that it be rented. Over time, small units would be available even if only for resident’s children to occupy while starting out.

 

Another change could be to stop basing decisions on the outmoded concept of density. Stuart has setback and height restrictions which guide the overall building measurement within the parcel’s envelope. Counting the number of units that a project can have is senseless. If the code allows a property owner to build 15 units per acre, it currently does not dictate whether those units are studios, one bedroom, or three bedrooms. The density calculation, then, is meaningless. Common sense dictates there will be more people occupying a three-bedroom unit than a one bedroom.

 

Within the downtown area, and the CRA in general, we should stop requiring so many parking spaces per unit. This artificially limits the number of housing units than can be built. The market will determine what amenities are needed to sell or rent a unit. Parking is an amenity. If a buyer or tenant considers it important, then the developer will have that cost and use in his determination of price just as he does granite counter tops or a powder room.

 

There is a misconception in Stuart that there is no affordable housing. If that were true, then why do more than 60% of dwellings within the City pay no real estate tax and only a small fire fee? If an owner pays no tax, then the cost of his property is quite low.

 

Presently, much of the City’s housing stock is considered obsolete. It is old and has lived its useful life. You can buy units for $100,000. This is about as affordable as it gets. It is true those units need work. But mortgages and carrying charges can be $1000.00 a month.

 

Stuart needs to encourage housing period. Supply will quell demand. New units make older units cheaper.

 

There will still be people who will never find units they can afford. This is an American societal problem rather than a Martin County or Stuart problem. The national and state governments need to address this. Localities will never have the funds to build enough units to satisfy this demand.

 

And lastly, the Commission should not be influenced by people who do not live within Stuart’s boundaries. They may have the best intentions, but their input is secondary to that of the people paying taxes, and I do mean paying taxes to the City. There will always be those who will say I can’t find anything to buy or rent within the City. What they really mean to say is that they can’t find a single-family home or apartment with four bedrooms, a pool, new baths, and new kitchen appliances on an acre of property for $275,000 or $1000 per month rent.

 

AIR SHOW BAILOUT

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At a recent past meeting, I agreed that then-Chair Ciampi and the rest of the Commission showed restraint in not rushing to decide the fate of the Salerno Seafood Festival for 2021. It was a prudent decision. There was no such restraint at this meeting regarding the Air Show ask.

 

During public comment as part of an orchestrated campaign, a parade of Air Show board members and their supporters had no problem asking for $150,000 from County Government. This money was to book acts for the November 2020 show. For almost every speaker, the tag line was that the show must go on! My question is why does it have to go on and secondarily is it the government’s responsibility to make sure that it does?

 

Missi Campbell, director of the Palm City Chamber, stated it had a positive effect on children based on her previous career as an educator. Skylar Gorman, the executive director of the Air Show, exclaimed that the Air Show must go on because it was going to celebrate its 30th birthday…just like her. Gorman went on to say that it takes an entire year to plan. She referred to the show as a business, and of course the show must go on!

 

There is a voucher exchange program so that those who bought tickets to last year’s cancelled shows could redeem them for 2020. That is nice, but even if only 30% of the ticket holders do so, how is that income going to be made up in the future? Will there be another ask of the County?

 

Amy Bottigel, the president of the Air Show Board, stated that there were fundraising events planned but nothing definite yet. She and a few others had just come back from the air show convention in Vegas and had spent 3 days commiserating with their fellow air show national members. She admits that if they can’t promise that there will be a show, their sponsors will go on to support other nonprofits.

 

Chuck Cleaver, the treasurer, stated the show has a $2.5 million-dollar economic impact on the County. The Air Show costs $1,050,000 to produce. It contributed $33,000 to charity from the proceeds in 2018. The links below are the presentations that I received from the County with those facts and figures.

 

https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A1287a029-11ca-4854-ac8d-92d34529cc34

 

https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A4e543b95-d961-40db-8eba-fe1bb03ba111

 

Nick Blount, a board member, stated that cancelling due to an accident and then torrential rain was a first. Blount is right that the tragic air accident and death of a pilot the day before the show was a first. The rains that cancelled the other two days were also a first.

 

Some may ask why there was no “rain insurance?” Cleaver explained that the cost would have been $30,000 to $60,000. He went on to say that because you typically need to pick an exact time to measure the rain, the insurance company wouldn’t have paid in this instance anyway. Other supporters spoke and it all came down to the show must go on!

 

Ciampi was excited to support the show. It is a community event and a community responsibility. Perhaps it is a community responsibility, but is it a governmental one? Smith was just as enthusiastic to spend taxpayer dollars to support this business. It adds to the community’s quality of life and has that $2.5 million economic impact. To put that amount into perspective, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Gross Domestic Product of Martin County was $6,946,903,000 in 2018.

 

The ask from the Air Show was $150,000. This public comment period was not a surprise. For at least the last few weeks, there were discussions held by the Air Show with all the Commissioners individually. There were not 3 Commissioner votes to take the amount from the ad valorem. Pressure was placed on staff to find the money elsewhere. That led to once again raiding the Commissioners’ new slush fund, the Airport Enterprise Fund. Remember that was also tapped a few weeks back to pay the customs’ fees for the Bahama rebuilding.

 

Is it legal? The answer is yes. But that wasn’t the intention when the fund was established. I would contend that the enterprise funds be used to enhance the airport and businesses located at the airport or that could be located there in the future. If the Commission wants funds to have a lasting impact, then spending money that pays for a few rental cars and gives a couple thousand to favored charities is not the way to proceed.

 

Commissioners Jenkins and Hetherington supported the expenditure but not as enthusiastically as Ciampi and Smith. Heard asked Cleaver if there were any firm commitments from sponsors. He responded that nothing was concrete yet. She explored the idea of the County giving matching dollars. But there were no dollars to match.

 

The words were echoed by the speakers that the Air Show was a business and that the show must go on! But why? Businesses and shows close all the time. Should the government keep the Air Show in business? $2.5 million is a pittance in Martin County’s economy and nothing when compared with the entire Treasure Coast’s GDP. And as far as charitable donations are concerned, if you spend a $1 million to give away $30,000, that can only be described charitably as ill-advised.

 

A motion was made by Ciampi seconded by Smith to give the Air Show $150,000. It passed 4-1 with Heard dissenting. I agree with Commissioner Heard in this case. The business should close, and the show need not go on.

 

 

Our Time

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The year 2019 is nearly finished and has gone racing by!

 

Where does time go? As a child, I remember calculating how old I would be when the year 2000 happened and realizing that I would be nearly 50. As a teenager, I could hardly wait until that 18th birthday that would bring adulthood and college. In my twenties starting out in the business world, it seemed that I had nothing but time since money was at more of a premium. Each year brought new uses for how I would spend my time. I would nod my head when people in their sixties would say that their life had passed as if they had been looking out the window of a speeding car. I thought they were exaggerating. They weren’t.

 

The concept of time becomes more important to us as we grow older. It is something that is at a premium with each year lived. Every second that passes is lost. Many of us “sell” our time professionally.

 

An attorney bills in increments of hours, accounting for every minute at his office. A restaurant sells food but, if they have a slow night with lackluster sales, the restaurant will never sell those “empty” tables again. Each hour is unique even if spent on doing repetitive tasks. We will not again have the moments we used for playing that video game or washing the car.

 

If you choose to spend time going fishing instead of playing golf, then one of your hobbies will suffer and the other you should become better. Is that what happens in relationships? When it is said that two people grew apart, was it because they didn’t spend enough time with each other? Are you then a better parent if you devote more time to being with your children instead of at your job or business?

 

Now that I am on the downward slope of my business career, I am just a few short days away from not owning any business for the first time since I was a college student. How will I fill my day? I will still be doing a little work for the guy who now owns the business (my son), but a large time constraint is gone.

 

With the activities that fill the days for my wife and me, we are still on the go constantly every day. I keep saying when I retire, I will do this or that but, deep in my heart, I know I never will otherwise I would be doing it now. Time is the one thing that is finite for each of us. We will probably not know when our time is up, so to speak.

 

Is it a waste of time to spend so much of it in front of the television, on the golf course or taking that daily nap? If we are doing those things, it isn’t a waste of our time but a decision on how to spend the time. The time we can never recapture or ever use again. What we did with our time is how we are remembered.