Category Archives: City of Stuart

The Battle of the Chickens

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There is a battle brewing in Stuart known as the “Battle of the Chickens.”  I never thought the city commission, and especially the staff, would be spending such an inordinate amount of time over this issue. What is at stake is whether residents in single family homes can legally have chickens in their backyards. There are passionate supporters on both sides of the chicken controversy.

It all began last year when a group of residents approached the city and asked about keeping chickens. Ground Floor Farms, our urban farm, spearheaded the effort. After two or three meetings it was decided to allow Ground Floor Farms to keep up to 30 chickens in a coop that is fenced. The farm was to be ground zero for our experiment. The commission agreed to address back yard chickens at a later date.

I was not in favor of back yard chickens last year. In fact, I thought it was a dumb idea. But over that year, I have visited Ground Floor Farm and spoke to others who sincerely wanted the ability to have a few chickens. I now believe that it is something that should not be banned.

Why should chickens be outlawed? My neighbor has an outdoor aviary. Why is it permissible to have a parrot or other type bird but not a chicken. Dogs or cats are no problem but a chicken is? Why should gallus domesticus be treated differently within Stuart? I just couldn’t come up with a good reason.

The proposed ordinance was adapted from St. Petersburg’s ordinance. St. Petersburg allows 10 fowl of any kind on a lot while Stuart caps the number at 4 chickens. There are no roosters and the coops and runs must be in the back yard hidden by a 6 foot wall or opaque fence. St. Petersburg has a population 16 times our size. There are at least 35 other municipalities in Florida that allow chickens including Sarasota, Pensacola and Tallahassee.

So why is there such a controversy over chickens? It seems that it could be generational. Some baby boomers believe chickens don’t belong within an urban environment. However, as our urban farm has proved the definition of what does and doesn’t belong within a city is broadening and expanding. The proponents are in their 30’s who have young children. They want to give their offspring hands-on learning experiences. Should they have to move to unincorporated Martin County to do so? I don’t think it is good policy to chase the future from the city.

At our commission meeting on Monday, the Realtors Association of Martin County asked that they be given time to study the effects on home prices and investor interest in this “radical idea”. It is hardly a radical notion since it is even legal in New York City and San Francisco. The median price of a home in Stuart since April 2014 (the month of the ordinance taking effect in St. Pete) has risen 43%. The median home price in St Petersburg is 40%. The average price in St. Petersburg has gone from $168,000 to $334,000 in the same time period. Chickens do not seem to be a determinate factor in price increase.

I believe the City of Stuart has more important matters to deal with than chickens. I believe that this is not an earth shattering issue that will cause calamity throughout the town. Presently there are residents who have chickens surreptitiously. This tells me that their neighbors either don’t know they have them or they aren’t a nuisance. This is much ado about nothing. Like golf carts there will be a limited demand for chickens. Besides if it becomes a problem it would be easy enough to change the ordinance.

We do not live in a gated community. There is a certain amount of give and take when living in a city. Stuart is not Celebration or The Villages or even Sewall’s Point. It is a place where people of different races, incomes, back rounds and ages live side by side. The “Battle of the Chickens” may seem funny and in one respect it is. The battle also represents our ability to attract young residents and accommodate the needs of all our citizens instead of just the few.

Tax Cuts Are Easy…Governing Is Hard

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As I write this, the Florida Legislature is poised to pass a bill allowing a constitutional amendment of another $25,000 tax exemption for homestead properties. If approved by 60% of the voters, counties and cities will see a shortfall of $750,000,000 in the first year going to over $800,000,000 in a few years. Where do we make this up in our budgets? This unfunded mandate will result in businesses and vacation homes taking on more and more of the real estate tax burden. This makes Florida less competitive and friendly toward business and 2nd home buyers.

This is bad idea for several reasons. It is an unfunded mandate on localities by the state. They are giving a tax cut by the worst possible means because it does not result in equal treatment for all citizens and businesses. Tallahassee is not taking any money from their coffers. If they want to give the citizens a tax break, why not take it out of the state’s amount of sales tax collected and rebate the $750,000,000 directly to homeowners….a check sent from the State of Florida directly to you.

That won’t happen because the pols in Tallahassee would then have less money to give to their crony capitalist friends in big business, labor and agriculture. It is easy to bully local government because they can. The legislature and governor are arguing over billions of dollars. I am just trying to find a few thousand to pay a police officer. For, make no mistake, it is local governments that pay for police and fire, street lights and sanitation with taxes. What would you rather have…your money pay for a faraway bureaucrat or a local E.M.T?  This is your choice in a nutshell.

If we have less revenue, a decision will have to be made on where to spend those diminished resources. Certain services will have to be provided (e.g., Water and Police), but others like Parks and Recreation will be curtailed. And, as time goes on, through attrition a fire fighter won’t be replaced. All the while, the pols in Tallahassee will tell you that they gave you a tax cut.

When you increase the homestead exemption, fewer homeowners contribute any money to the services they demand. We currently have 65% of the residents in Stuart paying no tax except the Fire Fee. Not only is this fiscally unsustainable, it is also civicly wrong. People have no skin in the game. They can demand services, and weak bureaucrats and elected officials will continue to provide them…until they can’t any longer.

For a healthy democracy, everyone needs to participate by voting but also by paying. There is no free ride. It is easy to vote yourself a tax cut. What this means is more than a tax cut. It is also a cut in the quality of life for yourself and your neighbor…your children and your parents. As Floridians, we have been eager to think that services don’t have to be paid for in order to be received. That someone else will pick up the tab. We can have everything and pay nothing for it.

You know why Tallahassee pols need to give you tax cuts? It is because they provide very little else. Even when we vote to have clean water and rivers, they use the money to feather their friends’ nests. They have an $83 billion budget, and they are keeping it all. Their tax cuts come at the expense of local government. Our city needs to keep the lights on and the streets safe. That costs money. Next time you need a cop, call Florida Department of Law Enforcement and see if there is a response.

Taxes and Budgets

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The first recorded levying of real estate taxes was around 6000 BC in the city-state of Lagash located in modern day Iraq . Both real and personal taxes were levied and collected in ancient Greece and Egypt. Alexander the Great codified tax collection across his empire as did the Romans. Perhaps the most famous tax collector of ancient times was St. Matthew.

King John in England was forced to sign the Magna Carta in part by his confiscatory tax policy. The first time property taxes were collected in Colonial America was at Plymouth beginning in 1620…the year they landed. Instructions for the collection of taxes had been given to Governor Yeardley by the Virginia Company for the Jamestown settlement in 1618 but none were collected until much later. Taxes during the later colonial period were voted on by the colonies’ own legislatures as well as being imposed by far away London. Those London-imposed taxes resulted in our fight for independence.

Though a national property tax was debated at the constitutional convention, it did not gain traction because of the large land-owning southern gentry. Property taxes became the province of the states while tariffs financed the federal government until the 20th century with the passage of the 16th Amendment in 1913 instituting the income tax.  Every state does not have an income tax but every state has a real estate tax. Florida ranks 27th in the nation with its real estate tax assessments according to “Wallet Hub”.

Stuart’s projected revenue for fiscal year 2017 is $22,900,000 of which $8,060,000 come from real estate taxes. The real estate tax amount projected is 35% of total revenue and is evenly divided between residential and commercial properties. Of the 17.5% that is collected from homeowners, the vast majority is being collected from those whose properties are valued at more than $500,000. The taxable valuation for the real property in the city is currently $1.75 billion which is substantially below the market high in 2007 when the taxable value was $2.35 billion and the amount collected was $10,160,000 in real estate taxes. Ten years later, the amount of revenue that Stuart receives from real estate taxes is still much less than we did at the peak.

Florida is one of 46 states that offer a “homestead exemption” of some sort. Our exemption has been in the Florida Constitution since 1935. If you go to the Martin County Appraiser’s website, you will see that there are 15 other possible tax exemptions not to mention “save our homes” and the 3% cap on homesteaded properties. The legislature has provided many goodies to the voters but with no consequences to the state budget.

Another name for real estate taxes are “ad valorem” taxes which is Latin for according to value. Property taxes were never meant to be implemented like an income tax. You paid tax not according to how long you lived in the home or whether you were disabled or a widow. Only the value of the property was taken into account when applying the rate.

For political reasons, the state has decided that local government should have its hands tied with the only tax that can be levied without legislative approval. To curry favor, legislators have proposed constitutional amendments that have been approved by the voters year after year. We all want to pay less in tax. However, fewer and fewer people are actually contributing to the income needed to provide for local services such as police and parks.

Unlike the federal government, Stuart cannot spend more than it collects in revenue. It cannot have a deficit. Being fiscally conservative does not always mean cutting taxes. Equally important is the ability to deliver services in a fiscally competent way. As we know, the legislature promises tax cuts in the tens of millions. What those tax cuts often translate to is a few dollars returned to the average citizen. It also means less money for the environment and schools or the elimination of programs for seniors.

I believe we have a good quality of life in Stuart. Police and Fire/Rescue are important and need to be maintained. The quality of our parks and the programs provided are equally important. The same goes for our septic to sewer conversions. Each department needs to run efficiently and not waste tax payer money. All taxes should be kept to a minimum; being a prudent commissioner demands that I do just that.

Comments Made At Constitution Revision Commission

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These are comments I made today before the Constitution Revision Commission in Boca Raton  to strengthen “Home Rule”.

Mr. Chairman and Commissioners:

My name is Tom Campenni and I am the Mayor of Stuart Florida. I am also the Vice President of the League of Treasure Coast Cities and a board member of the Florida League of Cities. I currently am the Chair of the Treasure Coast Council of Local Governments.

I come to you today as a local elected official to speak on the importance of local government and an erosion of local control through the use of pre-emption by the legislature.

Our current constitution enshrines the doctrine of “home rule”.

By the legislature’s use of pre-emption that right is increasingly being taken away from counties and cities.

The reason that home rule is so important is because government should reflect the will of the people. Who is better to know that will than a neighbor and friend?

The one size fits all mentality that is currently being espoused by the state legislature is counterproductive to how good government should function.

The purpose of local government is to allow the citizens to live in communities that express their will. Municipalities provide those levels of services that their citizens want, desire and are willing to pay to have.

We, elected officials, pass ordinances that reflect the values of the people that reside there.

There are many things that the state needs to be involved in to protect Florida citizens.

For example, local Government should not be able to license attorneys and doctors. Those standards should be state wide.

But where the physical offices of those lawyers and doctors are should be decided by local zoning.

Where is the state’s interest in regulating short term rentals? Why should the legislature dictate to my city whether that use should be allowed or not.

If the citizens of Stuart or any municipality want them believe me they will let their commission know.

What has happened in the past decade is the legislature has developed the mindset that they know best. This is far from the truth.

There are 160 legislators in Tallahassee. There are thousands of local elected officials throughout the state.

The vast majority are either unpaid or receive very little compensation. We do it because we want to serve and make our communities better.

I urge this commission to strengthen home rule and restore the rights of local government to what the 1968 constitution intended.

 

Now Is The Time

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It appears that Senator Negron’s bill regarding locating a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee will have a hard time moving forward in the legislature. Many are fighting the reservoir on the availability of funds, some because there are other projects on the table that should be completed first, and still others because they oppose of the removal of the 60,000 acres from agricultural production.

All these reasons and explanations sound rational. But the most cogent explanation for moving forward with Senator Negron’s bill is the explanation I heard directly from him. The people and counties and cities along the Saint Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon are seeing their way of life eroding every time releases occur. How long must we wait? Isn’t our health important not to mention our economy and quality of life.

The people of the Treasure Coast can’t wait 10 or 20 years. There is no good reason that we should wait. Economically, what we contribute to the state is as important, if not more so, than the sugar industry’s contribution. Like so many things in Florida and the United States, our area is being sacrificed, not because of valid economic and ecological reasons, but because of the hold the sugar industry has on our state and nation. It’s another sign of the collusion between big business and politicians to put the people’s interest last.

The business model for the sugar industry is, as so many others, only possible because of government subsidies. Those subsidies are made possible by political contributions made by the owners of those industries to the very politicians that vote for those subsidies. Our tax money is being used to pervert our interests. We have become a nation of subsidies and cronyism rather than the nation of entrepreneurship and capitalism .

We, the people, fight the battle for our environment while a few use our own tax dollars to thwart that effort. The river and lagoon will continue to be ignored. Every month and year that passes means that we are that much closer to another summer of green algae. The Treasure Coast is being sacrificed as are the state and national taxpayers. How about taking the corporate subsidies from those few well-connected and giving them to the citizens? We can fund the reservoir and all the other projects if we stop corporate welfare.

The Erosion of the People’s Rights

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Imagine if the government passed a law that stated the phone company can put a pole anywhere that Stuart has a “right of way”. AT&T would not have to ask permission or pay more than $15.00 a year to place its antenna on that pole. Verizon, Sprint and Comcast could erect similar structures at a stop sign or park or in the grass strip in front of your house. You would be outraged. You couldn’t believe it can happen in the U.S….in Florida. Stuart and Martin County would be powerless to stop it.

The same day that the poles go up in Memorial Park and in front of your house, your neighbor next door decided to make his home into a hotel. The neighbor on the other side of you decides that she wants to convert her living room into a convenience store and nightclub. Your neighbors on either side do not have to register anywhere or obtain the city’s permission. Stuart could not do anything to prevent it. When those new businesses open, they wouldn’t have to pay anything additional for the increased services that the city would have to provide because of increased traffic and police presence.

This is not fantasy. We are not being invaded by a foreign government. But it does smack of a totalitarian state doesn’t it? There are currently bills in the legislature that would make the above a reality. The Speaker of the House and a hand full of his followers have decided that local government is an enemy of business. It is their belief that we are unfriendly to business by requiring a utility to obtain a permit and the permission of that municipality before erecting a structure in a place that is owned by the citizens of the city.

Speaker Corcoran and some other legislators think that anyone should be able to turn his/her home into a hotel for “short term rentals” without any local oversight. These same legislators believe that local government should not have any authority to make sure businesses operate in the best interests of their communities. Their belief is that the legislature is all-knowing and that you should not be able to decide how your community should look.

This undemocratic and perverse logic will result in people fleeing the state rather than moving here. People want to have control over their local communities. They want to be able to live in towns and cities that reflect their values not those of a group of legislators from Tampa or Lee County. This is not a partisan issue but a philosophical one. We must fight this incursion on our sovereignty.

The right of “Home Rule” is just as important as “Freedom of Speech” or our 2nd Amendment Right.  It is vital to making sure that the people have the communities that they want. Every time we are denied that ability, our liberty is eroded just a little bit more. If a locality is not infringing on a constitutional right, then the state or federal government should not intrude on how we govern ourselves.

There is an economic cost to such mindless, one-size-fits-all laws. Some in the legislature may see it as helping business. However, when local government has its sources of revenue impacted by Tallahassee, the locality must find other sources of income to continue to provide services, usually on the back of the residents. As the quality of life is negatively impacted, then businesses suffer. And, if that comes to pass, we won’t need all those antennas in “rights of way” providing internet because there will be fewer people and businesses choosing to be here as a result of the legislature’s misguided policies.

The Erosion of Home Rule

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It is unfortunate that so many of our legislators in Tallahassee want to take away your right to self-government. They are attempting to do this in the guise of “business friendly” or “less regulation” or “democratic action”.  Apparently we have entered an era of “new speak”. Legislators are deliberately saying one thing while their actions point in an opposite direction. This is a scary time when local government is under assault with the ultimate goal of eliminating citizen involvement.

The two legislative members that represent Stuart, Senator Negron and Representative Harrell, understand the need for strong local government. They truly believe that the state should only be involved in statewide issues. They don’t think that a specific problem in Lee County needs to be addressed by a state law in Tallahassee.  Negron and Harrell think that the citizens of a county or city should have government that reflects their wants and desires. They don’t believe, as do so many legislators, that they know better than the individual citizen.

Currently in the hallowed halls of the capital there are bills that will strip away through pre-emption your rights to self-determination. Why is it that Tallahassee wants to seize control of zoning under the guise of less regulation? Why is it that the Florida Legislature, especially the House, wants to do away with CRAs, how cities can levy taxes, what services we can provide and individual municipalities’ right to have elections as per our charters?

The majority of legislators do not have any local government experience. They never served on city or county commissions. They never dealt with people wanting speed bumps in their neighborhoods. They never spoke with a citizen who can’t get a pothole filled or their garbage not being picked up. They never heard the public at a commission meeting addressing their concerns. They never scrambled to find a few dollars for a recreation program.

They don’t know how a CRA operates yet they can vote to kill the entire program. Members vote on bills from Sober Homes to Short Term Rentals without reaching out to local officials to see how the legislation affects the citizens in their districts. There is a bill presently going through the House that would require that local government could have no unencumbered reserves. The bill’s sponsor has never been elected to anything but his present seat. He never was responsible to clean the streets of debris after a hurricane. Where does he believe that money comes from if not a reserve?

For some in the legislature it is not ignorance of the issues but it is more insidious. There is a pervasive belief especially by House leadership that they know best. Ordinary citizens cannot decide what is in their best interest. That they, the all-knowing legislators, will make sure that you, the citizen, are protected from making bad decisions.

When all power is concentrated in the hands of a few powerful legislators, who will then speak on your behalf? If Walmart decided to open a store in a residential neighborhood, the local government may not have the authority to prevent that from occurring. What about adult entertainment in Downtown, an asphalt plant  on Federal Highway or a 25 story building on Palm City Road; without the ability of local zoning all of those examples could become a reality.

The county and the city can disagree on issues but I never think that a county commissioner doesn’t have the best interests of Martin County at the foremost in any decision. I may disagree with my fellow commissioners on a matter but I do not question their motifs. Local elected officials are the ones who know their constituents and their problems best. Will that legislator from the Panhandle care about our local issues?

Tallahassee’s usurpation of the people’s right to self-government is not a fantasy. It is actually happening and accelerating. Earlier this week I received an e-mail from a resident asking that I do something about train horns. As a local official there is nothing I can do. It is not in my purview. What will happen when I am asked to do something about that strip club that opened downtown? Will I have to say that I can do nothing about that either?

Undemocratic Tallahassee

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I was in Tallahassee earlier this week to present a plan to the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee regarding Stuart’s Recreation Center. While in the capital, I attended a workshop on “All Aboard” and a House Committee hearing on Representative Fine’s bill known as HB 17. Fine’s bill would curtail local government’s ability to regulate businesses within their borders. I voiced my opposition to the bill as did a number of cities and counties. The preemption of your rights will have huge unintended consequences in counties and cities throughout the state.

It is really frustrating to me, as a Republican, that this “Big Brother” idea was sponsored by a member of my party. Further, it passed that initial committee with only one Republican member voting no as did every Democratic member. When you have to count on the Democrats to limit more regulation, then the world is indeed turned upside down. The idea that the best government is that government which is closest to the people apparently is not believed in Tallahassee.

Our representatives in Washington, but increasingly also in Tallahassee, have decided that they should minutely manage local affairs. They know best and we, the people, are too ignorant to be trusted. Members of the legislature have come to the conclusion that pesky citizens should not have a say in their own back yards.  As an example of this mind set, the legislature has preempted cities such as Miami from deciding whether or not to outlaw plastic bags.

This undemocratic and authoritarian style of governing is predicated on being business friendly. In other words, we can’t have businesses bothered by the locals.  The Florida constitution gives cities the right to manage their own affairs except where prohibited constitutionally or by legislative statute. The anti-democratic legislature doesn’t believe that to the detriment of every Floridian.

For example, the fiats handed down from Washington and Tallahassee regarding short- term rentals and sober homes have decimated some communities. The  legislators who sponsor and pass these bills argue that you can vote them out of office. If you wanted to get rid of Representative Fine you would have to move to Palm Bay.  Unelected and unresponsive to your needs, these men and women do indeed control your destiny.

The best thing that our Tallahassee and Washington representatives can do is not always use the power that they have to legislate. They should not assume that a problem brought to their attention in their local community is state or nationwide.  They should stick to those things that localities can’t do. The state should decide who can practice medicine or law but not where a city decides to allow offices to do so.  Is it really a concern of the state whether plastic bags are allowed In Miami or in Stuart?

Locally elected commissioners are not rubes that need guidance. We are keenly aware of what our citizens and voters want. Local elected officials are not in a bubble as so many state and federal officials are. We see and hear our constituents on a daily basis. The vast majority of us are not career politicians but rather are women and men who want to serve their communities. If we lose the public trust, we will be gone in the next election.

What I Learned In Washington

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I just spent several days speaking on behalf of cities in Washington.  I now understand what gridlock means. I met with many representatives and their staffs some of whom I had not visited before. My colleagues from the Florida League of Cities and I speak about issues such as the continuation of the interest deduction for municipal bonds, changes in the National Flood Insurance Program and the claw back provisions in FEMA de-obligation. A bit inside baseball for most people but each of these issues have a direct effect on your pocketbook.

I was surprised to learn that many of our federal representatives do not think tax reform or much else will be passed this session. While both the White House and Congress are in Republican hands, there is not a unified vision that is shared.  Everyone is open to making a deal if the basis of the deal requires no compromise on anyone’s part. The losers will not be those in Washington but the American people.

We are seeing the same inability in Tallahassee. There, we have the Speaker of the House and the Governor, both Republicans, trading insults instead of doing the business of Floridians. Your ability to lead and accomplish something is directly tied to your willingness to work with those with whom you may not agree. There are principles that should not be compromised, but that does not mean that anyone who disagrees with you is your enemy.

This problem is worse as government is more and more removed from the people. In the past 80 years, power has migrated to Tallahassee and Washington. They have taken bigger and bigger shares of our tax dollars while increasing taxes in general. So because those centers of power are so removed from the voters, the voters become less and less relevant. Special interests, lobbyists, and campaign contributors are important for the continuation of federal and state leaders in power.

Is the world more complicated that it was in 1789? Absolutely it is! But fundamentally the founders’ ideas for our country were correct. Washington is trying to do too many things that our governmental institutions were never meant to accomplish. The state governments hate when Washington dictates policies and saddles them with unfunded mandates. On the local level, we have both the Feds and Tallahassee dictating to us. They believe they know more about our needs than we do.  This is ludicrous. Governmental power needs to be exercised as close to the citizens as possible rather than the way we now are governed.

If we expect to have good government then allow the people to decide what should be done. The federal government should only do those things which the constitution expressly allows.  The state needs to stop mandating and assuming that what a legislator in the capital believes is all that matters. Someone from Tampa should not tell the citizens of Stuart how to govern their city.

What does it matter to the legislature whether our municipal election is in March, July or November? Why should they care whether we charge a fee of $5 or $500 per business in our communities? Our citizens will tell us what to charge through their input and at the voting booth. Washington and Tallahassee should stop taxing us so much in the first place only to have the funds be re-distributed after they take their large slice. We wouldn’t need a supposed tax cut if those in faraway capitals didn’t take our money in the first place.

Power is a corrupting force. As a politician goes up the food chain, he is more and more removed from citizen input. A legislator or congressman, governor or president no longer has that tug on his/her sleeve of their neighbor in Publix. Their world is made up of lobbyists, corporate lawyers and union officials. They only speak to other elites. Their grasp on the everyday plight of their constituents is a distant memory.

If you truly want America to be a country that our founders envisioned, our president, governor or congress person won’t get us there. The power we have bestowed upon them is much too much for any one person to exercise responsibly. America is a nation of villages, hamlets and towns. The more that we can govern on that level, the better all of us will be.

Why Government Should Stay Out Of The Private Sector

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I have written several times about the Northpoint property. The Stuart News recently had an article about the city’s most current effort to develop this parcel. For more than a decade, the City of Stuart has been trying to find someone to lease the land and develop it. In the past, the city commission and staff have been trying to find a developer to build our vision of what should go there. That has proven to be a failing policy.        

Markets have a way of knowing what should and should not be done. If government tries to circumvent that most basic of principles, the result usually is nothing being accomplished. You can’t tell the private sector what is the best investment for their money. I believe the city has finally learned this lesson.

As a rule, I generally do not think government should buy property for the express purpose of leasing it to the non-governmental sector. If the property is not for a public purpose, development is best left to the private sector. There are instances when government should purchase property; for example, to promote redevelopment in a specific area. Any purchase should have well-reasoned goals that the city seeks to accomplish. The time that the property remains undeveloped should be for a minimal period.

The new Azul development will ultimately be one of those instances. From the time that the city closed on the property until the developer was chosen, the period was relatively short. The insistence that the project be based on market forces and not on a pre-conceived notion that the city had defined was, in my opinion, key. I would have preferred that the land be sold rather than leased, but the financial feasibility of the deal did not support this happening. Once this project is completed, it will spark redevelopment of that entire area. This is the main reason for the city’s purchase.

When Northpoint was acquired by Stuart, none of these principles were followed. The city was bedazzled and bewitched by its own desires and forgot about the market. Their ideas, while laudable, were not what private capital was willing to invest in to achieve. Using the city’s naiveté, would-be developers took a flyer and, for relatively little money, tied up the project for many years looking for capital.

The current insistence that the developer is required to demonstrate the wherewithal to complete whatever project it proposes to build has a much better chance of success. I am not certain that this particular parcel is developable. With its location and position next to the rail road tracks, it just may not be suitable for any private use at the present time. This is why government needs to be very careful about investing in real estate for a non-governmental use.

I was not on the city commission when either of the decisions to acquire the Triangle or Northpoint were made. I am fairly sure I would have voted to buy the Triangle piece. I don’t believe I would have voted for Northpoint. No amount of government insistence or desire will result in a hotel being built there. The only way would be for Stuart’s taxpayers to guarantee a bond to fund the construction of it. Tax money should never be used in this way. If private investment is afraid, then the chances for success, especially in a retail business i.e. a hotel, are doomed.

Government needs to stay out of the private real estate sector as much as possible. Individuals acting in their interests will result in economic benefit to our entire city’s prosperity. It is not up to Stuart’s commission or staff to impose their vision on what should be built. Our job is to provide the infrastructure and a readiness to work with the private sector.