Category Archives: City of Stuart

What Government Services To Provide & How To Pay (Part 2)

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A month ago, I wrote the first installment of a two-part series on how we pay for government services and what services should government provide.

The first piece concentrated on which services to provide and the difference between what the government should do and what private industry can do. This installment will concentrate on how society pays for those governmental services.

In examining what services should be provided, it became obviously clear that government does certain things quite well and is the best entity for doing those things. I used the example of law enforcement. Consistent and fair policing is a much more probable outcome when government provides it than if the private sector does. Further, the profit motive would preclude the services being provided as economically and as professionally as the public sector.

Unlike the private sector, when government produces a product, it needs to have taxpayers approve of the product — whether they use the service or not. So, while companies can tailor their products to the individual consumers that will buy those products, government does not have that ability. It is a one-size-fits all approach.

Forty-one states have income taxes. Florida has a prohibition against having one in its constitution. This has been a boon to the state’s economy since this is a reason people, especially retirees, re-locate here. Overall, businesses have lower taxes than the national average. Property taxes are higher than average for the nation.

Through their legislature, Florida voters have decided that social services are not where their tax dollars should go. Per capita spending is approximately $1500 per year, including education. Of course, because we spend so little on social services including education, many Fortune 500 corporations have chosen not to locate here. Our educational spending is less than $8800 per student, including administration and security, and this shows in our lower overall national rankings.

So how do we fund our government? On the state level, it is through the sales tax. Roughly 93% of the 6% that is collected on most sales remains in Tallahassee. Local government, such as counties and municipalities, rely on property taxes.

The Florida Legislature has been quite cynical in how they have achieved “tax cuts.” Tallahassee has primarily done so on the backs of local government.

Real estate taxes are one of the few sources of revenue that the Florida constitution permits local governments to levy without legislative approval. However, through pre-emption, edict and constitutional amendments, that ability has been extremely curtailed over the past decade. In other words, “tax cuts” given by Tallahassee have been done through limiting local government’s ability to levy taxes. If Tallahassee wanted to give a tax cut, it could lower the sales tax rate, but then their own pot of money would have shrunk. Instead, they shrunk local governments’ pots.

As counties, school boards and cities have seen their revenue streams constrained, Tallahassee has continued to pass along unfunded mandates. The largest one this year was school security by mandating a law enforcement officer in every school. The state has also cut funding for various programs that will result in programs disappearing or localities dipping into shrinking funds to pay for them.

Martin County already has higher than average real estate property taxes, as compared to other Florida counties. This is due to a lack of commercial and economic development, along with a dearth of residential growth. This was proven most recently with our discussions to keep FPL. The company has an option to relocate to Collier County, which has a lower tax rate.

The level of government that Martin County and its municipalities can afford to buy shrinks with each new property exemption or pre-emption. Many of our local elected officials believe and act as if there is an endless supply of tax dollars to buy services, as was witnessed by the recent golf course Shangri-La discussion. There is a disconnect between wants and needs and the ability to pay for government.

We are fast approaching a point where government departments, such as Parks, will have less and less in order to fund public safety functions. The Commission needs to begin curbing the growth in those budgets. It is easier to do so in Fire/Rescue since that is a department under their direct control. The Sheriff’s Office is constitutionally mandated and, while the funds are allocated from the County, the BOCC has little to say about the budget’s makeup.

I believe the County made a terrible error by not instituting a “Fire Fee” this year. The methodology was flawed, but the principle involved was not. That Fee would have accomplished three things. First, the overall Fire/Rescue MSTU (Municipal Service Taxing Unit) would have been lowered. Second, the nearly 20% of homeowners that pay no real estate taxes would have contributed something to their protection. The third, and perhaps most important, reason is that the public would have a better understanding of how much the Fire portion of the budget is. This would have been an eye-opener for many. They would also understand how much it costs to provide that service. The Legislature should also give localities the option of having a “Law Enforcement Fee.” This would bring more scrutiny to Sheriff’s budgets.

The State of Florida and Martin County are in denial, as is much of the rest of the nation, as to the costs of government. Our nation is facing trillion-dollar deficits during a booming economy. Those deficits will surely increase once a slowdown occurs. Unlike Washington, state and local governments can’t run deficits. Martin County is already experiencing a $200 million or higher infrastructure maintenance backlog.

The boomer generation I am part of has done a poor job in taking care of government finance. We have buried our heads in the sand. We have lived on a credit card that, in many cases, has already reached its limit. Unless we have a serious national, state and local conversation on what government is expected to do and how it is to do it, we will continue to erode our fortunes. No amount of sloganeering and pandering to the crowd will place us on a solid financial footing.

Gillum Comes to Town

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Andrew Gillum and the Democratic Party held a rally at Memorial Park two weeks ago. Depending on who you speak with, there were between 1000 and 2000 people attending. By all accounts the rally was a success. That is good, not because Gillum is the Democratic nominee for governor, but for democracy.

I am not writing about the rally or the gubernatorial election. I should disclose that I am a Republican and on the Republican Executive Committee Board. I am writing not as a Republican but as a Martin County and Stuart taxpayer and resident.

I want to know how a rally of a thousand to two thousand people managed to obtain a permit without paying for the officers and deputies that were assigned.

According to the public records that were provided to the REC, both the Sheriff’s Department and Stuart Police Department, the lead law enforcement agency, did not require additional officers to be dedicated to the rally. The same law enforcement officers that were on normal patrol would suffice to cover this additional event.

If you attended the rally, where politicians spoke including Tallahassee Mayor Gillum, music was played, merchandise and food were sold; the officer or deputy were only there because, at that moment, no other call had to be answered. If one had to be, then the rally may have had no law enforcement protecting those attending and perhaps our next governor.

When a permit is granted, the City goes through a checklist of which Stuart services will be needed for the event to occur. In this case for a political rally with one to two thousand people, no special detail officers were needed…or at least that is the what was determined after the special events person met with Gillum’s people.

If an auto accident occurred and/or criminal activity such as a robbery, then the officers that were on duty would have had to respond. The deputies would have been there to pick up the slack unless, of course, there were other problems in Martin County. So, wouldn’t it have been prudent for the person in charge of issuing the permit to have charged the organizers of the rally for at least one special duty officer?

Was the reason for not requiring a special detailed officer to be paid by the organizers because of politics? The employee that vetted the process is registered as a Democrat. Did party come above public safety to save a few bucks for the organizers? Whether a political rally of this size was for Democrats or Republicans, wouldn’t it had been appropriate, especially when the main speaker of the rally is running for governor?

Not every rally or special event requires enhanced police presence. This one did. The citizens of Martin County and the City of Stuart deserve to be protected at the same level regardless of special events happening. For a rally where many of the participants were from outside of the County and City, not having a dedicated security detail could have been dangerous.

I am going to believe that what occurred was just an error. I hope that public safety wasn’t compromised because of partisanship by one employee. The procedure should be looked at by the department heads, City Attorney and City Manager. There is no place for political favors in this type of situation. Citizens’ safety should not be compromised, and taxpayers should not subsidize a political candidate.

Dyess Essay On His Vision for Stuart

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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.

Remarks Made to Stuart City Commission on a Brightline Station

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I AM NOT HERE TODAY TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH I DISLIKE BRIGHTLINE COMING THROUGH OUR CITY.

THOUGH FOR THE PAST FOUR PLUS YEARS I HAVE BEEN A VOCAL CRITIC.

I AM ALSO NOT HERE TO TELL YOU THAT BRIGHTLINE HAS A BAD BUSINESS PLAN AND MODEL.

THOUGH I BELIEVE THAT IS AS TRUE TODAY AS IT WAS BEFORE.

THE COURTS, WASHINGTON AND TALLAHASSEE HAVE DEALT BLOW AFTER BLOW TO OUR EFFORTS TO STOP BRIGHTLINE.

THE TRACKS HAVE RUN THROUGH MARTIN COUNTY AND STUART FOR THE PAST 130 YEARS. FEC OWNS THOSE TRACKS AND THE STUART CITY COMMISSION IS NOT GOING TO PREVENT FEC OR BRIGHTLINE FROM USING THOSE TRACKS.

WISHFUL THINKING OR BURYING OUR HEADS IN THE SAND WILL NOT CHANGE THOSE FACTS.

WITH THAT SAID…WHAT SHOULD THE COMMISSION ULTIMATELY DO?

YOU SHOULD TREAT BRIGHLINE IN THIS INSTANCE AS YOU WOULD ANY OTHER BUSINESS OR DEVELOPER THAT WOULD COME BEFORE YOU.

WE IN STUART ARE KNOWN TO WORK WITH APPLICANTS TO ACHIEVE WIN-WINS. WE SHOULD NOT TREAT BRIGHTLINE DIFFERENTLY.

THE USE IS IN THE COMP PLAN AS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED. LESS THAN A DECADE AGO WE WERE LOOKING FOR AMTRAK TO COME TO STUART.

BRIGHTLINE WILL BE PLACING ITS STATION ON PRIVATE PROPERTY THAT IT WILL PURCHASE.

THIS COMMISSION, STUART AND MARTIN COUNTY NEED TO PUT ITS FEELINGS ASIDE. WE DO NOT HAVE A TEST AS TO WHETHER A PRODUCT THAT A BUSINESS WILL SELL IS NEEDED OR WILL THAT PRODUCT BE PURCHASED. THAT IS NOT GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY.

BRIGHTLINE WILL CHANGE STUART. THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL EXPENSE TO BOTH MARTIN COUNTY AND THE CITY. THOSE ADDITIONAL EXPENSES WILL BE PAID BY TAXPAYERS WHETHER THERE IS A STATION OR NOT.

IF BRIGHTLINE IS COMING AND IT APPEARS THAT IT WILL THEN A STATION WILL BE A PLUS TO GO WITH THE NEGATIVES.

IF BRIGHTLINE IS STOPPED BY ANY PENDING LITIGATION, THAT WOULD BE FINE. THEY WON’T BUILD A STATION.

IF NOT STOPPED THEN WE WOULD BE POSTIONED TO HAVE A BENEFIT COME FROM WHAT WE DON’T WANT TO SEE HAPPEN.

THANK YOU

Brightline Is Coming

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Do you remember the first time you heard about Brightline?

It was the high-speed rail that was supposed to be financed privately? Well it just received $1.15 billion in tax-free bonds to expand from Palm Beach through Martin, the Treasure Coast and all the way to Orlando. Brightline is on its way through Stuart.

I could give you several economic arguments why this 19th century technology should not happen. But this no longer has anything to do with economics. This is now, in actuality, if not in name, a PPP (private-public partnership). And, it is heavy on the public part. While the railroad executives will swear that this is still a private sector enterprise, they would be lying.

The Feds and Florida have decided that taxpayer dollars should be used to build the infrastructure of a private company. Governor Scott and his wife own a large share of stock in the parent group and in a Chinese company that will benefit from helping build the trains. Once again, the rich and powerful helping themselves, to the people’s detriment.

Those bonds would never have been successfully sold in the private market. Since they are tax-free, they will do just fine. Investors now realize that both Tallahassee and Washington will support this endeavor regardless of the economic realities. If Brightline is inevitable, as I believe it is, then what should Stuart and Martin County do?

The first thing is acceptance. Stop fighting and see how we can take advantage of a bad situation. If Brightline wants to put a station in Stuart, then work with them so as many trains stop here as practical each day. Make sure Brightline purchases property for a stop at an appropriate place so that it does not hurt the Downtown corridor. Stuart needs to keep in mind that Brightline will not operate at high speed through most of the City.

Take them at their word that they are a private company and under no circumstances give away our local tax dollars to incentivize this.

In the next fifty years, we will be spending millions to repair crossings. This is regardless of whether Brightline brings us benefits such as a local station or not. I still believe that their passenger rail concept will fail. At some point, the government will come in and take over the money-losing proposition. When they do, in 5 or 10 or 15 years, Amtrak or Tri-Rail will inherit that station.

In a convoluted way that was what was to happen a decade ago when Amtrak was to bring rail service to Stuart with a multi modal station. When Brightline really does become public, a true commuter line can be established. This will allow an easy commute south, fulfilling an idea that should have been planned decades earlier. Unfortunately, this is no way to run a transportation network.

Stuart and Martin County now should make lemonade from the bushels of lemons our communities have been pelted with.

The Stuart City Commission Election

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A few weeks back Gil Smart wrote a story in the Stuart News regarding the Stuart Commission races. He portrayed the decision as experience over youth. I see It differently. I believe that it should be about whom the Commissioners represent.

If it were just about experience, however, then I would contend that Mike Meier has more government experience than his opponent, Nick Blount. Mike is on the CRB and has had to cast more votes than Nick, who was only recently appointed to the City Commission. Meier has attended far more Commission meetings than his opponent and has met with staff on numerous occasions to understand the issues.

Blount is retired from FPL where he was a government relations executive. Meier is an owner of Ground Floor Farms where he and his partners employ close to 20 people during season. Both have served on various community associations and boards.

In the other Commission race, Troy McDonald has been a Commissioner for almost a decade. He has been on the MPO and the Business Development Board representing the City Commission. McDonald was a candidate to succeed Ed Fielding on the BOCC but dropped out of that race shortly after Stacey Hetherington filed for the seat.

Both McDonald and his opponent, Merritt Matheson, own businesses. McDonald owns a legal process serving company and Matheson owns and manages real estate in downtown. He also works at a marine store where he runs the fishing department. Merritt is a member of the LPA, which is where development projects are vetted before going to the Commission. Like Meier, he has attended Commission meetings for more than a year.

What sets the candidates apart? Three of the four are business owners and one is a retired executive, so all have shown an ability in business to differing degrees. McDonald has the most governmental experience and Blount the least. But how much does that matter? Our current Congressman had no prior experience in elected office. All three candidates challenging Commissioner Heard running for the District 4 seat on the County Commission are without electoral experience.

I have been with both Meier and Matheson when they have taken time from their businesses to volunteer in the community. They did this not as part of their employment but as part of their commitment. Both have contributed their own funds to purchase school supplies or buy a meal for someone in need.

It appears to me that the difference is that Meier and Matheson want to represent Stuart residents. They are interested in more than just the people who call Stuart home during the work day, or at night while out dining. You can see this difference in who likes the candidates respective Facebook pages and, more importantly, who contributes to their campaigns.

A Stuart City Commissioner should represent the residents of Stuart.

Commissioners are there to listen to their concerns, wants and needs. In the past year or so, this Commission has been more enamored of “the Osceola crowd” over the people of Palm City Road. Transparency has suffered. There is still no streaming of meetings. The last-minute pay increase and Blount’s appointment without allowing citizen input are emblematic of a disregard for residents. And the rhetoric about what was said on the dais doesn’t matter if their vote did not reflect the words spoken.

Experience didn’t help when the Commission chose the last City Manager. Or when they ignored the reasons so many senior staff left. It wasn’t as if employees didn’t try to bring matters to their attention. Longevity in life or in elected office doesn’t bestow wisdom or knowledge on our elected officials.

This is not a matter of experience measured in years but of integrity. Do we need career politicians even on this level? Will the people that we elect do what is best for their friends and contributors or what is best for the residents, taxpayers and citizens of our City?

Downtown Parking Needs & Reommendations

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DOWNTOWN PARKING NEEDS & RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Nothing new here! The study verifies what most of us know. It is hard to find a parking spot on Osceola at 8 pm on a Friday night. But not that difficult if you go a block or two away. The consultants have many recommendations that Stuart has or will implement. There should be better use of our tram system. Perhaps an extension of the 3-hour parking rule.

 

A vibrant downtown should be busy. It should encourage multi-modal transportation. There is a bustle that is unmistakable with the vibrancy. Stuart and the businesses of Downtown should promote foot traffic so that visitors walk past stores, window shop and purchase items.

 

Downtown Stuart has about 3 hours of prime time. After 9 pm try to get a meal. The streets are relatively empty. When the Lyric performance ends at 10 there are only a handful of places to get a drink or a late-night snack. Stuart is far from being a late-night destination. And that is fine with most of our residents.

 

Stuart does not need to grow to become another Port Saint Lucie. We do need to act more like a city. We should not have parking wag the dog of Stuart’s future. In Downtown, East Ocean and Colorado, the City should encourage new businesses and residential development. This is where young people should live, work, and have fun. Then when they are ready for their next phase of life, Stuart needs to make sure that homes are available for them to live and raise their families.

 

Micro transit, bike lanes, golf carts are just part of what will give Stuart the needed impetuous to accomplish that. The city of the future will not look like a city of the past. If it does, that city will either be in Disneyworld or be a vacant empty shell.

The Meaning of a Local State of Emergency

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What can a city or, for that matter, a county commissioner actually accomplish regarding our rivers and environment? In my experience, an elected official at that level has very little influence. They can’t order the Lake Okeechobee flows to stop or a reservoir to be built.

What they do have is the “bully pulpit.” They can lobby at a state and federal level for funding and programs. They can write letters and articles in support of clean water policies.

If your local elected officials are only involved when they are up for election or when a crisis is occurring, then what they are committed to is being elected to office, not our environment. As voters we should be looking at the organizations they belonged to before the political bug bit. What were their environmental statements and donations? Did they write letters to the editor? Once in office, did they continue as a contributing member to the environmental cause or were they only seen for the photo-op and headline.

Declaring a “State of Emergency” for a city the size of Stuart is a grand gesture with no practical effect. It is a way for the Stuart City Commission to seem environmentally friendly but rather useless and void of any true meaning. If that is the extent of the Commission’s commitment, there is not much to these Commissioners.

When there are no looming environmental catastrophes, is the City proceeding with sewer to septic conversions? They need to be seeking grants and appropriations from Tallahassee for the money so that homeowners can affordably hook up. They should be advocating, and mandating homeowners hook up within several years. This would be a meaningful program.

As we prepare to cast our votes in August we need to look beyond the candidates’ statements during campaigns. Have they put their money where their mouths are? Have they worked for water causes when no one was looking? Who are their campaign contributors? Are unfamiliar PACs sending out mailers on their behalf?

These are the questions that need answers. Don’t be fooled by their garbled campaign rhetoric. It is easy to say I am for clean rivers. It is much harder to have done something to accomplish the task.

 

School Board Annexations

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On Thursday evening, the Stuart Local Planning Agency will consider the School Board’s request to annex two high schools and one elementary school into the City.

The schools are Martin County High School, Jensen Beach High School and Felix Williams Elementary School. What is the reason, after all these years, that the School Board is making this request? It is to give the School Board more options in providing school security.

School security issues and who provides security will be a contentious problem for the next several years. Mandates by the “Lords of Tallahassee” better known as the Florida Legislature, will necessitate millions of dollars more in expense for the Martin County School Board. Will Stuart or the Sheriff provide security? The City can only do so if the schools are within its jurisdiction.

What are the advantages and disadvantages to Stuart of the proposed annexations? As to the two high schools, I see only disadvantages. First, it would be a grave mistake to agree to provide the necessary SROs for both schools. It would take time to find and train the additional officers. It is also a long-term commitment by the City to those officers that are hired. If the School Board decides in two years to contract with the Sheriff or form its own force, what happens to those additional officers?

In addition to the possible providing of SROs, Stuart PD would need to respond to any law enforcement calls such as a disturbance during a Friday night football game. Stuart’s Fire/Rescue would now need to answer any calls. Even if Martin County Fire/Rescue responds through an interlocal agreement, the County must be reimbursed by the City for doing so. The School Board pays no property tax. These additional burdens will be paid by Stuart’s taxpayers.

Further, all three schools pay City water and sewer charges. They will continue to do so but at a reduced rate if they become part of Stuart. This will result in Stuart being paid 25% less in those enterprise funds. All City users will have to make up the difference.

While I am not in favor, I can see the argument for annexing Felix Williams. The prime benefit would be it would allow Stuart to annex other property surrounding the school if those property owners wished, adding tax revenue for the City. The high schools do not provide this option because of location.

I can even understand the argument that by Stuart PD now having jurisdiction at Felix Williams, relationships between officers and students can be developed. Those would be very expensive relationships.

The City of Stuart is a relatively small place geographically. It has 10% of the overall Martin County population. For too long a disproportionate share of the Martin County tax burden has fallen on Stuart’s taxpayers. A Department of Economic Opportunity study has shown that 21,000 people come into the City daily. Stuart is not reimbursed for the additional public safety or public works needed. Since sales tax, gas tax and other taxes are based on population, it does not matter where those taxes are generated within the County.

A few City Commissioners believe that Stuart should bear an unrealistic share of these governmental costs. Their belief is based on outdated facts that Stuart is in the same position that it was 60 years ago in relationship to the County. Stuart then had more than 40% of Martin County’s population. There was no Palm City. There was no shopping anywhere but downtown. Stuart could sway Martin County elections. Not anymore.

If Stuart is to survive, the City needs to shepherd its resources. One Stuart Commissioner has said that it is not always about dollars. Well it might not be about any one Commissioner’s dollars, but it is about all the taxpayers’ dollars. If this passes the LPA, the Commission needs to look at the big picture. These annexations will bring no additional revenue, only additional expense. I believe it is an easy choice if you care about the Stuart taxpayer.

Citizens Deserve the Transparency

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For the last few years, the City of Stuart had been live streaming their meetings and then had the video available on their website for later viewing. All that stopped a few months ago when the City received a letter from someone purporting to be from South Florida stating that he was hearing impaired. In response, the City quickly removed all videos and no longer streams meetings live.

Many of Stuart’s citizens, and even people apparently outside the City, would watch the meetings via the live stream or videos. I think it was an important service and provided transparency for Stuart’s public meetings. When the City started streaming and having the recordings on their website, it allowed government to be closer to the people.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II, which pertains to local and state government, reasonable accommodations must be made. The then City Manager made the decision to remove the videos and discontinue live streaming. It was, in my opinion under the circumstances, the right move. But where does the City go from here?

David Dyess, the new Interim Manager, is fairly technologically proficient. If anyone can find a solution to this dilemma, it is Dyess. It will require spending some resources. The question will become how much a municipality spends to be able to communicate with its citizens. In my cursory research it didn’t seem that a solution would be beyond the City’s budget.

I understand the purpose and intent of the ADA, and most Americans support its implementation. But does it make sense to penalize every Stuart citizen, resident and interested party because of one letter and the intended fear of a lawsuit? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I suspect it is a justifiable fear.

I do know that currently the City Commission has a problem with the perception of transparency. Citizens not being able to see how this local government operates doesn’t help that perception. Perhaps some may even like it that way.