Category Archives: Our Future

It Is Time!

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For more than a year I have championed mask wearing, social distancing, and all the other CDC pandemic guidelines.

 

It was a life and death situation. There was a public health crisis. More Americans, 575,000 of us, have died in the past 14 months than in any war except the Civil War. Nothing could be done to stop the death totals and spread except for following the guidelines. It was for the good of everyone.

 

I didn’t think of any of it as a curtailment of our civil liberties, and every court case in Florida claiming that premise was dismissed. Governor DeSantis’ order to rescind closing businesses, which was earlier than most other states, proved to be correct. But I thought and still do that he should have imposed a state-wide mask mandate.

 

All of that was before the widespread availability of vaccines against COVID. At this point, there is no reason why those who want to be vaccinated cannot do so. It is time to end the continuation of the CDC guidelines as a matter of policy.

 

The reason that the vaccines were developed was to curtail the spread of the disease. The reason that millions of us were inoculated was so that we could resume our lives free from the fear of contagion. The country is now divided by those who have been inoculated and those who have not.

 

There are still some vulnerable populations that either medically cannot be vaccinated or for whom the vaccine is not yet approved. Of those, the largest group would be children under the age of 16. That is a big concern and needs to be addressed.

 

Currently, children as young as six months are part of trials to test the vaccines for infants on up to 16-year-olds. Some scientists believe that by fall the vaccine will be approved for kids. This will greatly increase our way to herd immunity.

 

We cannot force adults to be vaccinated. There will always be those who will refuse. That is no different than those that do not get flu, pneumonia or other shots that are medically recommended. They have made a conscience decision to ignore the science and risk acquiring a very preventable disease.

 

For those of us who have had the vaccine, it is time for us to resume our normal lives. I went to a party of about fifty people last weekend which was outdoors, and it appeared that all there had the “jabs”. I don’t even like parties, but I was glad to be at this one.

 

I fully support businesses that want to continue with requiring masks. The likelihood of a vaccinated person such as myself catching the disease is infinitesimal now and if I do it will be a mild case. I respect the right of a business owner to set the requirements for entering his store. If I do not agree, I will simply not patronize the store.

 

What I will not do is participate in any more Zoom meetings when the participants are local. It has now become a convenient excuse not to be in a room with others or worse sit at home half dressed. Most of the attendees in these meetings are multi-tasking and paying as little attention to the business at hand as possible. I am tired of sorting through “technical issues” with others about why their audio or video isn’t working for most of these meetings.

 

President Biden missed a great opportunity during his speech delivered in the House Chamber. Every legislator, cabinet member, and government official should have been sitting side by side without a mask. Everyone of those officials have had the opportunity to be vaccinated beginning months ago. If they have not taken advantage of that ability, then shame on them.

 

Biden could have peered into the camera and told Americans that the vaccine has been a success. Vaccinated Americans do not have to fear being with each other. All they need to do is get the shot. Those who opted to ignore science and not be vaccinated may catch COVID, but they chose to remain vulnerable. It was their choice and decision.

Now that is liberty!

I Love Wawa…And Costco!

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I love Wawa. I love Costco.

 

Wawa treats their customers very well. I go there for gas and because of the free air for provided. I make it a point to buy all my gas at Wawa whether I need air or not because of that service.

 

Costco is the best warehouse club hands down. When I lived up north, I would shop there all the time. No supermarket beats the quality of their meat.

 

But, if I had to choose which of the two businesses I would rather have located here, it would be Costco.

 

Some of Palm City’s vocal residents by their continuous and contentious opposition to Costco has now resulted in Wawa with its 6000 square foot convenience store and 12 pumps locating on the site. Additionally, there will be a Tractor Farm Supply store and a 16,400 square foot Aldi supermarket going there. As a bonus, there may be a hotel and car wash too.

 

This is what has been approved where Costco considered building a store.  Many area residents came out and defeated the store going there. I wonder if they now will be much happier with this amalgam of businesses over that nuisance known as Costco.

 

Because if there is anything we hate in Martin County, it is change. And people think that these infill projects will never be developed. “Landowners should keep the property vacant,” we hear over and over as if the owner has no right to derive economic benefit from his asset.

 

In this instance, those complaining were the people now living in the developments that were once on empty scrub land. They moved into houses built on lands that were smack in the middle of the woods and pastures of Palm City. Their schools and churches were on bulldozed sites that were home to native animals, birds and plants that were forced to go elsewhere.

 

At the LPA meeting, there was only one gentleman who spoke in opposition according to an article in TC Palm. The board approved Wawa and the rest of the development on a 5-0 vote. According to Bob Raynes, the developer’s attorney, the use is as of right. But then so was Costco.

 

The difference was hundreds of people fought Costco and no one did this time. Did they just get tired, which ultimately happens, or were they manipulated by foes of the earlier project, which also occurs. Is Martin County better by having another Wawa and Aldi than Costco with its upscale merchandise and minimum $20 per hour jobs? I guess Palm City thinks so.

 

Costco is supposedly coming to Stuart. It will be sited close to the foot of the Memorial Bridge on Kanner Highway. The site provides easy access to the Palm City customer base which is their demographic. Many have voiced the same old concerns regarding traffic, etc. that they raised for the High Meadow Road project. The mob may sway enough Stuart commissioners to vote against the project. Politicians have the backbone of jelly fish.

 

Mark my words that if Costco does not go on that site something else will eventually. It is an infill project that will be built upon. Somebody will live in an apartment on that site. Someone will work in a store or other business on that site. The naysayers will not permanently stop the owners of the property from maximizing their investment.

 

I just hope they do not accomplish for Stuart what they did for Palm City. At least Palm City isn’t getting a giant adult bookstore or truck stop according to current plans. However, when it is built, Phase 2 may have something different than that hotel. Both the bookstore and truck stop also are zoned as of right for the property.

Florida scrub habitat in early springtime at Lake Kissimmee State Park in Lake Wales.

We Need To Fight For Home Rule!

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The Orlando Sentinel had an editorial regarding how Tallahassee is undermining the concept of home rule as defined in the Florida Constitution. There is no doubt about that!

 

That is nothing new. As a city commissioner, I received the “Hometown Hero” award every year for fighting that battle. It was a loosing battle if not quite the way the Alamo turned out for the Texans.

 

The way the legislature picks at local government’s ability to craft ordinances that address the concerns of their individual communities is more like fighting a guerilla insurgency instead of a full-scale war.

 

Little by little, cities and counties are forbidden from doing this or that in the name of “property rights” or some other slogan popular in Tallahassee that year. However, the real reason is a single contributor or lobbyist has been whispering in a legislator’s ear to get the result for themselves or a client that they want. It may be a good result for an individual or industry but not so good for the people the legislators supposedly represent.

 

What can be done to arrest this undemocratic trend? The passing of a constitutional amendment that would require any preemption of local authority to have two thirds vote in the legislature before being enacted. The concept of home rule is in our state constitution. It is time that the legislature honors the constitution.

 

They will not do so except if legally forced. Not only do we need to pass a constitutional amendment by a voter initiative, but more is needed. There must be proposed implementation legislation that the voters can read and agree to in the voter education campaign to have this amendment pass. The proposed bill needs to be just as well known as the amendment.

 

Too many times, we have seen voter passed initiatives such as restoring the right to vote for felons, or medical use of marijuana thwarted by the way the legislature writes the law for implementation. They ignore the intent of the voter. There needs to be a clear understanding that if the constitutional amendment is passed, there is also voter-approved enabling legislation with it.

 

That does not mean legally that the tricksters of Tallahassee must pass that legislation, but it should mean that politically they have no choice. The initials after the legislators’ name should afford no protection if they go against the will of the people.

 

We need to stop fighting this guerilla war with Tallahassee and engage in an all-out battle over home rule. Yes, local appropriations may suffer for a while, but if the concept of home rule continues to deteriorate, local government will not be allowed to spend the money anyway.

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A Crisis Can Have A Benefit

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Covid may be a change agent in a wide variety of arenas in addition to being a deadly virus.

 

For years, the taxing of internet sales has gone nowhere. Bills would be introduced only to die in committee.

 

Some Republican legislators took the position that taxing products that were bought on the internet would be tantamount to a tax increase. It was fine to pay tax if you bought the item from a local retailer, but if it was shipped from Way Fair, collecting sales tax was verboten. The law stated that the buyer was obligated to remit the sales tax to the state, but how many of us ever did that?

 

Along comes Covid and in store sales dropped resulting in less tax revenue for the state. Now Tallahassee is looking to make up some lost money. Florida may finally join the majority of other states and begin having online merchants collect sales tax. It is about time that internet sales are on a level playing field with the brick-and-mortar merchant.

 

Another part of the Covid crisis is school enrollment. In Martin County, we are fortunate that there are only about 20 students who are unaccounted for since Covid hit. But that does not mean that district enrollment is down by only that many students. It is significantly more. Statewide there are 87,000 kids unaccounted for. Poof…they are gone!

 

School districts receive a fixed amount of money for each student registered in the district. If kids are no longer enrolled in your school district, then the amount of money the district has available to spend is less. If you lose approximately 600 students to Florida Virtual, home schooling, or private schools, suddenly some teachers are no longer needed. Special programs are cut. Music and art become casualties along with other so-called extras.

 

The state will pretend that those 87,000 kids are still there this year for funding allocations but that is a one-shot deal. Our educational system may be in for a shake-up going forward. There is a broad Republican consensus in Tallahassee that other ways to educate children should be tried. Vouchers are leading the way for choice in education.

 

Another never changing issue just might change. Employer and business liability for actions has been broadened over the years. In many instances, businesses did ignore worker safety and the public good. An entire industry of tort litigation has grown larger and larger with each passing year.

 

Of course, that allows for businesses and professions to be held responsible for their actions. It also makes everything more expensive. From doctors to real estate agents to drug manufacturers and everyone else, there is always now a presumption by them that you can be sued so act defensively.

 

The latest fear are businesses being sued by customers and employees if they contract Covid. How you would ever prove where someone caught it would be

difficult. But an absence of proof never stopped someone from initiating a lawsuit. And defending a lawsuit is expensive…even frivolous ones.

 

The legislature has bills in both the House and Senate erecting barriers to allowing individuals to claim that they contracted Covid at a particular business or non-profit. Maybe this is the beginning of tort reform. I certainly hope so. Most people believe that the “sue for anything and everything” legal bar needs to be reformed.

 

A crisis such as Covid can be useful in reforming things that would never change without prodding. I hope that reform is perceived as making our lives better. It should be something that allows for society to change and improve. I hope we see more of it and not just protectionism and cronyism masquerading as true reform.

 

 

A Tale of Two Cities

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When Stuart was already an established city, the City of Port St. Lucie was nothing but a developer’s dream.

 

Fast forward 60 years and Stuart is much the same geographically as it was in 1961, a charming relic of Old Florida. Port St. Lucie is a city of over 200,000 people and still growing by leaps and bounds. As a Stuart resident, is my quality of life better or worse than someone who lives in Port St. Lucie? I will say that it is different.

Stuart was (and for the most part still is) the home of entertainment for much of the area but that is changing as Port St. Lucie continues to expand. As Port St. Lucie grows, the availability of restaurants and night life becomes better and more diverse to service its growing population. It is just natural that the more people that live in a city, the more opportunities there are for businesses of all sort.

 

That may be happening with the expansion of Cleveland Clinic. Even when it was Martin Health, the hospital in Tradition became the future and had a much bigger footprint than the original in downtown Stuart. Cleveland Clinic has bought an additional 44 acres in Tradition. Does anyone not think that will be where much of the future lies for the hospital system on the Treasure Coast?

 

Long ago, Stuart decided not to annex surrounding land as Port St. Lucie has continued to do. Now even if Stuart wanted to do so, there isn’t much available vacant land left. Geographically, Stuart is about as big as it ever will be. People have a conniption anytime Stuart annexes a few acres while in Port St. Lucie thousands of acres come in as a matter of course.

 

For all intents and purposes, Stuart has stopped growing. Sure, there are approved projects that could bring as many as 7,500 more people into the city if all is built. The population will still be significantly under 30,000 people. Not exactly a metropolis.

 

Economically, you cannot grow anywhere near what is needed to have enough jobs and create enough wealth for long term viability. At some point, the fire department will go away as will the police department as the ability to fund them is diminished. As municipal services shrink, so will the opportunities for everything from events to new business ventures.

 

Who do you think the politicians in Tallahassee will look to please…Port St. Lucie or Stuart in the years ahead? Stuart is like Blanche DuBois, the character in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” She a southern belle from a forgotten age living off her charms which are fading ever so slightly with each year that passes.

 

At some point, she is unable to cope with the brutality of life represented by her brother-in-law, Stanley. The vivaciousness and sheer sexual alure of her little sister, Stella, steals the spotlight from Blanche. Delusion and illusion of some mythical past no longer can be contained as the wider world intrudes on Blanche’s self-vision of a long ago past that could be only in her mind.

 

When does little sister, Port St. Lucie, consume it’s sibling Stuart to the south figuratively if not literally?

 

Each Should Stop Grasping

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For years, I have championed home rule for local government.

 

It is important that as many decisions as possible be made as close to those that will be affected by their consequences. That is an essential reason to have municipalities. For example, zoning decisions regarding where businesses can be located should be determined within the locality. Municipal and county public works departments should oversee when streets are paved and how many parks are needed.

 

Is there an example of when local control contributes to a worse outcome than a better one? When does passing ordinances against something make government look silly and petty or, in our “don’t tread on me” society, seem hypocritical?

 

Anytime government restricts an activity it needs to do so with most of its citizens wanting the restriction. Passing a law to make a political point without regard to the practicality of either enforcement or consequences is the height of legislative irresponsibility. Yet doing exactly that is something that occurs quite regularly.

 

What brought this thought of local overreach to mind occurred at the last Stuart commission meeting. There was a second reading of a proposed ordinance on raising the age of purchasing vaping products to 21. This would match a county ordinance which did that earlier. The current state law is 18 for vaping and 21 for other tobacco products.

 

Let us forget the fairness of forbidding legal adults of 18-21 the ability to make their own choices regarding alcohol and nicotine. Do not mention that at 18 you can enlist in the military, vote, buy a house, or marry. Stuart has or have had police officers who are 20 years of age. They can carry a gun and have the ability and supposed judgement to make arrests yet are too immature to have a beer or a smoke. Put all that aside.

 

The City of Stuart and Martin County have made the determination that vaping will now be forbidden to that class of citizens. Is it overreach and an example of the nanny state and bad legislation? It is to me.

 

The second thing that occurred was a discussion of the enforcement of the use of single use plastics in city-owned property which is punishable by civil fines being imposed. If a meal is served in a Styrofoam clamshell at the greenmarket, the ordinance has been violated. Most of the discussion was how it was going to be enforced.

 

The city was prohibited by the state from banning plastic and Styrofoam by preemption. The only place such a ban can apply is on city property. The only product that could be banned for the entire city were plastic straws…and they did.

 

That was another topic of discussion at the commission meeting now that the grace period for fines is over. Martin County does not have a similar ordinance so you can use a plastic bag in their parks or at the beach. Stuart stands as an enclave in a sea of petroleum product detritus.

 

Should the use of single stream plastic and other such items be banned? I say yes if done by the state or better yet the feds. Several states have already done so. Florida has specifically preempted local governments from addressing the issue. But to think that a tiny municipality or county should do so while their bordering neighbors do not is unrealistic and will not accomplish very much. It will put an undue burden on our local businesses.

 

I predict that in this legislative session, the state will raise the age of purchasing vaping products to 21 and then preempt any local regulation much as they did with tobacco. I predict that the state will pass a bill preempting a locality from banning plastic straws. And finally, I predict that at some point in the next year, an enforcement action against some nonprofit for the use of plastics at an event in a Stuart park will result in the commission chamber being inundated by a mob of angry citizens. Then do not be surprised to see a repeal of that ordinance.

 

The problem with too many local elected officials is they forget why they exist. It is primarily to provide services that the private sector cannot or will not provide. Police, fire, water, parks, and roads are the important things. Whether a community should have high rise buildings, or 20-acre zoning should be local decisions.

 

When local government tries to monitor behaviors, it will be courting controversy. Just look at the problems Martin County has had with masks. Do I think that the state should stay out of things like zoning and what can go into front yards? I absolutely do.

 

Every level of government should stay in its own lane. Local governments that do overreach are just inviting preemption from the state. Each time the state uses preemption, it becomes easier for them to use it again.

 

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Who Will Be Last

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Who is an indispensable person? That is the question being asked by government, medical specialists, and everybody else as we try to determine in which order Americans should receive the vaccine.

 

The CDC recommends that those in healthcare and residents of senior citizen facilities and their employees are first, and we are proceeding along those lines. From there it goes to first responders, seniors that are 75 years and older, and essential workers. The New York Times reports that there are 80 million Americans that fit the term essential.

 

Cops, schoolteachers, bus drivers and grocery store workers all have a claim to be “one of the first.” Uber drivers are lobbying, as are those working in food production, to be bumped to the top of the ever-growing list. Determining who should be the first among us is beginning to sound as if we all live in Lake Wobegon “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.”

 

I am a senior with a pre-existing condition which is supposed to mean that I am ahead of many others. It is true that if I do contract the virus, I have less of a chance of survival as someone who is not as old and decrepit. I am not sure as a gadfly writing on our local governments that I would qualify as essential. Yet it is nice to believe that I am indispensable.

 

This Darwinian way that we are looking at prioritizing vaccine distribution appears to me to be unchristian in this season in which we celebrate the birth of Christ. Much of the way America has prioritized policy for decades has been that way. We have moved away from looking at individuals to classifying us into groups.

 

Classifications are easy to understand but most problems are not that easy to solve. Classifications are a way to divide us. That in and of itself is a not how Jesus saw us. He saw us as individual souls deserving of His grace and love.

 

You do not have to be a Christian to think in terms of each American’s individuality. That is why trying to prioritize vaccination by occupation or age is so difficult. Why is a 25-year-old police officer more deserving than a 50-year-old biologist working in a lab?

 

I have no ready answer on how to choose who goes first. In the Gospel of Matthew 25:40, we are commanded to provide sustenance to the poorest of humanity because in doing so we are providing it to the Lord. We are committed to providing the vaccine to all. It is determining who will be last in line that is so hard.

 

 

For you see the question should not come down to who is indispensable but which of us has been deemed dispensable. Who wants to be the last American to die in this pandemic?

 

Again found in Matthew verse 20:16 is something that explains that choice ultimately: “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.“

 

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Term Limits Are Needed For Local Office

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Representative Anthony Sabatini has filed a bill to begin the constitutional amendment process imposing 8-year term limits on county school board members. Similar bills have been filed in the past including last year where the measure died in the Senate. It is about time that this is passed including term limits on other local elected offices.

 

Being a town council member or county commissioner was never meant to be your job. Serving on these elected boards was to be a public service much as membership on the United Way Board. It wasn’t meant to be your career. Yet for many that is what it has become.

 

Too often being a local official is seen as a gateway to higher office. Though in Martin County you usually do not go on to state or federal office. At first being a municipal or county commissioner was like being on a board of a non-profit. Then two things happened that made it into a job.

 

The first was the concept of being paid. That turned the position of elected office from volunteer into employee. Then once a paycheck was received, the elected officials thought they should also have employee benefits including medical and retirement. Being a commissioner or school board member now had perks worth fighting to retain term after term.

 

The second reason that a public volunteer went to being a public employee was how complexed government has become. It takes years to master the intricacies of how the government functions. In some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars are flowing through the government’s coffers each year. The programs have labyrinthine rules that require experts to know the finer points.

 

Yet commissioners were never meant to “run” the government only oversee the manager or administrator who is doing so. Their function is to preside over their policy being implemented. Whether you agree with the concept or not of “strong manager-weak commission,” that is what we have in Martin County. Broad policies are what elected boards are supposed to enact not become entangled with the minutia of everyday management. The managers are the experts and are paid accordingly.

 

I agree that elected officials should have a stipend to help pay for things like attending events. The minute that stipend turns into a paycheck of thousands of dollars the incentive to leave office is not very strong. Throw in medical for you and your family and retirement benefits and thoughts like career and job become attached to the alluring sound of being called commissioner or school board member.

 

Recently the City of Stuart voters approved a charter change that imposed 3 four-year term limits on individual commissioners. The Charter Review Board had initially wanted only 2 four-year terms. The commission before sending to the voters for a referendum had changed made sure that 3 terms was guaranteed.

 

Expecting boards to impose reasonable term limits is not realistic. Even in Stuart’s case the 12 years begins with the present commissioners’ new terms. In effect giving everyone a clean slate. Some members on the Charter Review wanted to limit the commission’s ability to vote themselves a raise. That was a non-starter with the commission.

 

I am not picking on Stuart, but you are asking the people who have an entrenched interest to limit their time in the job and the amount of money they are paid for doing it. It simply is not going to happen. It is time for Tallahassee to do so for them.

 

Term limits and a look at pay and benefits for local office are in order by the Florida Legislature. Being on a board should be a public service and not a career. Thinking that the voters should decide on limiting time in office through voting the rascals out is somewhat meaningless. That only happens when the incumbent has done something flagrantly awful. With the three Stuart commissioners running for re-election recently only one drew a challenger. And with the county commission only one of the three seats for election had an opponent.

 

Those thinking of running wait for open seats. That was the case with the fourth seat in Stuart when a long-time commissioner stepped down in the middle of her term to run for another office. That open race drew two people. The way to have new people run is to remove the perks and pay and do what non-profit boards do which is limit the terms people can serve. In that way we can make public employees into public servants again.

 

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.

 

There Is More Good Than Bad

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We had a fairly good run in not having discharges from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River in 2019 and the summer of 2020.

 

That run of luck may be over now that the Army Corps of Engineers began releasing water last week. The Corps waited until the lake tipped at over 16 feet. We have not had an algae bloom in Stuart since the disastrous 2018 year. Will we have one now? It is not clear yet.

 

This week in TC Palm, it was reported that “Microcystin, a common toxin found in cyanobacteria, commonly called ‘blue-green algae,’ can linger in the air for 2 hours and travel up to 10 miles on gentle breezes of 4-7 mph, according to a new study by a team of scientists at the University of Florida.” Is that in our future?

Fingers are already being pointed at the Corps and SFWMD. Yet what good will finger pointing do to alleviate this problem? We have had one wet rainy season without a hurricane. The Lake acts as the reservoir for the agricultural lands to the south. It is full and, at least for the time being, those farms will not require much water. It is likely we will have releases for a while.

 

Is it all bad news? No, it isn’t. The C-44 reservoir and STA will hold 50,600-acre feet of water captured from local runoff and if necessary, from Lake Okeechobee. Jacquie Thurlow Lippisch, our representative to SFWMD, told me that STA can treat 46 billion gallons of water each year and remove more than 45,000 pounds of phosphorous.

 

I do not want to see from our local officials any more finger pointing, threats of lawsuits, or other failed tactics of division. As a state, a region, and a county, our elected officials need to be allocating and pushing for money. Money to build and finish the projects needed to stop our ecological disaster.

 

We keep hearing about the federal government finally getting serious about infrastructure spending. Florida water projects are infrastructure. They are more important to us than roadways, airports, or bridges. Without a resolution to our environmental problems, our future is bleak.

 

It doesn’t matter how much you want development; it is not possible without a solution to this problem. If you want to keep Florida with open spaces, you can not have that either without a solution. The Corps, District, and State of Florida want this problem solved as much as we in Martin County do and that is true of the people who live and work north, south, and west of the lake.

 

Now is the time to pull together to seek billions of dollars to make Florida livable into the future. Along with climate change and resiliency, we must address this issue together. If we alienate potential allies in this fight, the war for our future may be lost.