Category Archives: Sustainable Growth

A New County Commission

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One thing is sure, the Martin County Commission will have two new members within a few weeks. How will that effect the governmental direction of the county? What changes will there be in development policy? Will the Customs House be back? What about the pending contract with the county fire fighters? What about taxes? What is in store for the relationship between Stuart and Martin County? These are only some of the questions I have.

Elections are supposed to express the will of the people. In two of the three races for Martin County Commission, only half the voters could participate because of Florida’s election laws. While every candidate acted lawfully, the law itself still disenfranchised every registered Democrat and Independent. Perhaps this is a reason why we will see a sizable minority not happy with the direction this new commission takes.

What is wrong with the Democratic Party in Martin County that they could not field one candidate for County Commission? Is being on the Democratic line so toxic that it isn’t worth the effort? There is something wrong with the state of our politics when there is not a healthy two-party system. I would suspect not everyone who ran for a county office is really a Republican. You shouldn’t have to pretend that you are a Republican to do so.

And as I have already written, what does it matter what your party affiliation is in being a good county commissioner? We need to change that provision of the law regarding “write-in candidates” on a state level. We cannot have a sizable number of voters disenfranchised. This just adds to our political problems.

While I don’t know what the future brings (except on the Customs House), I do know it will be interesting. The wheels on the county bus go round…round…round. It sort of is déjà vu with Ed Ciampi once again sitting on the dais. But there will be a different spin to this line up because of the new guy, Harold Jenkins. Watch Mr. Jenkins. He will be the third vote on issues one way or the other.

As I Begin My Second Term

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As I begin my second term, I want to say thank you to all those who supported and voted for me in the election. I am pleased to know that a vast majority of voters believed I had represented their interests for the past two years. I promise moving forward that I will continue to do so by looking how individual issues affect the entire City. Each project and ordinance must be scrutinized within that context.

Second, I want to commend my opponent, Patrick McGavock, for his campaign. He conducted himself as a gentleman. Similarly as I do, he wants what only is best for our City. I respect his efforts.

Throughout my first term, I have made myself available to meet individually, in groups, to speak by telephone or hear from you through e-mail and now through my new Facebook page, Commissioner Tom Campenni, City of Stuart. I will continue to have an open door.  I have tried to attend a wide variety of different events because I believe part of my job description is just that. By being at different civic and non-profit events, I not only represent myself but all of Stuart.

I will continue writing this blog. This gives everyone a chance to become acquainted with my views on issues that are important to Stuart and Martin County. Too many elected officials do not want you to know what their stance is on a subject; I am not one of those. After reading something I have written, let me know how you feel about it by sending an e-mail.

Another communication tool I used was my e-mail blasts before commission meetings to let the citizens know what is going on at the City. I am going to keep on doing so now that I am re-elected. Anyone who wants to receive the e-mails and currently does not, please send your e-mail address to me.

I have also made it a point to speak before various groups and organizations. Public officials have a responsibility to do so. The public should demand no less from us. So if you want me to speak at your organization, condo or homeowner association, church or club, let me know and I will be glad to do so.

I promise not to vote for projects that are environmentally unfriendly. I will not vote for projects that are not market oriented and privately driven. The private sector knows far more than government. It is their investment of cash and experience that will make the project successful. Government’s responsibility is to provide a framework through zoning and Land Development Codes and to insure a level playing field for all. I do believe in public-private partnerships, especially with non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity, to advance the well-being of the City.

I do not want to see us in a combined facility with the County or School Board. I am not in favor of moving the current City Hall unless an independent funding source is found to pay for it that does not increase your taxes. I am not in favor of moving City Hall unless there is a free market project that will bring substantial income to the City. I am not in favor of moving City Hall if we have to sacrifice one inch of Flagler Park to do so. For me to consider voting to move City Hall, all three of those conditions would have to be met.

I will not vote for an increase to our 4-story height limit. Nor will I vote for projects that turn our downtown and other areas of Stuart into Delray Beach. I believe that the quality of life for residents is paramount. I do believe we can continue to have our “Old Florida” feel and uniqueness.

I am in favor of having new people, jobs and businesses come to Stuart. We need to attract and keep businesses and institutions like Martin Memorial Health Systems and NUCO2. We need to strive to have the employees of businesses live within our borders by having many different forms of housing. The majority of tax distribution is apportioned by population. While we may be the business generator for Martin County, because we are now only a little more that 10% of Martin County’s population, we do not receive anywhere near the percentage of taxes we generate.

The key to a City’s survival is not only being a magnet for businesses and jobs but also for people. Millennials who want to start families need to live in Stuart and not flee to Palm City or Jensen Beach. As a City Commissioner, I have no say over our school system, but I will continue to support and help both J.D. Parker and Stuart Middle become better. Stuart needs to be considered home to all generations and be multi-cultural. A city with a varied population is a strength and not a weakness.

I promise to continue being a Commissioner that attends as many different advisory board meetings as possible. This allows me to understand issues that may or may not come before the Commission. As a board member of both the Treasure Coast League of Cities and the Florida League of Cities, I will work with my regional and statewide counterparts to solve problems such as the Indian River Lagoon. I will lobby and work with both state and federal officials to address environmental and other issues such as “All Aboard” and Sober Homes.

When I decided to become a Commissioner and then run for reelection, I did so because I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to use my experience as a business person to tackle the problems that Stuart faces. I am going to do just that. I will continue to oppose projects that I believe are bad and support those that are good for the entire City of Stuart.

 

Unintended Consequences

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The EcoGen project slated for Indiantown has been cancelled due to problems with county approvals. I don’t know whether this type of use would be harmful to our environment or not. On the face of it growing eucalyptus trees and then producing electricity with the bio-mass seems to be a good idea. Perhaps the county is correct and this would have been a bad project.  The problem is any economic development proposed seems to be bad. At some point, the majority of residents and business people stop believing the county commission is looking at economic development projects impartially.

How long does the majority on the Martin County Board of Commissioners ignore the wishes of the residents of Indiantown and other un-incorporated areas? If Martin County tries to staunch all new industry, there will be unintended consequences. Those consequences will lead to the very type of harmful growth and urban sprawl that the county commission is against.

It is apparent to me that Martin County is on an unsustainable course. Real estate taxes are close to the maximum millage allowed by statute. Our county’s infrastructure is literally falling apart. Apparently, the county is incapable of enacting common sense budgetary reforms that would lessen the cost of providing governmental services. Without measured sustainable development both in housing and business, Martin County will be in dire financial straits.

Communities from Hobe Sound to Indiantown feel that their desires are not being met by county government. It is impossible for the county commission to adequately represent the diverse interests of the residents of Rio and western Martin County. The majority of the county commissioners are trying to micro manage instead of allowing the people to have a say over their individual communities. The way county government operates is broken and needs to have much more input from the citizens.

Now with the near abandonment of any autonomy to the county CRA districts, the commission is pushing those distinct areas into forming independent cities and towns. I believe that the formation of new municipalities throughout the county will ultimately result in better government at both the county and municipal level. Municipal government will allow more direct representation of the wishes of the electorate. The people of Palm City will determine whether they want industry or not. Residents in Rio will decide whether and what type of housing will be built.

The development within those communities will reflect the will of the people who live within the municipal boundaries. Further, the level of governmental services will only be that which those residents want and are willing to pay to have. This will result in much less county taxes being levied on all Martin taxpayers. For instance living in Stuart, I see the benefit of having a professional fire/rescue department and am willing to pay for that level of service. If I lived in rural Martin County, I would be in favor of having a volunteer fire department and privatization of ambulance service. Different areas within the county have different expectations of levels of service.

County government was originally to be limited in nature and act as an arm of the state providing those services constitutionally mandated. Martin County, through its one size fits all approach to the delivery of traditionally municipal governmental services, has succeeded in becoming an unresponsive and bloated bureaucracy. As the area and scope of services have increased, fewer and fewer residents and taxpayers are happy with the outcome. If the more populated areas of the county incorporate, I can easily see Martin County cutting its workforce and lowering county taxes substantially.

Of course, the new municipalities would now have to levy taxes and provide services. From public works to parks to law enforcement, the type and cost would be determined by those living and paying within the municipalities. If in the next few years Martin County does not have new municipalities formed, county government will be unsustainable since it will no longer be able to raise the millage rate.

At one time in the not too distant past, Martin County was rural with Stuart as a small county seat. This is no longer the case as more and more of the county has become urbanized and suburbanized. What Martin County government has failed to do is adapt to these changes. I agree with the vast majority of county residents that we do not need unfettered growth outside the Urban Services Boundary. However, within that boundary, jobs and development do need to happen.

If you want to preserve Martin County, we will need to think about governing differently. Control over governmental functions in these now urban and suburban unincorporated areas have to be placed in the hands of local residents. There are distinct differences between Hobe Sound, Indiantown and Palm City, and our governing bodies need to reflect this fact. The less the “Big 5” on Monterey control, the better the outcome for all of Martin County including the preservation of the Urban Services Boundary and lessening of sprawl in the remaining unincorporated areas.

Today’s River Report

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I was on a local radio panel with Stephen Leighton, whose company, Oceansphere Technologies, had just cleaned Central Marine of its toxic algae. It was such a thorough job that it went from a 1000 times greater than what the World Health Organization finds acceptable to clean enough for Stephen and his crew to be swimming in the marina water. That was fantastic because the marina could re-open for business and people could go back to work.

While this technology has remediated Central Marine’s problem for now, if something is not done on a macro level, our problems will only continue and get worse. Depending to whom you speak on this subject, the answers will be different and to a lay person like myself confusing. Here is what I do understand…Florida’s watershed evolved in a certain way. We came along and disrupted Mother Nature. The only way it will be fixed is to imitate the original as closely as possible.

By doing so will there be disruptions to our economy and level of growth? Absolutely there will be. The Feds, State and local governments will have to be part of the solution. That will mean we will all have to adapt the way we live. Agricultural practices will need to change. Some of the interior of Florida will have to revert to its original state. Development will need to be curtailed in certain areas. Lake Okeechobee was never meant to be a reservoir. Our highways such as I-75 and the Tamiami Trail will need to be elevated to allow water to flow south.

The over abundant use of fertilizer has to stop not only on our lawns but on our golf courses and farms throughout the state. We should continue with bringing in new sewer systems and making people hook up to them once available. For those that can’t afford to pay all at once, the Federal and State governments should offer loans and grants to do so. From the Panhandle to the Keys, we need to stop pointing fingers and work together.

There are no magic bullets and simple solutions or can we ignore the obvious. We have severe problems. We need to stop using the phrase “lost summer” as if this were a temporary problem when it is not. Stuart and Martin County are harbingers of what will occur throughout Florida unless we stop the political shenanigans and crony capitalism. This is a man-made problem caused by good and bad intentions, short sightedness and sometimes pure greed. We are responsible.

On the river in back of my home empty bottles and other debris are in the water amongst the rocks along the shore. I haven’t cleaned it for a while. I have been afraid. This week like last there is no green algae on the river. It is black and dark without much evidence of marine life. How long do we allow this condition to continue?

The Perpetual Move Of City Hall

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At a recent meeting of the governing boards of Stuart, Martin County and the School District, the majority on each board seriously discussed the building of joint facilities on a shared office campus.  There were several rationales given — we could meet in the halls and have synergy, our current building is 50 years old and approaching the end of its life, and we could save money by combining facilities which would allow the City to free up valuable property for development. What was not expressed was a cogent reason for Stuart to move forward.

It is foolish to think that City Hall can no longer serve our needs because of its age. Could the building use updating? Sure! We need to apply the same reasoning as you would to your own home. You don’t buy a new house because the bathrooms need to be redone. Could the City more efficiently use the space contained in the annex and City Hall? Of course it could. It is manifestly cheaper to reconfigure existing space than to build new space. If you look at it rationally, there is plenty of useful life left in our present City Hall.

So if we don’t need a new building, how do we save money by building one? Where does the $3 or $4 million come from to build? If we did go ahead and commit, the money would have to be borrowed through a bond issuance or a mortgage. Which circles around to the “save money” rationale. How is it less expensive than not building anything?

As to some synergistic relationship between governments, this is wishful thinking at best. (Let’s forget the concept of “Sunshine” for a moment.) All three governments have different needs and missions that do not exactly align. As the fiscally and physically smallest of the three entities, our needs would be subservient to those of the County and School Board.  Recently, the City was tasked with finding a place to hold a fire consolidation meeting. We reached out to the School Board, and they were unable to accommodate us for a variety of reasons. What happens when we are sharing a meeting chamber? Who do you think will be last in line?

A campus with the County and District will erode Stuart’s identity as an independent government. In the future, we will appear, especially to those that do not know our history, to be nothing more than a department within the County. If the County believes consolidation is a good thing, then build a campus and move the Property Appraiser and Tax Collector to a new centralized location.

Finally, we come to the last argument for moving City Hall, which is economic development of the current site. For anyone to think that some magical mystery hotel developer will appear and build a boutique luxury hotel on this current site without subsidies and tax breaks is dreaming or naïve. Even if that appearance occurs, the proposition would still need to go to referendum of our voters where it would most certainly fail. With all that said, I am not against ever moving City Hall.

Here is what I believe needs to occur for this to happen. First we need a plan. The plan needs to not only deal with City Hall but also the entire Flagler Park, historic downtown, Ocean Blvd and Colorado Avenue area. The plan will encompass opening up new or extended streets. There will be new building lots potentially along those extensions. I believe that City Hall’s current site should become part of Flagler Park.  It should not be sold or leased for commercial reasons. The downtown waterfront needs to be maintained for the people.

Within the plan there has to be a source to allow the City funds to pay for a new building. This can be accomplished by the ground lease or sale of the new building lots created along with the increased property tax revenue that will be generated. Any financing and debt service needs to be paid by this new source of revenue. If we do build a new City Hall, then the location must be in a place that will spur economic development for all of Stuart.

We need to forget dreams and fantasies and concentrate on development that can actually occur. What really would be synergistic is our residents and businesses coming together to think about what we can actually achieve while maintaining the true nature and character of Stuart.

 

 

 

 

 

Déjà Vu…City Hall And The Past, Present And Future!

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The staff and City Commission of Stuart are very accommodating to our residents and businesses. That is an excellent characteristic to have. Residents and businesses want to see us go out of our way to help solve problems and accomplish objectives. I like that we are able to go the extra mile and not throw obstacles in the way of responsible change and development.

That is one way where we differ from our counterparts at Martin County. Perhaps because of our smaller size, we can be more trusting than they can.  It is easier to form relationships and know the individuals. I like the atmosphere that our City Hall engenders. I think that, because of our size, even someone who is new to Stuart knows instinctively that there will not be unnecessary impediments placed in his/her way.

There are some individuals at both the County and City that want us to consolidate our administrative functions on one campus. They tout the benefits of us joining forces with the County and Martin County School Board and how economics of scale will save money. What I see is the erosion of our independence. By becoming a cog in the wheel, I see Stuart losing our small town way of doing business. After a while, the perception will be that Stuart is another department within the county structure instead of an independent municipality.

Although some would argue that there is an advantage and savings to consolidation of administrative facilities, I would not. Anything that lessens our independence will only harm us in the long run. No matter how collegial a county commission or school board is at any given moment, it could change at the next election. Even if the agreement between the parties spells out every contingency, there will always be room for disagreement. Do we want to continuously argue with entities that are so much bigger and have larger budgets than we do? We have had inter-local agreements in the past that Martin County has ignored such as Willoughby Extension.

Stuart could always find ways to save money. The ultimate savings would be by un-incorporating. We wouldn’t need a city hall then. We could be like Rio, Jensen Beach or Indiantown without self-governance… without a say. Try calling a county commissioner when you have a problem and see how fast you get a response. The more local government and home rule available to citizens, the better for all of us.

This big rush to decide on proceeding with administrative consolidation is because the Martin County School District must design a new administrative building and build immediately at the High School Avenue campus. Time is ticking and supposed decisions must be made in a hurry. I see Stuart under no such time constraints.  Even if we needed a new building immediately, how do we pay for it?  What do we do with the present City Hall?

Some would say we can either borrow short term or bond the $3 million dollars needed to build this new building. Once we develop or sell the old City Hall site, we could pay off the bond or mortgage (let’s assume by some miracle a referendum allowing sale or lease passes.) As a commissioner, I would not vote to move forward with this project. I do not believe we should become part of any consolidated campus site irrespective of costs and financing. Even if a mystical-magical phantasmagorical hotel developer appeared tomorrow, I would not be in favor of selling our present City Hall.

Does that mean we should never move City Hall? No it does not! I want to see Stuart have an integrated plan for the entire downtown area consisting of the “Old Downtown Area”, Flagler Park area, Colorado Avenue and Ocean Blvd. The plan should include the eventual building of a municipal garage. There are ways to reconfigure streetscapes that would foster development of new building sites. The sale or lease of those sites by the City could allow for the money to build a new City Hall. Where the present City Hall is located would be part of an expanded Flagler Park and access to the water would be maintained for all the people.

I believe in good relations with all the governmental entities in Martin County. I do not believe in perceiving to be or actually being a department of any other government. Stuart’s government has a different culture than Martin County’s government. We relish in our small town atmosphere. We like our quaintness and “Old Florida” panache. This is what we need to promote as we grow. We do not need to turn into another generic South Florida town.

I am not about to vote in favor of spending your money to promote the dreams of others. Any change must further the City, its residents and taxpayers.

 

Government, Markets And Parking

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Last week, I wrote concerning West Palm Beach’s City Place and how we could avoid making the same errors. I am a proponent of the government not becoming more involved in the market than is absolutely necessary. Governments do not understand the true nature of free markets. In my experience, when government seeks to have more than a minimum involvement, it corrupts market forces.

In the U.S. today, real estate is as perfect a market as possible . What is a perfect market? It has to have certain characteristics such as no participant in the market can set prices. Another characteristic is that there are no artificial boundaries to entering or leaving the market. There must be opportunity to fully maximize profit from one’s investment.

The one factor that can truly influence outcome without contributing to the general equilibrium of the market is government interference. The moment any government entity enters the market with any expectation of a desired outcome that is in contradiction to market forces, the market becomes imperfect. One of the biggest problems for the market is when government owns the means of production (i.e., the land or building). When government sells or leases property, it tends to have other motives which pervert not only that one parcel but the entire market which is unduly affected.

I am not suggesting that building and zoning codes are not needed. Our citizens and residents do need to have a community that reflects their desires in the place they want to live.  However, that being said, government should tread very, very carefully when becoming the Owner of income-producing property.  The irony is not lost on me that Stuart will continue to be the ground owner of the Triangle Property, and as such, has contributed to just what I am saying I am against. At the present moment and with that particular property, it would not have been developed because of earlier government involvement.

The City of Stuart’s next construction venture may be building a parking garage. Before even contemplating spending tax dollars on such a project, a few questions must be thoroughly vetted. This week, I learned from senior staff that within the downtown area, there are approximately 1700 parking spaces of which 1450 are public. Without being a traffic engineer or expert, I can’t believe we do not have adequate parking at present.

I am downtown almost every day and several evenings per week and have found no problem finding a space. During peak times in the evening, I will park at the Sailfish lot which is less than a 2 minute walk from the Lyric or The Gafford. With the tram and now valet parking, it is convenient for everyone to use either that lot or the Kiwanis lot and be at your destination within minutes.

For argument’s sake, I will assume that a garage is needed. Where should it be built? The most likely places for construction would still be on the present parking lots or at least in a location just as far away. Therefore, how many spaces would we actually gain? If we acquire private property to build a garage it would still be in the general areas where we now have lots, and we would be losing the ad valorem tax revenue by the taking of private property and converting to a public use.

Wherever we locate a public garage, the city will be perverting the market today and in the future. It is evident that there is no private market for a parking structure or it would have been built using private dollars and then charging the users. This then leads me to the conclusion that even if the city built a garage, the cost of construction and the continuous maintenance would fall on our taxpayers and not the users. Is it the city’s place to subsidize a perceived need for the private businesses in our downtown area using the tax dollars of all taxpayers?

For the next half century, the location of the garage would determine the direction and shape of development for the entire corridor. Depending on area and height, the garage could end up being the largest building in the district. Both aesthetically and economically, the garage will have an enormous impact on the real estate market for years. Once again, by insinuating itself in the private market, government would most likely have an outsized say in the future of downtown development and all of Stuart.

Before Stuart spends millions of dollars of taxpayer money on a perceived solution in search of a problem, much more objective sturdy would be needed. Societal and technological trends also should be taken into account. Thirty years ago we needed to go to a physical store to buy every conceivable product. Today, I ordered two hats, office supplies and a new kitchen blender without leaving my office. As society continues to evolve perhaps thirty years in the future, children will look to an empty parking structure (that Stuart will still be paying for) and ask “What’s that, Mommy?”

Avoiding the Mistakes of City Place

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City Place in West Palm Beach is once again facing foreclosure. I predict that it will continue to experience problems now and in the future. I am basing this on my nearly 45 years in the commercial real estate business. There are several reasons why repeated threats of and/or foreclosures will continue. Though we in Stuart will never see a development anywhere near this size, there are lessons we can learn.

City Place does have bustling crowds. However, crowds do not translate into economic success for the myriad of businesses located there. The overwhelming majority of retail establishments are composed of chain stores. There is no differentiation in product from any other enclosed or outdoor mall. A Macy’s is a Macy’s is a Macy’s.

Restaurants are also chains with rather high prices for the average person. How far does one drive to go to a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse or Brio’s Tuscan Grill? There are less expensive alternatives at City Place such as Auntie Anne’s pretzels or Moe’s Southwest Grill, but these are not destination restaurants. This is a “Potemkin Downtown”. There is nothing organic in its design or makeup to entice continued repeat visitors that will actually buy the goods and services offered by the merchants.

A Hilton Convention Hotel has opened. My question would be is there enough convention business to fill this hotel? Why would someone stay there? This entire project is a 1970’s concept trying to fit into the world of the 21st century. It is outmoded and not what people, especially millennials, want in a downtown.

Unlike Stuart’s downtown, there is nothing original in City Place’s mix of retail shops. While we have two chain restaurants, the others are all unique and distinct eating establishments that have loyal followings. Stuart’s downtown area is a magnet for visitors because of this originality that cannot be found elsewhere. Our rejuvenated downtown grew out of a “place” where bricks and mortar already existed. The question going forward is how do we expand on Stuart’s success and not become a failed “City Place?”

One of the keys to continued vibrancy is to expand the residential component of historic downtown, the Colorado corridor, Ocean Avenue and Dixie Highway. We have made a tentative start by the proposed Triangle residential development. For Stuart to be a city with a promising future, residents must live throughout every neighborhood. With people comes the need for other commercial activity from dry cleaners to bagel shops. Stuart’s current downtown merchants will do better because there are more customers within walking distance.  The entire city will be enhanced because of more tax dollars being generated without much additional municipal cost since the infrastructure is already in place.

A mistake that we can make and have made in the past is to not allow the market to dictate outcomes. The city commission and staff too often decide what the project should be and then look for the private sector to carry out its wishes. Is there any wonder why so many conceptual plans amount to nothing? Government is not an expert. The best that can be hoped is that government does not impede the private sector. The government should not play “Sim City.”

Our governmental responsibility should be to help the necessary and continual development of an expanded downtown through good policy. Through our zoning and development code, Stuart can have height limits and other important elements that will allow for us to control density and maintain our “Old Florida Charm.” Another important point to remember is that we should not let any single developer amass so much property that we end up making the same mistake as West Palm Beach made with City Place.

The Jefferson’s and other downtown stalwarts had it right. Allow redevelopment through as organic a process as possible. Let the private sector decide what will work and what will not. Government is a facilitator not a partner. Let the people actually investing their money decide on the desired outcome.

Here We Are Once Again

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“Here” we are once again. This year a little earlier than usual we have arrived “here”. We are in a place where we really do not need to be though all the same “here”.  How often can we be “here” without destroying our way of life and the why we live in Martin County? The killing of our estuary seems to be as inevitable as the water flowing to the ocean via the St. Lucie. So we find ourselves once more in this predicament.

Washington and Tallahassee keep promising to do something. The governor wants the Corp to stop the discharges from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee and the St. Lucie. But the governor has done nothing more but paid lip service to our plight. He is not a serious man when it comes to this “problem”. I wrote President Obama three years ago about our river and six months later received a form letter back siting his accomplishments on protecting the environment throughout the country but no acknowledgement of the Indian River Lagoon’s impending death. He is not a serious man when it comes to this “problem”.

Senator Rubio held a press conference here in Stuart. He sat in our city commission chamber and listened to the experts. He promised to fight to end these discharges. The senator was going to come back and report bi-monthly. I guess becoming president became more important. He is not a serious man when it comes to this “problem”.

Representative Harrell and Senator Negron have modestly proposed measures that may bring some relief to the “problem”. Will it be enough help to prevent the death of the rivers and estuaries remains to be seen? We, the people of Florida, did our part; we passed a constitutional amendment to spend money on this “problem”. Unfortunately the powers that be in Tallahassee would rather use the funds for other things and ignore the will of the people. Citizens are only an impediment to the pols getting what they want.

Every year the beauty that is Stuart and Martin County becomes a little less so. Another reason that we are living in this place is gone. The concentration of political power in both Tallahassee and Washington allows for the flaunting of the people’s will. Are we mad enough to really do anything about it? Or will our anger revert to type and once again be manipulated by party hacks and labels. We, the voters, do the same thing over and over and somehow expect a different outcome. In the meantime “here” we are once again.

 

County-City Relations In 2016

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Where are Martin County and the City of Stuart heading in 2016? I hope we will be more in alignment with common goals, but I would tend to doubt that. Unfortunately, on almost every issue that confronts the city, the county has a different point of view than the city. Much it has to do with the majority of the county commissioners not fully understanding the legal relationship between the two entities.

The majority of the county commission has the perception that we, at the city, are their subordinates. This could not be farther from reality. Not only is Stuart completely independent, but that independence is derived by a charter granted by the legislature. Any shared funding (such as sales tax revenue) is determined by state statute and is not within the fiat of the county commission to decide.

The county is a political arm of the state which has constitutional offices providing statutory services such as tax collection, voter registration, courts and legal records, property appraisal and the sheriff. Counties were created to allow state governing functions to occur closer to citizens. Counties were to provide a basic framework of government for unincorporated rural areas with few people. Municipalities were where the bulk of commerce was to take place and people were to live.

Unfortunately, what happened in Martin County (as in a few other counties) was an exponential increase in population without the formation of municipalities. This has led to the county providing municipal services to rural, suburban and urban areas regardless of the individual area’s need for such services. While Rio or the Martin Downs Blvd Corridor of Palm City may require a professional fire/rescue response, the ranches of the western county may need only a volunteer level of service. Yet, because of the urbanization of services, both receive the same level of response regardless of cost or need.

The entire urbanization of county government has resulted in some county commissioners feeling that they are in competition with Stuart. We actually are two different forms of governmental entities that should provide different services to our mutual constituents. The failure of some of the county commission to recognize this fact has led to friction between our two entities. From CRA expansion to annexation, the county’s attitude has resulted in resentment on both sides.

As an example the county commission requested a joint meeting with the city commission regarding the CRA expansion. Under the law, the county has no right to block the expansion, but they do have the right to present to the city how they would have used any increase in tax receipts if no expansion occurred. Instead, the county commission had their staff give a presentation that had nothing to do with anticipated use of those particular funds. They further showed a total disrespect for what was supposedly a joint meeting by allowing public comment on an issue that had nothing to do with the CRA expansion. It showed to me a complete lack of understanding of what their role is under our system.

Without this understanding of what the county’s responsibilities are as it pertains to municipalities, we will continue to have difficulties in 2016.  Each of us should be carrying out our respective duties for the betterment of our mutual constituents. Not all our county commissioners regard Stuart as an enemy. Some realize that Stuart can provide services more efficiently and inexpensively because of our urban density. An annexation or CRA expansion ultimately benefits the entire county. With this subset of county commissioners, we can work to benefit all in the county.  This is not a zero sum equation of I win you lose. Rather each entity has strengths that can add value without taking away from either the municipality or the unincorporated areas.