Category Archives: Sustainable Growth

What Annexation Really Is!

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In this morning’s Stuart News, a letter appeared regarding the city’s recent annexation of a parcel on Federal Highway. As a member of the City Commission, I did vote for the annexation. Unfortunately, the letter writer is misinformed on several matters regarding that particular annexation and annexation under Florida statute.

Annexation is allowed under Florida statute when a property owner petitions a municipality to be allowed into the city. The municipality then has the option of incorporating the parcel or not if that parcel meets the criteria of the statute and the municipality decides that it is in the interest of the city to do so. Annexation is permitted and encouraged under the law in order to expand municipal services to newly urbanized areas outside the current geographical boundaries of the city. Unfortunately, too many people in Martin County do not understand the differences between municipalities and county governmental functions … including a few county commissioners.

Counties were never meant to be anything other than local arms of state government. That is why each county has a sheriff, property appraiser, supervisor of elections, tax collector and clerk of the court. Each of those functions carries out state duties as recognized by our state constitution and statutes. The state government is making sure that state residents have vital state services throughout Florida. Counties are a political arm or subdivision of Tallahassee.

Municipalities are the local governments. They were meant to provide urban services such as water and sewer, fire/rescue and a host of others. As population grows and demand increases for such services, then annexation of newly urban areas (if contiguous) are supposed to occur. In non-contiguous areas, then new municipalities should be formed in order to provide urban services as outlined by statute. Unfortunately, Martin County wants not only to be a county government but also a municipal one. This is the root of why the county currently has an unsustainable budget.

I most certainly do not want to emulate the unbridled growth to our south. But if you were to look at Palm Beach County, there are 38 municipalities representing the local views of 38 distinct areas. Martin County has 4 municipalities. Instead of encouraging annexation and the formation of more municipal governments to provide urban services, county government is trying to do so.

In all instances of providing urban services, the county is less efficient than Stuart. For instance, it costs homeowners roughly 50% more to hook up to a county sewer than a homeowner in the city. In every instance, from fire/rescue to police to roads, the city provides urban services cheaper and more efficiently.

A city is able to do this for several reasons. The first is because we operate within a compact geographical area with higher density than most of the county. In most cases, the county has taken on the duties and responsibilities of providing services to all unincorporated areas regardless of density. A paid fire/rescue department was never meant to respond to fires or accidents in rural areas…volunteer departments were.

The second reason that the city is able to keep costs in check is because it has a locally elected body in charge that is close to the people. I, as a city commissioner, represent a little over 16,000 people as opposed to the more than 160,000 people in the county. I know the different neighborhoods and constituencies very well. I hear from residents in the supermarket and at the doctor’s office. People see me at the park and at their kid’s school. My cell phone number is on my business card. I am accessible. I try to make sure that every penny collected from the limited number of taxpayers Stuart has is spent in accordance with their wishes.

Finally, since the government is so much closer to the people, we only provide those services that the local population wants and is willing to pay to have. This is in stark contrast to county government where there is no differentiation in what is provided to Indiantown or Rio. Each is a distinctive community, but there is no local representative government or any variation in the tax rate for providing those services whether wanted or not. It costs more to respond to a fire in rural Martin than in Salerno.

The last misconception regarding annexation that should be cleared up is the notion that the property is taken away from Martin County. To the contrary, Stuart and the three municipalities are all in and a part of Martin County. Municipal residents pay taxes to Martin County. We vote for county commissioners and the constitutional officers.  Every person and parcel, even those in a municipality, is part of the county.

In the particular annexation referenced by the letter writer in the newspaper, I would say the development that is now proposed for that site is a far cry better than what they could have built under county zoning. Under the county rules, a 24 hour convenience store could have been built. Under the county rules, a restaurant/bar with music could have been located there. The county’s zoning would have resulted in double the retail area that we granted. Yes, it is true under the county’s zoning; the developer would have had a 60 room hotel instead of the 80 rooms that the city allowed. But I am sure the residents of Palm Lake Park would rather have a well buffered hotel than a night spot with music until 2 a.m.  Even though we do not represent the Palm Lake residents, the city commission exacted better uses from the developer than what was permitted under county zoning. It was a win for the county because of the increased sales, property and bed taxes, a win for the Lake Park homeowners because of our requirements in uses, buffering and setbacks, and a win for the city in increased property taxes.

What Is Our Future

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Most of us, including myself, have an innate fear of the new. We look to the past as if life were better “then”. People were nicer, the grass was greener and there was a certainty of right which we see as missing in the present. How it was is usually seen through the prism of nostalgia without the facts and basis of reality. As R. A. Salvatore wrote in one of his books, “How many people long ‘for that past, simpler, and better world’, I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?”

Fearing the new, while natural, is limiting if we allow that fear to stop us from obtaining our rightful and true future. Time does not stop. The future will become the present in a second and then the past a second later. By inclination and training, I believe in the study of history. To quote Shakespeare, “What is past is prologue.” We should be cognizant of our past but not dwell within it. Life is not static; it is dynamic. Good or bad, our future depends on seeing clearly and acting in the present so as not to be consigned to a doubtful and unsustainable future. The continuation of Stuart as a city is not pre-ordained. To have a future, Stuart must work and plan to achieve it.

Martin County and Stuart are at a crossroad. Some would take us headlong into a future that looks like 1960’s American sprawl with one story shopping centers and dwelling upon dwelling on one acre plots, without care or thought to the roads and other infrastructure needed. This type of development leads to a devastation of our environment and a banality of our souls. The United States no longer looks like the Brady Bunch family and never really did.

Another faction would bury us in a past that was adequate for a city and county of 30, 40 or 50 years ago. This was a supposed idyllic time, where everyone was content and and the kids all played baseball in our parks. There were 60 distinct businesses in East Stuart and downtown had a Rexall and department store. But in truth, those businesses in East Stuart were products of segregation and shopping downtown with limited choices was more a chore than a pleasure.

Both those visions of the future are shaded by a past that was not idyllic. We cannot build a future on a history that never was. We have to learn from the factual past. Residents must recognize the social, fiscal and technological realities of today in order to take us to our rightful tomorrow.  That tomorrow should be sustainable and affordable for our county, city and …. our children.

We can remember our past and build upon it but not to the exclusion of the steps necessary to have a future. Martin County cannot afford to have no growth. The growth can occur within the Urban Service Boundary by doing infill development and repurposing old one story commercial and residential structures. Stuart needs to increase population and become geographically larger. The number of current residents cannot afford to sustain the operations of the city. We need growth, and we can do so without sacrificing our Florida charm or heritage.

Our county, and especially Stuart, will not look the same in coming decades. As a community and government, we can either have a modicum of control or abdicate our responsibilities for a viable future. I believe in a Stuart and Martin County where people will be able and want to visit and live. A place where there are jobs and opportunity. Those things cannot be accomplished by wishing for a past that we think we remember. We cannot afford to base our future on nostalgia or unrealistic economic dreams.

Can Martin County Represent All of Us?

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In Martin County, we are fortunate that we did not follow the lead of St Lucie or Palm Beach Counties in pursuing unbridled development. That doesn’t mean we haven’t changed and grown. It means we have been more measured in that growth and change. Was that a bad thing? The answer is more complicated than just a simple yes or no.

In some instances it was exactly the right thing to do especially in the western parts of the county.  However, within the Urban Service Boundary, the county has been too restrictive in many instances. This approach has not resulted in the best outcome for the residents of many areas within the boundary. We need to have growth in population and business in order to increase our tax base. In most instances, within the Urban Service Boundary the infrastructure and other governmental services are already in place negating the need for costly new investment. More residents and businesses would increase the number of taxpayers which would result in our existing base paying less in taxes.

This strategy is a balancing act between acceptable and sustainable growth for our county. Our challenge is how our county commission manages such a strategy. Since Martin County is so diverse, can the needs of urban, suburban and rural constituents all be met by five people sitting on a dais? I would contend that it would be nearly impossible.

It definitely cannot be accomplished by a one-size-fits-all governing style. Currently, I do not believe that the County Commission brings enough nuances to Martin County’s divergence. Suburban families living in the gated communities lining Martin Downs Boulevard have completely different governmental expectations than the rancher or farmer on the Okeechobee County line. Jensen Beach’s needs are not the same as Indiantown.

Martin County has many distinct areas such as Rio and Hobe Sound. What it does not have is local democratic representation within those areas. It is not the number of people who live throughout Martin that is the problem but rather it is the many different needs of our communities that are not being met. Martin County has four municipalities. Each (Stuart, Sewall’s Point, Ocean Breeze and Jupiter Island) has a commission or council that represents the residents of those areas. The citizens of Rio, Indiantown, and Jensen Beach do not. Their unique problems are not and cannot be addressed by a county commission that is trying to be all things to all residents.

There are five chambers of commerce in Martin County. Hobe Sound has one as does Indiantown, Palm City, Jensen Beach and Stuart/Martin County. Local businesses have decided that their areas are so distinct that one chamber cannot represent their unique interest. Counties were formed in order to make sure state governmental services were provided to all Floridians wherever they lived in the state. Counties were never meant to be towns or offer municipal services. Today county government is doing more than what was intended. This has resulted in our diverse communities and their residents not being adequately represented by local government.

Stuart CRA Expansion

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As many of you may know, Stuart is looking to expand the CRA (Community Redevelopment Area) to other neighborhoods.  When the idea was first mentioned I was in favor, if the expansion resulted in infrastructure projects moving forward in the new incorporated areas. I further wanted to see the operation of the CRA treated as a fund and not as an independent department or division within city government. This is not a reflection on the city staff, but in a city of our geographical and population size, I don’t believe that we need to have a government within a government.

In order to have an effective CRA (or for that matter a city), the citizens who reside within those boundaries need community outreach and resident input. The time has come to have the city focus on more than a few blocks of historic downtown. The many neighborhoods that make up Stuart should have more attention paid to them. Plans and goals are fine, but without a dedicated funding source and a desire of the residents to move forward, nothing will happen.

The CRA fund or TIF is created by keeping the increased taxes that result from increased value on a property. Those funds do not come from any additional tax being levied as another taxing unit. That increase amount collected would have gone to the county and city general funds. Not one more penny is collected from property owners who are in a CRA. However, the increased taxes generated because of an increased property value must be spent within the CRA. The fund is a catalyst for infrastructure improvements and economic development within the district.

It has been my observation that change is inevitable. Ideas blossom, technology improves, the economy develops and societal norms become different.  Whether any individual desires changes or not is immaterial to whether change occurs. It is government’s role to guide those changes to produce outcomes that benefit their constituents. As a commissioner and a member of the board of the Community Redevelopment Agency, it is my responsibility to provide the city staff with the tools and direction to implement the changes.

Therefore, for greater citizen involvement with the proposed expansion, the Community Redevelopment Board should now consist of 9 members from the present 7 with at least 6 members (including the chair) being city residents and no more than 3 members being non-resident business owners within the CRA.  The two non-commission members of the Community Redevelopment Agency Board would be appointed by the Community Redevelopment Board from their board members who are residents of the city.

The city staff must also be reorganized to best carry out the CRA objectives. I would like to see a Department of Community, Tourism and Economic Development. In a city our size, no tourist or economic initiative undertaken doesn’t impact the entire community. This department must know what the residents of the city want in order to attract those businesses and tourist dollars that are desired by the citizens. The Community Development division would be charged with holding workshops within the different neighborhoods. This process will ascertain what the residents needs are within their neighborhoods and then to incorporate those needs within the CRA plan as a whole.

Once the priorities of the projects are set by the boards, the implementation is done by the city departments in place to best execute the projects. For example putting in a side walk is the responsibility of Public Works whether it is in the CRA or not. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel or add a layer of bureaucracy to accomplish it. If we can simplify the lines of communication, responsibility and make the entire city government as transparent as possible, then our residents can see where Stuart is headed. We will then not only have a successful CRA, but also a prosperous and growing city.

Urbanization and County Government

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The topic of CRAs has been in the news lately. Both Stuart and Martin County are and will be going through discussions on what are the next steps for these areas. It seems that the city and county are going in different directions. Stuart wants to enlarge its CRA and the county wants to do away with theirs. The philosophies of both entities are different regarding what is to be accomplished within those areas. It is rooted in the differences between municipalities and counties.

According to the enabling legislation (which is Chapter 163 of the Florida Statutes), both counties and cities can have CRAs. The definitions of what neighborhoods would qualify for designation as a CRA are usually found in urban settings. The acronym stands for Community Redevelopment Area. When one thinks of that term, one does think of areas in cities … not unincorporated county areas.

Counties were originally established as arms of the state to provide state services. That is why there are mandated constitutional offices such as Tax Collector and Property Appraiser in every county in Florida. With Florida’s rapid growth and urbanization, counties took on the role of municipalities in the services they provide. This resulted in Urban Services Boundaries. What should have happened as populations and densities increased? There should have been the formation of municipalities to provide urban services. Counties should have remained in their original roles instead of doing a bad imitation of cities.

Hobe Sound, Rio and Jensen Beach are not independent municipalities with an elected government representing their communities. Instead Martin County created CRAs there and in other urbanized parts of the county to substitute for local elected government. This does not work. The County Board of Commissioners valiantly tries to provide services for the entire county, but the services provided in an urban environment are different than those in a suburban or rural one. Their needs are different and, in some cases, irreconcilable. This results in higher taxes being levied on all county residents regardless of if they use or want the services being offered.

You cannot substitute the CRA mechanism for the legitimate desire of the urban residents of unincorporated Martin County to have their own representative bodies determing their needs. The agricultural areas of western Martin County should not be paying for the services demanded by those in the urban sections. The county should have encouraged the development of more municipalities and the annexation of the more urban unincorporated areas into municipalities.

This would have resulted in dramatically reduced taxes for all county residents being levied, since only those functions mandated by the state to be provided by counties would be needed. Wherever urban services were demanded, only those affected would be taxed by their local municipalities to provide those services and only those services the local residents wanted. The one size fits all system Martin County currently has is undemocratic and fiscally irresponsible. CRAs are not meant to be municipalities and that is why there is a political disconnect.

I supported the county when the elected county commissioners became the Community Redevelopment Agency Board because they are elected. Appointed people should not have control of tax dollars. However, the better course would have been an elected government closer to the residents of those areas deciding urban issues. Being a resident of a municipality does not mean you are not a resident, voter and taxpayer of the county. Let’s return to the original intent of what a county and what a city is. Each should do what it does best.

Stuart Real Estate, Government and Politics

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For some odd reason, the City of Stuart believes that being a Landlord in the private commercial real estate market is beneficial. This belief is wrong for both philosophical and practical reasons. While it is an allowable practice under Florida law for municipalities to own and lease real estate to the private sector, I believe the city has taken it to a level that is detrimental to our further economic development as a municipality.

The justification of a municipality owning property and then leasing that property to the private sector is that the municipality will have a “predictable stream of income” from the rents. What we have seen in Stuart is that a Tenant makes an initial deal with the city at one rent and then subsequently comes in and pleads that the rent is too high and wants a reduced amount. This negates the “predictable stream of income” theory.

This most recently has occurred when the tenant with a 50-year term lease for a city owned lot on Monterey requested a reduction in rent from $31,500 to $9,000 per year. The lease which commenced January 1, 2007 has already been modified once from the initial rent of $52,500 per year. If the new rent is accepted by the commission, the city will have $43,500 less per year than originally anticipated not including any cost of living adjustments. This “predictable stream of income” has proven less so.

We can see this “voodoo economic” principle at work over and over. The proposed NorthPoint hotel project where nothing has been built after ten years and the initial rent has already been cut in half even though nothing has yet been paid. In addition once the lease finally commences there will be an abatement of the first 7 to 10 years of rent. This demonstrates why this practice should be called “the unpredictable stream of income” theory.   On a very practical level, this shows why being a Landlord does not work. City staff and the commission have demonstrated an inability to manage a function that belongs in the private sector.

No government entity in a free market capitalistic society should believe it is acceptable to compete with the private sector. It is socialistic when the government owns the means of producing wealth – i.e., real estate. By owning and leasing property, the City of Stuart helps determine what rents are in the private sector. Any appraisal would have to include how much the city charges its tenants. It has an undue influence on our real estate market.

I do not mean to suggest the city should not influence development through zoning and building codes. Further, there is a very valid reason for the city to buy a blighted or underutilized property and then re-sell that property to a developer.  We should work with and encourage beneficial development through the private sector. A good example of this is the city buying the blighted “triangle property” and working with the private sector to build a good and needed project on the site.

Stuart now has millions of dollars invested in the ownership of supposed income producing properties. If the city collects every cent of rent projected in 2016, it would be only a million dollars (1/3rd of which is generated by one property, the Sunset Bay Marina). The city should begin selling some of this surplus real estate.  It could then take the proceeds and buy blighted and underutilized properties, for example, those on Dixie from Sailfish Lot to Colorado Avenue. Then the city, working with a private developer, can do the same thing it is doing with the “triangle property”. The property management fund should be used to make our city more productive by encouraging private developers not by holding desirable properties in-house.

Our current strategy is doomed to failure. It preserves the status quo. It does not use city funds to achieve the highest return. There are only so many dollars Stuart has to work with to improve the city. In the name of keeping ad valorem taxes down, Stuart holds onto and leases property. That very premise results in a false conclusion. By not using our leverage efficiently, the city depresses Stuart from developing into a vibrant place for the creation of jobs, homes and businesses. Without those things happening, ad valorem taxes will increase because our base is not growing. Surplus properties should be sold.

I Live On The South Fork

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I live on the South Fork of the St. Lucie River. The river is my backyard with the shore of Palm City in the distance. My backyard view includes the mooring field of Stuart. I often hear the people who live on their boats playing music or just speaking to each other. Funny…people don’t seem to understand how sound carries over water depending on wind and other weather variables. And, I need never go to Sailor’s Return to hear their bad bands playing because my back porch has excellent acoustics especially for amplified bass. I often say to Polly, my wife, that if I hear another lousy rendition of “Proud Mary,” I am going to commit suicide.

The old and the new Roosevelt Bridges and the infamous railroad trestle spanning the river are also part of the scene. Sometimes, I think I am in New England with the tall masts of sailing ships anchored right behind my yard. I enjoy the ospreys that perch in the masts of ships and tops of trees waiting for the right moment to swoop down catch a fish in their talons and then often eat that fish while sitting on one my pilings. There are cranes and turns, pelicans and storks. Once, Polly saw a Great Blue Heron catch a rat in the rocks that line the beach and swallow it whole, seeing it go down its long neck.

Dolphin families swim by and jump in and out of the water. Mullet, snook and other fish silently lurk beneath the surface and sometimes splash out of the water. There used to be an old catfish that lived at the end of our dock. I would always point visitors out there and they would inevitably catch the old man and then release him back for the next visitor to do the same.

That catfish is gone now as are the mullet sailing into the air. There are many fewer dolphins. There are less ospreys and other birds. But the water still flows depending on the tide either out to the ocean or toward Lake Okeechobee. It is just stiller now, less vibrant, with more sediment in the water, muck on the bottom and less life.

I often try to picture what the river was like before me. My neighbor, who has lived here for decades, tells me that the river was clear and you could see the bottom when he first moved to his house. Even when I first saw the river from my mother-in-law’s condo, which was a few doors from my current home, I remember the waters clearer. But was it really? For as Proust wrote: “Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”

What was the river to the settlers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries? I am told that where my house now stands was part of a pineapple plantation. The river was both a highway and supermarket. Oyster and crabs were plentiful as were all variety of fish. Deer, bear, beaver and otter made their homes on the bank, as did panthers and bobcats. Mother Nature provided a bountiful treasure that man, of course, ravenously did its best to eliminate.

Native Americans lived on the banks of our river and lagoon for thousands of years and still managed to bequeath to us a wonderful and diverse eco system. Those earliest of settlers made peace with the harmony of the waters treating them as sacred and holy…reverence and wonder.  They knew the larder would remain inexhaustible if the balance was maintained. It lasted at least a millenium until us.

For we, as Americans, believed we could bend the will of God while praising His name. My South Fork was not so much a river as part of an estuary. Whatever fresh water that flowed into the river was only runoff from the savannahs along its banks. Since there was no farming, there was no fertilizer to raise the phosphorous and nitrogen levels. The river could remain in its natural brackish state. The fresh mixing with the salt waters as the tides ebbed and flowed was what gave life to the Indian River Lagoon.

But, not being content with the perfect, we thought it better to build the Okeechobee Waterway known affectionately as the C-44 Canal. We added the C-24 and C-23 drainage canals to create farm and pasture instead of savannah and swamp. It was the end of God and the beginning of Mammon. Paradise was being lost for the unsustainable changing of our ecology.

At first we believed that draining and stopping the natural flow of our waterways would give us lush farmland and kill the mosquitos. We built towns in places that Native Americans never lived for they knew better. Crops were planted in soil believed to be lush until the water stopped flowing. We needed to keep all the new western settlements safe from flood so a dyke was built around the lake to prevent the natural flow south of the water.

We decided to connect the lake to the St. Lucie to further a navigational passage to the west. Now there was no problem in sending billions of gallons of fresh water rich in phosphorous and nitrogen from farms and septic tanks down past where my house stands. The fish, animals and plants (not to mention we, the residents,) are not as important to the politicians in Tallahassee or Washington as are the sugar barons around a lake that was made into a reservoir.

The Saint Lucie is fighting for survival. We attack at the edges and pray for deliverance from our sins. We use jargon cloaked in abbreviations such as CERP and BAMP to mask how utterly powerless we are. Green algae are on our shores and yet the obvious solution is locked away. The key is held by the subsidized rich and their sycophantic elected cronies in our state and national capitals.

I have always lived by a body of water. The East River or the Hudson River has been just down the block from where any of my apartments have been in New York City. I owned a country house on the banks of the Delaware River. Long Island Sound was at the end of my street in Connecticut where I lived for a decade. When I first saw the Saint Lucie, I knew I would live here one day.

The river still flows past my house. It is calming and seemingly beautiful in its majesty. I imagine that if and when the water continues to flow in a hundred years, it will seem on the surface much the same. However, will it bring the seeds of a future bountiful life or the barren silhouette of what was in the past? We have it in our power to save the river and the lagoon. 75% of the voters have said yes to our salvation. It is only the few in Tallahassee doing the bidding of the greedy that prevent it from actually happening.

Business, Taxes and Government

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I was immersed in the “business” of Martin County one day last week as part of Leadership Class sponsored by the Stuart/Martin Chamber of Commerce of which I am a member. One day a month, we examine a slice of county life such as criminal justice or non-profits. This month it was business. Many people may still believe we only have retail and service businesses in the county, but that is far from the truth.

We have a strong and growing manufacturing sector.  Unlike the factories of several decades ago that had assembly lines of workers, these newer versions have far fewer employees and rely more on computers than wrenches. Manufacturing has high paying jobs and contributes proportionately more in taxes than other types of businesses. This is the good news. The bad news is that, like every tax payer, they also have their gripes about our county government.

As individuals, most love being situated in Martin County. They like our schools, amenities and life style. As business owners and leaders, they wish the county government was more business friendly. When I asked for specifics on what the county could do to help, their answers in most cases were more about attitudes than actual problems. I agree that perception, attitude and fair implementation are important to a business-friendly government.

I think much of the frustration lies in not being able to get concrete answers to questions. As someone who has been in the private sector his entire working life, what I want is answers to my questions. I can’t plan on maybe. The county commission needs to have definite enforceable policies so that the different departments can give exact answers when asked specific questions ranging from what can be built on a parcel to whether a use is allowable.

At the same time business needs to stop acting as if they are persecuted by our local government. It accomplishes nothing and business people begin to sound like a bunch of whiners. The very life style the business people applaud is the one that our current commissioners want to maintain. These are the commissioners and the vision that the majority of Martin County voters want. Voters don’t want a change in western Martin County. Voters don’t want to go above the 4 story height limit. Voters want things to remain like they are regardless of whether, in the long run, these policies are good, bad or indifferent for the economic health of the county.

The real problem with our county is the percentage of income that is generated by for-profit businesses. For example, in the Leadership Class I mentioned earlier, 80% of the participants either work for a non-profit or the government. This is no entrepreneurial bunch. How can we, as a county or a nation survive, when so much of our economic activity is based on taxes or donated dollars? This ironically includes the Business Development Board which receives the bulk of its funding from taxes.

Private business is no stranger to receiving governmental handouts either. Several of the businesses that presented that day stated that they receive either government grants, loans or subsidies and are looking for more. This is far from capitalism as it is supposed to be practiced. While we may claim to want to be free of government constraint, we as a nation have embraced the culture of government handouts. Business is so use to relying on government money that perhaps AAF believes they really are a privately funded scheme instead of one counting on federal loan guarantees.

We need to re-evaluate this crony capitalism on the local, state and federal level. We have become a country where nothing can be done unless the government gives you a tax break, subsidy, grant or loan. I would contend we need a government that helps needy individuals with tax dollars but not businesses or nonprofits.  A free society is not based on every citizen’s ability to carry a gun to protect their freedom.  A free society happens when government stays far from economic development and allows the market to control economic destinies.

GLAMOUR!!!! GLITZ!!!! RAZZ MA TAZZ…AND ALL THAT JAZZ!!!!

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GLAMOUR!!!! GLITZ!!!! RAZZ MA TAZZ…AND ALL THAT JAZZ!!!!

That is what some people consider development or progress. The sizzle will give us the flair. Style will draw the crowds. Gimmicks will bring jobs and people flocking to our downtown. The substance and values of the place does not matter.   Let’s be like Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale or Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. Let us transpose our city to have the look and feel of Clematis Street or become Delray. That will spell success for us some say.  I am surprised someone hasn’t mentioned the noise and crowds of Bourbon Street, New Orleans for Stuart to emulate.

Some people (and for the most part not even residents of the city and in some cases not even Martin County) have big opinions on how we should look. How we should develop. Those are the people that are only looking to their bottom line for their businesses or real estate holdings. Commercial businesses are important but are only one piece of the puzzle for the health and wealth of a community. The citizens, residents and voters should be the deciding factor on what the soul of the city will be.

In Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Sicinius asks the citizens: “What is a city but the people?” To which the crowd respond: “True, the people are the city.” I believe the people who live in the condos off Palm City Road and on East Ocean and in all our neighborhoods chose to live in Stuart not somewhere else because of what we represent. We have a real downtown not an “Entertainment District”. Our shops and restaurants are reflections of us. Are we Glamour or Glitz?

Let us do the hard work of revitalization where needed. Let us be the city where families of all ages want to buy homes and apartments and put down roots. Not occasionally come to have a good time and leave because the cacophony of noise is not where they want to live and raise their children. Let’s make sure that we incentivize homeowners to revitalize and expand their homes to increase our tax base. Though Martin County school board is in charge, we as citizens can embrace and volunteer to make Parker and Stuart Middle better so that families stay as their children become school age.

Stuart should be Stuart. We should capitalize on our “old Florida charm” and embrace our 4 story height limit to attract visitors. We need not resort to being pale copies of somewhere else. Hotels on bridges and seaplanes on our river or restaurants on roofs will not make us better or different than a hundred other places. Our “brand” is established let’s build on it not destroy it for the sake of the glib and the hype of the ridiculous.

Gossamer dreams of Eldorado or other such nonsense will only lead to the failure of our city. We do need a vital downtown. That is something we already have. I also believe you can’t make us something that we are not and succeed. We want to be Stuart not Delray or Clematis Street. We don’t want to be an “Entertainment District” with all that entails. That is a scenario for our demise because it will drive away most of the current patrons of our restaurants and downtown businesses.

Further on in the same scene in Coriolanus, Cominius states to the crowd:

“That is the way to lay the city flat;

To bring the roof to the foundation,

And bury all, which distinctly ranges,

In heaps and piles of ruin.”

 

To which Sicinius replies: “This deserves death”. I agree the idea of Stuart being Glamour, Glitz, Razz Ma Tazz and all that Jazz deserves the same. Once we as a city allow those things to occur we won’t be able to go back. I hope Stuartians as the Romans in Shakespeare’s play say the same. I don’t believe we want to become just another soulless purposeless dot on the Florida landscape so that maybe a few will make a little more to the detriment of the rest of us.

Northpoint Through The Prism Of Past, Present & Future

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Some at City Hall want to rent a spit of land known as Northpoint to a developer to build a hotel and restaurant. The location of the property is just on the north side of the old Roosevelt Bridge between Dixie Highway, the FEC track and rail road bridge. But before I venture my opinion on this project, I want to visit three different years in 20th century America. As you will see, the past is important to understanding my position on this project in the present but especially for the future.

The first year I want to examine is 1971. I began college that year. The apartment I rented was the first floor of a two family house in Queens, NY. My rent was $75 a month plus utilities. I had a full time job that paid $130 per week in a New York City hotel. The subway fare was 30 cents. The White Castle around the corner from my apartment charged 12 cents per slider. I ate there several times a week.

Now, it is 1953, the year of my birth. My mother told me the rent was $32.00 per month for our NYC apartment. The subway had just been raised from a dime to 15 cents. It was President Eisenhower’s first year in office, the Korean War ended and the minimum wage was 75 cents. Also 50% of American homes had a TV.

Lastly, let’s look at 1932 which is 83 years ago. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression. The U.S. GNP fell more that 13% and unemployment was 23.6%. Herbert Hoover was in the White House. You couldn’t buy a legal drink because Prohibition was still the law of the land. The New York City Subway was a nickel.

Do you think anyone in 1932 America could predict what our country would look like in 2015? In 1932 Stuart was 18 years old and Martin County was 7. There was radio, and talking pictures had been around for five years. Television, the internet and cellular phones were unknown. Hitler had yet to come to power in Germany. World War I was still referred to as the Great War. In 1932, forget about predicting what the world would look like in 2015, Americans couldn’t even see the world of 1943 and the inferno to come.

Understanding the above, if Stuart was negotiating a lease for Northpoint in 1932, what would the terms be? I would suspect vastly different than what they would be in 2015. But today Stuart is negotiating a lease for Northpoint that will run 83 years until 2098. Lease terms written for the Stuart of 2015 that will bind our children, grandchildren and in some cases great grandchildren. Will the terms and concept of this lease be relevant at the dawn of the 22nd century?

We are obligating the city of tomorrow with our actions today. We may have a legal right to do so, but we do not possess the moral right. There is just no possible way that this is good government. This action is done with a great deal of hubris and paternalism. I have other serious doubts and questions about this project. Even if I had no others, I could not in good conscience vote for this lease; which will bind the hands of future generations of Stuartians long after I and the present commission are gone.