Category Archives: Other

Governmental Boards Need to Know Their Limits

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I’ve noticed a troubling trend with our local governments. It is that members do not understand the scope, mission and authority of the boards, councils and commissions they serve on. The reason it is troubling is that, when the individual members don’t perform within the boundaries of their statutory authority, citizens may not get a fair hearing. Whether appointed or elected to boards, individuals must understand the scope of their authority and the purpose the board was created.

At the last meeting of the Zoning and Appeals Board in Stuart, a matter came before it that had to do with a lot split into two single-family home lots. Once split the lots would not conform with the existing code. The owner of the new homes intends to lease them once they are built. The controversy for some neighbors was that the new homes would have rear buildings. They feared they would be rented as apartments thus creating a four-family multiple dwelling. There is no Stuart ordinance preventing the rental of homes. The applicant and staff had already added language to the development order that would make it, if not impossible, harder to rent those back buildings as individual units. If they were, it would be a matter for Code Enforcement and, ultimately, a Magistrate.

While most of the discussion was about this fear of rental and of ancillary units, it should have been immaterial to the Board’s decision. Their responsibility is not whether those units would be rented but whether the lot split was justified under the regulations. The zoning of that lot is for a single-family home. By splitting the lot that has the right to have a single-family home, you are creating two lots that will be non-conforming.

It is not within the Board’s authority to decide whether rental units are being created. The structures being built are within code. The important matter before the Board was whether by not granting the lot split would there be a hardship. I contend that the answer is no, there is no hardship. A perfectly adequate single-family home could be constructed on the existing lot without splitting it into two lots to create two homes.

A “hardship” is not defined as an inability to maximize an investment. Otherwise every lot in Stuart could have an apartment house or office building on it. A “hardship” would be, if the entire original lot would have been only 56 feet wide, while a 60 feet wide minimum was necessary. In that case, then a home would not have been able to be built and a variance would be needed. In that instance it should be granted.

In this case, the Board has exceeded its authority. I agree that this type of housing with ancillary units are desirable for the City. The way to achieve this would be for staff to write a change in the code to allow these units and the City Commission could then vote in favor of doing so. By the Zoning and Appeals Board doing this in an ad hoc manner, it creates the necessity for every property owner to make an appeal in order to have the same outcome.

While the Board may have acted improperly in this case, I don’t believe it was done maliciously or intentionally. What happens is that board members, including commissioners, do not receive the necessary training to fulfill their duties. Education by staff and outside facilitators should be continuous and ongoing. Every meeting should have an agenda item to help in accomplishing just this. When you serve on a board it is more than just showing up. Too bad citizens don’t insist that this occurs.

Why Not Charters For All?

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Florida, as with so much of the rest of the U.S., doesn’t know what it wants its educational system to be. Should it be one that stresses “the 3 Rs” or concentrates on STEM subjects. Some would want it to provide a classical education with the study of Cicero by reading the original text in Latin and Plato in Greek. Each of the above has merit.

What many parents, school boards and teachers believe is that there is far too much testing and not enough emphasis on a well-rounded education. The phrase “teaching to the test” is in almost every conversation that we have regarding our schools. Even with the continuous testing, the U.S. still ranked 31 out of 35 for OECD (The Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation) nations. These numbers are abysmal. Nationally, Florida ranks 29th. So, when we hear that Martin County is number 2 or 3 in the state, that doesn’t give me much cause for joy.

It appears that, as a nation and state, we can’t agree on how and in what subjects our children should be educated. We ask our school systems to come up with a curriculum that will please everyone from the “flat earthers” to those that want quantum physics. Like everything else in America today, we all have our “alternate facts” when discussing public education. In fact, we can’t even decide on the definition of a public school.

Years ago, there were two types of schools — public and private. Most private schools were religion based. There was no such thing as “home schooling.” Parents chose to pay extra to send their children to private school if they thought it was a better education. Today we expect some of our private schools to be publicly supported and we give them the name of Charter Schools.

It may be time that the state declares all schools to be Charter Schools. Let parents decide where to send their children to school, not just based on geography. By use of vouchers, this can become a reality. This approach has been tried in New Orleans with success. There are still academic standards for students to meet. And the state must be ruthless in closing those schools that constantly fail. The state becomes a regulator instead of a provider of education.

This may seem radical, but I know one thing for certain, the present model is not working. It is a failure that is giving our children, at best, a mediocre education. By continuing on the same educational path, we will become less and less competitive in the world. My grandfather, who was an immigrant to America and had at best a rudimentary formal education, could read and speak three languages. My father, who never went to college, could quote St. Augustine, Socrates and recite poetic verse, all of which he learned in school. Can our children do the same?

Godot & The Commission

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The Stuart City Commission has become a re-active body instead of pro-active one. What I mean by that statement is that the Commission is not looking to shape the City’s future.  By simply waiting for something to happen, the City stagnates instead of progressing. Any growth becomes an amalgam of disparate projects without any theme. Without planning for the future, a cohesive vision is not accomplished. So, the Commission does nothing and waits. But what are they waiting for?

This is the 65th anniversary of Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot. The two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot to make an appearance. They inhabit a nihilistic world of gloom. Both Estragon and Vladimir keep saying that they will leave but then they wait because they believe Godot will come — but always tomorrow.

The City of Stuart is more than a decade older than Martin County. When the County was formed, Stuart was where the overwhelming majority of the people lived, worked and shopped. Nearly a century later the County has grown exponentially but not the City. The City’s population is a little over 10% of Martin County’s total population today. The amount of sales tax revenue, gas tax revenue and other appropriations the City receives are based on that proportionately diminished base. Yet, like Vladimir, the City Commission waits.

Pineland Prairie will probably be approved by the County to develop in Palm City. It is a good project. Once fully built out it will have more residents than the City of Stuart. It comprises thousands of acres, yet the plan calls for cluster development. In effect, it will create a city surrounded by open land. Pineland Prairie is innovative. Yet, like Estragon, the City Commision waits.

Our City Commission is averse to workshops on planning for the City’s future. For the last year that I was on the Commission, I worked with staff to have neighborhood meetings to find out what residents thought was important. Unfortunately, the City Manager decided that he didn’t want to know what was on the minds of the people of Stuart. So now Stuart waits.

Stuart’s Godot may come and give the Commission guidance. The present City Commission won’t find a plan on its own. So, the Commission waits. While Vladimir and Estragon waited, they spoke to each other. The City Commission doesn’t do even that. The play’s characters cared about what Godot would say when he appeared. I don’t believe this current City Commission cares at all.

Stuart’s Very Own Masque

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As a kid I remember reading Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death.” In the story, a medieval country was suffering the plague.  Prospero, the ruler of the land, invited a thousand lords and ladies to a masque (another name for a costume party) in his castle.

Prospero thought the elite of the land could stay locked in the castle and wait out the pestilence. An intruder dressed in black, the grim reaper, makes an appearance running through the halls while Prospero calls on his guests to stop him. No one does because of fear. Finally, Prospero grabs hold and immediately dies. The death that the lords and ladies tried to avoid was now in their midst and their fates were revealed in their eyes.

This allegory is based on the 14th century bubonic plague, better known as the Black Death, that killed half of Europe’s population. It shows the futility of hiding from the inevitable. It also illustrates that the elites are not immune just because they are elite. Then and now it proves that we must all pull together to be successful.

Stuart, I fear has been caught in Prospero’s predicament. The plague has entered City Hall and you can no longer lock it out. One by one, City senior staff are leaving. The Fire Chief was first. Then a Battalion Chief, the City Manager’s assistant and the Building Official. The Special Assistant to the City Manager was next, followed by the Director of Public Works. Who knows who will be next.

The City Commission can no longer pretend that City Hall is immune. It is now too late to lock the doors to keep the pestilence from infecting a once competent work force. They, like Prospero’s lords and ladies, invited the carrier into their midst and then did nothing. They danced and pretended that everything was fine…but look deeply in the commissioners’ eyes to see whether the reality has set in. Perhaps they hear a faint beating heart – that’s a Poe story for another day.

Who Is Watching

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Who is watching government?

It became apparent to me that the Stuart City Commission was not concerned whether anyone was watching. Our only local and major news source, The Stuart News, no longer has a reporter routinely assigned to City Hall, or for that matter our County Commission. Sunshine doesn’t mean much if no one is there to pull back the curtain.

Speaking of Sunshine, a look behind the curtain is in order regarding how Nick Blount was chosen at the last meeting to fill my vacated seat.  Nick has been an outstanding member of our community for years. He has served on numerous boards and been involved. He would be an excellent candidate for that seat under any circumstance.

But there were others who have an equal pedigree who also expressed a desire for the appointment. Why weren’t they considered? Why wasn’t there an application process so that other possible candidates could have applied? Commissioner McDonald did motion for a special meeting to discuss the appointment but no one seconded and the motion died. Then Commissioner Bruner moved for Blount to be appointed and it was seconded by McDonald. It passed on a 4-0 vote. The vote seemed almost as if it were staged. There was no discussion or deliberation by the Commission. It reminded me of the old Soviet Politburo.

Stuart is descending even further into shade. Citizens don’t attend meetings. They really don’t seem to care. Millions of tax dollars are being spent with all the trappings of open meetings but none-the-less without the benefit of any scrutiny. The elected officials should be keeping the staff in check. Citizens and the press should be the check on the elected officials. None of this is occurring presently.

All the Sunshine, Open Meetings and Public Records laws mean nothing without citizen participation and scrutiny. What is the sense of these laws when there are no citizens at the meetings to watch, listen, speak and remember at election time? Without a press to report those mundane, routine and yes, at times, boring proceedings, our democracy cannot be sustained.

If local government can’t be responsible and responsive to the citizens then how can state and federal governments be expected to do so? The answer is not in more laws or regulations. It is in the people’s willingness to make sure that self-government works. Sitting on the couch at home and having big opinions won’t help. You becoming involved could make the difference.

The Press & Local Government

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Martin County has a problem. While there are large financial and procedural problems both within the City and County governments, what I am concerned about is much more fundamental. It is simply a lack of press coverage on what those governments are actually doing. Without unbiased reporting, citizens have no idea what their governments are doing in their names.

How can citizens possibly be able to keep tabs on their elected officials if they have no idea what is going on? Sure, we have public meetings, but public meetings do no good if the public has no knowledge of what goes on in those meetings. While at least the City of Stuart’s meetings are held in the evening, Martin County Commission meetings are strictly held in the daytime, precluding most people with a job from attending.

The City’s meetings are streamed and can also be watched later online while the County’s meetings can be seen on MC-20. This is not as helpful as it may seem. What I have discovered is that the best way to keep something secret is to give people too much information without context. Until recent years, that context was provided by the local press.  Our current local press corps has failed us miserably in this respect.

While we have very talented opinion writers in the local newspaper, they are not reporters. They give us their opinions with a certain slant. It is valuable and good reading, but it is not a substitute for the good old-fashioned reporting of “who, what, when, where and why” when writing a news story to inform the public. TV journalism is not relevant in Martin County unless it is to report the sensational. Radio has no news component in local reporting at all.

I can’t blame TC Palm/Treasure Coast Newspapers or any television station for no longer being journalistic in the traditional sense. Perhaps it is too much to ask for any one news source to inform the public. The public has turned away from these conventional sources and want their news from social media. But social media has its limitations for a number of reasons, including the lack of verification of the facts.

I have painted a grim picture. But all the “Sunshine” in the world doesn’t help if no one is watching what government is doing. We have become an electorate of opinions absent the facts. It is a place where our prejudices and suppositions cloud our informed decision-making.  So, we re-elect incumbents without knowing their actual records and votes.

This is ultimately not good for local self-government nor for our democracy. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to Charles Yancey in 1816:

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.”

 

Leadership

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I was in Orlando the last few days participating in a class offered by FLC University, an affiliate of the Florida League of Cities. The purpose of the course for government officials is to make us better leaders. It was very interesting and gave me insight on not only my leadership abilities and style but also how to spot traits in others, including their motivations. It was worth the time to attend.

However, I am not a leader in the conventional sense. Neither I nor any member of the City Commission has any real authority to affect the City’s everyday operations. This sentiment was echoed by the dedicated elected officials who took the class with me. Commissioners don’t have a portfolio or a department that we oversee. We have limited ability to do more than speak with the city manager. This is not the classical definition of a leader. This is not how you would normally accomplish things.

So where does an elected official derive his or her leadership from? The simple answer is from the citizens we represent. Once elected, I stand in for the voters and residents of Stuart. I can express leadership by being the representative of the voters and residents. When speaking to the city manager or staff, I speak for you.

No one commissioner has authority in the traditional sense. The Commission has the authority to vote to appoint the manager but not much else. It is no secret that I believe that the strong manager/weak commission form of government is not accountable to the voters. I think it is the antithesis of what our democracy is all about. Our leaders in the public sector must derive their legitimacy from the people. That can only be done by the people choosing their leaders. It is hard to be a leader without the carrot or stick.

But we do not have that system so I must work within the current one. So, as your elected official, the leadership I show is derived through you. I have only the moral authority that you have provided by your vote. I am your leader for as long as I have your support. My effectiveness for you demands that I have that support. Without it, I have a title but no authority. And, I think you know by now, I didn’t want to be elected to have an empty title.  The reason I ran for Commission was so that I could be your voice in setting policy for the City and to ensure accountability to you rather than to the special interests that often prevail when no one is watching out for the citizens.

Little Corruptions

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On Thursday, February 15th another school massacre occurred. A deranged kid with a gun took 17 lives. The dead were school children and teachers. Most of those lives were extinguished before they had begun.

We have grown accustomed to these incidents. The playbook has been written. There will be tinges of sadness followed by outrage then the political hyperbole about gun control. We will hear that this is not the time to discuss what to do while relatives and loved ones are grieving. And, of course, that old chestnut of “If there were more good people with guns…” There is always an excuse but never any concrete action to curb the violence.

So much of how America operates is dysfunctional. We are a selfish society polarized by politics and inflamed by people with ulterior motives. All of which occurs for the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many. We have become a country that is corrupt. We have not yet become a nation where bribes are expected in order to have our telephones installed. Rather we are more and more morally corrupted by our elites playing on our emotions and beliefs for their own sinister purposes.

Nothing is accomplished by our government of any substance. The perception is now more important than the actual reality. As a society we no longer believe it is wrong that the playing field is not fair. It is alright for those who know the right people to benefit at the public expense. Those very few now manipulate government on all levels for their benefit. The majority no longer counts except as backdrop.

From our educational system to our political system to our financial system, it is now all rigged to enhance those fortunate few. They have cynically taken over the levers of power as their own. They use any means necessary to enhance their positions. They have no core beliefs or principles. There is only the pursuit of power and riches.

So the little corruptions continue. Rational thought and the art of compromise no longer matter in the nation’s public life and is true in our personal ones as well. We believe some of the lies told and shut our eyes and pretend that we do for the rest. This is the America we inhabit where truths are far from self-evident and government is not for all the people.

In the not too distant past, America’s politicians and leaders would never have stood by while these massacres happened. A common sense for the common good would have prevailed. But not today! No, in the name of power and greed Americans, especially our youngest, will continue to die. It is more important that the connected few keep the false feuds going between the American people in the name of political discourse. Then those connected can amass even more money and power. These little corruptions are eating away at the fiber of our nation and ultimately will destroy it.

 

 

Where Is Stuart?

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One of my pet peeves is the number of people that state they live in Stuart when, in actuality, their homes are located in unincorporated Martin County. People living outside the City send emails complaining about something or expressing an opinion regarding an agenda item. What they fail to realize is that they do not vote in the City of Stuart, they do not own property or a business within Stuart, nor do they pay taxes to the City. Yet they believe they should have a say in how Stuart residents govern themselves.

Why is there such a desire by so many non-residents to consider themselves part of our municipal family? The first reason is many have moved to Martin County from somewhere else. Many of Martin County’s new residents originally found us because they vacationed here, or friends and relatives are already living here. Naturally to most of these people, whether they are on Hutchinson Island or in Port Salerno, it is all Stuart. Another reason is because the newspapers and TV stations identify stories as happening within Stuart when identifying the location as Jensen Beach or Rio would be more appropriate.

The third reason is that people don’t quite understand the governmental relationships between Martin County and Stuart. In other parts of the country, counties are not as consequential as towns, cities and villages. School districts are not county-based but could be part of a municipality or an independent district within a municipality. In the New England area, for example, governmental decisions are made at the town level. Counties have very few governmental responsibilities.

The last reason is probably the most prevalent. Martin County grew up around Stuart. The area even beyond the incorporation boundaries became known as Stuart. People became used to saying they lived there even if they lived outside the incorporated area by a street, or even miles. Until relatively recently if you needed to buy something in Martin County, you came to Stuart. If you wanted to eat in a restaurant or go to the movies, you came to the City. That, of course, is no longer true as Martin County has grown exponentially compared to Stuart.

With all that said, as a Stuart City Commissioner, I must remember who I do represent. While the thoughts and opinions of other Martin County residents may be relevant in some cases, I owe my allegiance to those who live within Stuart’s boundaries. As a Commissioner, it is my responsibility to do what’s right for my constituents — the citizens of the City of Stuart.

The Holidays

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The “busy time” of the year is upon us. Soon we will have family and friends at our homes or travel to theirs. Chanukah has already begun with the lighting of the Menorah. Most Christians have their trees lit and outside decorations hung. Kwanzaa will begin on December 26th.  Yes, it’s a time for community, carols, family celebrations and gift giving.

It is also a time of introspection and reflection. A time to take stock in what the past year has brought and what the New Year will hold in store. Memories play an important part during the holiday season – memories of when you were a child, a young parent or, now, a grandparent. Incidents from a particular Christmas Eve or Christmas Day come from the recesses of our minds bringing a bit of warmth, gladness and sometimes a longing sadness.

Some memories of long-ago meals or gatherings still make me smile. I have to watch at least one movie version of Dickens’ Christmas Carol so that the seasonal spirit descends. I want to hear a few religious carols and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Though long gone; Frank, Bing, Perry and Nat need to still be crooning for Christmas to be Christmas.

I still read Clement Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas” at dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as our grown children and their significant others provide the sound effects. Perhaps when I read it this year our infant granddaughter Margot will begin to embrace this family tradition.

Then there is the New Year’s Eve celebration. For many years when we lived in Connecticut, a group of my high school buddies, their spouses and kids (when they were still around) would come to our house and we would have a many-course dinner with paired wines. The house was a great old New England Victorian built in the 1850s, very much suited to celebrating, especially when we had a bit of snow. Now, for the past couple of years, we join a couple and celebrate at their club.

All too rapidly the holiday goes by and we must face the New Year. When I was up north I always thought of January as the beginning of winter. For much of November and the entirety of December, I was enmeshed in preparing or celebrating. In Florida after New Year’s, I anticipate the traffic being a bit worse and the restaurants more filled.

So, for 2018, I want to wish everyone a happy and a safe year. What the coming months will bring is anyone’s guess. Since it is still a fortnight away, we can think about the future as it becomes the present. I want to enjoy every moment of the holiday season.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and a Joyful Kwanzaa to all! I will talk to you in the New Year.