WHERE MARTIN STANDS

When did just playing ball become a big deal? I hate to sound like an old man even though I am. As a kid, all that was needed was a ball with other equipment optional. Most of our games were played in the street or alleys with a manhole cover or sidewalk crack as our boundaries. When we had enough of a group to warrant playing in a park, the “field” would be either dirt or concrete.

Astoria Pool was one of 11 municipal pools built by Robert Moses during the 1930s. It was here, and at other smaller pools, that my friends and I would go to cool off during the hot summer months. We would also take advantage of the municipal beaches, arriving by bus and subway. Every playground that I remember had swings, slides, monkey bars and what would today be called a splash pad. They were built to keep kids from using hydrants.

There was Little League and Pop Warner football, but most of the kids I knew were self-taught or got tips from each other or someone’s father or older brother. We just weren’t so organized as today. In the summer, you got up in the morning and just played — whether it was box ball or “war.” If you didn’t have a toy gun, you had a stick.

New York did have parks. In those parks, there were recreation professionals that we called “parkies.” They would make sure that kids behaved, and handed out basketballs, chess and checker sets and crayons with paper. The year before I started in first grade, my kindergarten was the neighborhood park. My mother would drop my brother and I off in the morning for half the year and after lunch for the other half. The “parkie” was our teacher since there was no room in the local school and I guess it was not mandatory to attend school until first grade.

So, what does any of this have to do with Martin County? Nothing and everything. I think we forgot what public recreation should be. Does it need to be as primitive as it was in my childhood? I hope not! But it certainly need not encompass amusement parks and aquatic centers. Our ballfields need not be built for travel leagues. We should have more recreational pools not more competitive swimming. Our golf course should not try to rival a private club.

Parks should not be profit or tourism centers. They should be adequate for our residents to throw a football or hit a golf ball. Instead of building a PGA course with the accouterments of a professional club, how about building a place to spend a few hours outdoors and grab a beer? Instead of a place to hold swimming meets for participants from everywhere, how about a place for Martin County kids and families to gather and cool off?

The BOCC can’t seem to just provide a place to have a good time. It needs to be superlative, fascinating, and spectacular. How about a place to just play and relax? Our tax dollars would go further and more of the public could be served. Now isn’t that a novel idea.

Excerpt from this edition of Friends & Neighbors. To receive  your free copy send your email address to tom@tomcampenniforstuart@gmail.com

Why do some elected officials believe that speaking on every agenda item is important during a meeting?

Is it that they like the sound of their voices? It can’t be for their oratorical ability. Perhaps, in Commissioner Fielding’s case, it is the last hurrah.

During this last BOCC meeting, there was no shortage of verbosity on the dais. I was singularly unimpressed with most of it. While a few Commissioners may feel that they are educating the public, I think it can show how little they actually do know. The more they talk, the less they listen to each other and the public. The public returns the favor. In other words, the Commission speaks an infinite deal of nothing.

Many may think that the current White House resembles a reality television show. I think the BOCC can be characterized as being populated by characters from Shakespeare’s plays.

There is a character much like Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor and the companion of Prince Hal in Henry IV. He boasts of past accomplishments and positions. Falstaff’s supposed expertise does not fool the women in Windsor or Prince Hal in Henry IV.

Then there is the Puck from A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The actor playing Puck leaves character at the end of the play to let us know that he knows that it is a play and not for real. Puck realizes, to take a line from another play, that “All the world’s a stage.”  It is nice that the Commissioner recognizes the joke.

We have our scorned Hero in Much Ado About Nothing who has been falsely accused of infidelity and not being true to her fiancé. She redeems herself through pretense. We think that she has shuffled off this mortal coil, but she springs back to life in the final act. Many await the results of December to see whether there will be a winter of discontent as a prelude to the glorious sun of summer.

Finally, I see the characters of Valentine and Proteus from Two Gentlemen from Verona. In one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, the duo compliments each other as they travel the Italian countryside (or governmental paths). We know the outcome of the conversation before the last words are uttered.

As I watched the last meeting, my mind wandered to these characters of fiction. It was a long meeting. There were some things of substance, but the rest was much ado about nothing. Yet our Commissioners had to go on as if the meeting was the thing.

After the election, when a new character is introduced, the Commission dynamic will change. Will the new character be Hero’s Beatrice or Falstaff’s squire? If we are lucky, the new Commissioner will not want to be anything but a Commissioner. Wouldn’t that be a novelty?

GOLF COURSE

Looks like another extravaganza is in the making!

This proposal is 56% lower in cost than the last estimate in May. It is surely an improvement. The clubhouse has been scaled back from 10,400 sq. feet to 3600. However, the cost for construction will be $478 per square foot, which includes a portion under covered outdoor space. Now that is austerity—at least as far as Mr. Abbate at Parks & Rec is concerned.

There is an additional $864,000 for landscaping irrigation, lighting, and parking for the clubhouse. The total estimated cost for a new clubhouse is $2,584,000. Living large!!!

Golf Course improvements to the Red and the White Courses, which are the nine-hole courses, would be $2,790,000 with the Pro Shop costing an additional $150,000. The total amount to be spent in the 2020 budget year would be $5,524,000.

In 2021, an additional $565,000 would be budgeted for exotic removals. Budget year 2023 has $875,000 for the Gold Course improvements and the same in 2024 for the Blue Course. The total, if there are no additional funds expended, would be $7,274,565.

What can one say? Recreation in Martin County isn’t cheap. You want to buy a hotdog at the beach? Create a restaurant. You want to take a swim? Build a water amusement park as if you were Disney. And if you want to play a round of golf, build Augusta. This is our mindset. This is bankrupting our County.

The Martin County Taxpayers Association came up with a plan to play golf, have a sandwich and a drink, a pro shop and a driving range. The renovation cost would have been paid by selling 9 of the 36 holes to the Airport Enterprise Zone. The airport would have had room to expand their light manufacturing space which, in turn, would have brought jobs and tax revenue.

Yes, this plan is much better than the one that was presented in May. It still has a long way to go. It goes back to what should government provide? A ballfield that rivals that of the St. Lucie Mets or a place for kids to learn to play ball? The ambiance of a private club or a place to play an inexpensive round of golf?

To Receive Your Copy of Friends & Neighbors of Martin County Send Your email address to: tom@tomcampenniforstuart.com

Has Stuart found the right City Manager in David Dyess?

David Dyess has devoted himself to the City of Stuart.

Since joining the Stuart Police Department nearly 30 years ago, Dyess has risen in the ranks to become Chief of Police. His service and devotion to the City was and is evident in every rank he has held, from patrol officer to chief. Upon becoming chief, he instituted a neighborhood policing strategy that has proven very successful, especially in East Stuart. His technological expertise has brought the Police Department into the 21^st century.

As Interim City Manager, Dyess is constantly involved in neighborhood events. This, of course, is no different than from his career in the Stuart Police Department. As volunteers, we have worked together at the East Stuart Partnership, NAACP, Neighborhood Watch and any number of other events. Together with his wife, Karen, he is a fixture throughout our City doing good deeds and helping others.

While being involved in the life of the City is important, what is even more cogent is his managerial and people skills. Four months ago, he assumed the position of Interim City Manager at a time of low morale at City Hall. Through hard work and a sympathetic but no-nonsense approach, he has reinvigorated our City workforce. It is nice to see smiles on their faces again.

He has made a good hire in Kevin Freeman as Director of the Development Department and placed the CRA back where it belongs in Development. Dyess’s appointment of Joe Tumminelli to be Interim Chief of Police has proven to be a sound decision.

However, with the word interim in front of Dyess’s title, there is still uncertainty, and that uncertainty is something that the City needs to put behind it. Stuart needs the certainty of knowing who is in charge.

There are others that might have better credentials on paper (we had one of those briefly, and the result was a disaster), but no one who has the confidence of our citizens, knows the terrain, and can bring a lifetime of common-sense knowledge to this job. Without knowing it, Dyess has been preparing to be our City Manager from the time he was a young boy growing up on Manor Drive.

It is time that the City Commission removes “Interim” from “City Manager.” For the past 4 months, David Dyess has been demonstrating his abilities and has been auditioning for the job. There is nothing more that he needs to show. He hasn’t failed us when we needed him most. To the majority of citizens he has passed the test.

How do we pay for government and what services should it provide?

Government does not operate as the private sector does.

For the most part, governmental entities do not care about market forces or what services to provide based on a profit motive. In the private sector, a business decides that a niche exists in the market and then will produce a service or product in order to fill that niche.

For example, if you want to buy an auto, there are many different brands of cars that can appeal to different segments of the market. Royal Royce sells to a very small super-rich segment. Toyota and Ford make cars that appeal to many more economically diverse groups of people. Even the way they go about marketing to customers is different. One advertises extensively using many different methods while the other manufacturer hardly markets its cars at all.

In the private market, the business sets the price based on what it costs to produce the product or service and, most importantly, the profit it wishes to achieve. Their profit margin can be anything that the market will bear. Business even sometimes sells at a loss to build their brand or encourage consumers to try other products that they provide. If the business is wrong about the price or the desire for the product they sell, they will fail and close their doors.

In the public sector, that is just not true. The public sector or government should provide services that the private sector is incapable of providing. The private sector may be incapable because the service is not economically viable but is still very necessary to society.

An example would be policing. The private sector is completely capable of providing security to a gated community. The security companies have guards to man the gatehouse, patrol within the walled compound, and call law enforcement to make the arrest when necessary.

Private security could not provide general law enforcement to our neighborhoods on terms that society would expect or accept. Could the private sector do so cheaper than a public law enforcement agency? Perhaps they could, but those type of services should not only be a matter of cost.

We expect our police to have high standards of professionalism and training. Each day an officer or deputy decides on whether to make an arrest, give a ticket or how to defuse a domestic situation, acting in the public’s name. They go through hours of continuous training. That cop you see on the street today is not a security guard. She may have a college degree in law enforcement. If a deputy wants to progress in his career, he will need to have one or more master’s degrees and, in some cases, a doctorate or even a law degree.

Economically, the private sector would not be able to place the same caliber individual onto the street, make a profit and charge less. And, a private sector employee should not be able to deprive an individual of his freedom, rights, or life.

But, while the private sector cannot effectively provide police services, it does a great job at running amusement parks. In fact, is there anyone that does that better than Disney? We can then agree that roller coasters should be left to the private sector.

Then what about Martin County’s Sailfish Water Park? Why is the public asked to subsidize this supposed public necessity? If there is enough of a desire by the public to have this amusement park, wouldn’t the private sector have built it? More importantly, a private operator would need to make a profit and not have recurring losses while still being told by the board of directors (in our case the Board of County Commissioners) what a good job he or she is doing.

Then, should government be providing ball fields, hiking trails and playgrounds? I would say the answer is yes. Our parks are considered public areas that are open to all regardless of economic status. Martin County has public beaches so that our citizens can enjoy the ocean. Even a community pool open to all residents has a public policy purpose that can be publicly supported. The problem becomes when government insists that the public pool morph into an amusement park under the pretense of paying for the pool.

Should there be a public golf course? I believe the answer is yes. It should not, however, try to be a country club. Just as public ball fields should not mirror major league stadiums, neither should a publicly owned golf course need to feature the same level of play as those in the private sector. It should offer the basics with perhaps ancillary features such as a snack bar and golf lessons. These incidental amenities should be operated by businesses paying rent or fees to help maintain the facility. The same would apply at all recreational public facilities from beaches to other parks. The public sector has proven time and time again that restaurants or umbrella rentals operate much better in the private domain.

The public sector is not a private entity. While it can learn from the private sector, it can’t operate like it. There is no profit motive. Government services should be open to all sectors of the community regardless of ability to pay.

In forming a government, the people has done so to protect the common good. Government is an altruistic endeavor. We give it extraordinary power over our individual rights. Therefore, it is incumbent on citizens to make sure the organization that we have created does not go off in unintended and unnecessary directions. Nor should government infringe on the private sector unless the private sector is unable to provide products and services deemed necessary in a cost-efficient manner to all citizens.

In the next blog post on this subject, I will examine how society pays for the cost of government services.

Well, Brightline had a big win last week with Florida’s approval to issue $1.15 billion in tax-free private activity bonds. With this development, Washington’s acquiescence in issuing the necessary permits, and several losses in the courts; it appears that Brightline is going to come through the Treasure Coast, Martin County and Stuart. This is something I thought would never ever happen. I was wrong.

I guess it doesn’t hurt that the fix was in from the beginning. The large counties to the south and north, with the bulk of Florida’s population, wanted it. The political insiders, including Governor Scott, wanted it. And the politicians in Washington, who expedited permits and approvals wanted it. In other words, the Treasure Coast didn’t stand a chance in stopping it.

It doesn’t matter that the train makes no sense economically. Those that will buy the bonds know that the government will step in if failure comes before the payments are finished. Washington and Tallahassee have sent out enough signals that this will occur.

Should Martin County and Stuart continue to close their eyes and pretend that Brightline is just a bad dream? We will absolutely spend millions of taxpayer dollars in the coming years for maintenance at our railroad crossings. So, what can we do?

Brightline wants to place a station in Stuart. But they want to make sure that we are enthusiastically on board, so to speak. Before jumping up and down and screaming “No Way,” we should not only consider it but affirmatively want it. I have two big reasons for saying yes. One, if we are going to have all the negative effects I would like to see a benefit. Having a station is a benefit.

The second reason is that less than a decade ago we were talking about building a multi-modal transportation center including a Tri-Rail or Amtrak stop. If Brightline wants to build the station on private property, not using Stuart or Martin County funds, then how could we stop them, or should we? All along the Treasure Coast has acted as if we had a veto over Brightline. Guess what, we never did. Federal and State law was always in the railroad’s favor.

Maybe it is time to take the bushels of lemons that are on our doorstep and make lemonade.

To read more:

http://tomcampenni.com/2018/09/01/brightline-is-coming/