When things die, they can do so slowly and imperceptibly at first. Not only living things perish, so too do cities. Usually it is because their original purpose for being ceases, then they refuse to adapt and adopt new ones. Sometimes it is bad government that leads to the downfall, sometimes it is the hubris of the citizens that refuse to believe that civic death can occur, sometimes it is both.
Barely 6 months ago, a new City Manager came to Stuart. Since that time, most senior staff people have left. Two more departed this week – the Development Director and City Clerk. Could all these employees have been so incompetent that their new boss needed for them to go? Well, he didn’t fire them they just didn’t want to work for him any longer.
Chaos is a sign of incompetence. Stuart’s City Hall is in chaos. While all this turmoil continues to occur, where is the City Manager? Well, this past week he floated in and out of the place. I believe he didn’t even bother to show up for two of the days. Now I understand that he is on vacation until May 5th.
Where is the City Commission during this meltdown? They are nowhere to be seen. They too float in and out of the building. Most of them barely understand the agenda and what is before them. If they did, they couldn’t possibly approve a lease on Monday that will in effect lock up the City Hall peninsula for the next twenty years? Could they approve a lease that gives the tenant $2 million dollars if change were to occur?
The City Commission has done nothing. Not one of them deserve to be re-elected as the people’s voice. A strong manager/weak commission form of government is the worst form imaginable. The only possible way this type of government works is if the Commission does what they are supposed to do. This Commission has not.
In the past 6 months, Stuart has lost a significant amount of talent. Sometimes a new broom needs to sweep out the past. In this case, that did not need to happen. The City is now bereft of managerial depth that may be destructive to our present and future. Taxes will be affected going forward. You can’t spend the amount of money that this manager has on employee buyouts and not continue to draw down reserves or raise taxes.
Where are the supposed civic associations? Politically, the Chamber of Commerce wrote off Stuart a long time ago. Our population is so small that we cannot sway an election. Stuart is impotent in the county or statewide. Main Street’s and the Downtown Business Association’s members are beholden to the Manager and Commission so that their individual projects move forward. They aren’t making waves because of their need to maintain good relations with City Hall. Our press has been missing in action for years now. Is there any wonder that fewer and fewer people bother to subscribe?
Most citizens don’t want to be involved. They just want things to stay as they are. Well my fellow citizens, things don’t just stay as they are. Each and every action has consequences. If you don’t hold Commissioners responsible, you end up with irresponsible Commissioners. If you have a head of government that is so uninformed and uninvolved, then you have a mass exodus of competent employees. Things don’t stay the same. They can’t, no matter how much we would like them to be the same. But things can be managed to achieve the best possible outcomes.
The citizens of Stuart need to stand up and sweep the current Commission out of office. It doesn’t matter whether they are nice, it doesn’t matter if they are your friends. Commissioners are not there to be your best friend but to be your economic protector and stalwart. They are not there to rattle on from the dais with inane speeches. In two or five or ten years from now, when taxes are high and economic development is completely gone, it will be too late.