Tom Campenni
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IN THIS EDITION OF THE NEWSLETTER
It has been a busy couple of weeks!
There has been no shortage of issues that our area has been debating. One has been the Costco approval. After literally years, the city commission unanimously approved the project. My piece below is glad that they did. Frank McChrystal’s expresses the opposite opinion.
The other one is the continuing and worsening Covid crisis in our area. The stats would bear that out. Our hospitals are stopping elective procedures and turning more and more beds over to treating Covid patients. Almost everyone who is in the ICU or on a ventilator is unvaccinated. Those are not my statistics but from Rob Lord president of Cleveland Clinic/Martin Health and Governor DeSantis’ own health department.
We will have to live with the virus surges going forward for many years. There is a way to all but eliminate this threat and that is vaccination. If people decided not to be vaccinated for smallpox, polio, or mumps, then those diseases would still be ravaging through society. Welcome to the 16th century!
Dr. Michele Libman in her column answers questions concerning COVID. Jackie Hofelder has her monthly section on nonprofit happenings. Do not forget to read our “Letters To Tom.” You can even write one and let me know what is on your mind.
We have our latest from Missi Campbell about Palm City, David Hafner on the Martin County Fair, Darlene VanRiper on home insurance, Tom Pine on safety, and our BDB update. The Taxpayers Association has contributed a recent piece on Florida’s failing tax system as well as our Constitutional Corner.
We have in-depth reporting and commentary on Stuart’s commission meeting approving Costco, Sewall’s Point’s latest on a fractured commission and of course the county, school board and other municipalities. So, enjoy!
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COSTCO IS COMING!
In a unanimous decision, the Stuart City Commission passed the Kanner PUD that included Costco.
This is a perfect case study in the role of government in local land use decisions because, contrary to what many believe, the commission does not have absolute authority and must weigh competing interests while following the law. Yes, there can be a judgmental element to their decisions, but they are often restricted in just how far they can go. In many instances, they must ignore their personal feelings.
Similar to a district court judge weighing the evidence in a trial, commissioners need to apply the law to the facts of the case. That is not an easy thing to do. What makes this even harder for most of commissioners is they too have those same competing beliefs as some of the speakers. Duty and the need to follow the law will ultimately force them to make the decision which may not always be what their supporters want.
In the Kanner PUD discussion, interpretation of the comp plan was central. There are 11 elements to the plan plus amendments. While the protection of wetlands is contained in it, so are housing, economics, infrastructure, transportation and so much more. Both intervenors, Linda Kay Richards and Brian DiVentura, made it seem that the property could not be developed to capacity because of wetlands.
The comp plan specifically allows for mitigation of wetlands off the property at Bluefield Ranch. The developer is also receiving credit further by taking advantage on site by his storm water plan.
According to the federal government, these wetlands were the result of man-made ditches and excavations and were classified as degraded. They were not natural wetlands. If they were how would they have been able to support crops for decades. U.S. Fish and Wildlife has an entire website devoted to wetlands and classifying them. It can be found here
Remember this was not pristine Florida savanna but rather an old farm. Man had already impacted the land. Based on this evidence alone, the commission realized that they could not deny the use without it probably be considered an unjust taking.
Another intervenor expert claimed there were endangered species. Yet there was no evidence that any of the sighted bird species nested on the property. Only migratory patterns were noticed. Because of the innovative stormwater techniques, the improvements will probably result in having a better habitat and perhaps nesting birds within a few years. This is not a rookery for these birds. This is far from a reason to deny an application.
Ms. Richard’s expert did find endangered plants on the property. This was quickly solved by having a condition to approve predicated on replanting those plants or incorporating them on the site. In fact, the city has placed 40 conditions on the project in addition to the development codes and the building codes. One of the conditions has 11 sub conditions.
Many people stated that the Costco should go “elsewhere.” It is a complete lack of understanding on the part of those speakers that would lead them to believe that the commission can ban this use and send it “elsewhere.” Many believed that sending it to the edge of or beyond the Urban Services Boundary would be appropriate. In most of the vacant parcels in the west are true wetlands.
Both Meier and Matheson stated that even if the Costco decided to go past I-95 and the turnpike, they would rightly consider that sprawl.
HB-487, which was signed into law recently, states that going forward any project of less than 50 acres (which this project is) would not even need to go to the state for review as this one did. It is now considered a minor amendment to the plan. The Community Planning Act which governs the need for comp plans requires that local government has a balanced approach to a project that includes economic, social, physical, environmental, and fiscal determinants. In other words, the commissioners would be doing a disservice to pick only one element of a plan to decide.
Both intervenors are not wrong in their desires to keep things the same. Like most of us, they are change adverse. Ms. Richards grew up there. She played in those abandoned farm fields that her family had once owned for years. The land became her own overgrown secret garden. I do not blame her for trying, and I might do the same thing. Commissioners need to think more broadly about what is necessary.
Having been involved in this process as a resident and professionally in other places, I have heard this refrain before about the damage brought to communities by new businesses and buildings. In my experience, damage doesn’t occur, but change does. New opportunities and people are the by-product, not waste and destruction.
Matheson ( City Of Stuart)
During the deliberation by the commission, Meier asked Matheson what else he thought could this location be used for. Matheson responded housing, retail, and mixed use. That is what this PUD is. Only this time the developer has made many compromises to get the approval because of the commission. The developer even worked with Ms. Richard’s family and tore up a full site plan to make accommodations that they requested.
Make no mistake…if the commission had denied this project, a court would probably have found that the developer had been denied the full use of the property.
It is a balancing act. The commissioners were accomplished and successful jugglers. They knew how far to push to extract the most without going over the line.
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WHAT IS ANNEXATION?
Martin County residents often misunderstand municipal annexation. That misunderstanding also occurs with some elected officials.
Annexation is covered by Florida Statute 171. While there are several annexation scenarios ranging from entire neighborhoods being voluntarily annexed to involuntary annexation, I will concentrate on the only type that has occurred in Stuart and Martin County. That situation occurs when an owner of a property that is adjacent to the city’s border petitions to be annexed into the City of Stuart. I want to make it quite clear that Stuart does not solicit property owners.
In order to understand why owners might want to be annexed into Stuart, it is important to understand why state statute allows for annexations.
Counties are political subdivisions of the state of Florida. They were originally conceived of nothing more than a convenience for citizens to register to vote, record a deed, or have their day in court. It sure beats going to Tallahassee to do any of this.
Some states, such as Connecticut, do not have any county government. All local government is on a municipal level there. The state operates local branches for services like the DMV or uses municipal clerks much as Florida uses their constitutional officers. Connecticut and others without county government tend to be in smaller geographical states, where driving to the state capitol is not that difficult.
Florida, on the other hand, is a large state that until quite recently was very rural in nature. Large population centers were nonexistent for most of the state’s history. County government evolved because of a lack of villages and towns. Because counties are a surrogate for the state, they have constitutional officers, a branch of the state court, and a sheriff.
Once an area became populated enough to want or need municipal services like city water or police, towns were formed. As adjacent areas became more urban, those areas were either annexed into exiting municipalities or formed their own. Counties were never meant to provide municipal services.
Martin County is an example of what happens when a county goes into competition and provides municipal services. You can easily tell when a county is providing those services because they have a Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) in unincorporated areas to pay for things like Fire/Rescue.
This competition spills over into the reasons for annexation. Today, there is no reason to be annexed into Stuart to gain municipal services. But, if you are a property owner that is contiguous with a municipality and want to develop your property, you would see where the best zoning and Local Development Regulations (LDRs) are for your plans. By annexing into Stuart, the property owner may pay more in taxes since he is paying both county and city but under current circumstances will be able to build a larger project.
Stuart gains because the project brings new tax revenue without the city spending little, if anything, to service the project. And even the county comes out better because while they may lose jurisdiction, they will collect taxes since all properties pay into the county’s general fund whether in the unincorporated section or in a municipality. The project will have a greater assessed value because it will be allowed to be larger giving the county more revenue.
It is a win-win-win situation for all parties. Some county commissioners will act as if they are powerless to stop annexations. In a conventional sense of whether they get a vote or not, it is true. Yet to do so, they would only need to change the zoning and LDRs to match Stuart’s.
Why do that and take political heat such as city commissioners did over Costco when annexation is a great way to increase the County’s bottom line and blame the other guy?
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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BOARD BENT
By Joan Goodrich
CEO BDBMC
Joan Goodrich from BDB
The labor crisis vexing the country is on display not only in news stories but also storefronts. We’ve all seen the signs in businesses announcing reduced hours or additional days closed due to staff shortages.
This challenge isn’t only affecting retail outlets and restaurants but core industries as well. The pipeline of aspiring pilots needs to fill up faster to accommodate the openings and opportunities in aviation, we recently learned thanks to Tomas “Tommy” Bueno, CEO of SkyBlue Jet Aviation based at Witham Field in Stuart.
Tommy serves on the board of directors that oversees the Business Development Board. This assembly of local leaders comprises a wide variety of CEOs, employers and entrepreneurs that live, breathe, and sleep their professions—granting us incredible insight into the bedrock employment bases that anchor our economy.
“In aviation over 2 million jobs need to be created over the next 20 years,” Tommy says.
The current and future openings spread across the aviation industry, but the demand for pilots is perhaps the most surprising.
Industry experts point to several factors contributing to the shortage of pilots, including:
- Airlines, during the early Covid slowdown, slashing capacity and offering generous retirement packages
- Mandatory retirements at 65 for commercial airline pilots
- Military pilots choosing to remain in the service for longer periods
Aviation is an exciting career field. So, inspiring the next generation of talent comes naturally. Fortunately for us, Martin County is home to many great aviation businesses.
A 2019 report by the Florida Department of Transportation on economic impacts of Witham Field found it supported more than 3,000 jobs, contributed to total payrolls exceeding $200 million and generated nearly $800 million in total economic activity.
Right now, the Business Development Board of Martin County is engaged in telling the stories of our core industries—our hubs of excellence—and we’ll be sharing more in the future. But we urge you to spread the word too, particularly if you have a child or grandchild who’s looking for an interesting career and hoping (or maybe those hopes belong to parents and grandparents) to remain in the area.
With proper training, flying hours and certifications among the requirements—though not always college degrees—piloting aircraft is one promising profession among many in aviation where lots of opportunity awaits.
“This is a growth area,” says Tommy, “that nobody’s chasing—and an opportunity for Martin County to do so.”
Joan Goodrich’s opinions are his own and may not reflect Friends & Neighbors viewpoint.
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PINE’S PONDERING
By Tom Pine
Florida always ranks high on lists with fatalities of pedestrians and bicyclists, so how do we fair in the four recently completed community redevelopment areas in Martin County.
The first one was on Indian river Drive in the center of Ocean Breeze Park. There is no bike lane. The claim was there wasn’t enough room, but they had enough room to put five small islands in the middle of the road where they installed speed bumps. There have been at least two accidents involving trees in these islands, but not enough room for bike lanes.
On to Rio, Dixie Highway, once again no bike lanes but there was enough room to put in an island for several blocks and a 1.5-million-dollar circle. The only reason the circle is located there is because the people in power wanted a piece of art in the middle of the road, both side streets at the circle are dead ends.
There was recently a beautiful metal sculpture donated for the art piece in the circle, not bad we, the taxpayers, only had to pay 1.5 million dollars for the pedestal.
Hobe Sound, Bridge Road, once again no bike lane. While there are no circles or median its packed and they added a different twist, back in angle parking. I have been down there several times since its completion and it’s about a fifty-fifty split whether the driver backs in or pulls in. I feel eventually it will be changed back to the old standard way of just pulling in because the driving lanes are so narrow, and the parking spaces themselves are also very narrow which makes it very difficult to park. In other areas the parking spaces are so short that your car is either part way into the street or over the sidewalk.
Now to the last area, which is not complete, Palm City, Map Road. YES, there is actually a bike lane and the street itself is not packed.
When it comes to bike lanes Martin County is a good example of why there are so many bike fatalities in Florida and as we are now full speed ahead with development the fatalities are sure to raise their ugly head. If you ask the people in power about bike lanes, they will probably tell you about the beautiful bike trails throughout the county, because they don’t understand the many Martin County residents use bikes for transportation not just for enjoyment and exercise, and so do our youth use them for transportation.
Truth to power
Tom Pine’s opinions are his own and may not reflect Friends & Neighbors viewpoint.
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McCHRYSTAL’S MEANDERINGS
By Frank McChrystal
At the City of Stuart Costco meeting, the expert witness for the smart growth crowd eviscerated the developer “big guns” like never before. It was a David vs. Goliath win for the Martin County record books. I could not believe it was happening.
Dr. Tice provided compelling evidence that the Costco development violates Stuart’s own comprehensive plan. And I quote, “One of the biggest issues that comes up is this idea of cluster development. The parcels around this project have at great expense and great care, exercised use of cluster development patterns as referred to in policy 1.A.2.1.”
Cluster Development calls for identifying conservation to preserve, site planning to optimize conservation views, and then laying in roads that avoid natural systems. This cluster development policy is firmly entrenched within our comprehensive plan. Some examples of this smart growth cluster development include The Crossings, which is across from the Costco site, Montego Cove, and believe it or not, the nearby Cleveland Clinic. Cluster development patterns are firmly entrenched in our comprehensive plan.
Dr. Tice continues with much more compelling evidence other than planning issues. Everyone should watch this meeting on YouTube. Dr. Tice’s testimony starts at 4:47. No need to believe me this time, it’s all on tape.
When the city commissioners approved the development 5 – 0. I was a little surprised. I did not expect a unanimous vote.
I have come to some negative conclusions about our city and its leaders. The commission as a group does not have the mental capacity to think critically. The city is broke and needs to approve as much development as possible for tax revenue. Or….I won’t mention the real elephant in the room. This is disappointing because I really had hope for the new young guys.
So, as a resident of the City of Stuart, I apologize. We have become the tip of the spear in the browardization of Martin County. I am not proud.
Frank McChrystal’s opinions are his own and may not reflect Friends & Neighbors viewpoint.
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VANRIPER’S VIEWS
By Darlene VanRiper
I recently read that Florida’s property insurers were underfunded and would be unable to provide payment if we had a catastrophic event. With Dorian not so far from memory and the never-ending reminders that we are right in the middle of the hurricane season of 2021, I decided to investigate the claim.
The accusation goes like this… after Andrew when all the blue-chip insurers left the state, Citizens was created out of desperation. The government of Florida not wanting to socialize property insurance, allowed second tier companies access.
I spoke with a seasoned and well-established agent. He explained that it isn’t the amount of reserves (it’s called “surplus” in the insurance biz) that companies have which would enable them to pay claims. Their re-insurance contracts with global re-insurers would supplement their reserves. Global re-insurers take everything going on in the world to assess risk. A much broader view indeed.
So, when our insurance rates go up it’s not your agent’s fault, the government’s fault, or even your insurance company’s fault. It is “surplus” vs. exposure.
When you think of it this way, a single Dorian is not as worrying to insurance companies as several lesser storms in the same year. Andrew was actually low on the probable maximum loss indicator. Irma was a bad storm, but what was so damaging was that it hit all 67 counties in Florida! That really drives up re-insurance costs. Recall, this all trickles down to us.
Another interesting fact I learned during our conversation was that 25% of all flood claims are in areas not designated as flood prone. In fact, all of Florida is considered to be a flood zone. There are just varying degrees within it. X zone or B zone are “water accumulation” areas whereas someplace like Jupiter Island would be classified as a V zone or “wave action” area depending on elevation. As of only 5 years ago, a homeowner could only buy flood insurance from FEMA! Thankfully, insurance companies have recognized the need and can customize to your specific requirement.
One mistake that most of us homeowners make is not sitting down with our agents to have an in-depth conversation so that we can in fact, customize our homeowner’s insurance. According to my very informative agent friend, this is VITAL! And it is our responsibility as homeowners to take this step. If you are like me, I quickly scan the declaration page to see if anything changed from the last issuance. Anything more than that and my eyes glaze over.
So just how do we protect ourselves and customize our insurance? All insurance agents are NOT created equal. Check out yours on the Florida Department of Financial Services (FLDFS) You can search through the name of the agency here
Also, a very useful tool for checking the FSR (Financial Stability Rating) of an insurance company that your agent has placed you with is Demotech. http://demotech.com/ Demotech is the Standard and Poors for insurance companies. You can simply search your company and immediately a rating appears. A Double Prime is the best rating and on down to “unrated” which means the company has paid the fee to be rated, they have decided it best not to disclose that rating. Humm.
And what do we expect if we do get hit by a Dorian? Your insurance company will reach out to you! That’s why it’s important to set up a portal to ensure communication capability. Some companies will actually start the process before you even reach out to them. Usually, this contact is made within 48 hours of the event.
Afterall, they know which areas were hit and how hard. It is NOT first come, first serve. So, don’t panic after the storm. The companies will do an initial triage. They are going to help the client without a roof before they are going to help you replace your deck. This process is severity based. Remember 80% of Florida’s population is within 20 minutes of a coast.
The actual wait may be made longer because of a scarcity of adjusters. If there is a widespread path of destruction, thousands of adjusters will be needed. Look at the bigger picture and count any blessings you can. If you want to begin the process of repairing your home instead of waiting you can do that to a certain extent. This is a conversation to have with your agent.
Document, take pictures, keep receipts, and ask what repairs you can make. Just remember if you replace a linoleum countertop with granite, your insurance company WILL not pay the difference in the upgrade. Be honest with your agent. He or she may be able to influence the decision to some extent especially if they are well established and have worked with that insurance company for a while. But only if they have accurate information.
WATCH OUT for door-to-door roof salesmen and such claiming they will deal with your insurance provider. Employing them often actually shuts the door to negotiation.
Another fear people have is that if they file a claim, their rates will go up. Not for Acts of God claims.
So, consider the whole picture and where in line your situation places you. Have patience because you will get paid. Above all, the time to prepare yourself is now. Sit down with your agent and have a lengthy detailed conversation.
Darlene VanRiper’s opinions are his own and may not reflect Friends & Neighbors viewpoint.
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HAFNER’S CORNER
By David Hafner
The Martin County Fair and Youth Livestock Show is more than nine days of rides, food, and games.
To me the Martin County Fair is the place for our youth to show off the results of their early mornings, late evenings, and weekends times spent raising animals for the Youth Livestock Show. It is where baked goods, photography, paintings, drawings, and quilts are judged and on display. It is where agricultural exhibits and hands-on learning about farming are on display. It is full of entertainment from 1st class musical talents, comedy shows, and daring stunt acts. It is where we can all be a kid with corn dogs, kettle corn, and cotton candy. And still the fairgrounds are so much more.
Aside from those nine days of entertainment the fairgrounds is used as a staging area for the White Doves, for Waste Management, for Covid testing, for parade floats, for gun shows and home shows, for a world class youth robotics team (see S.P.A.M. Robotics https://www.frcteam180.com/), and I could go on. The fairgrounds in and of itself is integral for municipal, community, and non-profit use all year long.
Since its founding in 1959, the Martin County Fair and Youth Livestock Show has grown from carnival rides and dirt track races to what you experience today. But it is now bursting at the seams of the 11.6-acre site and the parking across the street is slowly disappearing as the Stuart airport expands.
In January of 2019 the Martin County Board of County Commissioners approved for the fair to move to a new 107-acre home on Citrus Boulevard in Indiantown, giving the fair room to breathe and grow into the year-round Treasure Coast Agriplex. So, what is stopping the move?
To put it simply, money. In order for the fair to move to the new location the fair must show money coming in or in-kind donations of services needed to complete the projects necessary for the fair to operate. Land clearing and leveling, drainage and water services, and barn and office construction are at the forefront. The fair needs donors of all sizes, but a few investors looking for naming rights on buildings at the coming Treasure Coast Agriplex would be a great place to start.
Keep an eye out for upcoming events and save the date for the 2022 Martin County Fair and Youth Livestock Show February 11-19 at 2616 SE Dixie Hwy, Stuart, FL 34996.
David Hafner’s opinions are his own and may not reflect Friends & Neighbors viewpoint.
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JURGENS JOURNAL
By Kallie Jurgens
All of us worry about potential seasonal hurricanes and the destruction they can wreck on our local waters. While we cannot control their impact on our precious environment, we can control our waterways through intelligent government planning and persistence.
I am thankful both Governor Ron DeSantis and Congressman Brian Mast have been tireless in protecting Martin County waters, especially the St. Lucie and Indian Rivers. Governor DeSantis was instrumental shepherding the Clean Waterways Act, SB 712 in 2020 which passed in the FL Legislature with bipartisan support and specifically aimed at minimizing the impact of known sources of nutrient pollution.
Key to keeping our water clean is a biennial bill that winds its way through Congress—The Water Resources Development Act authorizing new national water infrastructure projects and improvements to water programs. When Congressman Mast was elected in 2016, he sought membership on the powerful Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. By doing so, he’s been able to focus on our water quality—pushing for the construction of the EAA Southern Storage Reservoir and preventing toxic discharges from Lake Okeechobee —two key issues for Martin County.
Mast speeded up the EAA Southern Storage Reservoir allowing the Army Corps of Engineers to begin building it. The Corps had dragged their heels saying the reservoir requires a “new start” designation. Mast’s provision in the bill says the Corps does not need a “new start” or other authorization to begin construction. The project expands the system’s capacity and increases water sent south to the Everglades.
As we all know, Lake Okeechobee discharges damage Martin County waters because they contain toxic algal blooms and the lake’s freshwater going into a brackish estuary kills plant life, harms animals and destroys the environment. Mast’s amendment in the bill directs the Army Corps to minimize discharges to the estuaries and to consider a total prohibition of discharges to the St. Lucie Estuary and Caloosahatchee Estuary by sending water south of Lake Okeechobee.
While good things are happening for Martin County waterways, it’s imperative we all try to stay on top of what DeSantis and Mast are doing to protect our environment. And to urge them to continue the fight through emails and phone calls. We can make a difference.
Kallie Jurgens opinions are her own and may not reflect Friends & Neighbors viewpoint.
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PALM CITY HIGHLIGHTS
By Missi Campbell
Executive Director of the Palm City Chamber
The morning of August 11 was very strange for me.
For 34 years of my adult life, it was the “First Day of School.” Even though I was the teacher, and not the student, it was always an exciting day. Children are not the only ones that are anxious, nervous, and energized for the beginning of a new school year.
Missi Campbell (Provided)
There is a wonderful story called, First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, highlights a teacher and her emotions as she goes to school on the first day. My Kindergarten students were always shocked to think that I was nervous and sharing their same feelings on this special day.
Covid has made the last 18 months an extremely difficult time on all of us. We don’t really know the effects the uncertainty is having on our children and their daily lives. We all count on our educators to be there to support, love and teach our children. I retired from teaching right before the Covid outbreak, and I can’t even comprehend all that has been expected of our educators.
They were expected to teach to students in their classrooms and online simultaneously. Their responsibilities were multiplied as they prepared and instructed our children during the day. The support staff must work under new conditions to be sure the schools are cleaned properly, children receive healthy meals, and children are transported safely.
The beginning of the school year marks a new opportunity for friends and social and emotional growth. This year our children are excited to be together, yet they are still having to be cautious. I am always impressed to see little kiddos wearing masks like it’s no big deal. I wish I was as comfortable in mine as they seem to be. You can still see their adorable smiles if you look into their eyes.
This year, more than ever, our educators and students need our support. Thank you to the Martin County voters for passing a bond for a brand-new Palm City Elementary School. The new school is being built on the same property and will address some traffic concerns. The residents of 34th Street will be happy to know the main traffic flow will be on Palm City School Avenue, which will lessen the traffic on their street and the new and improved Mapp Road. The projected timeline for the school to be ready is in 2023.
Drive safely in the school zones…and thank a teacher whenever you can.
Missi Campbell’s opinions are her own and may not reflect Friends & Neighbors viewpoint.
11
MICHELE’S MEDICAL MOMENT
By Michele Libman M.D.
Now that my days at the office are once again being spent scheduling patients for Covid swabs…I routinely ask those who are being tested whether they have been vaccinated.
For the ones who haven’t been vaccinated I always ask what their concerns are in the hope that I can help them overcome their fears. These are the most common reasons I have been given for people not getting vaccinated.
It was rolled out too quickly.
What people may not understand is that the mRNA technology used to create these vaccines have been around for a long time. Research was done looking at mRNA technology for the Zika virus, the flu virus, the rabies virus as well as others. The history of mRNA vaccines dates to 1985 when Katalin Kariko, Ph.D. came to the US from Hungary with a passion for mRNA research. In 1998 she paired up with Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania to begin working on a mRNA vaccine for HIV.
After many years of failure, they began to find that modified mRNA was able to produce proteins without creating undesirable side effects. By the time the Coronavirus came into being Kariko and Weissman were already working on an influenza vaccine based on their mRNA technology.
Moderna was founded in 2010 to produce vaccines based on mRNA technology and BioNtech which is a German company licensed the technology in 2013 when they hired Kariko to be their Vice President. In 2018 Pfizer joined BioNTechs effort to develop an mRNA vaccine against influenza. Past research from the SARS virus of 2003 allowed the scientists to identify the right sequences for proteins that would be suitable for the vaccines.
In addition, the National Institute of Health has also been investing in flu studies to try to avoid another pandemic like occurred in 1918. The crucial sequence information needed to target Covid-19 came from a vaccine research lab at the NIH. In addition, manufacturers normally wait for proof of efficacy before building the expensive infrastructure needed to produce mass amounts of a new treatment. Lucky for us the government pledged to purchase millions of doses and provided the upfront money before the vaccine’s efficacy was even determined allowing them to build mass production capacity even as the clinical studies were just getting underway.
To gain regulatory approval a vaccine must be tested for safety and efficacy on healthy volunteers. Fortunately, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world stepped up and agreed to participate in clinical trials. This allowed data to be collected at a much quicker rate. In fact, there is more data known about the mRNA vaccines than any other vaccines in history!!
The vaccine will give me Covid.
This is impossible as the virus is not used in the manufacture of the vaccine. Unlike other common vaccines the Covid-19 vaccine doesn’t contain live or dead versions of the virus. Instead, the vaccines use messenger RNA to give your immune system instructions on how to create antibodies to fight the virus.
The vaccine will alter my DNA.
This is not true. The mRNA vaccine gives instructions to our body’s cells, but it never interacts with the cell’s nucleus – which is where the DNA is kept.
The vaccine can cause fertility issues.
There is no evidence to support this claim. The vaccine has been on the market long enough that we have seen plenty of vaccinated pregnant women and women conceiving. In fact, if you get vaccinated while you are pregnant you are giving your newborn protection against the virus as well.
You don’t need the vaccine if you already had Covid.
The CDC recently published a study out of Kentucky where they compared infection rates amongst people who already had Covid vs those who were vaccinated, and they found that being unvaccinated was associated with 2.34 times the odds of reinfection compared with being fully vaccinated.
The side effects from the vaccine are just as bad as Covid-19.
The most common side effects from the Covid-19 vaccines include fatigue, arm soreness and fever similar to a mild flu. However, these usually only last 24-48 hours unlike the actual virus which can last much longer and land you in the hospital.
Kids don’t need to be vaccinated as Covid doesn’t really affect them.
The truth is that only about 1% of kids with Covid end up being sick enough to require hospitalization. In the US there are 27,500 staffed pediatric beds and 5400 pediatric ICU bed in the country. There are 50 million school aged children in the US. About 4 million have had confirmed Covid and about 8 million have been vaccinated. This means there are about 34 million susceptible schoolchildren.
If 50% of them catch Covid in the 30 days starting two weeks after school begins that means that there will be 570,000 Children infected with Covid per day. If 1% require hospitalization that means 5700 would be admitted per day.
But children admitted to the hospital for Covid don’t just stay one day. If the average hospital stay is 4 days, we would need 23,000 pediatric hospital beds and 6800 pediatric ICU beds. As we see in Texas and Oklahoma the pediatric hospital beds are already filled out.
Children are being flown 150 miles from their homes to find a hospital bed for them. This means that children with cancer are being denied care to make room for the Covid kids.
It’s important for all of us that are able to get vaccinated to protect our most vulnerable citizens.
Michele Libman’s opinions are her own and may not reflect Friends & Neighbors viewpoint.
12
MARTIN COUNTY TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION
Most federal taxpayers believe that the income tax code is unfair.
We feel that way because of the complexity of the code itself. Taxpayers feel it is rigged in someone else’s favor. That is not an unwarranted assertion in some instances. Over the years, Congress has taken what should be based on rather simple premises and added complexity to encourage certain social and economic outcomes. The payment of taxes was supposed to fund government and not function as a vehicle for social manipulation.
Florida does not have an income tax. It uses property and sales taxes to fund local and state government. Both sales and property taxes are considered regressive. That means the lower economic classes pay a higher percentage of their income for those taxes.
MCTA applauds the state for constitutionally prohibiting income taxes. Tallahassee, in its zeal to help those that have low income but highly valued appraised property, has complicated the system. The first place the legislature started these complications was by introducing the concept of exemptions.
The simple homestead exemption allows permanent Florida residents the ability to exempt the first $25,000 in appraised value and then another $25,000. There is now a panoply of exemptions that the legislature (and in some instances by constitutional amendment) has introduced over the years that now number an additional 12 exemptions for residential homeowners.
Property taxes are also known as Ad Valorem taxes. The tax was meant to be levied not on individuals but on the value of the property owned. It was a simple means of the government appraising the value of the property and then collecting the tax at the tax rate levied. The government allowed free markets to determine who would buy which properties and for how much.
Florida has seriously eroded the concept of the real estate markets and fairness by the introduction of not only exemptions but two other programs. In 1992, the voters passed the “Save our Homes” constitutional amendment that went into effect in 1995. This limited homestead exempted homes from increasing in value by not more than 3% per year or the CPI whichever is less.
When the property was sold, the exemptions and value were then reset to full market. The result was a larger perversion of the overall real estate market. For example, take two identical homes built at the same time, in the same physical condition that are next to each other. In one house, the homesteaded occupant has lived there since 1995. In the other home, the homesteaded occupant has lived there since 2019. The newer occupant can pay significantly more in property taxes.
Is this fair? The newer occupant has an overall annual income of $75,000. The occupant since 1995 has an annual income of $350,000. If it were an income tax, the roles would be reversed. This amendment has no provisions for wealth.
Tallahassee, in their continued efforts to pander to the voters, further instituted what was known as portability. That is the ability of someone who has been a Florida homestead resident to take his exemptions and home adjusted value with him to a new property. If you buy a new residence with an increased value (up to $500,000) over the old one, then you will pay no more than you did at the last residence.
You can see how this artificial market value for assessing property taxes affected counties and cities. Rates were increasing to pay for government since the natural rise in property values did not apply to so many of the taxpayers. This has an adverse result on commercial properties (which are not included in any of these exemptions), non-homesteaded owners, and residential tenants.
The legislature then decided that politically they also needed to control tax rates. A series of bills have passed which limit local government’s ability to raise its tax rates. The system has become so convoluted that a local government, to collect the same amount of revenue as last year, can inadvertently raise the amount of tax people pay.
In a fair and simple Ad Valorem system, the taxing authority should be able to set rates based on needs. If property values increase and the rate being levied results in more money than the government requires for that year, then it should be quite easy to institute a “Rolled Back Rate” to accomplish the task of only collecting the same amount of revenue as the previous year.
Because of the gimmicks some of which are outlined above, the legislature has introduced, a Rolled Back Rate can increase the amount of tax that property owners will pay. This seems to us to prove that the Florida tax system is broken and unfair to those that are newer to owning homes. Just like the federal income tax code has been subverted from a tax system to collect revenue to pay for government, the same can be said for Florida’s real estate tax system.
13
CONSTITUTIONAL CORNER
Here is where we will post notices from our constitutional officers:
And from our Supervisor of Elections:
From Our Property Appraiser:
From Our Tax Collector:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT US: 288-5600 or #TAX
NEW CHAT SERVICE
Have you ever had a problem or just needed a simple question answered and not been able to reach a human on a company’s electronic phone system and unfortunately their menu did not list the specific topic you needed help with-FRUSTRATING!
At the Martin County Tax Collector’s office, by calling 288-5600 or #TAX you will be connected to a clerk, not a menu. We have just added a virtual chat service, so you will have another option to speak with a live clerk, not an automated message system. Look for the chat icon on the bottom right of our website and start chatting with a live clerk. The service is fast and efficient-questions are answered immediately. It’s “On-The-Go” support! Support can be accessed from anywhere on any smart device and appeals to our tech savvy customers.
We can now communicate with non- English speaking customers with automatic translation. No more the burden of finding translators for the uncommon languages, since artificial intelligence provides us with translation in all languages. Customers can speak to us in their preferred language and the communication is instantly translated to English. When we respond back to them, it is instantaneously translated back to them in their preferred language, making for a more welcoming and satisfying interaction.
We continue to provide efficiencies and better conveniences for our taxpayers!
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My first letter is from Tom Steele re Covid…it a doozey!
You truly are a covidiot with your…” Florida is now the epicenter of the disease which is infecting all including those who are unvaccinated and the vaccinated to a much less extent. The difference is that the unvaccinated are filling hospital beds while the vaccinated overwhelmingly become only mildly ill and many have no symptoms at all. One out of five new cases are right here in the Sunshine State. About 95% of the cases are being found in those that never bothered to get the jab. Every 9-year-old is currently unvaccinated.”
Did you look at the stats on the MA Delta outbreak, where 74% of those infected were vaccinated? Where do you get this “filling up hospital beds”, which is totally untrue? My girlfriend is a nurse who works in the “covid ward” and she’s down to just 2 days a month, and from the very beginning has always laughed at all the crazy “overrunning out medical system” claims. After well over a year, I still have yet to know a single person that has died from covid, whereas people like you reporting on the hysteria make it seem like we’re stepping over bodies to get into Publix for a gallon of milk.
Sweden had no lockdown and I’m pretty sure everyone didn’t die or we would have heard about it. Plus if masks worked, why did we have the greatest covid surge mid-Jan after 9 months of sheepole wearing masks?
I saved my reply for here:
I obtained my local information from Rob Lord’s presentation to the Stuart City Commission. Mr. Lord is the president of Cleveland Clinic/Martin Health Systems. He should know what is going on in the facilities he is in charge.
As to the outbreak that occurred in Provincetown Massachusetts over July 4th, Steele is indeed correct that 74% or 469 people were vaccinated. However, because Massachusetts has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country none of the vaccinated became acutely ill. Four were admitted to the hospital none ended up in the ICU. This proves that vaccination is highly effective in preventing acute disease. You can find more statistics here
I have no idea where his girlfriend is a nurse, but it clearly is not anywhere on the Treasure Coast or Florida. If she is, please contact me with what hospital she is working at and the statistics.
Steele mentions Sweden which did indeed not close down. That is true and know where did I write we should. However, Sweden did have the highest incidents of death and hospitalization of the Nordic nations.
As of April 16, 2021, more than 13 700 people have died from COVID-19 in Sweden. The country has one of the highest infection rates in western Europe according to Our World in Data COVID-19 statistics, with 606 new infections per million per day, while its neighbors Denmark, Finland, and Norway reported 115, 62, and 112 new infections per million per day, respectively (April 15, 2021). New and more infective and deadly variants have taken over, and by April 15, 2021, the UK SARS-Cov-2 variant was suspected to have caused 75–100% of all new cases in all regions. This indicates more rapid spread, more deaths, and that more young people will be affected, with intensive care units already at full capacity in some regions.
A recent YouTube video of Cleveland Clinic/Martin Health president giving an update on the state of the three hospitals current ability:
Mask do work! Nationally going back inside for winter resulted in the winter months in cold climes when people are inside easier to contract. We began being vaccinated last winter resulting in fewer cases. The reason we have had such high spikes now are because we no longer do mask or social distance.
It is easy to say things but without providing the proof it is just words.
Lastly this appeared in the Treasure Coast Brief August 16, 2021:
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From Wayne Klick regarding Cleveland Clinic:
Love and respect Rob Lord but we need more info from him and Cleveland Clinic. What percent capacity have they reached in each hospital? What are the complete demographics of the people going to IR? Remember less then 50% of minorities are not vaccinated! What percent are mild cases? What percent have pre-existing conditions? Based on his presentation if there are any deaths there are not many! Same nation wide! From their own study, talk about natural immunity, and how positive it is! Is Cleveland Clinic using therapeutics?
If Mr. Lord or anyone else from Cleveland Clinic wish to give regular updates, I would be glad to publish in the newsletter.
Next from Paul Vallier regarding Costco:
FYI Tom..
This really stinks! Quite literally.
Paul Vallier
Costco
Thank you City of Stuart for your utter disregard for the Martin County residents who live in the following communities who will now be impacted by traffic problems arising from the misplaced Costco store on Kanner Highway you callously approved yesterday.
Impacted groups include…..
Students and faculty at Martin County High School
Tres Belle
Southwood
Fairmont Estates-
Osprey Ridge –
Fishermans Village-
South River
Martin Crossings-
Ronnie’s RV and Mobile home park–
White Marsh ridge-
Riverland-
Cabana Point –
Hideaway Place,-
SW Watercress Way-
De L Bahia Condo Assiciation
Leisure Village.
Banyan Bay,
Somerset
….And Martin County Commission, we acknowledge that you did not lift a finger to prevent this…in fact because of your inaction, our Martin County Charter continues to make County Property that is contiguous to City limits a “hunting ground” for Stuart City Commissioners who are always in search of more tax revenue for the CITY that will not inconvenience City residents IN THE LEAST!
Residents should remember this sad day come “County” election time!
Mr. Vallier needs to read my pieces on annexation and Costco
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And lastly from William Fraites regarding masks…I think:
Vaccine Folly – Mask Hysteria: Why? Midterm Thievery?
Socialize Hand-Shaking Distance: Shackled Dependent – Mind Slaves – of the State? Healthy men and woman wearing Mask, and Social Distancing themselves, identifies them as Defeated, Fearful; whose faith has been Captured by Devil Media, and the CDC Masters of Fear and Paranoia Dr Frankenstein Fauci. Facemasks are a – Virus Trap – health hazard. Workers are being Fresh Oxygen Starved – Re-Breathing Exhausted Air. More moisture, warmer, darker, diminished oxygen around the mouth and nose is inviting – to a lonely virus looking for a home. Does air get though and around the Mask? Yes, then so will a virous stupid! Air will be sucked in the sides of a Mask. Hide from the Air: Duct tape the edges and breathed hard? You can smell food and perfume with your mask on. How stupid are you America? Mind-Slaves of Devil Media! What does CDC stand for? Control, Dominate and Confuse. Elitist Plan: Subjugate and Panic until Midterms Mail in Voter-Fraud Success?
Of All Deaths in America each year possibly 2 million: Where are the Additional 5 hundred Thousand Graves for Covid-19 Victims? Did Funerals and Graves increase 5 hundred thousand? No! 50 States times 10 thousand Deaths equals 5 hundred thousand Covid-19 Phantom Deaths? Did yearly death in your state INCREASE 10 thousand?? New York State has twice the population of Georgia – Did New York have 20 thousand yearly – additional – deaths?? Will the CDC and Devil Media continue the Phantom Panic until midterms? Is the News report true: About 30 people a day die from Dr Frankenstein’s vaccine – 9 hundred a month? Covid vaccine deaths are deliberately under reported by the CDC – the vaccine will kill and injure many thousands. My wife is from Thailand: Her People are still in Lockdown – August 2021. I will save you: Arrogant Ruling Elitists caused as many death from Suicide as Covid. Freedom Saves Lives!
2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV: Christians “with Unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory.” God decides who gets Sick, and who Recovers Not the State. FAITH – is the opposite of fear. SOCIALIZE – Hand Shaking Distancing. Covid-19 is Spreading God given Immunity to 98%. The same thing vaccine is supposed to do. Testing All inspires Needless Panic. Many thousands get sick or die from the yearly flu but millions more get flu antibodies without being sick. Will Testing and FACEMASK forever eliminate Flu? No!
98% of those who test positive have God given immunity that is specific to each person and safer than Frankenstein’s vaccine. Deaths from CV-19 should be accepted, without, Subjugating healthy Americans. Of the 2% that may get sick 90% will recover. Idiot Arrogant Governor Superhero Will Mask your face, kill your business, and Job and claim to save you? All the thousands of new cases of CV-19 are a Fraud. In the past: Being hospitalized created a case.
God’s Perfect Vaccine: INDIVIDUAL herd IMMUNITY – Protective Antibodies through Normal Socializing is free – Unique – to each individual and hundreds of times safer than the Devils Vaccine. When Frankenstein Fauci’s Artificial Antibodies meet God given natural Antibodies: CDC Devils will end up Generating Variant Covid-20+? Dr Fauci wants your Blood. So, he can Steal God’s freely given immunity – mix it with – Yuck – and sell it. Damned Elitist Promote Fear, Criminalized Normal Socializing and Despise, God Given Immunity. Are they, fearful of competition from God? Yes, getting well without the CDC offends them. Federal Dollars is their objective Not health.
The Socialist Evil Seed of Bailouts: Governors shackle business and Jobs depending on federal dollars. If federal deficit spending were Not an option: America would be FREE. Freedom to work and live unrestricted is the answer – Not federal dollars. Business and Jobs Shackled is America’s Killer Not Covid-19. CDC bureaucrats Devil-Media, Deceitful Leftist politicians and Dimwitted Republicans are the problem.
Elitist Insanity – The Living must be – Shackled – until we save the sick and dying. Forcing the healthy – to behave as if they were sick – with useless mask and social distancing is Tyranny. The Flu kills many more Children. Of the Covid-19 hospital patients in New York – 66% were in Home Lock-Down – Demonstrating – Social Distance and Facemask everyone is folly. Forcing businesses to shut down is NEVER Justified.
The President Should: Create this – Make America – Free – Again – Executive Order. 1. Home Prison Order – Revoked. 2. The killer of Jobs – Mask and “Social Distancing” is an Individuals free Choice. 3. No Shopper, Employee, Traveler or Worshiper of God, is to be forced to wear a face mask. 4. CDC and WHO Covid-19 Regulations Revoked. 5. No one is to be forced to take a vaccine or lose their job if they do not.
My 80-year-old – home lockdown – brother and his wife got Covid-19 and recovered. His wife never got sick; now they are IMMUNE. Millions have been turned into – Dependent Slaves of the State. Tear of your Mask America – Socialize Hand- Shaking Distance. Demand freedom or Submit to Tyranny. God has committed all – once to die, and then Judgment. Banish Fear: Repent and Trust God. Our Father in heaven has provided: Life that is Not subject to death. Jesus Christ Crucified: Is Light that Shines Beyond the Grave.
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COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING AUGUST 10, 2021:
Waste Management, which is contractually obligated to begin single stream recycling in October, made a presentation to the commission.
Waste Management does an excellent job on fulfilling their obligations. They are ready to go with this part of the new contract. There will be new compressed natural gas trucks and a need for fewer employees on each truck since the new 64-gallon containers will use an automatic claw to grab the can and empty the container contents directly into the truck. This is how the City of Stuart’s recycling has been for at least the last decade.
You can see the presentation here
The Board was asked to rezone a property on Federal Highway and Ridgeway to General Commercial. The 1.38-acre parcel has never had anything built on it and currently there is no plan to do so. According to the applicant “Though the future land use designations have not changed, the Preserve Areas surrounding the property (controlled by a Preserve Area Management Plan) will not permit residential development, consistent with the assigned future land use designations.”
As you can see from the photo this is far from anything. If the owner can possibly use his land for something, then it would be appropriate to re-zone. It passed 4-1 with Heard dissenting.
TALLAHASSEE AND POLITICS
The above discussion and vote brought up the new law from the “Lords of Tallahassee” which now requires a new element to comp plans regarding private property rights.
The law mandates that all counties and municipalities must amend their plans to incorporate such an element. It may not seem like much but imagine the staff and consultant time to do this. The new element must be sent to the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) for approval.
Considering that the rights that are required to be incorporated into the plans are already either statutory and/or have court decisions affirming them, what was the point? It is just a way to interfere in local government once again but also to make local taxpayers spend money on needless revisions. There can be no local plan amendments filed until this is fully adopted.
The commission instructed staff to immediately begin work on this. You can read staff report here
HUMANE SOCIETY & NEW LABOR CONTRACT
The new Humane Society contract was approved. It is a ten-year agreement beginning October 1, 2021.
The last time they went out to bid in 2017, no other organization bid. The county must have a place to take these animals by state law. The only other alternative would be for the county to set up its own shelter.
The Martin County Taxpayers Association did a paper on this contract a few months ago. They came to the same conclusion. The Humane Society did have problems a few years ago that they have since corrected. Martin County just does not have the facility or personnel to staff such an undertaking. This is the most cost effective and “humane” solution.
You can read the Taxpayers’ paper here here
You can find the entire contract between the county and Humane Society here
The county signed a new labor contract with the Teamsters Union. It is a rather straight forward and fair agreement. Some of the employees represented by the Teamsters make less than $15 per hour. This contract will bring them up to a minimum wage of that amount when it goes into effect.
The raises are on page 72 of the contract:
Section 1. Bargaining Unit employees will receive either a wage increase of 2% semi-annually or a wage increase of $1.00 per hour annually, whichever is greater, for Fiscal Years 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2% wage increase will be issued semi-annually on the first full pay period in October and April of each fiscal year. The $1.00 per hour wage increase will be issued annually on the first full pay period in October of each fiscal year. Bargaining Unit employees’ wages will be evaluated annually on September 30th to determine the appropriate wage increase for the upcoming Fiscal Year.
On the face of it no one is going to argue with the 2% raise twice a year. However according to discussion on the presentation and confirmation by staff, this contract’s wage terms also apply to all non-fire/rescue personnel (who are covered by a different union agreement.) It includes management as well as the rank and file. While I think the county administration staff deserve appropriate compensation, a separate item should have been presented to the commission outlining who receives increases and how much.
It seems a bit disingenuous and not transparent to do it this way.
The entire contract can be found here
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McDONALD RE-ELECTED
Troy McDonald has won reelection to the Stuart City Commission with 67% of the vote for a new three-year term.
McDonald’s victory for his second consecutive win over Caryn Hall in a low turnout election was not a surprise. He has shown himself to be a capable commissioner. He is at his best when he does not allow his political side to come to the forefront. Pandering is not enduring.
My advice to Troy and every commissioner is to remember that they represent the citizens of Stuart. While they should not ignore those that live outside the city, their constituents live within the 7 square miles of the city’s boundaries. That should never be forgotten.
McDonald is good at forging compromises between his fellow commissioners during deliberations. When he accomplishes this is when he is at his best. It also seems McDonald now has learned the value of not having to comment on every matter and therefore when he does say something it has added significance.
I think these new traits served him well in his re-election and their continuation would serve him well as a commissioner going forward. I congratulate his victory and I believe that he was the right choice for Stuart.
CITY COMMISSION MEETING AUGUST 9, 2021:
This was the Costco meeting that we have been waiting for.
As public comment began, first on Zoom and then in person, I counted the speakers that were pro and con. There were many more who spoke in opposition. However, from the beginning the emails the commission received were much more in favor. I also counted how many speakers live within the city limits, the overwhelming majority did not.
A couple of speakers, who live in the Florida Club, which is far outside the city boundaries, said that this development would ruin the character of Stuart and would be a degradation of open land. The Florida Club was built on untouched land. It is sprawl built far away from anything. I would imagine there were wetlands that were bulldozed to build those houses. The Costco site is an old farm with “wetlands” that were created by the farmer digging up his property.
In the last newsletter, I criticized Mayor Clarke. This time I am going to praise her for her efforts to keep things moving. She was stronger in the beginning than at the end but most of us were also. She did a good job.
Several speakers, most from outside the city boundaries, complained about traffic impacts. Kanner Highway was not expanded to 6 lanes by the city but rather by the state and with the MPO, a county organization, doing the planning and funding the construction. Those bodies did this because they wanted Kanner to become a major residential and commercial corridor.
There is a bridge to Palm City on the corner of Monterey and Kanner and another bridge to Palm City at Indian Street and Kanner. Costco’s prime shoppers live in Palm City not in St. Lucie County or Stuart. That is the reason they first wanted to locate there. Of course, residents from both the city and a few from St. Lucie County will be their customers also.
One speaker, who lives in Stuart and is a frequent critic of almost everything, is against this too. Ironically, he lives and owns the Stuart building with the greatest density within the city. This project will have 8 units per acre. His has 32 units per acre.
Another speaker claimed that this development would produce a crammed residential neighborhood. That statement is a bit ludicrous given the facts provided in the previous paragraph. As a city resident who lives in a single-family home, I am not anti-single-family home. They have a place within Stuart. This spot is not the place for them.
The silliest statement may be “just because people want to live here doesn’t mean you must accommodate them.” Unless you are a native American, this applies to all of us whether you are a descendant from one of our pioneer families or moved here last week. There is universal agreement that we do not build over every piece of Martin County. But we need to do so within our urban centers. This is within an urban center.
Jimmy Smith, who is the president of the N.A.A.C.P. of Martin County, made a very compelling argument. We have lost 3000 to 4000 residents because they cannot find jobs or a place to live. These apartments will not provide affordable housing, but the jobs Costco and the other retail enterprises will generate will lift many people out of the minimum wage trap they are in.
Smith went on to mention that many former prison inmates who have paid their debts to society need jobs. Costco has a program to employ these people. Some will undoubtedly return to crime but without a viable path forward including a job, more will do so. If fathers and mothers have a presence in their children’s lives, then the next generation is more apt to be productive members of society.
Jimmy is also a small businessperson. He relies on these types of stores to get his supplies. Several others spoke about the waste of time having to drive to Palm Beach or Fort Pierce to buy what they need for their businesses. They also mentioned that they would rather spend their money where they live including paying sales taxes.
Yet the most common public comment was about how the comp plan was being violated. I go into it quite a bit in the “News & Views” Section above.
Yes, there are tradeoffs. And there were some valid concerns expressed. Unfortunately, we are conditioned to think in terms of black and white. The world and our system are not that but rather grays, and so the commission and staff must deal in grays.
QUASI JUDICIAL HEARING
Bob Raynes, the attorney for the developer, had an objection to both intervenors not qualifying under Florida statute. The city tends to give that status to anyone who applies for it and pays the $400 fee. If Raynes ends up appealing any decision in district court, he has made his objection to their status.
Raynes had an objection to Intervenor One, Linda Kay Richards, as well as witnesses that were appearing and testifying by Zoom. He said the reason the hearing was carried over to this date was because these witnesses were not available in person earlier. His reasoning was that it is harder to cross-examine when they are not in person.
His second objection was that since the witnesses were not present and one was not even in Florida, they could not be sworn in. Richards said then if she could not put on her case, then she needed an adjournment which Raynes objected to. Mike Mortell, the city attorney, said that the objection was noted and preserved in the record. The commission voted to proceed with the hearing.
City staff made a brief presentation showing that the applicant had agreed to all the conditions that Commissioner Matheson had requested at the first reading. All tree mitigation will be done on site. There will be storm water monitoring. Glyphosate use will be banned.
Staff mentioned that the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), which reviewed the comp plan amendment, had no objections but 2 technical comments one being not enough density in the project. The letter can be viewed here
Raynes asked Tom Reitz, the city planner assigned, whether it met the comp plan. He testified it did. The Second Intervenor, Brian DiVentura, asked Reitz about a section of the plan. Unfortunately, DiVentura had no exhibits or a visual slide describing what he was referring to. Any attorney would have placed the question in context so that an answer could be elicited. Just citing code numbers and then expecting answers was not practical.
Raynes repeatedly stated that witnesses had to provide testimony that was competent and substantial. In her opening statement, Richards said that the applicant left out evidence and that the commission was not impartial. No testimony was presented to verify those statements. DiVentura said the comp plan was being violated. Since he had no exhibits, his discussion of the elements of the comp plan that were being violated was unclear and not compelling.
Raynes put on his case and each of his witnesses were very knowledgeable and could cite why the project complied. One of his witnesses, who was in Tallahassee and whose flight was cancelled, drove to Stuart to testify right before the hearing. When the intervenors attempted to cross examine any of the witnesses, it was obvious that they had not gone to law school.
Richards’ first witness, who testified via Zoom, was Patricia Tice PhD. She is a civil engineer. She testified that the project was not in compliance, that the area was rural, and remarkably that Costco would go out of business. The result would be that the apartments would be blighted and that there would be a distribution center there. She offered no corroborating evidence to those statements.
On cross examination, Raynes asked her if she had been to the property. The answer was no. She had used Google Earth. He asked whether she was an economist. Again, the answer was no.
Richards’ next witness would have made a difference if he was at the hearing in person. The digital connection was bad and when it was restored, the chamber could hear and see him, but he had to hear via telephone. Greg Braun came off as a credible scientist. However, he had spent no more than 1.5 hours on the property. While his observations about endangered flora was taken seriously by some commissioners, his description about endangered birds was much less compelling.
The summations were what one would think. Richards gave no compelling argument as to why it should be denied and DiVentura said he could not get anyone to answer his questions. Raynes said that there should be a holistic approach.
Then came time for deliberation and the hearing was closed. Meier, McDonald, and Matheson spoke the most. It was evident that Meier was concerned about the endangered plants. It quickly was incorporated as a condition of approval that the developer would have to move them either on site or incorporate the plants into new plantings around them.
MEIER
The reasons that the commission voted the way they did was not because they are pawns of the development community. The proposed development project fits the elements of the comp plan. The argument by some speakers and by the intervenors was just not accurate. As I wrote in “News & Views,” commissioners must follow the code and the law.
Most people in our area live in a vacuum. They have no idea what is required for a successful site plan or zoning approval. It is easy to think that not wanting something is the same as having the authority to stop something. The commissioners, with Matheson and Meier in the lead, obtained concession after concession from Joe Marino, the developer.
These concessions will cost Marino a couple of millions of dollars. Mostly, he did not have to agree to the concessions. He was within his right to say that he would not do things like reduce the number of apartments. With a few key things like water and tree mitigation, he could have stood his ground and if the commission had voted no, the court would probably have sided with Marino.
The motion for approval was made by Meier seconded by McDonald to include the flora protection along with nearly 40 other conditions for approval. The vote was 5-0.
AFTERMATH
I came away from this process with a couple of takeaways.
First is to do away with Zoom comments and especially Zoom testimony. When people fade in and out or worse the technology stops working, staff including the city manager must try to get it going again taking up precious time. It shows how the tail is wagging the dog.
Sure, COVID is back but we need to learn to live with the virus not by shutting down but by carrying on. If it is important enough to someone to voice a point of view, they need to come and say it in person.
And never allow testimony to be given in that way again. It isn’t fair to the commission, the parties, and especially to the public. Commissioners, you are not being more inclusive. It is an idiotic distraction.
The “Not In My Back Yard” movement is still alive and well. Most of the people were not against Costco, or housing or retail. They just do not want anything new next to them. They are all for property rights unless it disturbs them. It was exemplified by people who said things like “We do not want them here.”
OLD DOWNTOWN Pinterest
The animosity shown toward Joe Marino, as if he was some snake oil salesman, was unconscionable. Although Marino is based in New Jersey, he successfully builds projects all over the U.S. and has been very professional throughout the process.
I have noticed if a developer is a local, the chances of a project ever being built is slim. They may have great ideas but no money or credibility to complete the project. The idea that finance and business are localized is antiquated.
At one time, Seacoast Bank was local. The Hudson family knew the business owners and leant on a handshake. That bank is gone and now it is a regional one. I use Schwab as my bank, and they have no branches. The last project I did a decade ago, the financing came from Switzerland.
Businesspeople have long recognized that to be successful, they cannot just be in their backyard. Projects like Costco and large housing complexes require more than just local money and expertise. Marino has both to succeed.
Development will occur and it is up to us to guide it into our cities and CRAs. Let’s save our open spaces for as long as possible. With a four-story height limit, we will never be Miami, West Palm, or even Delray. You cannot have enough people for that in the allowable space in Martin County. We do need to take our infill sites and make them count. And remember just because a site is void of a building doesn’t mean it is not an infill project.
Lastly the intervenor process is broken. It is not meant to allow for unlimited public comment. To be an intervenor means that you are being affected by the development more than the general public. Clearly DiVentura, who lives more than 5 miles away, is not more affected by the wetlands issues than I am as I live two miles away.
Richards lives in Cabana Point. While she continuously said she was not representing Lychee Tree Nursery and there is nothing in her application that states she is, at this hearing she claimed she was her family’s representative. Raynes immediately objected. If she is only a resident, then according to her own expert, she is one of 12,600 people that reside within one square mile of the property.
That is why I believe that a court would probably throw out their intervenor status if the issue were brought before it.
The city needs to update the application for an intervenor and include the statute on the form as well as a series of questions for the petitioning intervenor to answer stating that he/she has at least one of those legal reasons to intervene. The form should be notarized under penalty of perjury.
The fee for becoming an intervenor should be at least $1500. The staff time alone in this process costs the city thousands of dollars. Once the nonrefundable fee is paid, the intervenor applicant should immediately go before the commission for a hearing to determine whether intervenor status is warranted.
Then if the right to intervene is granted, the intervenor needs to act as any attorney in a court of law would. This is not when opinion, wishes, and pretty pictures are needed. This is serious business and should be conducted that way.
If interested the entire Costco package is here
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SCHOOL BOARD MEETING AUGUST 17, 2021:
One of the board’s quieter members, Anthony Anderson, gave a big speech that I am afraid is being misconstrued by the very people he was speaking to.
Tony often goes the long way around to make his points…and those points sometimes are then lost on his listeners. That afternoon he was forceful and correct in what he said. I have at times disagreed with him on school matters. Yet when he is expressing things, I believe are right, I want to make sure that I say so.
Anderson opened with how wonderful a place Martin County is. How proud he is having been born here. He touched on the war over desegregation when he was child of 9 or 10. I am several years older than Anderson, and I remember being a 10-year-old visiting my grandparents who lived in Lake City at the time, and how crazy it seemed to me that there were separate facilities and entrances for black and white. It was a theme he returned to a few times in his remarks.
He had been receiving calls and emails regarding masks. One of my issues with Anderson is at times he seems to be thinking as a union member and not as a school board member. I believe it might have been old friends from his teaching days that were asking why he wouldn’t champion their causes.
Then of course he mentioned the anti-masking side. He described how their emails and incivility when speaking is disturbing. He brought up the desegregation of the school system in the late 1960s in Martin County. His father bringing him to school board meetings where both sides spoke. What he does not remember was the level of disrespect and animosity on the part of the people at the meetings that he sees today.
Having listened to the speakers, I agree with Anderson. It is not the fact that parents or anti-mask supporters are expressing their opinions, but it is the virulence with which they do. Anderson agrees that people have rights in their homes, but a schoolhouse is a public house and individual rights need to be balanced.
Anderson also mentioned several times that there is more behind this than masks and vaccines. For a small number of very vocal people, it is political and about race. He said that George Floyd was a tipping point for Black folks. BLM was an outgrowth of not an anti-police sentiment but rather a perception by a few in law enforcement that their actions did not have the same consequences for blacks as whites in situations. To him, all lives matter.
He wanted to remind everyone that white folk were key and instrumental in ending segregation. They came to be part of the struggle. At times, they died to end segregation.
The call for defunding the police was also a reaction to what was happening. He was raised to have respect for authority. While he may disagree with the governor on things, he respects the governor’s authority to prohibit mask and vaccine mandates. School Board Member Anderson will follow direction from Tallahassee.
He was a civics and history teacher at Anderson Middle for years. Anderson gave a little history and civics lesson regarding John Locke and the social contract. On what limited government is and that it does not mean no government. It is too bad that more people did not take Anderson’s civic lessons to heart.
He also mentioned demographics and the changing racial landscape. To him, America has always been a melting pot. The loss of demographic numbers to groups should not mean those groups flip out.
Anderson and the other school board members are not going to challenge DeSantis’ authority regardless of their own personal beliefs. They are going to follow Tallahassee’s lead. Martin is not Broward or Dade…there will be no defying of the Department of Education rules here.
To me, the main point is that certain elements of both sides are politicizing the schools and using the kids to make political points. This is counter to the purpose and mission of the schools. Public education was supposed to be a unifying influence. That is clearly no longer true.
Anderson also mentioned that Critical Race Theory is not taught in Martin County Schools. It has never been taught in the schools and never will be taught in the schools. As a point of reference, CRT has never been part of any Florida curriculum. It has been around since the 1960s but is a theory that a few law schools would touch upon and surely not Stuart Middle.
But in the hyper-partisan and unread world we live in, a speaker mentioned that it was being taught at Hidden Oaks Middle School during public comment. When Superintendent Millay was asked about it later in the meeting, he gave an explanation that one of the library lesson modules that students can access was about race relations. This was added to the modules without the district being made aware as was a module on COVID. Race relations and CRT are two different topics.
I looked at the screen shots that were included in the email to board members that were supposedly about CRT and the Covid module. Quite frankly it is the usual dribble that now passes for lessons in our public schools. It is far from the dreaded CRT and intellectually imbecilic. If I were a parent, I would be more worried about the dumbing down of the curriculum than some supposed attempt to brainwash kids.
You can find the district’s entire explanation here
Ms. Defenthaler wanted to have the health department and Cleveland Clinic report on Covid. It was immediately brushed aside by her fellow board members. A few mentioned the district dashboard that has the up-to-date numbers.
She continued in this vein. The others simply did not want to have the presentations. This board is already inundated with people commenting on everything but education.
I understand her desire to have the compelling presentations made but to what end. Under current circumstances, this board has no authority to require masks or vaccines. It would only invite more public comment that has nothing to do with the business of the district.
Defenthaler is tone deaf to her fellow board members. She needs to stop trying to please those she once worked with and concentrate on policies Tallahassee allows her to make. It was obvious to me that this was going nowhere, and it should have been to her.
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COMMISSION WORKSHOP AUGUST 10, 2021
It didn’t seem that the mayor and other commissioners appreciated Vice-Mayor Campo’s speech at the last meeting regarding his reasons for not voting for an increase in the maximum millage.
Campo is philosophically opposed to any tax increase…ever. I do not agree with him, but he has been consistent in his stance. Occasionally, he may tease that he could support an increase if the stars, the moon, and the planets lined up in some galactically impossible orbit. In other words, Campo will not vote to increase taxes ever. Any of his fellow commissioners that think otherwise are deluding themselves.
He has taken a rational political stance that he is quite comfortable in espousing. Campo said as much at this meeting when he stated his constituent base are those residents who do not want to pay more. Yet instead of sticking with the merits of that case at the last meeting, he read comments that impugned the reputations of the village manager, her staff, the outside engineer, and to a lesser extent the mayor.
So, it was no surprise that Mayor Mayfield placed on the agenda an item to refute one of his accusations regarding a state grant that Representative Overdorf was to obtain in Tallahassee. Overdorf is no friend to home rule, and he actively works against local governments’ interests. When it comes to bringing home the bacon, he does that quite well.
Mayfield took exception to his comments that the manager and staff let the paperwork become tangled. She was on the calls, and in fact the filing was supposed to be handled by an outside grant writer, Amy Adams. Overdorf said that the grant requests were confusing and the $900,000 was never submitted.
Mayfield’s written comments and the email backup can be found here
Then came Commissioner Tompeck’s turn to voice his criticisms of Campo’s remarks. He was first disappointed that the millage discussion was hijacked by Campo about items not germane to raising taxes. He believed it was political posturing and not good governance.
Tompeck took exception to Campo’s criticism of Joe Capra, the town engineer. For some time now, this and previous commissions were so interested in keeping taxes low that they have used up the reserves and relied on grants to do necessary work like South Sewall’s Point Road. As a nonresident, it has seemed that the town is more interested in using everyone else’s money to get things done. Then as we saw at the last meeting, some Sewall’s Point residents living in houses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars claimed that they only have small, fixed incomes and could not afford an increase.
Tompeck went on to state that he was very disappointed that Campo thought spending money on providing a new comp plan was not needed even though the state requires it. It did go out to RFP and only one bidder replied. Tompeck said it was an unfair criticism to continuously call Manager Berger “inexperienced.” He said she has more than shown she has a vast knowledge on how the town should be operated.
He also went on to say it isn’t Capra’s or Berger’s fault about “extras” for South Sewall’s Point Road. The work had to be continuously shifted to accommodate grant funding and due to the commission’s fault in not providing adequate funding.
According to Tompeck, the nub of his criticism of Campo was that he stated that he was for capital projects. Yet he went on to say that you cannot be in favor of these projects if you do not vote to fund them. He went on to reiterate all the talk regarding boardwalks, fishing piers, and even the undergrounding of utilities will not happen and to say otherwise would be disingenuous.
His remarks can be found here
Commissioner Kurzman went next, and his remarks began with a letter of credit. He stated that Berger had inquired about one at Seacoast back in April of 2020. At that time Campo was against it because of a $5000 charge for points and possibly $5000 in legal fees. Berger had the bank waive the points so there could only have been possible legal fees.
No decision was made. Kurzman stated correctly that he had been in favor of securing the line of credit. If the line had been secured, the town could have taken advantage of lower construction costs than they are paying now. He also mentioned a State Revolving Fund Loan at .5%. He made a motion eighteen months ago, but no one seconded, and it died. At a half of percent, it would have been nearly free use of money.
Kurtzman went on to state that Campo had questioned whether Berger had checked to see that the town was collecting the correct gas tax. He stated that Sewall’s Point’s share was 2.25% of the tax and wanted confirmation that is what they are collecting.
Kurtzman stated that Campo had made a comment about the Building Official having a new truck. Kurtzman reminded all that the cost of the truck was paid for out of the increased permit fees being collected due to the official’s vigilance. He has collected $500,000 in the last six months. Building-related fees can only be used to fund that department by statute. The truck cost the town no Ad Valorem taxes.
He went on to say that South Sewall’s Point Road is not over budget. The commission voted to add a mobile generator to the project. Further, there had been no road work that had to be redone. His written remarks can be found here
Campo reiterated some of the same statements that other commissioners had just rebuked him for. He distributed an email in which he wrote to Berger that Senator Harrell had warned him about the animosity between grant consultant Amy Adams and Berger. Berger wrote back that she would ask Mayfield since she was on the call. Both emails can be found here
For some reason, Campo is also unhappy because only two real estate firms responded to the RFP to represent the town on the sale of a vacant lot. Florida Statute requires the town to go out to RFP for real estate services. In order not to go out to bid for a period going forward, the RFP was for all real estate representation not just the sale of this one lot. Campo believed that it was too complicated and that is why only two firms responded.
As I have written numerous times, government is not like being in business. Shortcuts are frowned on and in some instances illegal. You just cannot choose your best friend to get the job. I understand that to the uninitiated it looks cumbersome, but it is to prevent taxpayer dollars being siphoned off. That is why you have your attorney involved. This RFP was written by the attorney.
It appears that at the meeting where the commission asked Berger to find a firm, they were all supposing that local firms would work for reduced rates or for free. That was naïve on their part. Sometimes Campo and other commissioners still have not realized that they are not running a convenience store. Just because the town is small does not mean a wink and a nod will do it.
The entire RFP can be found here
It appears to me that Berger and Campo do not have a good relationship. She apparently does have productive relationships with Mayfield, Tompeck, and Kurzman. Her relationship with Fender is situational but very workable. It is obvious that those four do not feel that Berger has dropped the ball or done anything inappropriate.
How can there be such a disconnect?
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING AUGUST 18, 2020:
There was public comment about the flooding that has continued to occur on Mandalay. It is obvious that work and capital expense must continue to be raised, appropriated, and spent. You cannot have people’s property continuously flooded. It is absurd to think that this can be done at a leisurely pace with only grant funding.
There was a change order for $125,000 to address the various property owners’ concerns and damages due to the South Sewall’s Point Road project. The money for this has already been put aside so the commission was just approving the disbursement.
Commissioner Kurzman made a motion to allow staff to spend up to $150,000 to repair any damage or make any necessary changes so that residents would not have to wait until the next meeting to have the work approved. It was seconded by Commissioner Tompeck. Commissioner Fender stated he could not vote for the motion because he thought the commission should approve every expenditure. While that is admirable, that does lead to delays.
Kurzman said that he wants to have the project completed as soon as possible and that individual property owners should be able to have things corrected quickly. The commission only has voting meetings once a month which is the time they can vote on things. It can take a month or more to have the money appropriated. The vote was 3-1 with Fender dissenting and Campo absent.
You can find the Consor Memo that outlines the $125,000 appropriation here
Manager Berger told the commission that the State Revolving Fund contacted her about a loan. This could save the town a bundle of money instead of going to a private lending institution. The last time they were contacted the loan interest amount was .5%. She will be looking at that as a good option, I believe, once the final millage and budget are set.
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The meeting held on August 19th will be covered in the next edition.
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OCEAN BREEZE COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 9, 2021
The meeting was called only to approve a resolution to an ordinance regarding the town not accepting a dedication of land. The time for the meeting on the sign was wrong which meant the vote could not be held.
At an earlier meeting, President De Angeles asked whether it was time to stop being an incorporated town. That is a good question and one that should be studied.
What is the reason to be a municipality? It is so the residents can have services. But this town provides no services…no public works, police, fire, water, or sewer. The three distinct parts of the town are the shopping center, the new residential development, and Sun Communities.
The town has no parks or recreation program. The current council members pay no taxes because their properties are owned by Sun Communities. There are no representatives from either the shopping center or the new community on the council.
This is not to denigrate the staff, but taxes are being collected only to pay their salaries rather than for the town to provide services. What would the residents lose by being unincorporated?
The area that should be incorporated is downtown Jensen Beach. The result would be a real municipality. The merchants and residents could benefit from having their own zoning and LDRs. If I were the council, I would reach out through the local chamber to see whether Ocean Breeze could “annex” Jensen and then change the town’s name. In my opinion, that would make some sense.
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In The Spotlight
by Jackie Holfelder
Jackie is always looking for a good story…you may reach her at: jackieacolumn@gmail.com
Enjoy Virtual Exhibits at Court House Cultural Center
The Court House Cultural Center, located at 80 SE Ocean Boulevard in Stuart, isn’t just home to a lovely physical art gallery, it has also become a juggernaut for exciting virtual art exhibits.
There are many reasons – excluding Covid – why people can’t attend exhibits in person and the 3D virtual concept has been booming over the past several years.
Geography is no longer a reason not to visit an exhibit, nor is weather nor personal considerations. If you have a computer or tablet, the art world is at your fingertips – including that found at the Court House Cultural Center.
The current virtual-only exhibit is Mark Cook: When Flows Return to The River of Grass. Other virtual only exhibitions will be added later this Fall to expand this resource.
The vast Everglades “River of Grass” is a subtropical wetland wilderness comprising a mosaic of watery sloughs, sawgrass prairies and tree islands in the freshwater marshes, and mangrove swamps, coastal lakes, and open-water bays along the estuarine coast. In a marriage of art and science, this collection of photographs by wildlife ecologist and photographer Dr. Mark Cook is witness to the rapid transformations that occurred after record-breaking seasonal rainfall flooded the River of Grass and sent freshwater once again flowing south into Florida Bay.
As you’re reading this, a selection of images by Dan Mackin and Jim Houser, currently in the Horizons exhibit at the Court House Cultural Center, can also be seen in a virtual show, as well as Clyde Butcher: America’s Everglades which debuted in person earlier this year and the All-Florida Juried Art Show and Marvin S. Cone Annual High School Juried Arts Show. The latter two run for a year on the virtual platform and will be updated with new artwork when the shows open next (October and May respectively).
Future in person Court House Cultural Shows will also make their way to the virtual platform including Floridian Flavors: Characters, Cultures and Cuisines, on tap for January 2022.
For more information, visit www.martinarts.org/court-house-cultural-center/cultural_center_gallery.
Room in virtual-only Mark Cook exhibit Photo provided by Court House Cultural Center
Roxette Ojeda Joins HSE
Roxette Ojeda Photo provided by HSELC
Hobe Sound Early Learning Center (HSELC), which has been a vital part of the community since 1965, has added an important layer to the services it provides the community with the addition of Roxette Ojeda to its staff.
Ojeda earned her B.A. in Human Services from Indian River State College. As a social worker, she will serve as an integral link between the center and the families. Her focus is on supporting teachers and staff with behavioral management and conflict resolution.
Additionally, Ojeda will assess the children’s needs in order to provide direct support and refer to community resources when appropriate. Ojeda will also play a key role in working alongside parents to support their children’s school adjustment, alleviating family stressors that impact the household and increasing parent engagement.
Since joining HSELC this June, she has already connected with 19 families and continues to work with them to ensure their child’s success.
HSELC provides families, regardless of income, an affordable early-education program incorporating nurturing, education, and recreation to stimulate children’s healthy emotional and social development and help them excel in school and life.
To learn more about Hobe Sound Early Leaning Center and the services it provides, visit www.hobesoundearlylearningcenter.org.
Now’s the Time to Apply for Soroptimist’s Live Your Dream Awards
Since 1972, Soroptimist International of the Americas’ Live Your Dream Awards program has disbursed more than $30M to women who have overcome poverty, domestic and sexual violence, divorce, death of a spouse, or other life challenges to pursue their dreams.
They are women – just like you or your friends – who had the courage and determination to turn their lives around.
And because Stuart is fortunate to have a robust and active chapter of Soroptimist International, you can be one of the women who wins a Live Your Dream or Women in Transition award in 2022.
Online applications are now being accepted and will be until November 15.
Awards fall into two categories:
- Live Your Dream Award. Must have primary financial responsibility for herself and her dependents, be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program or vocational skills program and demonstrate financial need
- Women in Transition. Must be 40 or older going to school to change her career path and demonstrate financial need to accomplish her goals.
Sara McGaha an award recipient in the Live Your Dream category in 2020 and also qualified for a Woman in Transition Award.
Sara McGaha, Photo provided by Soroptimist International of Stuart
She enrolled in a full-time nursing program at IRSC in 2019 after enduring domestic violence and abuse for years, returning to school after 20 years to pursue her dream. Her goal of becoming a nurse had been put on hold until her children were older and more self-sufficient.
McGaha is currently a massage therapist, looking forward to becoming an R.N.
There are many Sara McGahas in Martin County and Soroptimist International of Stuart is actively seeking them out.
A simple online application can be found at www.soroptimistofstuart.org/live-your-dream-award. The application for Women in Transition can also be found at the www.soroptimistofstuart.org website.
Marie Kennedy, current president of Soroptimist of Stuart invites you to apply. “Education is the key to lifting women and their families out of poverty. Reach out to us and let us give you a ‘hand up’ as you work toward your goal.”
4Cs Holiday Cookie Luncheon set to Return
Photo provided by Caring Children Clothing Children
I was so glad to learn from Gigi Suntum, executive director of Caring Children Clothing Children, that the nonprofit’s perennial fundraiser that launches the spirit of the season, the Holiday Cookie Luncheon, is set for Tuesday, December 7 at Harbour Ridge Yacht & Country Club.
This sweet day has been one of my favorite events since the inaugural event, at which I was a cookie judge.
Although it’s too soon to have many details, you’ll want to mark the date and keep checking www.4cmartin.org for updates.
It’s a great opportunity to support 4Cs in its mission is to provide top quality, gently used clothing and a helping hand towards literacy to underprivileged children in Martin County, Florida, all at no cost. Even in the pandemic year of 2020, they provided 30,000 items of clothing to 3,334 children who visited our store.
Jackie is always looking for a good story…you may reach her at: jackieacolumn@gmail.com
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FINAL THOUGHTS
We are ingloriously seeing the end of the United States’ longest war.
There was no question in my mind that we should pull the plug in Afghanistan. I have said that we should have done it the minute that al-Qaeda could no longer use it as a sanctuary. I never thought that building a democratic with equality-for-all- nation was possible nor our responsibility.
The U.S. and NATO defeated the Taliban in a matter of months. Once that was accomplished, we should have said goodbye but making it clear that if we were attacked again by anyone using that country as a sanctuary, the U.S. would seek out and kill every member of whatever government or ruling authority was involved. They would be considered terrorists. Brutal but very effective.
Comparing Afghanistan to our role in Germany, Japan, or Korea is naïve. Afghanistan has never been much of a country but rather an assortment of tribes battling each other. From 2005 on, the U.S. was peering through rose-colored lenses at nothing but one big corrupt mess.
Leaving Afghanistan is different from abandoning the Kurds, Iraqis, or Syrians. There was and still is a strategic U.S. interest in those countries. We do not have one in the Afghan nation. President Trump had the right instincts about leaving. It was his flawed agreement with the Taliban that made it harder.
Since before he was Obama’s vice president, Biden has been calling for the American withdrawal from the country. That withdrawal has turned out to be so chaotic because his administration had bad intelligence or did not listen regarding the ability of the Afghan military, the corrupt and utter failing of their government, and the criminal bureaucratic treatment of U.S. Afghani employees that were at America’s side.
The moment that the U.S. and the Taliban signed their withdrawal agreement last year, local and national Afghan military and government officials made deals with the Taliban not to fight once the U.S. pulled out. It wouldn’t make any difference whether we were there for another hundred years or not. The president of Afghanistan left the country before the U. S. ambassador left our embassy in Kabul.
The real tragedy was the disregard we had for those Afghanis who were our employees and will probably result in the loss of their lives because our government has dropped the ball. This is going to be an unfolding tragedy. And it all could have been prevented.
Staying in Afghanistan in the supposed fight against Islamic terrorism is not relevant today. As an American, you have a far greater risk of being a victim of a home-grown terrorist than what happened on September 11th. Could Isis or some other organization go back into places like Afghanistan…absolutely. If they do, we need to swiftly isolate and eliminate the threat using whatever means necessary. That does not mean occupying and trying to instill western values in those places.
Biden’s actions are right. He needs to acknowledge and then amend his withdrawal plan to fit the circumstances. It does need to continue. Trump’s instincts about this were spot on, and I wish he had got us out in the early days of his presidency.
Obama was much too unsure of his instincts as evidenced by his doing nothing in Syria when the civil war began and by not getting our men and women out of harm’s way during his watch in Afghanistan. Bush went in with the right intention which was to eliminate the threat but then allowed his generals to expand their mission to nation building.
We accomplished our prime mission in Afghanistan which was the elimination of a terrorist base. If you want to call our pull-out a defeat, it was because past presidents substituted nation building as our goal. The U.S. does not do nation building well.
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GET THE WORD OUT Friends and Neighbors of Martin County are your eyes and ears so that you know what is going on in Martin County’s municipal and county governments. I attempt to be informative and timely so that you may understand how your tax money is being spent. Though I go to the meetings and report back, I am no substitute for your attending meetings. Your elected officials should know what is on your mind.
Tom Campenni 772-287-5781 (o) 772-341-7455 (c) Email: Info@friendsandneighborsofmartincounty.com thomasfcampenni@gmail.com
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Articles Tom wrote:
From Martin County Moment:
“A Deal In The Works”
“The Emperor Has No Clothes”
From Medium
“School Vouchers Can Prevent School Censorship”
“Christian Nationalism For America Is A Fallacy”
Other Articles:
The Capitolist: “Jeff Brandes’ think tank: Live Local Bill will help, but bigger changes needed to fix affordable housing crisis”
The New York Times: “How To Clear 500,000 Ferel Cats From New York Streets”
Trump’s Indictment
Florida Phoenix: “Statehouses debate who should build EV charging networks”
The Washington Post: “Tracing the power of Casey DeSantis”
GLOSSARY
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
Annual Medium Income (AMI)
Basin Action Management Plan (BMAP)
Best Management Practices (BMP)
Board of County Commissioners (BOCC)
Business Development Board (BDB)
Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
Career & Technical Education (CTE)
Center For Disease Control (CDC)
Centum Cubic Feet (CCF)
Children’s Services Council (CSS)
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)
Community Development District (CDD)
Community Redevelopment Board (CRB)
Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA)
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)
Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
Emergency Operation Center (EOC)
Equivalent Residential Connection (ERC)
Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU)
Evaluation & Appraisal Report (EAR)
Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA)
Fixed Asset Replacement Budget (FARB)
Federal Rail Administration (FRA)
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)
Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND)
Full Time Equivalents (FTE)
Future Land Use Maps (FLUM)
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)
Hobe Sound Local (HSL)
Indian River Lagoon (IRL)
Land Development Code (LDR)
Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS)
Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSUM)
Local Agency Program Certification (LAP)
Local Planning Agency (LPA)
Martin County Fire/Rescue (MCFR)
Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO)
Martin County Taxpayers Association (MCTA)
Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU)
Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU)
Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY)
Organization For Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD)
Parks & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB)
Planned Unit Development (PUD)
Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
Preserve Action Management Plan (PAMP)
Request for Proposal (RFP)
Residential Planned Unit Development (RPUD)
Right of Way (ROW)
Secondary Urban Services District (SUSD)
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)
South Martin Regional Utility (SMRU)
State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP)
Storm Water Treatment Areas (STA)
Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
Urban Planned Unit Development (UPUD)
Urban Services Boundary (USB)
World Health Organization (WHO)
Zoning-In-Progress (ZIP)
