| At a special
county commission meeting March 21, it seemed for a tense moment that
the commission was about to come to its collective senses on the matter
of Critical State Concern. Commissioner Spehar, whom the previous
day hinted she might be open-minded, reaffirmed her membership in
the "Gang of Three", proving that she had only been grandstanding in her
"open-minded" quotes in the previous day's Citizen.
The surprise was Mayor McCoy's seeming for a moment to come around, but
hopes were dashed when Spehar prodded McCoy into voting with her, and
the motion to withdraw BOCC support of de-designation failed 3-2.
Commissioners Rice and Neugent tried to right the wrong-headedness of
the BOCC but were not successful. This editorial is from the March
24 News-Barometer: |
|
Mind change may be
too late
Editorial,
News-Barometer, March 24, 2006
It’s good to see
our county commissioners back off somewhat on the push to have Monroe
County removed from the Area of Critical State Concern.
Though the
commission stopped short of asking the legislature to withdraw a bill
currently wending its way through that body, they did show some concerns
that the process might not turn out to be exactly what they were looking
for. There’s a surprise for all of us.
The commission first floated a resolution asking that the county be
removed from the ACSC designation days after State Rep. Ken Sorenson
made that exact goal his top priority for his final term in office. That
decision also came more than a year after the commission had asked for
and received a report from its own staff that the benefits of the
designation far outweighed the negatives.
Commissioners want the designation removed in a phased process that
protects the benefits they receive for a period of time and allows the
county to get out from under the designation if it keeps its promises,
something this commission, and the many before it, have been found
incapable of doing. Under the ASCS designation, the county is mandated
to make progress on central wastewater, land preservation and affordable
housing with strict state oversight.
In the latest
discussion, commissioners became concerned that the state was setting
them up for a financial shellacking in takings judgments as the land use
rules prevent property owners from realizing their dreams of building,
whether residential or commercial properties.
So the commission asked that the legislative sponsors of the bill
currently in Tallahassee amend the bill to include at least 50 percent
participation in takings cases that result from the state mandates.
This is a noble request, but as Commissioner David Rice has pointed out
many times in the past, and more vehemently Tuesday, once the bill gets
into the Legislature, the county loses all control over the final
outcome.
The vote almost
went to ask for withdrawal of the request as Mayor Sonny McCoy became
unsure of whether the current bill, and the amendments that are being
added daily, would actually be good for the county.
We wish he had voted to approve the request for withdrawal.
An informal poll conducted of 400 registered voters in the last two
weeks shows that the residents of the county are overwhelmingly in
support of keeping the designation in place. They just simply don’t
trust their elected leaders to stick to their promises anymore. And they
have no reason to believe that this particular commission will live up
to its obligations, it has a poor track record.
The only way the county can control to any degree its own fate in this
process is through a negotiated settlement with the Governor and Cabinet
that removes the designation in return for solid, non-back stepping
progress on our major issues, and assures a state presence in the
problems and financial burdens that will be coming down the line. |
