Your Taxpayers Association would like to recognize the community spirit expressed by our local Firefighters and EMTs for voluntarily foregoing the 5% cost-of-living portion of the 10% raise guaranteed for the 2009 fiscal year by their existing contracts. Their willingness to work with the County to reduce spending and help with the required budget cuts should set an example for all public employees. They have recognized that these are troubled times and that putting community ahead of personal gain is required.

We say thank you for this action that has been offered by the local International Association of Firefighters Union. This spirit of cooperation bodes well for something we believe is crucial to both the short and long term sustainability of our excellent emergency services, the consolidation of the Martin County and City of Stuart Fire/EMS Departments. The County and City Administrations should listen to suggestions being made by those in the field to save taxpayer money and to keep an award winning department functioning at its best. We hope that the Union leadership will also listen to the Administrations, and all parties will act in good faith for the betterment of Martin County and the City of Stuart.

With this in mind, very careful consideration must be given to the upper management reorganization required by the coming departure of the County’s Director of Emergency Services. A strong leader will be required to bring these two organizations together without disruptions in service or significant discontent among their employees. Merging personnel from two separate organizations covered by differing union contracts and work rules is never easy. Doing it with the objective of improving efficiency and saving money will make it doubly so. This leader must be fully cognizant of the long-term ramifications of the provisions in the new contracts that will eventually be negotiated and remember that those personnel costs are the number one consumer of local tax dollars.

  If properly executed this integration of Fire/EMS services could be an excellent first step in a fundamental reorganization of how our local governments operate. The County’s income is decreasing and spending has to be reduced. The productivity of the public work force has to be increased. The size and costs associated with administration of our governments and school system have got to be reduced. Our focus should be on the product not the process. What does it take to produce educated young citizens ready to take their place in the workforce? How can we acquire and reward excellent teachers, firefighters, deputies, and other public sector employees in a down-turning economy?

We simply can’t continue to throw money at these problems. We need clear, concise leadership with a vision toward the future. It seems to us that far too many wish to spend their time talking about and longing for the way things used to be. The Nation and the State of Florida are changing. So too is Martin County. We need a more efficient transportation infrastructure. We need a sustainable economy less dependent on housing construction and tourism. We need a government that will accomplish more with less. It is time to stop talking, stop meeting, stop hiring consultant after consultant to tell us what we already know but don’t have the political courage to do.

  In the coming months we will continue to probe, constructively criticize and make the opinions of our taxpayers evident to decision makers. It is up to us as citizens/voters to make sure we are represented by qualified, experienced and dedicated elected and appointed officials. We are in an economic survival mode and well passed the luxury of lasses faire. We have to be involved and show the same dedication we expect from our leaders.

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Last week the Sheriffs of Martin and St Lucie Counties took a small but significant step in the right direction on reducing costs for both departments. Since both organizations have to transport prisoners between their organizations and between each department and Orlando where convicted felons enter State facilities, they have agreed on a plan to mutually support each other’s transportation requirements. This is the type of thinking that, if repeated and rewarded throughout our governments, can be of significant help in resolving coming budget shortfalls.
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We also want to recognize the Martin County Commission, School Board and Superintendent for working together to keep the County’s only community pool for competitive water sports open until a proposed new facility is completed in 2012. This relieves the Commission from having to make untimely decisions on what, when and where to construct the new aquatics center that was part of the voters’ 2006 commitment to a ½ cent sales tax increase. The current economic realities have again resulted in our leaders working together to achieve the right result for our residents and students. This is another example of how decisions affecting the entire county should be made. Thank you to all involved from both organizations!