This week the Martin County Commission dealt a blow to another

citizens’ advisory group. The commission rejected the unanimous

recommendation of the Jensen Beach Redevelopment Committee and shrunk

the established, 10 year old Jensen Beach Redevelopment Area by 75% -

from 67 acres to approximately 15 acres. This citizens’ group, formed 15

years ago in reaction to the deterioration of the Historic Downtown and

the river front along Indian River Dr., was the first county group to

work toward a sustainable comprehensive approach for community

improvement. Among their many early accomplishments are plans for storm

water improvements to clean up the river, extension of sewer and water

lines throughout the redevelopment area, educational riverwalk design,

adaptive yet strict mixing of land uses, and the plan for innovative

traffic calming approaches to solve regional traffic issues affecting

their community. This group worked all these years without pay and

recently with little county interest or support. Active, hard-working

citizens’ groups such as this are valuable county resources and should

be encouraged, not discouraged.

We wonder what the Commission hoped to gain by this rash act,

especially considering that, immediately preceding this action, the

commission voted to accept a report from economist Dr. Arthur Nelson.

Dr. Nelson’s report recommended that the commission develop more

mixed-use land designations to accommodate in-fill or re-fill

activities; he also recommended the commission "... be more pro-active

in making in-fill and redevelopment happen" in community redevelopment

areas. So, after accepting this expensive report, the commission

immediately ignored it. Again, what do they hope to gain? Perhaps they

fear the blossoming of vibrant historic downtowns, or is it a personal

agenda against these activist citizens interested in improving their

town? Or something else? Whatever it is, it leads us to a general

concern about the current state of Martin County government. County

commissioners seem to use their authority to advance personal agendas,

to aid their supporters and punish any and every critic. We were

appalled by a recent news article which described a commissioner’s

conflicting testimony while under oath which repeatedly contradicted a

previous deposition. The case involved a personal friend of this

commissioner and the county’s actions against the friend’s competitor.

These activities and their divisive effect inhibit the ability of

county government to efficiently provide the services our citizens need,

including roads, utilities and long term planning; and these

shortcomings have been very evident in recent years.

***

In our last column, we stated our belief that compensation for

government workers should be based on a comprehensive and independent

assessment of relative pay, not on politics or emotion. We are happy to

report that the Martin County Sheriff has contracted for such a study.

The results of this analysis should be available in the next few weeks.

When we receive them we’ll pass them on along with an explanation of the

Sheriff’s Department’s overall compensation structure.

***

Martin County's trauma patients have been served in the past by

ambulance, St. Lucie sheriff helicopter and those of Sebring/Tampa

General and Palm Beach County Health Care District depending upon the

location of the patient and the nature of the injury. Such service was

on an "as available" basis.

New state rules effective last November mandated helicopter service for

areas already offering same (including Martin County) and broadened the

scope of those trauma cases which required such service. Whie this

action broadens the cost exposure for our citizens/taxpayers, no

program for offsetting funding relief was offered. This was a time to

be creative.

Palm Beach County Health Care District, probably in anticipation of

becoming a regional provider of trauma flight service, beefed up their

inventory and equipment and invited Martin to "buy in" at an up-front

cost of $2,900,000 to offset some of their investment.

This caused our Emergency Services staff to look elsewhere and seek

bids for our own dedicated helicopter service. Many bids were not

returned, but one, from Corporate Jet Service, proved most innovative.

Corporate Jet Service will provide the aircraft, Martin County will

provide, the hanger and living quarters at the airport , 3 additional

emergency medical technicians and their supplies at a projected annual

cost of $233,000. A surcharge of $1004 per flight (times 240 flights)

will be billed to cover these incremental costs. Corporate Jet Service

will do the billing and collecting.

Although questions remain as to whether or not the county belongs in

this business, and whether or not this step requires the addition of

three full-time personnel, as well as if all goes according to plan, our

staff should be commended for their ingenuity. We’ll keep you posted.

***

Although the Governor vetoed a number of regional projects including

projects which would have advanced the Treasure Coast as a research and

development center, Martin County fared reasonably well. Remaining in

the budget is funding for the clean up of the St. Lucie River ($10

million) and Lake Okeechobee ($32 million) as well as funding to build

an Advanced Learning Center at IRCC’s Chastain Campus.