by the Martin County Taxpayers' Association 11/20/99

Martin County has expanded its legal war on additional fronts to waste money that could be better used to provide beneficial services to the taxpayers of the county. Among the many losing battles this county has engaged in, such as the annexation battle against the City of Stuart, the pig farm, and others, the target this time is the tile manufacturing plant that has been operating in Hobe Sound since the 1970s. Pioneer Tile is its current name.

In the 1980s a golf and tennis community was developed next door to this tile company. In the 1990s some residents complained about the dust and noise emanating from the plant , and their commissioner, bent on pleasing her constituents, sent numerous county code enforcement staff members to find Pioneer Tile in violation of any ordinance. In addition to the county's unsuccessful efforts, the DEP, EPA, and other environmental agencies have also sent their officers in search of the elusive violation. None were found. One inspector noticed that Pioneer Tile stacked pallets in their yard, but promptly noted if he cited Pioneer, he would have to cite every other industry in the county for the same fault.

Pioneer had enough and initiated a lawsuit against the county in what is declared as self-defense, once it became evident that the county's objective was not to inspect and correct deficiencies, but to curtail operation and even shut the plant down.

Understand that the winner of this lawsuit may be awarded the recovery of their legal costs to be paid by the loser of this battle, and that Pioneer's fees are currently in the six-digit range. In addition to these fees, add the expense of the county's staff and outside counsel costs. We can estimate that the expenditures easily double.

As the taxpayers' dollars sink into the legal morass in unabated flow, our county attorney threatens, "the county has other ammunition to fight Pioneer", characterizing this employer as our enemy. We suggest that the county attorney and the crusading commissioner give consideration to the taxpayers who will bear the burden of litigation, before the next lawsuit is filed.

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In addition to wasting taxpayers' money, our county commission seems intent in wasting volunteers' time and effort. Our congratulation go to the now defunct Martin County Fairgrounds Advisory Task Force for a job well done. Each member used their best effort and judgement in coming up with what was a reasonable recommendation for a new location for the future county fairgrounds. The members must have been pleased with their efforts, upbeat, and enthusiastic when they presented their findings to the county commission. Imagine the feelings of frustration, dejection, and disappointment when the county commissioners essentially threw the results of a year of hard work in the trash can.
What went wrong? The same thing that all the numerous advisory committee and other volunteer groups face in this county. No directions whatsoever from the county commission. If the board did not want the fairgrounds to be located outside the urban service boundary, it should have said so from the onset. This happens at all levels of our government, here any everywhere else. When things like this happen, fingers get pointed at everyone involved.

The experienced professional analyst, attorney, architect or consultant makes certain they gets complete input from the client, including scope, constraints, preconceived notions and even biases and prejudices, in order to best serve the client. These professionals need to know what will please the client and how the work will be judged. Listening to the client's needs is the basis for the work.

Board members that want a project handled in a certain way are responsible for giving proper advice and guidelines to the task force they have assembled for the work at hand. Before a task force is asked to volunteer for any study that the commissioners would like advice on, the county staff should prepare a document delineating all the goals, constraints, and expectations of the Board. Once this document is drafted, the staff should present it to the Board in one of their format meetings for approval with the same process that is used when discussing ordinances and other business that goes before them. In doing this, they will have to convey clearly what the task at hand will be for any advisory committee.

The same should hold true for instructions to consultants. For example, the only instructions given to Dr. Nelson in his engagement to study our county's impact fee structure last year, was to update it. He had to recreate his findings several times in a six-month period in order to satisfy the preconceived ideas of some of the county commissioners.

Why is this our concern? The number of volunteers that the Board can rely on is small. If the county commission wastes these peoples' time, they will stop volunteering and then the county will have to rely on more consultants to perform these duties, at hourly rates that would make most attorneys green with envy. If they have to redo their work for lack of well-defined directions, it will cost the county a lot of extra money. YOUR MONEY.


W e encourage your comments, criticisms, ideas, or any questions about how your taxes work; call or fax 288-0474 or write to us at PO Box 741, Stuart, FL 34995 or e-mail us at admin@mctaxpayers.org or visit our WEB site, mctaxpayers.org.