IN YOUR CORNER

 

There are many ways to obtain higher performance per tax dollar from

government.  One of these is to encourage staff to be more

entrepreneurial.   This is easier said than done.  All of us in both

private and public sectors try to avoid unnecessary risks; however,

government cannot provide as clear a correlation between taking more

risks and obtaining more rewards as the private sector does.  For

example, providing a bonus to a high performing employee in the private

sector is easy, but unions, union contracts, and strict pay grades are

an obstacle in the public sector.

 

Business people ask why government is not run "more like a business".

Many mechanisms in government have evolved to protect taxpayers from

unethical or illegal practices.  The Sunshine Law, for example, requires

nearly all government decisions be made in open public meetings.   This

is good for open government, but presents an obstacle to buying goods

and services at the same price the private sector can obtain.  Other

laws designed to make government purchasing fair to all parties

ultimately tend to benefit the seller more than the buyer.

 

Nevertheless, there are ways government can be more entrepreneurial to

both save money and speed construction of capital projects.  And some of

the side effects of this may be surprising.

 

For example, two years ago the City of Stuart wanted to purchase Stuart

Trailer Town (just north of the downtown Post Office) and construct a

retention pond for water quality improvements.  The standard government

approach would be to obtain several appraisals, contract with the land

owner and buy the land, then negotiate separate agreements with each

resident to sell his or her trailer, hire a consultant to design the

improvements, then bid the improvements and hire a contractor to build

them.  This approach maximizes control at each stage of the project, yet

also maximizes the total cost and time required to go through all the

these steps.

 

The City took a different approach. They purchased the land completely

cleared with the retention area built, all at much lower cost, and much

faster, than typical government purchasing procedures could have

produced.  One of the parties involved estimated the City saved $500,000

and 2 years of time.

 

The requirements for entrepreneurial activity of this nature are fairly

obvious.  The City Commission trusted staff enough to approve a unique

contract.  The staff trusted its private consultants to negotiate a

complicated agreement that was fair to all the parties.  The seller

trusted the City to hold up its end of the deal and close on the project

when it was complete.

 

Just as in private business dealings, this example of public/private

partnership depended on people cooperating to achieve a project with

"value added" none could achieve alone.   The City of Stuart seems to

obtain this kind of result more often than most local governments.  Part

of the reason is practice and success.  Part is necessity, as the City

has a relatively small budget and must stretch its dollars further.

 

We also suspect that a major part of the City's success comes from

having a stable government that tends to return Commissioners to office

and keep good staff happy.

 

It seems to us that the risks of entrepreneurial activity by local

governments may be rewarded more subtly and less directly than in the

private sector, but the rewards can be large and fulfilling to those

involved.  Good performance in turn helps build better governments.  The

taxpayers end up with the best of all worlds.  Our money well spent,

good projects completed promptly, and value added to the community.

 

We urge our elected officials and government staff to explore

entrepreneurial approaches to problem solving, and gain experience and

trust in the process.  We can all benefit in the end.

 

**

 

At this time of year, under the guise of New Year's Resolutions, we like

to list a few of our hopes for the future:

 

The City of Stuart and the government of Martin County will complete an

interlocal agreement making the two Fire/EMS departments cooperate to

the benefit of all taxpayers.

 

The new Martin County Commission will take as much interest in fiscal

responsibility as in growth vs. no growth.

 

Local governments will stop letting increased real estate valuations pad

the annual budget and begin giving some of our money back by rolling

back the millage rate.

 

Capital improvement programs will be sorted into three categories:

"must have", "would like to have", and "would be nice".  This should be

done with a focus on the first category, and a few of the latter

categories.

 

The prospect of a sustainable future for our county will not be held

hostage by political squabbles.

 

Martin County will find a way to curb the expansion of 20-acre ranchette

development outside the Urban Services Boundary.  This type of

development especially hurts taxpayers.  We simply cannot afford to

support that kind of sprawl.

 

The new School Board works well with itself and the Superintendent.  The

Superintendent does not bail out on her responsibilities.

 

Critical road improvement projects get started in the Spring and

finished in the Fall.

 

Local governmental budgets are made clear and understandable to all.

 

Happy Holidays to everyone and a healthy and prosperous New Year !!