It is a pleasure to be able to start off an article with some pleasant comments concerning County Government. Mr. Duncan Ballentyne, Martin County Administrator, recently requested our suggestions on how to address shortfalls in County revenue following the anticipated new State property/sales tax legislation. He then hosted a meeting with his senior staff to review our ideas and advise of actions already underway. We found the exchange enlightening and encouraging. We hope that his efforts to restrain growth and reduce spending will continue, and be supported by our Commissioners. This meeting, as well as other recent feedback, also indicates some misconceptions about our positions on various subjects. To clarify:

Recently our Association took a stand on the operation of Witham Field. We knew that some would misrepresent and attack, but we continue to believe that Witham Field is a key ingredient in our local economy and strongly question when safety issues are put in jeopardy for what seem political purposes. We applaud the efforts of the Noise Committee and endorse strict take off and landing procedures to reduce the impact on the Airport’s neighbors. We DO NOT support the refusal of grants and other stipends from the State or Federal Government, or the Federal Aviation Administration. Those are our own tax dollars coming home and we DO NOT want local companies and taxpayers to have to subsidize operations because we refused available help. In Summary, we want the airport to be as safe as possible, as efficient as possible, and as neighbor friendly as we can make it.

Our readers often see us criticize our County’s labor contracts. Too often this criticism is interpreted as being against the workers providing these services. This is not true. We cannot criticize any employee for seeking the highest compensation legally possible. We do take issue with the management that approves these contracts. This is especially true of our Fire/EMS Department. We are very impressed and thankful to have these dedicated men and women protecting us. However, we believe that the compensation packages agreed to by the County Commission were out of order given the across-the-board raises and the size and physical make-up of our County. We continue to insist that experienced professionals be retained to negotiate all future labor related contracts. While we are critical of the excessive use of consultants, we also believe that efficiency experts should be brought in to look at the County’s operating procedures. This approach should not be limited to Fire/EMS, but considered for all County and School Board operations.

We believe that the County and School Board are overpaying for building construction. We had some sympathy for construction cost increases following the hurricanes and the very unusual building boom experienced a few years ago. Things have changed. This is an area that screams for oversight from private professionals involved in the building trades. A volunteer oversight committee made up of local Architects, Engineers and Contractors familiar with commercial and institutional construction could well be the answer. In the post 9/11 and hurricane periods it is easy for vendors to over sell their products in the name of “Security”. That is a tough thing to say following the tragedy at Virginia Tech, but that is the point. No matter how much we spend we cannot stop every natural or man-made incident. There is an old saying, “You don’t build the Church for Easter Sunday” - we concur.

Finally, our roadways are congested and costing the taxpayers time and money as well as lots of frustration. The current Commission has made tremendous progress trying to get us out of the hole left by the “don’t build it and they won’t come” philosophy that proved terribly wrong. Even if “they” did not come here, “they” moved in next-door and drive through our County daily. We need to make our roads more efficient by improving intersections and coordinating the ever-increasing number of traffic signals. Building the long over due Indian Street Bridge is also on top of our list. We need a long, hard, honest look at our corridor needs and focus our gas taxes and impact fees on new capacity.