The Martin County
Defender
The e-newsletter for aware citizens – No. 63
Behind the closed doors of a Commission “Executive Session”
TRANSCRIPT REVEALS THEIR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE “BIOTECH BOONDOGLE”
Florida’s Sunshine Law (Statute 286.011) allows exemptions from the requirement that officials must meet openly in public. One such exemption permits Martin County commissioners to meet in private with County attorneys to obtain legal advice.
On Nov. 27, 2007, Commissioners Doug Smith, Lee Weberman, Michael DiTerlizzi, Susan Valliere and Sarah Heard met in executive session with County Administrator Duncan Ballantyne, County Attorney Stephen Frey, and Assistant County Attorney David Acton. Court reporter Deanne Morris prepared a verbatim transcript of this discussion, which was closed to the public.
The subject of the meeting was an amendment passed by the Commission and approved by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). The focus was on highway interchange areas that had previously allowed for services just to transient motorists. The amendment provided for an overlay called the Exchange Oriented Research and Biotech (EORB) zone. In particular, the discussion centered around a legal challenge to the amendment filed by attorney Virginia Sherlock on behalf of Donna Melzer and (your editor) Al Forman.
Now that the commission has repealed their amendment to avoid having a judge or state agency repeal it for them, the 32-page transcript has become public record.
I initially spoke before the Commission against the EORB amendment when applicant Don Cuozzo of developer-planner Houston Cuozzo presented it. I did so because the amendment would set up an industrial spot zone far outside the Urban Service Boundary (USB), allowing risky biochemical manufacturing next to my residential community. This was reported in Defender Issue No. 4 of 4/5/07 in the article, “Case History – How commissioners and developers worked together to undermine the Comp Plan and foster industrial sprawl.”
I have woven my interpretive comments (in regular type) with those portions taken verbatim from the transcript and printed in underlined italics so readers can better understand the meaning of the transcript quotes below.
EORB ON SHAKY LEGAL GROUND
[ EDITOR’S NOTE: The EORB amendment was on shaky legal ground from the start, but the Commission majority plunged ahead with it. Because of our legal case, the Commission was facing a hearing by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who would rule on our complaint. The ALJ could, in effect, throw out the amendment if he found that Melzer and Forman were legally right and the Commission wrong.]
MR. ACTON: The existing plan has some inconsistencies which I’m sure – fairly sure the administration hearing officer will not look favorably on and therefore we face a very real possibility in this case of having the Department’s [DCA] determination reversed. In fact, when this becomes evident to the Department, they may be the ones who are telling us they’re going to back off on their in-compliance finding — So we have a problem in prevailing in this hearing.
COMMISSIONER DEFERENCE TO WHAT THE DEVELOPER-APPLICANT WANTS
COMMISSIONER WEBERMAN: Refresh my memory. Wasn’t this originally a privately submitted comp plan amendment? — Has the applicant themselves been briefed on these facts?
MR. ACTON: Yes, they have.
COMMISSIONER WEBERMAN: Okay. Is it appropriate to ask what their sense is or is not – should it just be our decision?
MR. FRY: Yes. And the applicant’s opinion was that the County shouldn’t settle, that they don’t want to have to wait for the comprehensive plan amendment in order to be able to proceed with the use of the property or the expressway oriented easement.
[EDITOR’S NOTE] Though EORB was a privately submitted application rather than a County proposal, the County paid $5,000 in taxpayer dollars to re-do the inadequate privately sponsored traffic study.]
MISUSE OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN “REVIEW”
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The legal thinking goes something like this: The EORB amendment is screwed up, but we can accomplish the same goal for the developer by doing a work-around “review” to jiggle the Comp Plan.]
MR. ACTON: What I’ve outlined for you is why I don’t want to have a hearing in this case if we can. It creates problems we don’t need to address right now, especially since you are in the process administratively of going through the review of the comprehensive plan….So we have a mechanism for addressing the problem in the very near future.
COMMISSIONER FAVORS INDUSTRY OVER PREVENTING POLLUTION
COMMISSIONER DITERLIZZI: Mr. Forman is clearly on record as saying I [he] don’t want those polluting businesses in my backyard. I’m sorry. I have a little different philosophy as far as bringing industry to market.
ONE COMMISSIONER IS WILLING TO SETTLE
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Complainants Melzer and Forman offered a reasonable settlement that would end the dispute and protect all citizens. The Commission ended up killing the amendment rather than giving the public more influence.]
MR. FRY: I personally didn’t get the impression that the Board is interested in settling on the terms that were provided.
COMMISSIONER HEARD: For the record, I think that we should accept the settlement agreement. I think that you’re just going to find yourself in more hot water than you want to be in. But that’s your discretion.”
[EDITOR’S QUERY FOR READERS: Do these transcript excerpts suggest that the commission majority is looking out more for the interests of developers or the interests of residents?]
A candidate interview video worth watching
On July 10. 2008, the Stuart News editorial board conducted a lengthy two-part interview with District 1 Republican commission candidates Doug Smith and Henry Copeland. The relaxed, conversational interview brought out the abilities and differences of these two articulate men. The contrast was dramatic.
It was very evident that one of the two had a far superior understanding of the issues, a clearer insight of what should be done, and a much better approach to making the Commission a more effective and responsive body. Irrespective of one’s political views, any reasonable person should recognize the significant difference between them, and conclude which would make a better commissioner. See for yourself. Go to:
http://www.tcpalm.com/videos/detail/martin-county-district-1-pt2/
Stuart News declines to endorse either Dem
It’s not very often that a newspaper refuses to endorse either of two candidates in a primary election, but that is what has happened in the District 1 County Commission race after the editors did research and conducted personal interviews.
On July 15, 2008, the Stuart News stated: “After meeting with Brent and Fullman, the editorial board of Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers has decided not to endorse either of the Democratic candidates in the District 1 primary. Neither Brent or Fullman appears to possess the qualities required of a commissioner …. Neither candidate, at this point, is qualified to hold a position of this magnitude.””
Thumbs up for the editorial board having the guts to tell it like it is.
Update on Consensus, Inc.
Following up our exposé of the inner workings of the Martin County Consensus, Inc. in Defender Issue No. 55, readers have inquired about what that group has been doing. The concise answer is: Not very much.
My last involvement with their meetings was the one held in the Blake Library’s John F. Armstrong Wing on Dec. 3, 2007. I arranged for the speaker and did most of the promotion. We had a full house, wall to wall audience.
In March 2008, Consensus, Inc. sponsored a lunch which – to use their words – was “at an undisclosed location … by invitation only.”
On July 14, 2008. they were back at the Blake’s 250-seat Armstrong Wing. Consensus, Inc. promoted the meeting and its speaker in the newspaper and elsewhere. Only about 50 attendees showed up.
This decline in both public event frequency and attendance have come about under the Consensus, Inc.’s exclusionary leadership: President Bill Summers and recently resigned Chairman Tom Fullman, and their self-appointed board.
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•••NO MORE 2004•••
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Al
Al Forman, Editor 7/19/08
The Martin County Defender is published and Copyright 2008 by WordsmithAmerica,
Box 1828, Palm City, FL 34991
. All rights reserved. No part of this issue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for public or private use, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. NOTICE: All correspondence not bearing legal copyright notice which is sent to the Defender or its editor is subject to being edited and published.
–
Al Forman
mc_defender@fastmail.net
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