A Better Buried Power Lines Plan

Come November, Longboat Key voters will be asked to approve a referendum ballot, championed by the town commission, to approve a $25,000,000 bond to bury power lines the length of Gulf of Mexico Drive. The referendum does not contain provisions to underground power lines in the "neighborhoods" presently with above ground power lines.

At the beginning of the commission's efforts to underground GMD, and only GMD, while taxing every property owner, I asked that the town spend $5,000 to contact every property owner / real estate taxpayer to measure the sentiments of those who will end up paying the bill to have properties along GMD receive a major property value increase as a result of placing their overhead power lines underground.

Unfortunately the commission was not interested in what the bill-payers wanted. The commission forged ahead with what has become a divisive internecine struggle between those who want everyone to pay for their personal property improvements, while excluding the rest of the island, and those of us who seek an optimal solution, with maximum benefits for the entire community, not just those along GMD and those who already live in developments with underground utilities.

Commissioner Zunz, among others, has proposed an alternative funding scheme that has the entire island undergrounded, for not much more than the commission's limited underground deployment just on GMD.

The Zunz plan has every property owner pay $4,000 to underground the entire island, instead of $2,500 to underground only GMD.  With proper 10 year bond management, the bond + interest total is almost the same amount as the town's proposed 30 year bond for undergrounding just GMD. The voters are voting based in great part on special assessment information appearing on the town's web site. It would be questionable if the commission attempted to alter published property tax liabilities after the election.

The commission has effectively resisted having those who already have underground power lines from paying a penny more than what it costs to do just GMD. Sadly , their unwillingness to listen to alternative views, such as that of Ms. Zunz, most likely will doom further deployment of underground power lines into the neighborhoods, due to inefficient project scale, the volunteer resources required to form a local neighborhood taxing district and sell a small scale bond into an already skittish bond market.

The commissioner's strong opposition to community-wide funding of an island-wide underground project, ignores the current way we fund both beach and canal maintenance.

The really unfortunate aspect of what the commission has been doing is to stifle meaningful community discussion and to limit the voter's choices to their single proposal. The illegal removal of vital taxing information from the town web site is another example of the commission's attempts to control the voting process and prevent the taxpayers from having a complete understanding of the commission's referendum proposal.

That the commission is preventing Longboat taxpayers the right to choose between several plans flies in the face of fair and open government. All the taxpayers have already spent tens of thousands of dollars to have consultants study various funding models for just GMD and/or the entire island. Now that the commission has withdrawn any consideration for an island-wide project, voters are left with an all or nothing choice for only GMD. It is my opinion that we can to a lot better as a community, just as we do when it comes to beach and canal improvements. Voters can reject the current offering by the commission. That will trigger a more comprehensive plan that includes underground power lines for the entire island at a slightly higher cost to taxpayers than the current flawed commission plan.

To Underground or Not Underground

I believe almost every property owner on Longboat Key is in favor of under-grounding our power lines. That unanimity begins to break down over who pays for what. 

Under the town commission's project, everyone pays for GMD, no matter what cost/benefit is actually enjoyed by different property owners, in various parts of the island. For instance, how far away a land parcel lies from GMD. It seems logical that those properties directly on GMD will increase in property value from under-grounding the power lines.

One problem with the town's assessment formulation is that the Key Club Islandside only pays the same $2,476 that most every other property owner will pay. The Islandside property has 1.3 miles of frontage on GMD. I believe the approximate per mile cost for burying the power lines on GMD is $2,000,000. We all have to pay for the 1.3 miles of the Islandside property. I believe residents have a bonafide concern surrounding the taxing model published by the commission.

That the town commission refused to allow the residents to vote to pay to either bury power lines on just Gulf of Mexico Drive or throughout the entire community, has now divided the community and may well be the primary reason that voters reject the commission's funding plan.

At this point the commissioners have completely withdrawn any consideration of an island-wide under-grounding project. The commission has acknowledged that their assessment model for the neighborhoods is so faulty and unpopular that they chose to no longer consider an island-wide project. There is no assurance that the commission will reinstate an island-wide project even if their current referendum passes. Certainly there will be far fewer residents who are affected by overhead power lines once GMD is under-grounded, making further under-grounding efforts less likely.

If the commission's GMD referendum is approved, I cannot see an effective resident-based initiative to underground other neighborhoods being likely. The legal and political challenges are daunting and the cost of doing the island peace-meal can only translate into higher costs compared to a large island-wide project that will attract more contractors with more competitive bids.

I believe the voters would be better off rejecting the commission's GMD project and have the town formulate a better, more encompassing and cost effective under-grounding plan. 

Commissioner Zunz has presented an alternative funding initiative that might be accepted by the voters for the same reasons that voters approved both the beach and canal management taxing formulas.

Finally, here is a link to a study on undergrounding siting advantages and disadvantages.

http://www.entergy.com/2008_hurricanes/Underground-lines.pdf

Power Poles in Paradise

I just finished counting, on Google maps, the number of streets on LBK, intersecting with GMD that are gateways to neighborhoods with overhead power lines.

I counted 75 intersections that will require a power pole on or very close to GMD. This count could be off by a few streets where there are no houses with overhead power lines and thus not requiring a power pole on GMD.

In addition to the larger power poles at most intersections on GMD, the town's plan calls for the addition of between 300 to 600 new street light poles at a height of 30 feet. Currently street lights are mounted on existing power poles. 

Residents should not be lead to believe that undergrounding GMD will eradicate the visual blight of utility poles on GMD. 

Times they are a-changing

Come senators, congressmen

Please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt

Will be he who has stalled

There's a battle outside

And it is ragin'

It'll soon shake your windows

And rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin'.

Bob Dylan

Wow! What a week. Loeb Partners, who own the Key Club, are leaving town, along with the general manager. On top of that, the president of the Chamber of Commerce is leaving at the same time. Is this a coincidence? Perhaps it is best if the new owners of the Key Club are able to work with the surrounding affected property owners and find a common-sense design for a new and reasonable Key Club expansion. 

The town is still facing a court decision towards the end of November that will decide if land use on Longboat Key will remain under the purview of our Comprehensive Plan and town ordinances, or become a political weapon totally in the hands of a commission that is presently mostly appointed. 

I hope that the prospective owners of the KC  and IPOC can reach an understanding. But I also hope that IPOC allows the courts to rule on the legality of two recently passed town ordinances, passed by the town commission - 2012-6 and 2012-8. I believe both ordinances will discourage people from investing in residential properties on Longboat. No one wants to invest in a community where anything is possible depending on who is on the town commission at the time. Both these ordinances destabilize our community and undermine trust that land use will be managed in a steady and predictable fashion. 

This commission fails to understand that "highest and best use" of commercial property extends well beyond the confines of the commercial development and impacts surrounding property owners and to a lesser degree the entire community.

The Servant of Two Masters

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other"...Matthew 6:24

Several people have asked me to explain the perhaps unusual relationship between the town lawyer representing Loeb Partners, while at the same time getting paid by Longboat Key taxpayers. My explanation that this three-way relationship does in fact exist has been greeted with laughter and dismay. So far, and the sample size is arguably small, everyone I have talked to has had difficulty understanding exactly what is happening. How can the town lawyer be the town's legal adviser and also be employed by a developer at the same time?  When I tell them that it's legal, that does not seem to alter how they feel about the town lawyer being the servant of two masters.

What does "being legal" have to do with what is right? It is legal to ride on a motorcycle without wearing a protective helmet. It is also legal to have a minor on the motorcycle equally unprotected. In many cases, the uninsured cost of treating serious motorcycle accident injuries are paid by the Florida taxpayer. "Special interests" have always influenced our laws. The motorcycle lobby has been able to control the motorcycle safety issue for many years. However, every taxpayer in Florida is subsidizing the motorcycle industry to some degree, through higher public sector medical costs.  From my perspective the motorcycle law is not a just law.

Longboat Key has become a community mired in special interests. 

Are you better off?

Are You Better Off Than When

This Commission Took Office 3 Years Ago?

I resigned from the commission 3 years ago in the midst of a divisive community struggle between the Key Club developers and those in our community who felt the Key Club expansion was too massive, and would be unfair to people who had already invested in property at Islandside. Four of the seven commissioners decided to back the developers, passing Ordinance 2010-16. I was so opposed to the intervention into community affairs by the town commission that I could no longer countenance being part of what I, and later two different Florida courts, believed to be an over-extension of political power. At that time I expressed my concerns that what the commission was doing was in violation of our own codes and ordinances. I was not willing to be party to the commission's inappropriate activities concerning the Key Club expansion. 

I have always expressed publicly, in print, my belief that the town should have leaned on the two sides to create a compromise. Instead, the commission voted unanimously to approve the KC application. I still believe a compromise is the only way to avoid still more years of court battles that have so far been a stunning refutation of all the actions taken by the commission on behalf of Mr. Lesser. I find it curious that the town commission is taking the opposite position in their dealings with the various factions involved in the Colony fight, calling for compromise. Unfortunately, the commission has, at the same time, created a new extra-legal zoning district in violation of the town's codes and land use ordinances. I expect law suites by those who are adversely affected by the commission's decisions. I also expect that the town will fare no better, legally, than they have fared with their efforts at the Key Club. 

I have decided to run against Commissioner Younger in the upcoming town election. I realize that I may be a single voice of opposition at times, however, there needs to be some sort of voice for the residents on the town commission. Someone needs to be able to represent the taxpayers and non-resident property owners to balance the current business-biased, mostly appointed, commission. I am also aware that I face unified opposition from the business interests on the island that have been effective in shaping the current commission. This is a strange opposition since I am very pro-business. I am simply opposed to uninformed government driven by special interests.

This is why I am running:

1) For the past three years the commission has done literally nothing to further the economy of Longboat Key. There has been much posturing and attending off-island small business promotion luncheons, but nothing else. There has been no concrete action on the part of the town commission to improve the town's image or to actively market our community. That is Job One for any local government.

2) The current commission continues to take actions based on legal advice that time and time again has been insufficient. If I am elected I will work to find new legal representation for the town. The most recent example is the hedge cutting ordinance vote now supported by the town lawyer. The ordinance should have failed if the commission voting process had been conducted properly. Once again the commission has received advice that most likely will not hold up in court.

3) The current commission has adopted a beach management, or I should say non-management, policy that has exposed too many properties to damage and even destruction. The record will show that Commissioner Younger is willing to gamble private property against a balanced budget. I believe that if a single waterfront property is lost as a result of a lack of preventive action by the town, it will have disastrous effects on the town's reputation. If elected I will be active in protecting valuable property from storm damage resulting from uninformed beach policies.

4) Another three years has passed since the current group of people gained political control of the town commission, and the $30 million pension system beast is still on the loose. This is another example of the type of inaction that has plagued Longboat Key for the past three years. Who knows how much the commission's indecisiveness has cost the taxpayers. One fact is known and that is the number of new-hires that have been allowed to enter our retirement plan during that time. If I am elected I will make sure the taxpayers are foremost in the actions of the town commission. The pension system debacle simply cannot be allowed to be kicked down the road for another three or four years. For the past five years I have advocated that the town transfer all workers to the Florida Retirement System as the best way to resolve a situation that has not been confronted by the current town commission. How long must we wait?

5) The commission has not been successful in their public relations with town workers. One of the reasons I was previously able to defeat an incumbent, who had strong support from various interests in the community, was his part in alienating the police employees to the point where they formed a union. The same sad spectacle is taking place again, this time with the regular employees. Because of perceived inequities, which are too blatant to be ignored, Longboat Key has yet another union on its hands. If I am elected I will get rid of our highly paid labor attorney and find someone who can work one-on-one with the employees to reach some sort of solution. Dragging things on year after year accomplishes nothing. When employees, who have been loyal workers, feel abused, they form unions. This did not need to happen, just as the police union did not have to happen. This commission has had a part in unionizing the town government. Taxpayers will now pay even more to deal with three unions, where a few years ago there was but one.

6) The current commissioners would like you to believe they did great things at the north end where unsightly blight is allowed to drag down the entire community, year after year. Instead of working with commercial property owners and surrounding residents to effectively solve the problems, they instead allowed a small group of business people to run the town. As a result this commission passed an ordinance that actually restricts possible solutions at the north end. If elected I will find a way to rid Longboat Key of commercial blight. There are Florida statutes that allow the town to insist commercial property owners maintain their property or face very serious consequences. Instead this commission made things more difficult to resolve. Doing nothing does not cut it.

7) Perhaps the greatest failure of the town commission over the past three years has been its inability to stem the steady loss of business on Longboat Key. I say this because this commission has devoted most of its time talking about how the town needs to promote tourism and business, yet they have not done so. There is an old saying "planning does not make government". That certainly has been the case for the previous three years. If anything the commission has been instrumental in halting progress at the Key Club by enacting unreasonable land use codes and ordinances that have been thrown out in court. This commission has the worse record in my memory for failing to attract and retain businesses on the island. For a commission that has focused on the business community and tourism, while ignoring residential problems, their actions have been insufficient and Longboat Key is losing ground.

8) Finally, people say nothing is more attractive than a pretty face. Gulf of Mexico needs to put on some makeup, get rid of the shabby signage and create a really attractive unified commercial presentation to those visiting our community. The present commission seems unwilling to confront the business community to improve their appearance. If I am elected I will work with shopping center and business owners to improve our image. It is in everyone's best interest that we put on a happy face. This commission talks the talk but has been insufficient in improving the appearance of GMD.

That is why I am once again seeking public office. There is a pressing need to find a new direction for our town. Clearly what the current commission has been doing has been ineffective. Property owners have a clear choice. They can have a few more years of a floundering community, with leadership so focused on tourism that they have failed to improve anything. Or the taxpayers can elect new leadership with new ideas and a new sense of creative solutions for Longboat Key. 

Let's get stuff done for a change!

Why Whitney Won't Work

I am one of the few year-round residents on the north end of Longboat Key. A am one of a few thousand people who live on the island more than a few months during the winter. In the off-season we can pick and choose where we shop from a fairly select group of local businesses located in three good sized shopping centers that are all located either mid-key or on the north end of Longboat Key. Many of my neighbors are Canadean or European and are limited to a six month visa. For the majority of property owners and seasonal renters, Longboat Key is the winter playground for those affluent enough to be able to spent time away from their primary residences.