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Questions resurrected by planning appointment
A few years ago, the
structure and power balance of government in the Florida Keys shifted
significantly, when first Islamorada and then Marathon decided to form
their own cities. The county government, which had presided over local
government for a great majority of Keys citizens, suddenly had much less
territory.
Residents of Key Largo
and the Lower Keys both considered following suit, but decided in
elections to stick with their unincorporated status. And then all had
been relatively calm on that front.
But a small aftershock
recently rippled through the Keys, when County Commissioner David Rice
chose to appoint Lynn Mapes of incorporated Marathon to the county
Planning Commission, replacing Alicia Putney of unincorporated No Name
Key.
Commissioner Rice has
the authority to nominate whoever he wants and the rest of the
commission generally concedes to the appointing commissioner's wishes.
They did so in this case, confirming Mapes' appointment 5-0. All of this
is right and proper.
Many in the county,
though -- especially environmentalists -- were very upset about
Commissioner Rice's decision. They view Putney as a hero and indeed she
is a meticulous, tenacious, intelligent volunteer, the very model of a
citizen as public servant. Putney reads the code, bases her decisions on
facts and is fearless in challenging the extreme pressures of
development and exploitation in the county.
Mr. Mapes, one should
add, is also an intelligent fellow and dedicated public servant and was
himself replaced on the Planning Commission, by Rice's predecessor
Commissioner Nora Williams when she appointed Putney four years ago.
That, too, was
controversial. Williams' rationale at the time was that she believed the
Planning Commission should be made up of residents of unincorporated
Monroe, because that is the only area the Planning Commission reviews.
With Mr. Mapes' appointment, a majority of Planning Commissioners are
now residents of incorporated cities.
It's an interesting
point and one that the County Commission should discuss seriously. The
Island of Key Largo Federation of Homeowners Associations recently
called for all county planning commissioners to be residents of
unincorporated Monroe.
Their rationale is
this: The county's planning commission only makes decisions regarding
unincorporated Monroe, thus its members should be made up of people who
must live with the consequences of their actions. Just as it would be
inappropriate for a resident of Key Largo to be deciding local land-use
matters for Marathon, so the reverse should be true.
We have a lot of
sympathy for this viewpoint, though we also must point out that a
majority of the county commission -- Commissioners Rice, Sonny McCoy and
George Neugent -- live in incorporated cities and they have even more of
a say than the Planning Commission over the destinies of unincorporated
areas.
This is all just the
latest wrinkle in ancient rivalries and resentments among different
areas of the Keys. Key West, the county's economic powerhouse and still
the county seat, once ruled all. That has changed and now the city more
often finds itself complaining about not getting services to justify the
area's contribution to the county budget. Meanwhile, residents of the
newly incorporated areas are coping with the growing pains and expenses
of writing and implementing new comprehensive plans and defending from
lawsuits.
The real issue is
this: The county government has never fully reckoned with the
consequences of incorporation. Just as the county administration
admirably provides a budget preview months before the stressful work of
actually setting a tax rate and approving a spending plan, so should the
commission hold a reasonable, rational discussion about its role and
duties in the new Monroe County. This discussion should take place apart
from any high-profile appointments or high-dollar decisions. They should
discuss the costs of their various government properties and staffs, who
is paying for these services and who should decide on issues like zoning
changes.
In the meantime, we thank Putney for a job very well done and wish Mapes
the best for the future. |
