Letter: Alachua County quality of life

Letter to the editor

County government policies play a huge role in shaping the foundations for quality of life in the county. 

The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) has doubled down on stringent environmental regulations, oniomania-style land acquisition, and limiting the rise of the private sector as the blueprint for quality of life for the county. 

A select demographic, for the most part, is fueling the BoCC’s policy-making, to the detriment of the majority.

County policies are often shaped by those who are retired with assets and those fortunate enough to have a decent-paying job. A rising number of transplants, who have yet to receive an Alachua County TRIM Notice or pay a tax bill in their newfound paradise, are stoking the board’s hubris as well, by lifting up the county’s quality of life, taxpayer-funded outdoor amenities, over that of the place they left.

Naturally, their instinct is to freeze the county in time by cutting off all new growth and prosperity as a way of preserving their brand of quality of life.

Many students enjoy the outdoor amenities in the county without ever considering their costs. However, when it comes time to commit to putting down roots in the county, they usually leave.

By sheer coincidence, I found myself in an email conversation with a woman who had written a letter to the BoCC expressing her strong opposition to a proposed development near Paynes Prairie. She accused the board of ecological betrayal and expressed very strong convictions on the matter. I imagined her as a lifelong resident who is deeply connected to the prairie, likely living in a tiny house and being anal about keeping her carbon footprint small and the county’s water clean.

Then it happened: she revealed that she doesn’t live in Alachua County. In fact, she doesn’t even live in the state of Florida; she resides in Philadelphia. After graduating from the University of Florida three years ago, she took a job in Philly because she didn’t see a viable career path by remaining in the area. 

While attending UF, she got involved with an environmental group, which placed her on a mailing list. That’s how she heard about the proposed rezoning of land near the prairie for Maranda Homes. My response was, “Excuse me, but you, with your high-paying job in Philadelphia, are writing down here to the BoCC to ask them to deny development? You have a lot of nerves because that’s not your job; it’s mine. The County has already sent me a notice that they want $6,000 worth of my hide this November, so I have the right to voice my concerns and sing the blues to the BoCC, but you don’t have that right.”

Even though she loved the environment the city of Gainesville offers, she couldn’t suck it up and get in line for a position at UF Health or take some local government position so she could live, work, and play near the prairie she so dearly loves. The idea of a salary that only affords a tawdry apartment lifestyle was just too small for her dreams. She wanted a better quality of life, so she left. I’m sure she is aware by now that there are no eagles in Philadelphia. 

Green spaces and big, wild, and connected conservation land are all enjoyable if you have the right financial situation. In her mind, seeing an eagle fly over the prairie doesn’t affect her bank account as when the eagle flies for her in Philly.

 Sacrificing love for the environment to achieve her version of quality of life in a place like Philadelphia is a slap in the face, especially considering all that the BoCC has put the taxpayers through, trying to please environmentalists like her.

Her story exemplifies the transformation that has taken place in this county over the years and highlights a broader quality of life issue that the County has been reluctant to address.

Economics and quality of life

Many retirees sell their expensive homes in other locations and move to cheap Alachua County, purchasing new homes with cash. Again, they rave about all the outdoor amenities without having contributed to the taxes that fund them. Quality of life and financial well-being are intricately linked.

Sixty years ago, Alachua County was a perennial member of the “Top 15 strongest economies in the state” club; now it can’t make it into the top 40. The county’s rebranding as the Green Capital of the state has negatively affected its economy. This situation, driven by environmental movements reminiscent of San Francisco, has created a disparity in quality of life throughout the county.

While money cannot buy quality of life, it can offer better options in the pursuit of finding it, as the Philadelphia environmentalist lady proved. 

Low wages and high taxes are a poison pill to quality of life for many. The script the BoCC is following tells them that raising taxes even higher and providing government assistance are the only tools they have in their toolbox to address quality of life for the economically challenged.

Alachua County, FL, ranks 42nd in median income, with 67th being the worst in the state. 

(20^th would be a reasonable goal)

It is ranked #2 in highest effective property tax rate, with 67th being the best. 

(45^th would be a reasonable goal)

The county-wide millage is 41st out of 67 counties, where 67th is the worst. 

(20^th would be a reasonable goal)

The importance of economics cannot be understated when it comes to attracting the best and brightest graduates who pass through each year. When our county loses young, career-oriented individuals who are passionate about the environment but would rather search for quality of life in places like Philadelphia, it suggests that the County should seriously rethink its approach to economic development.

Blue counties saving the state?

The Alachua County BoCC recently implied that the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) and blue Democrat-run counties in Florida are saving the state because of their strict adherence to environmental regulations.

The Orange County, FL board has a different approach to saving Florida, which does not relate to conservation or environmental regulations; therefore, the BoCC’s assertion is misguided and short-sighted.

The BoCC felt embarrassed upon discovering (I told them) that Viking Companies LLC was using the County’s tacit environmental policy on their website as a selling point for touting their ability to achieve the impossible. 

Viking Companies LLC said, “It is one of many reasons why Celebration Pointe has been able to obtain approvals in one of the toughest communities in Florida for new development. Alachua County is known to have the most stringent environmental protections in Florida, and has historically been a slow-growth community with some of the toughest land development regulations in the State. Celebration Pointe is the first large-scale project approved in the community since Haile Plantation was approved almost 25 years ago.”

They should have been excited to know their reputation is out there in print for the whole world to see. In fact, they should have offered Viking a stipend for advertising to the world how stringent land development regulations contribute to Alachua County’s quality of life for its citizens; instead, they chose to make Viking remove such content from their website.

Defenders of BoCC policies argue that the county’s environment and quality of life are the envy of the state, and our record-breaking tourism business, along with our green economy, are trailblazing a path for the state to follow. Alachua County tourism is so good that the board is considering ending the regressive WSPP tax before its 2032 sunset date… NOT!!! 

• Alachua County “bed tax” revenue – $8.2 million in tourist development tax (TDT) last year. 
• Orange County, FL bed tax” revenue – $359 million in tourist development tax (TDT) last year

I’ve lived in Alachua County long enough to remember when Orange County’s economy was mostly dependent on farming and orange groves.

The BoCC may be able to exclude real economic development from its quality-of-life planning and focus solely on the environment. However, the board cannot ignore the consequences of excluding economic development from its planning.

When the BoCC looks at the lay of the land, it is hard to ignore the following: 

• Very high taxes
• Crime
• Homelessness 
• Woefully unbalanced income distribution (skewed AMI)
• Alarming disparities/poverty/dependency (everybody is begging)
• An afflicted school system
• Dilapidated infrastructure

Two blue counties with differing saving-the-state quality of life policies

I wish the Alachua County board could attend the ongoing Orange County board meetings regarding Universal Orlando Resort’s request to expand to 2,100 acres. I don’t think any of the loquacious Alachua County members would dare to threaten the project by raising issues such as light pollution, tree mitigation, wildlife migration corridor disruption, and gopher tortoise habitat protection. If they did, after one meeting, the Alachua County board members would all be persona non grata in Orange County, FL. 

Walt Disney purchased 27,000 acres of overgrown, mosquito-infested swampland for pennies on the dollar and transformed it into a lucrative asset for Orange County. In contrast, the BoCC has spent approximately $25 million of swamp land, which they have neither developed nor plan to develop.

The Orange County board understands its theme parks are a significant financial asset that more than pays for itself and contributes to the County and state’s financial health. Sure, there have been trees cut down and wetlands encroached upon, but comprehensive quality of life is their priority. The board members are resolute in their decisions; they believe there is still an abundance of trees and swamps in Orange County, which allows them to prioritize economic growth and job opportunities without hesitation. 

Orange County ranks 13th in median income, with 67th being the worst in the state. 

It is ranked #27 in effective property tax rate, with 67th being the best. 

The county-wide millage is 27th out of 67 counties, with 67th being the worst. 

When it comes to saving the state, the blue board in Orange County, unlike the blue Alachua County board, gets the meaning of the proverb: “An empty stable stays clean, but there is no income from an empty stable.” 

Conclusion 

The BoCC is faced with rising costs on everything needed to run the government. Couple that with the failed public-private partnership deals that have gone south; things don’t look good. The County is hard up financially and can’t afford to turn away any private enterprises (to appease a select demographic) that are looking to invest in the county.  

If the County Manager has a sobering Liberation Day speech she has been saving, it is time to dust it off and present it to the board. 

We’ve all heard about the rich man’s woman who was trying to live on a poor man’s pay.

The BoCC’s fetish for wasting tax dollars on warmed-over progressive ideas while turning its nose up at growth and economic development is turning the county into a textbook case of a fool’s paradise, all backstopped by taxpayers who can least afford to do so. 

The last thing the BoCC needs is to be overwhelmed by anonymous, aggressive, and misleading emails that spread misinformation, such as:

• Industry and the environment cannot coexist in Alachua County
• Developers, farmers, and industry are the axis of evil in Alachua County
• Trees should have the same rights as humans, be recognized as a protected class, and be revered. (The Canaanites were big on those kinds of beliefs)
• Floridan aquifer is a private aquifer exclusive to Alachua County (its fate is in the hands of county taxpayers) 
• Alachua County is facing water insecurity and needs to implement water regulations similar to those in Saudi Arabia. (Refusing to admit the county is blessed to sit atop one of the most productive aquifers in the world)

The BoCC, in a duplicitous way, is operating from the perspective that its role in creating quality of life is a zero-sum game.

With an Extinction Rebellion mindset on one end of the spectrum and a Jair Bolsonaro mindset on the other, there is ample room in the middle for Alachua County to develop practical conservation policies that promote a broader, more comprehensive spectrum of economic development to enhance the quality of life in the county.

Every BoCC meeting should have at least one of the following as an action item on the agenda:

• Setting/measuring benchmark goals for improving county economic numbers
• Ways to incentivize private money to flow into the county
• Deprecating non-data-driven policies
• Recommendations on what other counties are doing to allow them to keep their taxes low
• Explore alternative methods for utilizing talent beyond the existing advisory board structure.

An objective evaluation of the County’s Comprehensive Plan would show how extreme regulations and outdated precepts have undermined the effective quality of life policies this County once embraced.

Anthony Johnson, Gainesville

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