Perfect non-endorsement record remains intact

It’s not Office Operations, it’s Going Along to Get Along

The Florida Today shockingly has endorsed Mitch Needelman for ‘change’ for the Clerk’s Office. Perhaps the biggest shock was the endorsement did not burn all of its print with a Scott Ellis slam and what was sent my way was at least related to the office, even if it was off the mark.

The endorsement faults me for interfering with the County’s business (parks and EELS), without explaining these issues, as well as the need to “work closely with commissioners to keep county government running effi-ciently”.

Flush with Housing Bubble induced revenue, the County attempted to issue a second bond debt from the Parks Referendum of 2000. However, the language of the 2000 referendum clearly limited the total bonds to about $73 million, and said amount was already issued. We informed the County a second bond issue could not be accomplished without a second referendum as required by State law. The County placed the bonds on the ballot and the issue narrowly passed. The bonds were issued.

Now about those “funds to complete vo¬ter-approved parks and recreation projects”, the County initially claimed it needed another $36 million to ‘finish the job’. By the time of the ballot question this escalated to $41 million, and in one whopper of a pathetic joke on the voters of Brevard a few months after the referendums were passed the County issued $82 million in bond debts for the parks. Well, the voters were promised, if you throw the County many more dollars all the projects will complete in two years! Five months remain on that two years and some of the projects have yet to even break ground.

A new Clerk cannot work closely with Commissioners to keep County Government running efficiently when it is not running efficiently now. What is really desired, by the Florida Today and advocated by former County Manager Tom Jenkins, is a Clerk who simply dots the ‘i’ and crosses the ‘t’ and never asks what the word is supposed to be. The same issue arises with the EELS program.

Brevard County since 2006 has overpaid tens of millions of dollars for land. The EELS program has morphed into a massive bailout (with great profits to boot) of failed developments from the popped housing bubble and properties which have been virtually unbuildable for over fifty years and will forever remain so. The Clerk’s Office is expected to dot the ‘i’ and cross the ‘t’ and never question why cow pasture and swamp has doubled in value since 2005 when all other buildable properties have fallen by half.

The ‘shift of focus’ argument is as well advocated by Mr. Needelman, both he and the newspaper continaully ignoring the fact that Internal Auditors represent LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of the Clerk’s workforce. The problem is these individuals are highly motivated, highly dedicated, highly educated, and the numerous reports written have gored several sacred cows. It is hard to de-focus one percent and have a whole lot more than zero.

There a few light compliments about resuscitating the office from a near death disaster with the help of hundreds of hard working employess who now after coming out of one heck of a miserable technical and managerial experience are suddenly ‘demoralized’ and awaiting Mr. Needelman to revitalize them.

While the County and State cry the sky is falling over revenue reductions in single digits the Clerk’s Office has had falling revenue of over 20% with nowhere near the weeping and wailing, yet our success and others fiascoes have “sorely reduced the credi¬bility of the office as a financial watch¬dog”?

The Clerk’s job is not a few months and leave others to direct the ship, it is a beyond full time hands on effort requiring financial, technical, managerial, and people skills. One may reduce that workload, however, with the go along to get along operations advocated by the Florida Today.