This years retreat was focused on Leon County’s efforts to build social infrastructure, reviewing progress towards the County’s five -year targets, and updating the current strategic plan.

Social infrastructure is comprised of the spaces, places, and other local resources that foster relationships and promote interaction among diverse groups of citizens. County manager Vince Long told the commissioners that local examples of social infrastructure included libraries, community gardens and Cascades Park.

The morning session of the retreat included a presentation and discussion with Dr.Eric Klinenberg, a Professor of Sociology at New York University, Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge.

Dr. Klinenberg discussed how physical spaces and organizations can shape the way people interact, prevent crime, reduce addiction rates, contribute to economic growth, and even ameliorate problems caused by climate change.

Commissioner Bryan Desloge advocated for mapping bike routes and assessing total miles of bike routes as a way to promote the community. Desloge also spoke about an alternate financing instrument for government activities called social impact bonds.

The final speaker, Chairman Jimbo Jackson, wanted staff to pursue an emergency management plan for water release at the hydroelectric generating station on Lake Talquin. Jackson spoke about the flooding issues in the area that become evident after recent weather events.

The proposed zoning change for 30.9 acres located near the intersection of Bull Headley Road and Bannerman Road will increase the number of “dwelling units” from 16 to 247. In addition, the change will allow for approximately 300,000 square feet of commercial space in buildings up to four stories high.

More recent information indicates that an assisted living facility and residential apartments are planned for the project.

Planning staff told the county commission that the change in zoning is consistent with smart growth principles. These principles encourage higher density growth to combat the problems associated with sprawal.

During the public speaking part of the meeting, the majority of the people spoke in opposition to the rezoning request.

The speakers argued that the proposed rezoning will facilitate a project that is not compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods.

In addition, speakers told the county commissioners that the current infrastructure in the area will not support the proposed high density development.

More specifically, Summerbrooke residents complained about the increased traffic that will be routed from the development through the neighborhood.

A number of speakers told the county commissioners that they are not against development, just development that is not compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods and the current infrastructure.

A consultant for the applicant for the rezoning request told the county commissioners that speakers were raising questions that were addressed three years ago when the comprehensive plan was amended. He argued that residents should have challenged the changes at that time.

The legal counsel for the applicant told the county commissioners that they have voted for a framework that allows for the rezoning at least two times over the last five years.

County Commissioner Desolge was the first elected official to speak and defended the rezoning and made the motion to approve the rezoning.

Referencing the Summerbrooke residents speaking against the project, Desloge said, “they don’t like what they don’t understand.”

County Commissioner Dozier said her support for the rezoning was based on rules that were adopted years ago.

County Commissioner John Dailey, who is running for mayor, voted against the rezoning arguing that Bannerman Road needed to be widened before the development moved forward.

The final vote was 6-1, with Dailey voting no.

The Planning Commission is a joint city-county board with city appointments and county appointments.

Since that vote Tallahassee Reports has verified that Volpe -who also applied for a city seat on the Planning Commission – was not considered for the seat by the City of Tallahassee because of a potential conflict due to a family member working in the Planning Department.

Also, TR confirmed that Mr. Volpe served as the host of a  mayoral fundraiser for Dailey less than four weeks before he was nominated for the Planning Commission seat.

Leon County Commissioner Dailey told TR that there is no financial conflict with Mr. Volpe and that he was extremely qualified for the position. Dailey added that the Planning Commission is an advisory board and their votes on issues are recommendations to elected officials and are nonbinding.

When reached by TR, Chairman of the Leon County Commission Nick Maddox said he was not aware of the family connection or the fundraiser at the time of the vote.

Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge also told TR he was not aware of the family relationship.

Both Maddox and Desloge did not want to make any further comments until doing their own research.

Tallahassee Reports verified that Mr. Volpe’s brother-in-law, Artie White, serves as the Administrator of Comprehensive Planning at the City of Tallahassee.

Sources have told TR that Mr. White’s responsibilities include crafting recommendations on planning decisions that would be voted on by members of the Planning Commission.

The seat was previously occupied by Dianne Williams-Cox, who is a current city commission candidate. Ms. Williams-Cox had reapplied for the position but was passed over, in part, because of her candidacy.

The first action taken on the appointment was a motion by Dailey to nominate Volpe.

After the nomination, Commissioner Proctor advocated for Williams-Cox. During that discussion,  Commissioner Kristen Dozier said that “I am not inclined to think we should have candidates on the commission.”

Dozier also cited qualifications as a reason for an alternative candidate.

In addition, Leon County Commissioner Chairman Nick Maddox voiced concern about her candidacy.

County Attorney Herb Theile, replying to a question by Commissioner Proctor, stated there were no rules against appointing a candidate to the Planning Commission.

Volpe was then approved 6-1, with Proctor voting against the nomination.

If approved in November, the creation of a council means Leon County citizens will be asked to support $7-8 million in new taxes to finance an organization with the sole mission of addressing children issues.

Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desolge held to his public position against the creation of the council. However, Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley, who had publicly voiced opposition, changed her position and stated she felt committed to let the issue move to a public hearing.

After the hearing, Commissioner Lindley explained why she changed her mind.

“We had announced the public hearing for June 19 and, after hearing so many people – pro and con – were preparing for that event, I just felt I couldn’t in good faith vote against a full public discussion,” said Lindley.

Chairman Nick Maddox voiced finacial concerns, but also decided to move forward with a public hearing.

These votes, with the support of County Commissioners John Dailey, Bill Proctor, Kristen Dozier, and Jimbo Jackson rounded out the support to move the proposal to a public hearing.

Three commissioners that supported the public hearing – Maddox, Lindley, and Jackson – made comments that indicated their support for a public hearing did not mean they will automatically support the issue on June 19th.

Their concerns focused on the impact of raising taxes and the lack of clarity on exactly what children needs would be addressed and how.

Emily Fritz, who was set to run for city commission seat 5, has decided to run for Leon County Commission District 3. The seat is being vacated by Dailey.

“A county district level seat is appealing, because it affords the opportunity to develop closer relationships with my constituents. In a district seat, your constituents really are your neighbors, which I believe empowers my ability to serve,” says Fritz.

Fritz worked 30 years in private sector positions and 10 years in state government. Her career began as a clinical dietitian and includes medical sales, managed care, and association management.

She retired in 2016 from a statewide professional association where she served as Executive Director.

Fritz has served on the boards of the Network of Entrepreneurs and Business Advocates (NEBA), the American Cancer Society, The Florida Foundation for Indigent Guardianship, and the Friends of the LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library.

She chaired the Leon County School Health Advisory Committee and served on the Capital Area Healthy Start Case Review Team. She is a graduate of Leadership Tallahassee and the Citizens Police and Fire Academies.

Fritz said her priorities will be public safety, restoring trust in local government, accountability of outsourced programs and contracts, and saving taxpayers’ hard earned money.

Two candidates remain in the race for city commission seat 5. They are Dianne Williams-Cox and Bob Lotane.

The creation of a council means Leon County citizens will be asked to support $7-8 million in new taxes to finance an organization with the sole mission of addressing children issues.

The Greater Tallahassee Chamber recently took the position that a needs assessment should be completed before moving forward.

Is there evidence that a CSC is needed in Leon County?

When the issue was discussed at the Leon County Commission meeting, Commissioner Lindley, while supportive of the idea said , “We don’t know exactly what the money would go for, who would do it. There are just a lot of questions.”

Commissioner John Dailey said that a CSC could address issues from crime to economic and health care disparities.

It was reported by the Tallahassee Democrat that Kelly Otte, executive director of PACE Leon, said a CSC would help address issues including childhood starvation and poverty.

Mimi Graham, director of Florida State University’s Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy, said the CSC’s approved in nine other counties have been tremendously successful.

Publicly available information shows that Leon County ranks pretty well when comparing child well-being statistics to other Florida counties.

For example, according to the 2017 Florida Kids Count Child Well-being Index, Leon County ranks 18th out of 67 counties in the state of Florida. This ranking is better than 70% of all counties.

Also, these rankings show that Leon County is doing better than seven of the nine counties that currently fund a CSC.

A needs assessment will provide more detailed information about what children outcomes could be improved and identify what service areas are not currently being effectively addressed by the Leon County non-profit community.

This information will be valuable for voters who will be asked to support a new tax for a CSC.

It appears elected officials are prepared to put a proposal on the ballot in November. The proposal would create an independent taxing authority which would have the authority to levy up to half a mill in property taxes, generating between $7.5 and $8 million a year in revenue.

The Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce issued a press release  on Tuesday March 27th asking the Commission to do a needs assessment before establishing an independent tax authority.

From the release:

“In keeping with the tradition of successful, measured, and impactful initiatives in Leon County, the Chamber Board believes that a study of need and an analysis of economic impacts of a potential Children’s Services Council is dutifully required at this time. Our community has shown a commitment to processes of this degree when successfully passing tax proposals…”

“A Children’s Services Council may be a potential solution to long-standing problems, but before a new independent government body should be established, our community deserves a deliberate evaluation of the issues, opportunities, and objectives we should be pursuing.”

County Commissioner John Dailey had pushed for a public hearing in April, however a number of officials wanted a delay and proposed a June hearing so that county staff could gather more information. The Commission will address the issue again at their May 22nd meeting.

In general, the opioid litigation brings claims against those parties for their role in creating the current state of the opioid epidemic, including deceptive marketing to physicians and distributing opioids in violation of State and Federal law.

During 2017 Leon County was approached by a number of law firms or teams of firms seeking to represent Leon County in filing a lawsuit either in State or Federal Court.

Virtually all of the law firms have offered to provide representation to their clients on a contingency fee basis, with reimbursement for costs.

It is alleged that local governments, and in particular, county governments, across the country have spent and continue to spend taxpayer dollars on many facets of the opioid epidemic that could have been used for other public purposes.

In June of 2017 a bipartisan group of forty-one (41) State Attorneys General issued investigative subpoenas and document requests to manufactures and distributors of opioid drugs. This state coalition is seeking this information to determine how these companies marketed and distributed the products.

Three counties in Florida (Pasco, Osceola and Alachua) have selected law firms and have filed litigation utilizing these law firms, other counties (Hillsborough and Palm Beach) have issued Request for Proposals and are in the process of going through the RFP’s for purposes of selecting potential outside counsel for the opioid litigation.

The Board will decide whether to instruct the County Attorney’s Office to pursue the selection of a firm most appropriate for Leon County and pursue filing litigation against appropriate defendants; or issue an RFP for purposes of the Board selecting such outside counsel; or not pursue opioid litigation at the present time.

The Board has allocated $586,692 for the weatherization project, with the improvements estimated at $390,000. The remaining, an estimated $190,000, would be reallocated towards the County’s strategic initiative for placing solar on County buildings.

The commission may alternatively vote to reallocate the balance for the amphitheater project to a budget discussion item for implementation of the strategic initiative for solar on County facilities.

Cascades Park and the amphitheater are owned and operated by the City of Tallahassee, which has final approval on any improvements to these properties. The weatherization initiative was initially approved by the Board in early 2016; however, other projects, now off the table, impeded moving forward with the project.

The weatherization modifications would shield the stage and performance areas from rain and water but would not provide protected seating for attendees. The proposed design plan maintains the view from the park to the State Capitol.

Leon County’s Summer Youth Program, established in 2000, provides entry-level summer jobs to Leon County youth at various County departments and divisions. The program also provides job readiness training to participants.

With this agreement, CareerSource will administer the work skills training sessions through its Dynamic Futures Program, funded by a federal grant through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

In order to qualify for WIOA funding, applicants will be screened by CareerSource for certain at-risk criteria, including high school drop outs, pregnant youth and/or teen parents, and children that are or have been in foster care. Applicants who do not qualify as at-risk will be paid for with County funds.

Funding for these positions are included in the FY2018 budget. It is estimated that of the 63 positions available, 23 would be filled by youth that do not meet the at-risk criteria.

Tallahassee Reports previously reported that the neighborhood associations for Ox Bottom Manor and Moore Pond filed a petition to challenge the Brookside Village development that was approved by the Leon County Development Review Committee.

The Brookside Village development is a proposed 61-lot single-family detached residential subdivision on the upland portion of the 35 +/- acre parcel with environmentally sensitive areas being contained within a conservation easement.

Lot sizes range from 0.14 acres to 0.42 acres, with two larger lots of 2.00 acres and 2.19 acres being proposed adjacent to Heartland Circle.

One of the arguments put forth by neighborhood representatives in the court filing, and before the county commission, was that the proposed density is not compatible with the bordering neighborhoods.

The court filing notes that the density of Brookside Village is 3.3 times higher than Ox Bottom Manor and 14 times higher than Moore Pond.

However, according to the developer and other planning officials, density is judged by “gross density”, not “net density.” This interpretation of the rules allowed for the inclusion of a conservation area when calculating density. The validity of this approach was verified by a state judge and accepted by the county commission.

In addition to planning issues, the political influence of the developer, Steve Ghazvini, was raised at the meeting.

Ryan Andrews, a local attorney said that “Through his companies …. he’s made many donations to a lot of your campaigns. Including Commissioner Dozier. On October 27th 2017 Commissioner Dozier received 16 checks totaling $4,000 as a donation to her campaign. I’m uncomfortable knowing that Commissioner Dozier may have a vote today.”

This was first reported by WCTV.

A county attorney informed commissioners and the public that the donations did not present a conflict of interest and Commissioner Dozier did not need to recuse herself from the vote.

Ghazvini, who has developed a number of projects in Tallahassee, told the county commission that “we’ve changed a lot of things based on their comments. Everything that we have done either meets or exceeds your requirements.”

The Board chose not to move forward on a citizens request to commit to powering county operations with 100% renewable energy by 2035.

Commissioner Dailey, after a presentation by County staff and after listening to several speakers, said on conservation, “we are not doing enough, we need to be bolder.”

He then provided examples of how he wanted the county to be more aggressive.

On solar power Dailey said, “there is no reason why every square inch of every county facility shouldn’t have solar on top. If its just money issues, that is priorities and we should set down and figure out how to do it.”

On electric vehicles, Dailey said “there is no reason why we shouldn’t have electric vehicle charging stations at every county facility.”

And Dailey challenged the academic community to think out side the box and to partner with local government in testing innovative energy projects.

Before Dailey spoke, the County staff addressed the idea of powering county operations with 100% renewable energy. The idea comes from the the United States Conference of Mayors which supports cities establishing a community-wide target of powering their communities with 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2035.

The County staff reported that a preliminary analysis indicated that there are certain aspects of the goal that pose considerable challenges for Leon County, and in addition, the costs would reach over $50 million at current prices. Furthermore, the staff reported that the investment would result in a negative return.

The staff concluded that while “100% renewables by 2035” is a highly aspirational target, Leon County Government has very little direct control in achieving the target since the County does not run a utility.

Given these limitations, the Board decided to move forward with plans and goals and not to accept the fixed targets with a defined end date.