'08 Campaign Issues I

Issue 1 - Quality of Life

District 3 County Commission candidate Ron Raymond listed the issues he believes are important in this year's Clay County elections and asked for our opinions. Well, one of my opinions is that each of the issues he mentioned deserves its own discussion, so I decided to tackle them one at a time, beginning with the nebulous "Quality of Life."

Regular folks don't talk about their "quality of life." It's a phrase invented for government, something it often attempts to study and quantify. Despite its exclusive appearance in political discussions, getting a politician to tell you exactly what he or she means when they say they'll protect your "quality of life" in return for your vote is damn-near impossible. So, let's get exact.

Here are four 2008 Election issues that could be included within that nebulous "quality of life," and I'd like to know where candidates stand on each. (And please, save the "family values" and "hard-working" and "leadership" personal qualities for the oral campaign presentations. Use this opportunity for uninterrupted response to stick to the issues.)

I. Traffic - Yeah, yeah, don't waste our time in this election year telling us Clay County has the longest commute in the entire state. Don't waste our time telling us if you think the Outer Beltway should be built on another route without tolls and with a brand new span over the St. Johns and keep the existing Shands Bridge. If a candidate wants to talk traffic, I want to know about the county's most immediate problem.

Let's face it, for most of Clay County, going to work and almost anywhere else involves entering the traffic of Blanding Boulevard or U.S. 17. Right now, at any given moment, either of those two roads can be efficiently moving thousands and thousands of vehicles from Green Cove Springs or Middleburg north through Orange Park into Jacksonville, or either may instantly become massive collections of frustrated drivers in what seems more like a parking lot than highways lined with signs that say "Speed Limit 55."

For the next four years, my personal quality of traffic life is most dependent on those two stretches of road. So, candidates, what are you gonna do about the problems we already have with 17 and Blanding, and how're you gonna keep my quality of traffic life from declining as the county continues to build subdvision after subdivision that add thousands more vehicles each year?

II. Public Parks and Recreation - I like public parks. Nothing better than seeing a young family at play, and hearing the sounds of children's unrestrained laughter. I'll chip in a few tax dollars for that experience. But economic times are tough, and we're gonna have to set some less-than-satisfying priorities somewhere, and that raises some Election 2008 issues.

The quality of parks and recreation life that affects me personally can be broken into four categories - the number of public facilities available, the condition in which the facilities are maintained, what's being done to ensure that adequate facilities are available for future Clay County residents and how much government is gonna take out of my pocket to pay for all of it.

Candidates who want to protect this particular aspect of the quality of my own life should be willing to maintain what we've got. Period. When economic times improve and the tax revenue consistent enough to warrant such plans, then we need to think about parks and recreational facilities of the future. At most, the county should purchase land in anticipation of future parks or recreational facilities to be developed only when the need and financial ability construct and maintain another facility coincide.

Right now, though, we need to cap spending in this particular area of government. That will mean county government'll have to stop accepting responsibility for public parks donated as part of new development. Those all require expanded maintenance, eventually necessitating more county employees, and more taxpayer expense. Can't afford it at the moment.

So, candidates. Are you ready to set the difficult priorities and maintain what we've got, and get our government financial house in order before we start adding the expense of more parks and recreational facilities?

III. Public Education - Some of the kids attending our Clay County schools will eventually end up placing a stethoscope to my aging chest and being the person I count on to make me feel better, so I'd really appreciate it if our schools could offer my future doctor more than a five-day-a-week babysitting service for their working parents. (Actually, I'd really appreciate it if our schools could start turning out graduates who can figure out the correct change if the computerized cash register breaks down.)

For most parents of school kids, though, there's a more personal question I'll ask for them. The lack of proper facilities and lack of apparent funds to construct the needed facilities, coupled with a rapidly-growing student population, means parents are looking at the two unpleasant realities of more portable classrooms and frequent school redistricting. It's not impossible that any single student , for example, attend third, fourth and fifth grades in three different elementary schools.

So, candidates, when it comes to quality of school life, my question isn't complicated at all.  Are you honest enough to tell parents before this election that they need to suck it up and accept the fact that neighborhood schools are being lost as an accommodation to growth?

IV. Growth Management - Let's recap. My quality of life is affected by the traffic on Clay County's two major roads. It's affected by the level of education students receive in public schools. It's even affected by public parks and recreational factilities, but that's obviously a slightly lower personal priority. And all three of those issues are not only affected, but controlled, by the county's attempts at growth management.

Every time a new subdivision adds another thousand homes somewhere between Green Cove and Clay Hill, it affects my personal quality of life. There are gonna be another couple of thousand cars thrown into my already-frustrating Blanding-17 traffic mix, first of all. Then, in addition to what I'm already chipping in to pay for, there's gonna have to be another school to accommodate those .546 students per household, plus the salaries of the school's administration and teachers and staff and bus drivers and, well, you get the idea.

Can't stop growth, though, so the question becomes management and priorities. I'll make it easy for the candidates: Are you willing to support a moratorium that prohibits amending the county's Comprehensive Growth Plan to allow for any increasing zoning densities? If so, what period of time do you think is appropriate for such a moratorium?

OK, candidates, there are four 2008 Election issues. Things that affect me as I live, work and play in Clay County right here, right now. Here's your opportunity to discuss some specific, immediate issues. Talk common sense, logic and you take a giant step toward winning my personal vote. Reduce Quality of Life to a vague, "family values"-filled, no-financial-sense, campaign soundbite response that insults my intelligence and I won't bother wasting my time with you for the rest of this important Election Year.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net