The President’s Hoot!
After Frances and
Jeanne
We are all very fortunate to have survived the hurricanes. I sympathize with you regarding any damage to your homes, businesses, and trees. This has been a major disaster to our county, adding to our other problems. I am saddened by the experiences people have felt this last month in Indian River County. We all need to work together in caring ways to help each other.
We
have an opportunity to review with citizen’s input the events before and after
the storms and we can make changes in our planning for emergencies as well as
building to prevent damage.
Communication, education in preparation and survival, strength of
shelters, and movement to safety can be refined. We’ve learned that quality
homes built under the new codes withstood storms better. More than ever, the hurricane has taught us
that we have to protect our trees as they can be destroyed so easily either by
the hurricanes, by frightened residents removing them, or sadly by overzealous
linemen removing them so they won’t be anywhere near an electrical wire. Instead, we need to begin a plan to bury all
of our electrical cables so that generators and power lines are not so
vulnerable. This will help preserve our
standing trees. In any case, there is
much work to do to learn from our experiences.
Before
the hurricanes we were very concerned about the out of control growth in our
county. In the long-term, I don't think
the two hurricanes will influence the development we have experienced this year. The people in South Florida will continue to
escape from congestion, and those from up north will have not experienced the
hurricanes and will not relate to it, especially after the first big snowstorm
and cold. Therefore, we need to
continue to advocate for equitable impact fees, strong tree ordinances, holding
the urban service line and low densities, and keeping four lane highways out of
residential neighborhoods.
The
recent hurricanes have destroyed so much yet showed us what an amazing group of
humans can do if we work together. Our
community pulled together, neighbor helping neighbor. This is our community,
and we are proud that we have survived and will again thrive. We can build a
great community again, one that meets our needs and goes beyond to a vision of
excellence. We have more talent here in
Indian River County than was in Athens, Greece. With what we have already, the great minds and abilities here,
our education centers, art museums, theaters, innovative businesses and
beautiful beaches, lakes, and hammocks, we have a brilliant future ahead…and it
is in our hands. We can decide to
strive for the extraordinary and shape a unique and creative, growing
community.
On November 2, the election for county commissioners to lead the county to rational solutions for growth is important, but it is even more essential to our future to vote yes for the $50 million bond to preserve lands to protect our unique and varied habitats, our heritage, to allow for future flooding and greenways for wildlife. As chair of the Land Acquisition Advisory Committee I have calculated the extraordinary monetary savings we made with the first $26 million bond issue.
Please vote on November 2nd Your vote helps determine our future.
Richard Baker,
President (October 2004)