MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

April 28, 2008

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on April 28, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chairman Truman Scarborough, Commissioners Mary Bolin, Chuck Nelson, Helen Voltz, and Jackie Colon, County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

Commissioner Nelson announced today’s Workshop is historic because the Board has the pleasure of welcoming some federal officials; and before he introduces them, he would like the audience to identify themselves because there are a large number of folks present who have a significant importance to Brevard County and the Space Program.

 

Representatives of Brevard County and the Space Program introduced themselves from the audience.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Agenda will be open; comments will be given by Senator Nelson and Congressman Weldon, as well as consultants.  He stated United States Senator Bill Nelson was elected to the Senate in November 2000 after serving six years as a member of the Florida Cabinet; the Senator currently serves on the Senate Commerce, Armed Services, Budget, Foreign Relations, Intelligence, and Aging Committees; and Senator Nelson is widely recognized in Congress as an expert on NASA and America’s endeavors in space.  He noted on January 12, 1986, then Congressman Bill Nelson became the first member of Congress to fly aboard the Space Shuttle on STS-61-C, a six-day mission in which he served as a payload specialist; and he thanked Senator Nelson for attending the Workshop. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated Congressman Dave Weldon was a U.S. Army Veteran and a Medical Doctor elected to the 15^th Congressional District; Congressman Weldon was a member of the House Appropriations Committee and his service has had tremendous influence over the NASA budget in the last few years.  He stated Congressman Weldon is retiring from Congress; and the Board looks forward to his efforts to continue the space program and make it a viable and strong program in Brevard County in his time left in office.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated Bob Walker is a former Congressman who served as Chairman of the Commission on the Future of United States Aerospace Industry; Mr. Walker is a member of the Presidential Commission on the implementation of United States Space Exploitation Policy; and Mr. Walker is widely accepted as an expert in science and space technology and energy issues.  He stated he would like to thank Mr. Walker for showing him around Washington D.C.  He stated with Mr. Walker is Paddy Link, and the Board appreciates her assistance also. 

 

 

 

 

 

Senator Bill Nelson stated it is a privilege to come back to Brevard County; and he expressed appreciation to the Board for its public service.  He stated he has known Chairman Scarborough for a long time; stated Chairman Scarborough has served in various distinctive and distinguished positions of local government as Titusville City Commission and Titusville Mayor; and he would like to thank Chairman Scarborough for his service.  He commented on the continuing good relationship between himself and the Board; he has a staff member who is entirely dedicated to Brevard County, and her name is Barbara Arthur; and he thanks the Board for the continuing relationship.  He stated Congressman Weldon is retiring; he has given unselfish devotion; and he expressed appreciation to Congressman Weldon for his public service.  He stated Bob Walker has been out of Congress for approximately a decade; but he had the privilege of leading the Space Subcommittee in the House of Representatives 20 years ago with Mr. Walker, who was the ranking member; and the two of them jointly decided that space was not a partisan subject or a bi-partisan subject, but it was a non-partisan subject.  He stated with all the contentiousness in the 1980’s that was going on with all the issues in Washington D.C., he and Mr. Walker were going to lead the Space Subcommittee and the House in a bi-partisan way; and that is what they did through some critical issues.  He stated one of the issues in the beginning was the Space Commercialization Act; and he and Mr. Walker tried to get the first seedlings sprouted so the space industry could be seen from a commercial standpoint using the government facilities at the Kennedy Space Center.  He stated as the County is facing layoffs at the Space Center when the space shuttle shuts down in October 2010, the commercial space area can bring back jobs to the area during the window of time that looks to be five years; he has done everything to try to shorten that time; an additional $1 billion was put into the budget this year to try to shorten that time; the Senate passed an extra $1 billion, which was merely paying back NASA for the money it had to expend in the recovery of flight after the destruction of Space Shuttle Columbia; and that was also done 20 years ago after the destruction of Space Shuttle Challenger; but NASA had to eat it out of operating funds, $2.8 billion.  He stated the Budget Director and the White House Budget Office would not support the Senate, even though it was passed overwhelmingly in the Senate; it went to conference, where there was trouble with some of the House members, specifically Chairman Obbe; but the Senate could not get the support and it was discarded.  He stated the Senate is trying to get another $1 billion; it is in the budget document; Senator Shelby, Senator McCulsky, and Senator Hutchinson, all are working with him to get the $1 billion in the appropriations; but he would not count on it because of the tightness of the budget.  He stated the Senate was trying to narrow the gap when there will be no human flight on American vehicles from five or six years down to three years, lessening the impact on the workforce in Brevard County; and fortunately, in space commercialization there is an organization known as SpaceX.  He stated he would like to say something good about the Air Force; General Helms, who is going to be leaving, has been very forward thinking in trying to reverse the bureaucratic lethargy that made it so difficult in dealing with the Air Force to get space commercialization; and there are the Delta’s, and Atlas’s; but when it came to creating a pad on which a new space commercial vehicle could be launched, the Air Force worked with the commercial companies and took one of the old pads at the Cape.  He advised Friday evening he had a conversation with General Helms’ boss, and that is the four-star Air Force Head since October, General Kaylor; he encouraged General Kaylor to continue the newfound atmosphere of finding the old launch pads at the north end of the Cape, close to NASA, and utilizing them for the commercial activity; and one of them is the one that seems predisposed to go to Wallops Island that got the second NASA contract; and the Senate is encouraging SpaceX  to come to the Cape and do its launching.  He stated SpaceX will be announcing in two weeks whether it is going to Wallops Island or Brevard County; it  will only be 100  or so jobs; but it is 100 jobs; and that leads to what will NASA do in bringing additional work.  He stated the problem is NASA needs some experience in Politics 101 and Public Relations 101 because it has come out with a statement that it is going to possibly layoff up to 6,400 jobs out of 8,000; NASA does not state the real number employed is 1,500; and that is devastating news, but at the same time it is not talking proactively about what can come in.  He stated under the new Orion Contract the space craft will be assembled in Brevard County; NASA will not give any numbers as to what that is going to mean, or in how many years; and NASA’s moniker is that it has 10 healthy centers; but if it keeps on with its current policy, it is only going to have nine healthy centers, and one on life support.  He stated naturally, what the Senate will continue to do is try to get NASA to see that everyone should start sharing the pain; that means Houston, Huntsville, Cleveland, and everyone around the country will have to help out in this particular time; but of course, NASA is afraid to talk about that.  He noted there is one other item that NASA finds itself in a very uncomfortable position because it is trying to do too much with too little; it is like trying to put 10 pounds of potatoes in a five pound sack; NASA simply does not have the resources to do everything it wants to do; and it has not had the resources for years and years.  He stated when Congressman Weldon and himself try to get additional money they cannot get it; NASA has many ambitious plans to complete the Space Station; NASA will not fly important scientific experiments such as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the Space Station, which is what the Space Station is supposed to be for in the first place, which is scientific research; but NASA is using up all its remaining flights just to get the Space Station assembled and to get the spare parts and supplies to it.  He stated NASA then gets itself in a hold because it cannot get Orion and Aries completed well enough or quick enough; now NASA is facing the situation it is in; in October 2010 there will be no American vehicle to get to the Space Station perhaps for five or six years; and the United States will have to rely on the Russians.  He advised President Vladimir Putin is becoming the Czar of Russia; inquired with only his vehicle for human access to the Space Station, what will be the charge to get to the Space Station; and inquired what might be the geopolitics given President Putin’s policy, in the world in the year 2015, and will Russia be cozy with China, and would Russia deny the United States access to the Space Station, or at least hold the proverbial gun to the United States as to what it is going to charge the U.S. to get to the Space Station via the Soyuz, which is the only vehicle.  He stated the European vehicle, which is being tested now to take cargo to the Space Station is not man-rated to take humans; that is the situation the United States is in right now; and it is very difficult and uncomfortable.  He stated to add insult to injury, the United States is now faced with a situation that there is a law on the books that says anyone who sells arms to terrorist-generating nations, such as Iran, or nuclear proliferation to countries such as Iran cannot do business with the United States Government; the acronym for the law is ITAR; there has to be a waiver and it has to start now by the United States Congress of the law that has to be passed in Congress in order for NASA to be able to contract and pay for future rides on Soyuz starting in 2011; and in order to have the rides, it has to be contracted now in order to build the Soyuz for 2011 and beyond.  He stated the United States is facing the worst of possible worlds; and the Kennedy Space Center is going to take a hit.  He stated if anyone thinks he has some displeasure in NASA and how its administration has handled the Space Program, that is correct; but the Kennedy Space Center is going to have to bring in the additional space activity and commercial activity; and NASA has to be pressed to have 10 healthy centers and therefore bring in additional work.  He stated the United States now has the practical politics; the next president is going to decide a lot; and Brevard County and East Central Florida has an opportunity to influence the next president, because at the end of the day Florida is going to be important in November.  He stated the presidential candidates are going to be in Brevard County and they need to be worked over; they  need to be  told what is wrong thus far, and how to change it; and it needs to be explained to them how to win the State of Florida since Florida is going to be so important in the election.  He noted all three of the candidates are personal friends of his; he has talked until he is blue in the face with all of them; a lot of education is left to do on two of them; and it should be obvious which two they are because there is only one that has come out with a strong pro-space program, and her program is pretty strong.  He expressed appreciation to the Board for allowing him to speak and for hosting the Workshop.

 

 

 

Congressman Dave Weldon expressed appreciation to Senator Nelson; and it has been a pleasure to reach hands across the aisle to work with Senator Nelson and Senator Martinez.  He stated the longer reach is not across the Democrat/Republican aisle, it is House versus Senate; but it has been a pleasure working with Senator Nelson; and he knows the people on the Space Coast will be looking to Senator Nelson and Senator Martinez in the years ahead to deal with this huge issue.  He commended the County Commission for calling this Workshop, which is very important; and for retaining Bob Walker and Paddy Link.  He noted he worked with Mr. Walker as a freshman Congressman years ago; when looking towards bringing commercial business to Brevard County, to have Bob Walker consulting the County on that issue, considering that he and Senator Nelson were two of the people who put SpaceX through a few years ago, it will be very helpful to have that level of expertise.  He stated when Jack Kennedy laid down the vision to go to the moon, the United States and NASA had a very clear vision for where it was going to go; when Apollo was cancelled, there was a period when NASA had no clear direction; and ultimately the decision was made to build the Space Shuttle.  He stated seven or eight years ago when it was realized the Space Station may be completed, there was a lot of discussion within policy circles of what NASA will do next, and what will the Space Program be about once Space Station construction is completed; and NASA has to have another vision.  He stated Congressman Tom Delay was the majority leader and he represented the area that included Johnson Space Center; being from Texas and being the majority leader, Congressman Delay managed to talk President Bush into making a Kennedy-like statement; and at NASA headquarters in 2003, President Bush laid out his vision for returning to the moon and onto mars.  He advised additionally, that called for retiring the Space Shuttle; what happened with the vision statement was that the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) stepped in and said if the Shuttle is going to be replaced, it is going to require billions of dollars of new development money to keep the Shuttle flying and to develop the new system at the same time; and unfortunately, the OMB and the President were not willing to lay out that kind of a vision, which he personally thinks would have been the appropriate vision for NASA and the Nation.  He stated another plan came up to retire the Shuttle and to use the operational dollars to do the final development, construction, check-out, and ultimately, deployment of the new system; and that would be akin to retiring the F-16’s for five years so the dollars could be taken from operating the F-16’s to develop the F-22.  He stated a lot of people have likened the retiring of the Shuttle to the Apollo retirement; this is a serious issue, and significant layoffs is something everyone needs to be trying to do something about; but it is not a fair comparison because the end of Apollo resulted in 20,000 layoffs in a Central Florida that had a much smaller economy and a much smaller population base.  He stated he is not saying that to belittle the significance of the Shuttle retirement, which has the potential to be a hit of over $1 billion to the  Central  Florida  economy;  and Brevard  County  will be hit  the  hardest;  but  he thinks the County has a better capacity to weather the retirement.  Congressman Weldon stated that does not mean he thinks everyone should just agree to it, because he thinks it is a bad plan; and he has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that calls for continuing the Shuttle until the new system arrives. 

 

Congressman Weldon stated over the next seven years, it is anticipated if the economy turns around, one trillion additional dollars will come into the federal treasury; and that money will be spent.  He stated to say the United States cannot afford it is not being honest; what is really at issue is that key policy makers do not want to lay money on the line; and one of them is George Bush, and another one is David Obbe.  He stated it is a very interesting controversy in that there is pro-space republicans, pro-space democrats, and then people like George Bush and the democratic chairman of the appropriations committee in the Senate; the issue transcends politics and it is counterproductive to engage in any kind of finger pointing; and partisanship needs to be laid aside and joined together to do everything possible.  He advised the United States is going to have to waive the Iran Non-Proliferation Act again; that was done years ago to do the Space Station in cooperation with Russia; Russia is now poised to deliver nuclear fuel to the Iranians; and in his opinion the Iranian issue is gigantic.  He state Iran has essentially been at war with the United States; Iran is the principle funder of a multitude of terrorist organizations, many of which have been responsible for killing many Americans over the years; and they are very committed to the destruction of the United States.  He stated it is no trivial issue; the United States is going to take its Astronaut Corps and put them on the Russian system; Russia is a key partner economically with trade, as well as transferring military technology to the Iranians, which is a Country dedicated in its purpose to the destruction of the United States and Israel; and in his opinion the United States should oppose Russia.  He advised part of the rationale for bringing the Russians on board was redundancy; at least that is the way it was presented to him when he was a freshman Congressman, that it would be an unsafe scenario to have a Space Station that could only be supported by the Shuttle; and by bringing the Russian partners on board, it added an extra measure of safety in that if there was a problem with the Shuttle there was the Russian system as backup.  He stated if the Space Shuttle Program is completely shut down in 2010, then the United States will be totally dependent on the Russians, and if there is a problem with the Russian system there will be a huge humanitarian crisis; there could be six astronauts on the Space Station and literally no way to get them down; and the world would have to watch them die when they run out of food and supplies.  He stated it is a bad plan and it should be rejected; commercial operations should be pursued and work from other NASA centers needs to be brought to Brevard County; but to go along with the current plan would be a mistake.  He stated he has alluded to the fact that a lot of additional money will come into the Treasury; right now, the House and the Senate is pretty much on path to double the National Science Foundation Budget; and it just recently completed the doubling of the MIH Budget, and both are very worthy causes.  He stated a few weeks ago the President had his Africa Aids Initiative; the program was originally proposed $3 billion per year, and $15 billion over five years; the President in the State of the Union message proposed doubling the program to $6 billion per year; and the House more than tripled it, increasing it to $10 billion per year.  He stated he is mentioning that because the money is there; he is in support of pursuing commercial operations; but he thinks there are safety issues with a loss of redundancy and there are some serious problems in relying on the Russians; and other politicians need to be convinced to do the right thing.  He stated it is not just a space issue, or a Space Coast issue, it is an American issue; the United States has led the world in science and technology for decades; and the government investment has played a role in that.  He stated the investment of the  government  in the  critical  programs,  such  as  the  National  Science  Foundation,  play a tremendous role in motivating kids and encouraging them to study math and science; he has been told by teachers that the programs that excites kids is NASA; and kids get excited when talking about going to the moon and mars.  Congressman Weldon advised he plans to do everything he can to work with his colleagues in the Senate and the House to get NASA the additional funding it needs; but right now there is not a NASA saint in a key position; and previously there were always people in key positions, whether it be a President, Appropriations Chairman, or Majority Leader, that was always watching out for NASA. 

 

Bob Walker stated Florida sends great representation to Congress with Senator Nelson and Congressman Weldon; and the Senator and Congressman have been leaders.  He stated the space issue is very important; his belief is that human destiny is to explore the earth; and the view going forward has to be in the larger vision.  He stated NASA is not a focus of the presidential campaign; all of the candidates have nascent space policies; and he agrees with Senator Nelson that Mrs. Clinton has laid out the most comprehensive plan; but she has not talked much about it, and it is not the focus of the campaign.  He stated Senator McCain has been in the Senate for a long time, but Space has not been an interest of his; and if Senator McCain should become President, he would have an interest in the military space issue.  He stated Senator Obama has not had enough years in the Senate to develop a record on space policy; and he is concerned about Senator Obama cutting the space program should he become President; but he is assuming that once educated, Senator Obama will see where some of the pieces lie.  He advised it cannot be only put in the context of what is happening in the presidential election campaign; and Senator Nelson and Congressman Weldon have lain out a little bit of the issue in dealing with Russia.  He stated the Russians have had two hard landings with Soyuz; the question is whether or not they have some systemic issues in their own space craft, and whether or not those will be a problem going forward; and inquired what can the United States do to assure the safety of its astronauts who are flying aboard a system that now has demonstrated problems.  He stated when he was on the Aerospace Commission it became very clear that the Chinese are embarked on a moon program because it understands it is a question of international leadership; nations who aspire to be leaders in the 21^st Century are going to take the risks that are incumbent upon exploring the Universe, and that begins with the moon; and that is the reason the United States is embarked upon a moon program also.  He stated the question is if the Chinese are more aggressive about it than the United States; Europe is seeing an opening where it can gain some leadership and is developing ITAR satellites; and those satellites are being launched on board Chinese rockets.  He advised Japan is competing with China for leadership on the Pacific Rim and is becoming very aggressive about a space program; and India is embarked on a moon mission because China is.  He stated there is one other feature in the presidential political area that raises some concerns; and that is the competition between earth science and human space flight.  He stated in the new Administration, the United States is going to face an aggressive attempt by the space scientists to say they have had resources taken away from them by the manned program, and they want their resources back; and unless there is some new fund that is going to put a lot of money into NASA, there is the potential the NASA budget would move far more toward the earth science arena, and away from the manned space program.  He stated the presidential candidates need to inform the voters what they are doing in the area of space; and anything which would stretch out the funding for the manned space program would have a continuing effect on Kennedy Space Center.   He advised the federal budget is  extremely tight; there is a lot of money coming in; but the allocation of that money is a matter of priorities that the President and Congress both get to talk about; and so far it has been difficult to put NASA into that mix in a position where it is getting more than its inflationary increases, and the budget is probably not going to change.  He stated it needs to be recognized that NASA accepted the vision as laid out by the President in 2003; but it did not necessarily accept at that point the budget constraints the President talked about from the outset of the vision; and that is a little bit of the problem.  He noted he served on the Aldridge Commission; the Aldridge Commission was given the assignment and told the vision; and when the Commission’s report came out there were a number of recommendations that were aimed at assuring the vision could be done in a constrained budget atmosphere.  He stated the Aldridge Commission said it ought to have a policy beginning right now that says by the time the Shuttle retires the commercial providers will be the only people going to low earth orbit; and there will be no more NASA flights going to low earth orbit.  He stated NASA put in the COTS Program, but it did not accept the idea that a policy would be set right then and there that says seven years down the road, commercial providers will know they have a real business model that works and makes them a real profit because they will be the only ones going to low earth orbit.  He stated the Aldridge Commission also recommended that some of the space spending should come from other areas of the federal budget; it should not be just NASA that does space spending; and right now, the National Science Foundation budget is being doubled.  He stated there are political issues that go beyond the presidential election; there are political issues that are Congressional in nature and regional in nature; and those issues are going to have to be faced.  He stated there are members of Congress that have been very aggressive in terms of representing their home centers; in the tight budget situation, Kennedy Space Center is going to have to make its case in a way that is understood that there are going to be ten healthy centers and not nine centers with one weak center; and that leads to the question of how NASA lobbies Congress.  He stated Johnson Space Center lobbies the Congress directly; that is not supposed to be done; and Huntsville also lobbies Congress directly.  He stated there needs to be a way for Kennedy Space Center to do the same thing; Kennedy Space Center cannot have Johnson claim it is lobbying on its behalf; Johnson is not favorable to anybody other than NASA providing rides to space; and if commercial is the way forward, it is not going to happen as long as Johnson is in control of Kennedy’s destiny.  He stated years ago NASA was told by Congress that the one place where the commercial operators would be able to provide some assistance to NASA and be able to provide some important work was in microgravity flights; at the time, NASA said it was something it ought to look into; but it does not want to fund the companies and rely upon only NASA funding; and if there was a profitable company that could take the business, then that would be okay.  He stated ZeroG’s became a profitable company and NASA did not want to give it a contract for the microgravity flight.  He advised the goal needs to be to add to the capabilities of Kennedy Space Center; in each of the areas the ability needs to be preserved for NASA to do its missions in the future, but do it in a way that there is added capability that then utilizes the talent and the team that Kennedy has.  He stated it should be looked into whether or not the federal employee ceiling ought to be raised a Kennedy Space Center so that in the near-term there could be more federal employees; and that would help fill part of the gap by taking some of the people who are presently in the workforce and who may be needed for human processing in the future and add them to the Federal Base at Kennedy.  He stated there needs to be commercial use at Kennedy Space Center for certain and in particular with the reliance upon manned space program; and some other commercial providers can be looked at that are not going to low-earth orbit yet, but are going to fly in sub-orbital missions.  He stated SpaceX is committed to being at Kennedy Space Center; SpaceX needs help in moving forward and moving up the schedule for the manned piece of the commercial program that NASA has; and  that is  Part D of the  COTS  Program.   He  stated there is a need for the Air Force and the FAA to get together to see to it there is an upgrade of the communication, navigation, and control facilities at the Air Force Station; part of the constraint of launches at the Air Force Station is because it has an antiquated system for range control; and General Helms has asked for money inside the Air Force budget to do some of the upgrades.  Mr. Walker stated the FAA is in the process of putting together the next generation of air traffic control; some facilities are going to have to be built; the Air Force station can be a test bed for some of the new technologies; and those are just some of the opportunities ahead of Brevard County and the Kennedy Space Center. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated it is remarkable to have Senator Nelson and Congressman Weldon at the table with the Board, as well as Bob Walker.  She stated other Senators and Congressmen also know and have the same information as Senator Nelson and Congressman Weldon regarding Russia; everyone knows the Soyuz landed 250 miles off course; and inquired how safe it could be for Americans to go to space on the Soyuz.  She inquired why it is so difficult to get the message across to those who need to get it; nations aspire to be leaders in space; and inquired why the United States is not the leading station, and why is it not aspiring to be that nation in space.  She stated she does not know whether it is political realities, or whether there is something the Board could potentially do to help the Senator and Congressman get the message across.

 

Senator Nelson stated only one person can lead the Space Program, and that is the President of the United States; the President may designate it to the Vice President; but at the end of the day it has to be the signal from the White House that the Space Program is a priority; and then Congress needs to respond with interests as articulated by himself, Congressman Weldon, and others.  He stated NASA is not at the top of the Agenda in the nation’s priorities; it has to be rekindled; and the connection has to be shown between the Space Program and education.  He stated an individual Congressman or Senator cannot do it; it has to be lead by the President; and it all comes back to the presidential election and why it is important to educate the candidates, because Florida is going to be key to the election of the next president. 

 

Congressman Weldon stated President Bush has consistently put forward a budget that increases defense, homeland security, and NASA, and freezes everything else; then Congress gets the budget and rejiggles everything; but it is not accurate to just say the President has not supported NASA; and the President has put out the vision and he has put forward increases; but what is needed to get through the crisis is even more of an increase than what the President is putting through.  He stated Congress does not usually respond to the fire until the couch it is sitting in is burning; there are going to be layoffs in 2010/2011, but Congress is worried about the war and funding the war supplemental and funding other priorities for the 2009 budget cycle that will begin in October 2008.  He stated if the Shuttle is going to continue beyond 2010, it avoids the problem with no redundancy; there will still be layoffs in Brevard County, but they will not be as bad or as sudden and abrupt; but if Congress waits until 2010 or 2011 to do something about this, it may be impossible to continue Shuttle operations after 2010 because they are currently producing the final tanks right now.  He advised it is hard to get Congress to focus on anything that is in the future; it is the same with Social Security; and to get Congress to take legislative action today to fix something that far in the future is  tough.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Congressman Weldon could address the issue of whether the Space Shuttle is not able to fly because of the age of the fleet; with Congressman Weldon responding  the  Shuttle  is  an old  system;  people  have  contended  it is not safe to fly beyond 2010; that is not true, as there will be some recertification issues; but the last Shuttle that flies in September 2010 is not safer than the Shuttle mission that could go up now; and he has called for two Shuttle missions per year until the new system is operational.  Congressman Weldon stated the rocket scientists argue the Shuttle that flies today is the safest Shuttle that has ever flown; but adding all the reconfigurations that were done to the boosters after Challenger, and then all the improvements made after Columbia, it is a much more robust and healthy system.  He noted in his bill that calls for extending the Shuttle, he increased the funding for Orion; he does not want to rob Orion to keep the Shuttle operational, as that would be a mistake that could get NASA in a vicious cycle; and funding needs to be increased for Orion and for continuing Shuttle operations so it would give a smoother transition in terms of workforce issues and provide redundancy to the Space Station.

 

Senator Nelson stated he wishes what Congressman Weldon just suggested could be done; the safety issues could be taken care of on the next flight after shutting down the Shuttle, and the flight after that; but the problem is the decision on whether or not to do that is going to be made by the next President, not the current President; and then it is going to be too late because they will have shut down the external tank production in Michaud.  He stated having an extra flight would solve a lot of problems; it would shorten the gap; but he is afraid the choice is not going to be available.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she is concerned that Johnson Space Center lobbies in Washington D.C. to the House of Representatives and the Senators; and the Board has always been told NASA cannot lobby.  She inquired if it is possible for Kennedy Space Center to lobby, and what do they need to be convinced to do it; with Bob Walker responding there has to be away to help NASA with that.  Mr. Walker stated the people at Johnson Space Center will say they do not lobby, and instead they have informational discussions; there needs to be a way for informational discussions to take place on behalf of Kennedy Space Center; and part of that is going to be straightening out the message.  He stated there are a lot of representatives of companies present today that have considerable resources of their own in Washington D.C.; if those companies were convinced to prioritize the Kennedy Space Center situation as a part of the representations they make, it would extend the reach; and Washington D.C. would be hearing from a number of people about what the situation is at Kennedy Space Center. 

 

Commissioner Colon stated she is thankful to Senators Nelson and Martinez, as well as Congressmen Weldon and Feeney, who have been incredible.  She commented on other Congressmen in Florida the Board needs to be focusing on to make sure they are supporting Senator Nelson.  She stated the geopolitical complexity is mind boggling; and it is disheartening to hear that NASA is the problem.  She stated Brevard County has to start a campaign to help itself; no one else is going to lobby for the County; and everyone is in it together.  She commented on the military component and the technology for satellites in helping the war on terrorism.  She stated she is interested in finding out about the funding not just coming through NASA; and inquired who the Board needs to speak to, to make sure the funding just does not come through NASA.  She stated the Board held a workshop last summer regarding the Presidential race; all of the candidates were invited; the Board made it clear at that workshop that everything it was doing would be a waste of time if it did not talk to the candidates; and the Board had Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain; but it wanted something in writing from the Democrats because it has to be a bipartisan issue.  She stated it is frustrating to hear that NASA and others are not helping Brevard County; the Board sends spokespersons; but the spokespersons do not deliver the message. 

 

Senator Nelson stated Dr. Griffin’s policy in NASA is ten healthy centers; but the program Dr. Griffin is on is nine healthy centers and one space center on life support; and therefore, the Board can help considerably and just agitate as the Senate and the Congress try to turn things around between now and 2011. 

 

Bob Walker stated it is worth clarifying the fact that the way in which Kennedy Space Center in the past has pursued its relationships with headquarters and Congress; it has worked well for the area as long as there was a healthy manned program; and what was found was that the Board of County Commissioners had not established an independent presence.  He stated what is being recommended is the Board have a far more independent presence in terms of making its needs known; and other people cannot be relied upon.  He stated if it came off as criticism of people in Brevard County, he did not mean it that way, he meant primarily that a new sense of direction needs to be laid out about Kennedy Space Center.  Commissioner Colon stated Mr. Walker did not come across that it was the fault of Brevard County because Brevard County has been on top of the issue.  She stated the Board of County Commissioners have been extremely proactive in the last year and a half; and today’s meeting is crucial because instead of just sending the Commissioners all over the Country, the Board needs to be specific as to where they are going and who they need to be speaking to.  She stated Senator Martinez was very clear when he said to Central Florida that no one is going to help; Central Florida is on its own and will have to do its own lobbying and marketing; and that is the kind of straight talk that is needed.  She stated the Board has been sending representation of elected officials all over trying to speak to the right people; it has been successful; and now it sounds like NASA’s headquarters cannot be depended on.

 

Mr. Walker stated one thing to understand is that NASA headquarters is focused on the issue; some of the Commissioners went to Washington D.C. and talked to officials; NASA understands it has a problem; but it comes down to nuances; and that is what has to be managed.  He stated the way it is structured now inside of NASA to take care of the transitional issues is inside of particular programs, primarily the exploration program; and this is one feature of that program that they are going to deal with the personnel issues.  He advised the issue that has to be raised is that means there is a program director that has it as part of his responsibilities; and inquired where that is prioritized inside the program, and is it a high priority or is it one of the priorities that is at the bottom.

 

Congressman Weldon stated it is not in the best interest to start a war with Johnson Space Center and Marshall Space Center.  He advised the reality is that under the rules that NASA operates, if the Director at Kennedy Space Center has issues with the NASA budget and the way it is coming down from headquarters, he is not supposed to talk to any Senator or Congressman, as he is supposed to have his dialogue with headquarters; and when he was first elected he tried, and went through several Directors to get them to talk to him; but it was obvious they did not want to do that.  He stated he believes a Center Director at Houston or somewhere else will go to their delegation and say it needs to fight; and that Director will give the delegation inside information that will help them in the legislative process as they go through an authorization or an appropriation bill.  He stated there is no doubt some of the comments made today will be viewed by certain people in certain locations; and it may draw some attention; but it is a reality.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated Brevard County is very proactive; sometimes politics start at the grassroots; and she feels like the Board is the grassroots.  She state one subject that has come up has been the election of a new President; and she would like to hear from either Lynda Weatherman or Frank DiBello to advise what is being done to reach the presidential candidates.

 

Lynda Weatherman stated as a local economical development practitioner, one thing that needs to be found out is the dynamics and complexity of the issue.  She stated Commissioner Colon spoke about the actions the EDC took in the first quarter of the year to talk directly to the campaigns of Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney; since then the EDC has had meetings with the Chief Policy staff of two of the remaining campaigns; and there will be one on May 10, 2008.  She advised the EDC spoke to Doug Davenport with the McCain Campaign, who has been appointed as the Southeast Director of the policy driven issue for the McCain Campaign; there was a meeting four weeks ago with Jake Sullivan of the Hilary Clinton Campaign, and he was very knowledgeable about the issues; and on May 10^th, the EDC will be meeting with the policy director of the Barack Obama Campaign in Chicago.  She stated prior to the meeting on May 10^th, the EDC will develop a white paper for each of the candidates because each of the candidates has an inherent interest in space; Hilary Clinton is interested in earth science and the role space plays; John McCain is interested in Homeland Security and the role that space plays in that; and Barack Obama is interested in education. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated Congressman Weldon mentioned ITAR; her gut feeling is the Russians are trying to leverage the space program to be able to reverse the ITAR as a loophole; and inquired if she understands correctly.  Congressman Weldon replied Congress passed ITAR to cut down on the proliferation of sensitive technologies to Iran; the full name is now Iran North Korea and Nonproliferation Act so that U.S. technologies would not end up in the hands of those who would seek to destroy the United States; and the Russians are continuously proliferating technology and it is well documented in the intelligence community.  He stated in order to do the Space Station that feature of the law had to be waived; it is now going to have to be waived a second time; a contract has to be signed with the Russians within the next six or 12 months because people are going to have to be hired at the plant in Moscow to start turning out more Soyuz capsules; and that means people will be laid off in Cape Canaveral and others will be hired in Moscow.  He stated Russia is going to want a commitment from the United States that it will fly on its ships so it can ramp up its production capacity; stated Mr. Griffin, or someone else at NASA is going to have to sign the contract; and NASA is going to have to get another waiver that will have to go through the House and Senate and will be incorporated in an appropriations bill.  He stated from his perspective this is not a hot button issue for the Russians; the Russians are not going to be upset because the United States is not going to fly on its vehicles; and the concern is if the contract is signed and the United States shuts down Shuttle operations, what will happen with the United States’ relationship with the Russians next.

 

Senator Nelson stated the irony is the United States has spent upwards of $100 billion to build a space station for international scientific research and it could be in the position that either the U.S. does not have access to the Space Station, or people are laid off at KSC to hire people in Moscow to pay exorbitant prices because President Putin is blackmailing the U.S. to pay exorbitant prices to fly to the very Station the U.S. built.  Commissioner Bolin stated she agrees 100 percent.

 

Chairman Scarborough stated the Board read with a great deal of interest the February 27^th Sub committee hearing; a Resolution was prepared and sent to all the Congressional Delegation from Florida; Congressman Weldon suggested the best thing would be for the Resolution to go to each of the Counties; and the Resolution has now been sent to almost 400 Commissioners in the State of Florida.  Chairman Scarborough advised also sent with the Resolution was the transcript from the meeting and the front page Washington Post article; the Board does not know who is reading what it sent; and the Board can communicate more easily with Commissioners than Congressmen.  He stated he has heard the Subcommittee is trying to meet here in June; he is pleased to hear that because the biggest problem is that Kennedy Space Center has been willing to let Johnson Space Center take over; and Brevard County has let that happen.

 

Senator Nelson stated the Subcommittee will come to Brevard County to have a meeting; he is sad to report that NASA has asked him not to have the meeting in Brevard County because they do not want to stir up the people; he tried to explain to NASA that the people of Brevard County are already stirred up; and that is why he told NASA it needs a lesson in Public Relations 101 because it just announced that up to 6,400 of 8,000 jobs are going to be going away in 2011.  He stated there is going to be a Subcommittee hearing in Brevard County; but it has had to be postponed in order to get all the parties together that should be present.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated one observation he has made is that as a Country, it seems to be inclined to buy services as opposed to building things; the United States should not have gotten itself to where it cannot get back to its own resources in Space; he appreciates the efforts Senator Nelson and Congressman Weldon are making to help cure that; and the issue goes well beyond Brevard County.

 

Senator Nelson’s and Congressman Weldon’s absence was noted at this time. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if it would help for the Board to send a letter directly to Mike Griffin to tell him if he wants ten healthy centers, then he needs to do something in Brevard County because Kennedy Space Center is getting ready to go on life support; and she thinks it would be important for Chairman Scarborough to send a letter.  Chairman Scarborough stated he will ask Mr. Walker to assist in the preparation of that letter.

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize the Chairman to send a letter, with the assistance of Representative Bob Walker, to NASA Administrator Mike Griffin expressing the Board’s concerns regarding the continuation of Kennedy Space Center as one of ten healthy centers.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

The Board recessed from 11:00 a.m. to 11:25 a.m.

 

 

 

David Sinton, Commissioner, Town of Melbourne Village, stated before he moved to Brevard County four years ago, he spent 25 years in Huntsville, Alabama; and lobbying to Washington D.C. by Marshall Space Flight Center is a permanent thing that does take place.  He stated after the main booster research at Marshall, Marshall was in very grave danger of losing a lot of its role in space; Marshall was originally the rocket engine center; and this is not like 1969 or 1970 where there will be a drop in the Space Program that took place at that time.  He stated the answer is that the Space Program is GPS enabled; there are 25 satellites in space right now; and they all have to be replaced within 25 years.  He stated the tragedy is that not very many of them at the moment are going to be going out of the Cape because it is cheaper to shoot them off in French Guyana, Baikonur, and China; and he was distressed this morning to hear the emphasis on NASA.  He stated NASA is a civilian space program that is going to end up going to Mars, Venus, and the Moon; the replacing of the satellites everyone depends on every day is going to be commercial, or quasi commercial 25 years from now; but he still heard this morning that the emphasis is on NASA.  He stated Brevard County has the finest launch facility in the world when looking at orbital mechanics; unfortunately when the Space Station went up it had to be reached from Baikonur so that the Russians could send its Soyuz up there; and consequently the heavy lift out of the Cape is reduced by 16 percent because of the angle the rockets have to take off from.  He stated if the Space Station was moved so that it could not be reached from Baikonur, then the Cape could lift 16 percent more every time; Kennedy Space Center is a perfectly located heavy lift facility; and it will continue to be in perpetuity.  He stated rockets will continue to be launched from Cape Canaveral for the rest of his life; there is a short term problem in that there is a transition from what is an extraordinarily intensive and costly system that is the Shuttle; and unfortunately there is a five year gap.  He agrees with Congressman Weldon that the Shuttle needs to continue; but what he thinks needs to be done is to invite every single commercial vendor to Brevard County and show them the advantages of Brevard County and the Cape; and he would like to see presentations from Atlantic Galaxy and SpaceX to the County Commission two or three times a year in order to sell them on the advantages of Brevard County; and Brevard County really does have a lot of natural advantages.  He stated Brevard County needs to be made the commercial center; he knows people are going to White Sands, New Mexico because the State is giving them tax breaks; but heavy lifts will not be done out of White Sands, New Mexico. 

 

Commissioner Nelson advised Emanuel Torres is present representing Governor Crist’s Office.

 

Jack Hisey stated he is with the Melbourne/Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce; and he has some questions for Mr. Walker about the lobbying perspective from Johnson and Marshall Space Centers.  He stated Mr. Walker commented that Johnson and Marshall were actually lobbying Congress; and he is wondering if it is not part of the role of the business community to understand the message of Kennedy Space Center and the Brevard Community in the role of Kennedy Space Center and the benefit on the community to be lobbying on their behalf and the County’s behalf with the federal government.

 

Bob Walker stated it is true that what there needs to be is a focus message that can be delivered by multiple people.  He noted he has not been in the room when some other Senators have come in, but under the NASA formula, the way the theory is supposed to work is that NASA draws out its budget plan for the year; the Senators get their allocations under that budget plan, then the actual lobbying of Congress takes place by the team of NASA, starting with the Administrator; and any Center is supposed to stay inside the bounds of what has been agreed to in the NASA budget.  He stated he understands that what takes place is that there are certain representations that are made that if in fact there could be a wish list, it would include some things beyond what is in the NASA budget; and that is made very clear by people out of the centers who do not lobby, but educate.  He stated it is followed up by contractors who work at those particular centers then come in and make it clear what the advantages are of a certain program; and it tends to be a combination of different voices all with a focused singular messages about the needs of a particular center.  He stated he could not agree more with the previous speaker that there has to be a very strong commercial program; it is not just the commercial manned program,  as there are a  whole  set of  commercial objectives that are now being pursued in space; and there needs to be a message that includes specifics about what the needs are at Kennedy, but also a broad public policy agenda that, if adopted, would be good for Kennedy Space Center.

 

Mr. Hisey stated several months ago in Cocoa there was a great program that started out with Congressman Feeney; Jacob Stewart was present from myregion, along with Congressman Weldon; and the dialogue was started on space.  He advised a month ago the Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce hosted a group on space; the EDC spoke; and it started to generate the dialogue in which everyone was able to begin to tell the story of space, Kennedy Space Center, and Brevard County.   

 

Mr. Walker stated he is in agreement with Mr. Hisey; there have been billions of dollars invested in Kennedy Space Center by both the Air Force and NASA to build a premier launch facility; both the Air Force and NASA have tended to look upon that on a mission-specific basis; but there is a broader framework that can be looked at of how some of the property at Kennedy Space Center can be used for a variety of things; and if there is a good message going forward of broad policy agenda that meets that need, it will benefit Kennedy Space Center over the short term and long term.

 

Dr. Shannon Roberts stated she is a member of the City Council of Cape Canaveral; and the County Commissioners started the dialogue a long time ago to understand what the challenges are, what the potential solutions might be, and consulting with the other NASA centers.  She stated the Board of County Commissioners has sent out some Resolutions; the Space Coast League of Cities and representatives from the 16 municipalities could join the Board in a collaborative way to come up with a commonly derived set of opportunities and potential solutions and work together to make Resolutions and possibly visit Washington D.C. and Tallahassee; and it would be more powerful if there were a multi-faceted representative group. 

 

Alan Bergman stated he spoke to Space Florida and met with Steve Kohler and kicked around the idea of developing a drug program in space to invent and develop compounds in space; the environment in space is zero gravity; it affects the molecular structure of elements; and the idea is a straight forward one that has been kicked around for a while, but now is the time to start those programs and get private industry involved.  He stated he has talked to drug companies that have expressed an interest, but would like more support from the community and members of the space program to help it come about.  He advised he is running for U.S. Congressman in the 15^th District; his background is as a stock broker and business owner; he has worked in the community and has the ability to go to Congress with ideas; but he needs more strength behind him.  He stated the County may have to make some concessions to the companies, but it is better than having 6,000 jobs lost and an additional 2.2 jobs lost in the support market; and that means 18,000 jobs lost.  He commented on losing skilled professionals at Kennedy space Center in 2010.

 

Commissioner Colon stated the only reasons other states have been successful is because their entire delegation goes with one specific message; she received great feedback after the space symposium at the Solar Center at Brevard Community College; and inquired if there is a date set for the next symposium.  She stated another group that needs to be at the table is the workforce and not just the elected officials, because they are the ones that are going to be affected; and what Chairman Scarborough did by sending out all those Resolutions and letters is going to be key.  She stated she would like to see the  Governor and both State Senators at a press conference with people asking them questions; Brevard County needs to encourage that and ask for that kind of meeting to take place; and it has to be done soon because the clock is ticking. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated he would love to have the Cities send out the same letter out to every city councilman in the State; and in 400 letters, it is never known who is going to have interest.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated at the end of the meeting he would like to talk about where the Board goes from here; one of the points Commissioner Colon made was at the next meeting the Board needs to take whatever that next step is; and that will be part of the discussion at the end of the meeting.  Commissioner Colon stated she leaves for Washington D.C. after lunch; and that is why she thinks it is important to have some action items at the end of the meeting.

 

 

 

Marshall Heard stated he has some concerns that the gap will not be four or five years, but could be six or seven years; gaps tend to not get shorter or shallower, but broader and deeper; and right now the Constellation Program is under some fire for performance capability.  He stated Brevard County needs to get behind NASA and ask for some stability in the Constellation Program because if it is allowed to come under fire and if it is allowed to get redirected, the gap will most certainly grow; and he would encourage everyone that what is good for the Constellation Program is good for the County.  He stated an increased budget would certainly help shrink the gap, but more than likely the gap can be maintained by not letting it get worse. 

 

Mr. Walker stated the real concern, in looking at the appropriations process for this year, is a lot of people are speculating that the appropriation bills will not get passed on time; in fact, it will be under another continuing Resolution; and the appropriation bills will not be gotten to for the inflationary adjustment that NASA expects until March 2009.  He stated NASA will not get its increases for about half the fiscal year; every time that happens it has the potential impact of widening the gap; while there have been statements out of NASA indicating they did not think that would affect them this year, a lot of observers are concerned that they simply cannot continue to make up for the losses they take in terms of their inflationary adjustments during the lack of permanent appropriations; and it is an important point.  He stated with regard to the Constellation Program, there is no doubt the presidential candidates are reassessing, particularly the Aeries Program; there is a lot of talk that the campaigns are looking at whether or not the Aeries Program should be abandoned; but in the nearer term look at launching Orion aboard Atlas V; and Mr. Griffin and NASA have been vehemently opposed to that. 

 

Mr. Heard stated if one wants to use the Air Force range for a commercial operation the Air Force is allowed to do that under policy, but they are asked to charge full cost accounting practices for the use of the range and its assets; whatever it is that operates the 45^th Space Wing is there regardless of the use of the range; and he would suggest looking at a policy shift that says marginal cost accounting would be an appropriate venue and a way to charge the commercial operators instead of full cost accounting. 

 

Mr. Walker stated that is the kind of incentives the commercial industry is looking for; that goes into the cost of launch; and anything that can reduce the cost burden on commercial providers would be a major step forward.  Mr. Heard inquired what it is going to take to make the commercial space industry and their financing to really want to pursue commercial space.  Mr. Walker replied the main thing that is needed is the ability to go to investors and say they have a business plan that is going to be profitable; that does not mean the industry has to be subsidized; but the industry has to have some opportunity to understand there is a real business case; and that business case would probably be guaranteed flights.  He stated there are a number of people who can create systems or can buy systems that would allow them to get to low earth orbit at the present time; if low earth orbit can be made into an exclusive province of commercial industry and assure the government would buy a number of flights, there would be a profitable business case in a time frame that investors can understand.  He stated if a policy needs to be changed, it is the policy assuring businesses that they can get a substantial amount of government flights beginning and continuing over a five year period.

 

Steve Kohler, Space Florida, stated NASA has done some things to encourage the development of commercial space industry through the COTS awards; the DOD and other military and defense related missions would support launch activity at the Cape; and those three segments are being pursued aggressively; there was over 12 percent revenue increase in the market overall to $250 billion.  He stated there have been some examples in which the County has been successful; the EDC and others were active in pursuing the CEV final assembly which was is a Constellation Program; and NASA awarded that contract to Lockheed Martin, which is ahead of schedule and under budget.  He stated the Lunar Lander is expected to come up as another one of the kinds of examples that the community and the State would be willing to pursue.  He stated everyone is waiting on the legislative session to determine on some level what kind of support may be seen within Space Florida to support pursuing some of the infrastructure support with respect to Cape locations; and Mr. Heard touched on an important aspect of that, which is the Air Force and the 45^th Space Wing and some assets that exist there to support some opportunities.  He stated the Air Force has been supportive and aware of the importance of a viable commercial activity mixed with the DOD range mission activity as well as with what NASA does on the civil side; and it has to be remembered that at this location in Florida is a federal range, not just a spaceport.  He stated Space Florida has MBA Agreements in place as it pursues different opportunities for potential consideration; but one key feature is to ensure the companies have the financial wherewithal to pursue; and he has had a number of proposals come through his office from companies seeking support, but some of which have yet to produce financial performance or demonstrate market viability and penetration of market.  He advised a week ago Governor Crist announced an agreement with Spacehab, whereby Space Florida made a modest investment to support an infectious disease development protocol using the International Space Station’s lab capability.

 

Chairman Scarborough stated currently there is a three man crew on the Space Station; but to have the full scientific capacity, it would have to go to a six man crew; in an emergency, the Soyuz only has the capacity to take three of the six people out of the Space Station; and the United States is going in the opposite direction.  Mr. Kohler stated he does not disagree with the assessment that the market opportunities are there; and the dynamics that govern civil space’s modeling are vastly different than those that drive the commercial markets.  He advised he does not think there is a desire on the part of the U.S. Government, NASA, or anyone else to see long-term supply mission contracts issued to a foreign power such as Russia; but until there is a commercial entity that can provide service to the Space Station, it is difficult to make that commitment.

 

Mr. Walker stated there are a lot of complexities; he loves the idea of doing pharmaceutical research in space; but in order to take advantage of that, the U.S. may have to manufacture in space; and if that is done, a vehicle is needed other than a capsule to bring back the products.  He stated one of the things a commercial industry may have to supply is some other kind of new lifting-body winged vehicle capable of being a space truck to bring back things that would be manufactured on orbit; and those kinds of decisions require large-scale investment. 

 

Mr. Kohler stated the sub-orbital marketplace has been touched upon; the whole unknown quantity in space tourism has not really been discussed; everyone is aware of Virgin Galactic stating they have $35 million of pre-signed purchasers of tickets on their vehicle; and that is a dynamic that is yet to be determined exactly what it means.  He stated much of the competition emanates not from the U.S. shores, but is international; and other nations are realizing the opportunities and making the investment in infrastructure to support the market.  Commissioner Voltz stated she would be interested to see how the FDA would handle approving drugs being made in space.

 

Lee Solid stated he was in Brevard County during Apollo and he survived; but he did lay off hundreds of people; and that was one of the hardest jobs he had.  He stated the current situation is not like Apollo for a number of reasons; but he is not going to dwell on that.  He stated one of the discriminators is that there was no advance planning when Apollo happened; he appreciates that a lot of people are working hard to address the current issue; and he thanks the County Commission for being proactive from the beginning once it was understood there would be a gap.  He stated the EDC is pursuing the commercial launch industry with vigor; there are others who are also pursuing the business that are big names in the industry; and as they come up with ideas that are competitive, the EDC has to assist them in the same way.  He advised there are other opportunities that can be supported with the same kinds of incentives and provisions if they ask; companies have to get creative in order to get competitive; but he believes they can; and the EDC wants to support them.  He stated there has been a lot of discussion about communication; once NASA communicated actual numbers publicly, it seemed to motivate folks to step forward; and he has had several calls from cities and others offering help.  Commissioner Nelson stated the jobs being lost cannot possibly be replaced with other space jobs. 

 

Lynda Weatherman, Economic Development Commission, stated her approach is more tactically driven; and her perspective is to talk about some tactical issues.  She stated there are traditional and non-traditional job creation approaches; one that is traditionally non-traditional is in regards to the orbital project; the EDC has provided some technical assistance in the expertise it has; and those are the kinds of approaches the EDC needs to make.  She stated satellite companies are also what she calls traditional non-traditional; there are approximately 50 satellite companies; the EDC is actively talking to five companies, with three of them being international; and one of them specifically is a very small satellite company that wants to grow and get into the U.S. market.  She advised the EDC is talking to prime contractors about bringing their non-traditional work to Brevard County; the CEV sent a strong message to America that Brevard County can do assembly work that it has not been able to do in 50 years; and that should not be discounted.  She stated Project Jaguar is non-traditional but technically driven; the Board should be proud that it made a small nuance change in being more competitive; and to be successful, the community needs to understand the County needs to be more creative. 

 

Commissioner Colon inquired what is being done to get feedback from the workforce; with Ms. Weatherman responding the labor perspective will be in front of the Board this afternoon.  Ms. Weatherman stated it is important to understand the skill mix; a lot of people in positions still have their day jobs in regards to launching safe shuttles; and the message that needs to be sent to the workforce that the community is working on the issue and everyone will get through it together.  She stated she has input from Chambers of Commerce; the EDC has been interfacing with the companies and getting their perspective; and the big question is what is the skill mix in Brevard County now and what is the demand that is going to be needed.

 

Chairman Scarborough stated if any group or organization feels it wants to also write a letter to the Florida Delegation, the Board can help.  He stated Frank Kinney came before the Board requesting Siemens donate 25 acres of land; with Project Jaguar there was a definable amount of the tax abatement and it was related back to a cash payment and did not abate taxes; and inquired if there is a capacity to take that and put into numbers where land can be added as an incentive in lieu of cash.  Ms. Weatherman replied economic development and corporate relocation is severely competitive; the County’s offerings match the requirements of that company; there may be times when the land value is more important than a tax abatement; and it comes down to what is the return on the investment.  She advised based on Siemens, she can run some numbers.  Chairman Scarborough stated the Board can put land in the formula and it can become a tool. 

 

Commissioner Nelson expressed appreciation to Bob Walker and Paddy Link for their participation; and also thanked Lee Solid, Steve Kohler, Marshall Heard, and Lynda Weatherman.  He advised Congressman Tom Feeney will be present after lunch and the Board will watch a video statement from Senator Mel Martinez.

 

The Board recessed from 12:30 p.m. to 1:37 p.m.

 

Commissioner Colon’s absence was noted at this time.

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson welcomed Congressman Tom Feeney, who has just returned from China.  He stated the labor perspective is something that has not been talked about too much; and everyone is interested in Congressman Feeney’s thoughts on the issue.  Commissioner Nelson invited the speakers to introduce themselves.

 

Johnny Walker stated he is the Directing Business Representative of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 166, which covers Kennedy Space Center and two-thirds of the State of Florida.

 

Dan Raymond stated he is the Business Manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Merritt Island, which covers the east coast of Florida.

 

Kevin Smith stated he is the President of TWU (Transport Workers Union), Local 525, which represents membership from Miami International Airport to Washington D.C.

 

Chairman Scarborough advised Mr. Walker is also on the Board of Space Florida, so he brings that perspective as well.

 

Johnny Walker stated his main focus today is transitional issues, but his main focus is what brings job training.  He advised he had the opportunity a year and a half ago to testify in front of Senator Nelson’s Science and Transportation Committee; he talked with the Government Accountability Office about the distance between launches being four to five years; and at that point in time the Government Accountability Office’s position was that the distance between launches would be seven or eight years.  He stated he was also in Brevard County during the end of Apollo; his main concern is that when talent is lost, it is difficult and very expensive to build it back; and the question becomes how to save that talent.  He stated there are certain things that can be done in the year or so before the Shuttle retires; the IAM initiated a plan called America’s Edge; it is an offspring of skills to compete; and the website address is www.skillstocompete.org.  He stated America’s Edge is a partnership of uncommon characters; Bob Walker was very impressive with his knowledge about what lies ahead for the workforce; the business aspect is one part of it; but training people is the second part.  He read a statement from America’s Edge.  “Each decade, 30 million American children enter high school, but only six million of them ever receive a college degree.  The remaining 24 million either drop out, complete high school and enter the workforce, or attend a community college or university for a couple of years.  Each year, over half a trillion dollars of local, state, federal monies is focused on students bound for college.  Technical and vocational education, by contrast, receives less than two percent of that amount.  Increasingly, blue collar kids find a path to college blocked by exorbitant tuition costs, increased academic competition, static enrollment levels in colleges and universities, and financial realities facing their families.  Entering the workforce immediately after high school seems the only realistic option, and yet America faces growing shortage skills.  Labor economics predict that a serious lack of skilled workers will begin in 2005, which is already by us, and will grow to 5.3 million in 2010, and 21 million in 2020.  A recent white paper on California’s growing labor skills shortage reports that the percentage of employees who indicate that they have difficulties filling vacancies for highly skilled blue collar workers is very high at 68 percent.  The paper has researched that California is suffering from chronic under-investment and training, and California is not alone.  Senator Tom Harkin put the issue in perspective; today’s skills deficiency and tomorrow’s skills demand will require a significant investment in education and training.  Employers estimate that 39 percent of the current workforce and 26 percent of new hires will have basic skill deficiencies, 75 percent of the American workforce will need to be retrained merely to retain their jobs.  The IAM skill initiative is called America’s Edge; it has three components: Re-emphasizing technical and vocational classes in American high schools, expanding the availability of industrial technology and information technology courses in America’s community colleges, and creating high-tech institutes in each state that focus on 21^st century manufacturing technologies and materials.  The IAM skills initiative, with its inherent appeal to the values of family security, fairness and work, and personal fulfillment has great potential, it connects blue collar workers at many levels, taking pride in their workmanship, achieving more job security and a higher standard for living for their families, getting a fair start for their kids to the face of global competition.  Simply put, America’s Edge relies on our kids’ ability to learn to adapt to the ever changing demands of tomorrow’s workplaces, and it’s time public investment flowed in their direction.”  Mr. Walker stated that is the message that was sent at the Edge conference; America’s Edge is investing a lot of money in higher education; and for every one engineer that it educated, it takes eight high-tech individuals to build the mechanisms and the inventions they come up with.  He stated time is running out; it is already happening in the State of Florida with the sugar industry in South Florida; there is an initiative in the Tennessee Valley Authority that has a good idea to kick off the program; and some of that is going to be done in Brevard County.  He stated IAM has been talking to some companies in the industry about initiating some apprenticeship programs that have never been at Kennedy Space Center; and that is where Kennedy Space Center is going to be heading. 

 

Dan Raymond, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), stated some statistics are based on IBEW, and things it has to offer; some numbers that were quoted were up to 6,400 jobs to be cut; and those jobs are names and faces, not just numbers.  He stated some of the jobs that IBEW supports at Kennedy, Canaveral, and Patrick Air Force Base areas include electronics technicians, telecommunication technicians and engineers; they are not jobs one can get coming out of high school or trade schools; they are highly skilled jobs in technical training; and they cannot be duplicated.  He stated in 2000 there were 17.3 million manufacturing jobs; in 2007 there were roughly 13.9 million; but in 2007, 270,000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing world; and the same is true with utilities.  He noted telecommunications took the biggest hit from 1.4 million jobs to 1.03 million, which is a 26 percent decline in a seven year time frame; and those skills are lost now and in the future.  He stated from 1993 to 2004 there were one million jobs lost because of outsourcing, and other programs; and they are jobs that have been lost and cannot be recaptured at this point in time.  He stated the effects of job losses in the area cover a number of things including a loss of health coverage, pensions, retirement plans, and quality of life; and the IBEW is trying to make sure the workforce in Brevard County is productive for the companies that are here supporting it.  He stated IBEW has announced it is going to be building four new training facilities across the United States, and one of them is proposed to come to Sanford, Florida; if IBEW is successful in doing that, it will offer more than just standard training, it can offer apprenticeship programs; and IBEW is trying to be proactive and cross train.  He stated hopefully the workers at the Kennedy Space Center can be saved during the transition from one program to another; and he commented on several industries and jobs that have been outsourced and shipped overseas. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she is disappointed the television cameras left because the labor perspective is a critical issue.

 

Kevin Smith, Transport Union Workers (TUW) stated in the past, every time he faced a reduction in workforce, the people leaving the Cape have invested 20, 25 and 30 years; now, people who get laid off or are reduced because of budget issues do not always have the ability to go back to school and retrain; and that is the difficulty being faced right now.  He advised he sits on the Brevard County Workforce Development Board; that Board has been impeccable with the way it has tried to structure and maintain the jobs that are currently at the Space Center as well as Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; and they will be instrumental in the two or three years to come during the transition.

 

Jan Conrad, Aide to Commissioner Voltz, stated last week after Chairman Scarborough mentioned aerospace jobs going to Mexico, she told him that on that very day her husband was in Mexico, charged by his company to open up a partnership with a new supplier for an aerospace company in Brevard County.  She stated on the plane going to Mexico was 90 business men; when they drove to the location it was like a city unto itself, with major U.S. manufacturers such as Whirlpool, GE, and a lot of small manufacturing off-shoots; but the reality is that a lot of companies are not going to Mexico to save ten percent; but they are going to Mexico to save 50 percent by outsourcing; and it is a real challenge that businesses and industries are facing.

 

Johnny Walker stated having served on Space Florida he is familiar with the competition that is out there; it has been taken for granted for the last 50 years that KSC is the ultimate launch site; and the bottom line is that it is not that way anymore.  He stated there is no doubt that people at Kennedy Space Center can be competitive; and IAM is going to work with companies as much as it can.  He commented on speaking with someone yesterday who has 29 years as a flight hardware mechanic and for the first time in 29 years he is starting to lose sleep over worrying if he is going to continue to have a job or not.  He stated it is going to take everyone to make a difference and the Congressmen and Senators cannot do it by themselves.

 

Chairman Scarborough stated two months ago he met with the unions at Brevard Community College; it was a good presentation; the skill set at Kennedy Space Center is very unique; when people are lost at Kennedy Space Center, it is going to be China and Russia who will be developing the skill sets; and it is conceivable that the skill set that is needed may never come back.  He commented on jetliners being maintained overseas; and stated America is at risk of losing its skills, and it is not just specific to Kennedy Space Center.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the introduction to skills has been taken away in the schools; the reality is that a lot of kids will never get to college; but they are not getting an introduction to the alternatives; and the country has to understand that if it does not make things, then it is part of a decline that will continue until the U.S. is at the mercy of every other country in the world.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the bigger issue is that people want cheap stuff; and they are not willing to pay America to build it; and everyone complains about outsourcing, but if people want those jobs to stay in the U.S., then they need to be willing to pay the price for those products. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated the County Commissioners are doing everything they can to keep jobs in Brevard County; she appreciates the information the Board has been given by the labor representatives; and she wants to reassure the workforce that it is very important to the Board. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Space Program was talked about extensively today, and diversifying was also discussed; there is always going to be transitions; and there needs to be a diversity of similar skills that allow the workforce to stay in tact because once they are gone, they are gone.  Chairman Scarborough stated it has been said that this transition is not as bad as the Apollo, but it needs to be remembered that Apollo occurred in the time of national economic stability; and this is occurring in a time when the country’s situation is much worse.  He stated the problem is going to be more profound because there will not be the capacity nationwide with a strong economy for people to find jobs elsewhere.  Kevin Smith stated as someone newly married he spent yesterday looking for a home throughout Brevard County; he has multiple choices with anything he wants; and he cannot imagine what it is going to be like in two to three years.

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated Congressman Feeney was elected to Congress in 2002 and is the former  Speaker  of the  Florida  House of  Representatives;  he is  a  member  of  the  Financial Services and Judicial Committee; and he also serves on a committee with NASA oversight.  He advised Congressman Feeney has championed the Kennedy Space Center and the Constellation Program; last year, he was appointed to serve on the Space Aeronautic Subcommittee; and he has been a tiger for the Space Program, and has just returned from China.

 

Congressman Tom Feeney stated no one knows how painful the transition is going to be; but forewarned is forearmed; and no one has a better job at leadership than the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners.  He stated he knows a quorum of the County Commission was in Colorado Springs with himself and other Brevard County leaders; he is happy to say that Jeff Kottkamp, the Governor’s leader on space issues, was there; he met with members of the French Company Ariane and talked about the possibility of the French launching from Kennedy Space Center; and he knows Brevard County was heavily represented to the nation’s, and international, community.  He stated the Kennedy Space Center used to be the only game in town; it was taken for granted that Kennedy Space Center had the best workforce and launch site; but that is no longer true; and it is now a global internationally competitive game in more than one way.  He stated finger pointing will not get anyone anywhere; there is enough blame to go around; he supports President Bush’s vision; but the Bush Administration has fallen short when it comes to funding its own vision; and anything more than a five-year gap between space flights would create potentially disastrous consequences for the space community’s capabilities.  He noted there are conservatives on his side of the aisle that are opposed to all spending, including the Space Program; there are liberals, such as Congressman Barney Frank, who is close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has repeatedly tried to end the human space flight program through his amendments; and Congressman Frank recently reiterated his view on 60 Minutes by saying he thought it was not a useful way to spend American tax dollars.  He stated NASA has usually failed to receive budgetary support consistent with its ambitions; the result is an organization straining to do too much with too little; the good news is Brevard County has two Senators and Congressmen who get significant support from the rest of the Florida Congressional Delegation on a bipartisan basis; and it is not a successful winning argument nationally, or with other members of Congress, to say Brevard County is dependent on the jobs the space community provides.  He advised that does not go over very well when talking to Senators and Congressmen from Michigan, Ohio, and the rust belt where the unemployment rates exceed 15 percent; Brevard County has to have better rationale for why the Space Program is critical to the United States as well as Florida and the Space Coast community; and he has been focused on the best way to make that advocacy in a way that is accurate and fair.  He stated the State legislature should be congratulated because it has led the way in looking at space like an Air Force or Navy issue and not a Florida issue; and the County Commission can take some credit for advocating the importance of space to the State as a whole.  He stated he agrees that relying on the Russians to service the Soyuz should be a last case scenario and not a first case scenario; there are a number of ways to not just service the Space Station with cargo, but to service it from Kennedy Space Center with crew access is vital; and while there should be a fight to prolong Shuttle flights, the reality is that it is going to be unlikely to have two or three additional flights added.  He advised the better solution to narrow the gap between space flights is to accelerate the Constellation Program; it will cost approximately $1 billion per year to accelerate the Constellation Program; it costs approximately $2 billion to $3 billion per year to extend the Shuttle; and he is for extending the Shuttle, but he thinks every day that goes on it seems less likely that it is a practical budgetary reality.  He stated while in Colorado Springs he met with Orbital, which has some options on the table that other competitors for that contract did not; Kennedy Space Center is the best place for Orbital to launch its servicing of the Shuttle; and he thinks it was important to make that clear.  Congressman Feeney advised he met with other companies including the French company Ariane, which has some interest in launching out of Kennedy Space Center; Kennedy Space Center is the best place on the planet to launch from; and it should not be just American companies alone that are going to have access to those resources because if the U.S. does not cooperate with other countries, they will cooperate with each other and not include the U.S. at all.  He commented on the United States being the best as far as space capabilities during the first space age, but now it is the second space age; now, there are seven space faring nations; and there are at least 15 countries making major investments in space.  He stated there are reasons why the U.S. has to think about international cooperation; there is already space over-crowding; some countries ask the U.S. permission to go into a certain orbit, but they do not have to ask at all; and having an understanding with other countries is going to be important.  He stated there are no rules in space; for no reason other than to demonstrate military capability and to project power, the Chinese decided to destroy one of its own obsolete satellites; and one harmless satellite was turned into 2,500 pieces of baseball size, or larger, junk, all of which could destroy other satellites or the Shuttle.  He stated the international space faring community is going to have to deal with responsible stake holders; he used that term with the Chinese; responsible stake holder means not creating unnecessary space debris; and the Chinese did not receive that message very well.  He stated China has to be more transparent for the U.S. to deal with it in any kind of significant way; all of China’s space assets are controlled by their military; China is very secretive and proud about it; and at the end of the Olympics, China is going to send the first Shenzhou up with three taikonauts in it and will have a space walk for the first time.  He advised China is already a competitor; China has launched some 80 satellites, including 33 international satellites; and China is doing business and competing with the U.S.’s commercial satellite capabilities on a daily basis.  He noted it is important to talk about the military angle; the case has to be made around the country to policy makers and Americans; space is the new high ground in military capability; and it is space predominance that is absolutely essential to protect the vital national security interests of the United States and its allies.  He stated the United States has to deny space predominance to any regime that would use it for hostile purposes; failing that, an adversary during a time of emergency could do no less than make the American military capabilities deaf, dumb, and blind; and all of the weapons and guidance systems would shut down.  He stated the United States is now in the second space age; it is going to have to find a way to cooperate with responsible and peace faring nations; but more importantly, the United States is going to have to keep American space predominance, whether its technical skills or engineering skills; and the United States is not going to do that by not realizing international competition is here, because it is. 

 

Congressman Feeney stated European allies have corporations under what is called the ITAR law, which states that all rocket capabilities and satellite capabilities cannot be shared with countries without permission of the State Department; but that has not stopped companies in Europe or Japan from providing the same technology that may not be quite as efficient, but it is happening anyway.  He stated General Helms should be thanked because the Air Force’s main mission in life is not to engage in risky entrepreneurial behavior to help private corporations make money; General Helms is convinced it is not just good for the space center, she has been wonderful in advocating for more flexibility in use of the Air Force assets, which are necessary to launch from; the Air Force top brass at the Pentagon need to be convinced that air superiority is critical not just for the military, but for commercial and civilian exploration as well; and flexibility has to become a priority for national security. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated the Board understands the message that it has to speak beyond just jobs in Brevard County; and inquired how the United States can communicate in a broader sense and how does it build up strategic alliances with the unions.  Congressman Feeney replied first and foremost America has to make a commitment starting with education and workforce development; but America has to realize the challenge facing the country; and once that commitment has been made locations can be determined that are the best places to do that.  He advised the Chinese are producing approximately 500,000 engineers per year; the United States produces approximately 50,000 engineers per year; the Chinese will not have a problem finding workforce technicians; and the Chinese are now the number one Internet-using people on the planet, surpassing the United States.  He stated Americans have to be convinced that if the workforce is not going to be produced it is going to be like France, which is an interesting, old, historic power watching other leaders in the 21^st Century. 

 

 

 

Lew Jamieson stated he is a field mechanic and a lot of topics that have been covered have been dizzying to him; it appears the Workshop is beneficial in a lot of ways; but so many areas were covered it is obvious that at some point there needs to be a strategy to figure out where to go.  He stated he is glad the Board invited organized labor to be present today; his livelihood is dependent on manned space flight; and he hopes everyone involved in the process keeps in mind that the workers have a number of things to bring to the table.

 

Jack Hisey stated nobody makes the case better than Congressman Feeney; and Brevard County has to make a case for the defense of the nation.  He stated Brevard County has a tendency to go to Washington D.C. and talk to its own Senators and Congressmen; but they are already on board; and he wonders if there is a way to get to other Congressmen and Senators.  Congressman Feeney responded space is a bipartisan issue; there are friends and allies in the Democratic party; to some people, life sciences is important, such as a cure for cancer; on the Republican side there are huge space advocates; but there are also some people that would rather not spend any tax payer money on virtually anything.  He stated his view is that government should be doing what must be done and what the private sector cannot do itself. He advised another issue is the U.S. has an incredibly capable Air Force; the Air Force’s main mission is to protect the immediate national security of the United States; and it is important for American’s to understand no one has to wait for the Air Force to spills its secrets.  He stated the Air Force has to be convinced that commercial viability and human exploration are part of a strategic imperative; and people like General Helms are to be congratulated.  He stated there are some groups, on a bipartisan basis, that get together; there is a space advocacy team in the House; it is not a large team; but it is a team of true believers in key positions; and he thinks it would be important to bring the workforce leaders into that, as well as industry.  He stated Representative Tom Delay was a huge advocate for space when he was majority leader and he saved the space program more than once; but he is gone now; and other leaders such as Congressman Weldon are going to be gone soon. 

 

Herman Garrett stated he came to Brevard County in 1968; he was with the U.S. Department of Labor; and for many years he enforced various laws.  He stated over the years he has seen a complete evolution of the labor force; when he retired he became a consultant in labor law compliance and strategy; and the unions and members have totally changed over the years.  He stated last week he had the opportunity to embark on the USS Iwojima from Norfolk to Ft. Lauderdale to celebrate Fleet Week; during that time he talked to one young sailor who plans on staying in the Navy because of the pay; and unions are the best way for young people to be trained.

 

Randy Harris, Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, stated he is the Chairman of the Brevard Council of Chambers; and he views the Chambers’ role as being a support mechanism from the small business community.  He stated his concern is what the impact will be on the small businesses community; and he would encourage everyone to pay attention to what that impact will be.  He noted all four Chambers of Commerce will have a meeting with the Workforce Development Board next week to talk about the labor issues.  He advised the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce is the sponsor for a grassroots effort called Citizens for Space Exploration that is centered with all the major NASA centers; the group is in its 17^th year of going to Washington D.C. and advocating for NASA’s budget; and this year, the main focus is going to be on the national security aspects. 

 

Chairman Scarborough stated two years ago the EDC anticipated if 5,000 jobs were lost at Kennedy Space Center, the annual recurring impact on the County would be $1.5 billion; and now those numbers need to be ran again for 6,400 jobs lost.  Mr. Harris stated the Chambers of Commerce are working on getting an appointment with the Small Business Administration while in D.C. on May 19^th.

 

Brian Thompson stated he has been a full time officer of the IBEW for over 26 years; he has represented utilities, railroad manufacturing, government and others and he has personally seen the impact on the membership with the loss of jobs going overseas and the tolls it has taken on both the communities and the infrastructure within those communities.  He stated there has not been much discussion today about what is going to happen in Brevard County; the devastation that takes place within the communities as employees are laid off and move on impacts the infrastructure which increases the tax base and someone has to pay that cost; and the IBEW has realized that because companies and corporations do not want to train anyone any more because it costs money.  He stated there are a lot of people who do not know what the Space Program has contributed to the world; his grandson did not realized how many things were developed in space; his neighbor who has a stint in his heart did not realize it was made possible by the space program; and basically, everything everybody touches has been developed through the assistance of the space program.

 

The Board recessed from 3:09 p.m. to 3:31 p.m.

 

 

 

The Board watched a video by Senator Mel Martinez.  Senator Martinez stated he is pleased to see the Board’s continued commitment to planning Florida’s future and its future role in aerospace.  He stated it is a challenging time to be involved in space flight; he is concerned about the gap between the Space Shuttle’s retirement and the projected date for putting a replacement vehicle into operation; unless a viable U.S. alternative emerges, Russia will be the only nation able to fly humans into the International Space Station; and relying solely on the Russians is strategically risky and it could become increasingly expensive.  He advised he is working with Senator Bill Nelson and member of the House to do everything they can to fill the gap  and  ensure  Florida  continues  to  play  a  prominent  role;  there is no simple solution; but elected officials know where to focus the efforts; and the Orion and Aeries Program needs to be accelerated.  He stated Florida is in fierce competition with other states; but he believes Florida has the skill workforce in place to be the most competitive. 

 

 

 

Leigh Holt, Government Relations Manager, stated she is proud to represent Brevard County in Tallahassee.  She stated a legislative agenda was developed and focused on taking care of the workforce and indemnity for commercial launches and incentives for businesses to stay in the County; and the Legislators have said the issue has to be bigger than Brevard County.  She stated the issue was made bigger than Brevard County by recruiting some new partners such as Associated Industries of Florida, and Space Florida; Senator Posey carried six bills having to do with the space industry; Representative Altman carried four bills; Senator Haridopolous and Representative Poppel have been incredible champions in the budget arena; and Representative Sasso, in his first week of office, went to the Senate and supported Senator Posey’s bills.  She stated the qualified space contractor tax refund bill will pass today; the EDC took the lead on that bill and worked with Representative Altman to draft the language; the research and development piece was called the Space Technology Research and Diversification Initiative Act and it has passed the House, but is struggling the Senate; but it is expected to go to the Floor.  She stated the Transportation and Economic Development Committee Conference has $1.25 million for the Space Workforce Initiative; Representative Cannon and Senator Fasano have been huge champions of that Committee; and Workforce Florida pledged to work to find an additional half million dollars out of the Workforce Florida budget.  She stated Space Florida has been the champion for commercial space; in the Transportation and Economic Development Committee’s budget is $15 million for space and aerospace infrastructure; and that was promoted to the legislators as going to improve launch pad 36.  She stated there was another bill that was approved in the Senate that would implement a reusable space vehicle industry prize program similar to the XPrize; it was sponsored by Senator Ring, who is a founder of yahoo, and Senator Atkinson in the House; it puts forth a $40 million prize for reusable space vehicle industry with $20 million coming from the State with a $20 million private sector match; and that business would have to be done in Florida.  She stated the entire legislative delegation has been incredible; the EDC has been a big partner; the League of Cities and the Brevard Council of Chambers spoke in Tallahassee of the issues facing Brevard County.

 

Chairman Scarborough stated he would like to write a letter to the delegation to thank them; and directed Ms. Holt to put a letter together.

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Board has heard a lot of great information today; one message that has come out of the Workshop is that there has to be the focus message which has multiple parts; and he would like the Commissioners to give some thought to some type of coalition that represents Brevard County because in the end it has to be more than the County Commission. 

 

 

 

 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated her only item is the letter the Board requested to be written on Thursday about the budget as it relates to the courts, state attorneys and the law enforcement.  She stated Leigh Holt has advised that at this point the budget is going to press and she feels it is too late to write that letter; there is a draft letter prepared if the Board would like to review it; and Ms. Holt can give the Board more information. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he would like to have a copy of the letter because it is going to have some key points on it; it may be helpful at another stage; but not for the purposes of sending it.

 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated earlier it was mentioned to put a white paper together for the Presidential candidates.  County Manager Peggy Busacca stated the EDC is putting the white paper together. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated besides the white paper for the Presidential candidates, they will also be invited to come and take a tour of Kennedy Space Center.

 

 

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 3:53 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        _________________________________

                                                                        TRUMAN SCARBOROUGH, CHAIRMAN

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

ATTEST:                                                         BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

 

__________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK 

        (S E A L)

                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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