MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

April 23, 2009

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners Brevard County, Florida, met in special workshop session on April 23, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chairman Chuck Nelson, Commissioners Robin Fisher, Trudie Infantini, Mary Bolin, and Andy Anderson, Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

 

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten stated he knows the Board received the emails with regards to the distemper issue at the North Animal Care Center; Animal Services and Enforcement Interim Director Bobby Bowen is present today to discuss the strategy for that; in addition to Bobby, staff is going to get Dr. Crawford from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine on the line; she has actually been helping staff develop that strategy; and he will turn it over to Bobby and hopefully he will be able to get Dr. Crawford on the line. 

 

Mr. Bowen advised Dr. Crawford that he is live on Space Coast Government Television; and thanked her for taking the call.  He stated in the conversation with the Interim County Manager and himself they discussed the distemper issue particularly at North Animal Care Center (NAC) because of the issues there; and the Board is waiting for her to address it on that particular issue.

 

Dr. Cynda Crawford stated she made a trip to NAC on Friday April 10^th in response to a request to see if the dogs at that facility are now starting to have infections with distemper virus; they tested 42 dogs on the facility at that time; they did not test 13 additional dogs, most of which were there because of legal custody reasons, and she typically does not bother with those dogs; but 19 of the 42 dogs did test positive for canine distemper virus infection, and that is 45 percent of the dogs on the premises.  She advised most of those dogs, as a matter of fact 18 of the 19 dogs did not have any symptoms of illness at the time; one of the dogs actually was infected at the time it came in so it did not become infected while in the shelter, it was infected outside of the shelter and brought the virus in with it; the dogs that were infected were generally distributed throughout the facility, they were not clustered in one section or another; it did involve dogs in the adoption section; and dogs that were in the stray hold area as well as puppies and other dogs that were in a separate room called the Puppy Room.  She noted this will be a little bit of a challenge to manage with the goals that the County wants to cure; there are various options available; one option on one extreme of the spectrum is simply to euthanize all of the dogs and start over on a clean slate so to speak; that is an option that is not palatable to many people, it is not a goal that the Maddies Shelter Medicine Program would have; its goal is to actually make a clean break between those dogs that are infected and those dogs that still have to come into the facility; and the clean break is to keep them from being exposed and to do this without resorting to mass depopulation or euthanasia of all of the dogs.  Dr. Crawford stated in order to pursue that strategy there will have to be some rearrangements to the facility; the way the facility is currently constructed there is no feasible way to separate infected dogs from new dogs that have to come in; because of the building layout there is a very high probability that infection will disseminate to all new dogs that come in; the options are quarantine all of the dogs in the building, go through and retest them again because it has been 14 days since they were first tested, and at that time they were not sick; and it could be that many of the dogs that tested positive two weeks ago have now cleared the infection and are no longer a risk to other dogs and therefore can continue on their path in the shelter or transfer to rescue groups and so forth.  She stated that would mean that new dogs would have to be diverted to a new facility or some sort of temporary housing situation separate from the quarantine shelter building; there is various ways to do that; there are groups in this State and outside of the State that provide temporary sheltering during emergency responses, whether they are manmade or natural emergencies; and this has been used before in the State to combat and intervene and successfully manage a distemper outbreak in other municipal shelters.  She advised this will involve bringing in a big rig or semi truck, tents, crates, cages, and so forth, along with some manpower, to take care of the new admissions in this temporary housing and therefore the current staff at the Shelter will be responsible for taking care of the quarantined dogs; while having these dogs under quarantine and retesting, those that still test positive for distemper infection will need to be removed from the premises because they are obviously persistently infected, this virus can affect dogs for up to three months, which means they can be an infectious risk to other dogs for up to three months; and obviously they cannot be housed in a municipal shelter facility for three months waiting to clear the infection.  She explained all positive dogs will need to be removed from the quarantined facility; the remaining dogs can also be tested for immunity to the distemper virus to ensure that they are protected from infection; if they are not infected now and have antibodies or protection against infection, they are safe to stay on the premises; they are not going to be a source of infection to newly admitted dogs; and once it is determined which dogs can stay on the premises and which dogs have to leave, then the temporary housing can be discontinued and start bringing new admissions into the Shelter again.  She inquired if there are any questions about that approach.

 

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten stated the course of action staff has taken is there is a trailer onsite that they are going to ready for the placement of the incoming animals; and requested that Mr. Bowen take the Board through staff’s course of action.

 

Mr. Bowen stated they have a trailer onsite that was used as a security trailer some time back; it was utilized as a storage area; staff is in the process of cleaning that trailer out and making some minor modifications because cleaning needs to be done; and there is carpeting and linoleum needs to be put in to be able to keep it clean.  He stated he is not sure if Dr. Crawford had time to read his email concerning Ronnie Graves in Sumter County; he did get in touch with Mr. Graves yesterday, there is a trailer available in Bushnell, staff will have to go there and get it, and he has already spoken with the Airport Manager to allow staff to put the trailer on the property east of the current facility; and logistically the house trailer in the back can be utilized and the additional trailer on the east side of the building, so they will not have to work off premise.  Mr. Bowen stated his desire would be is to try to get all of the adoptable animals that have cleared all of the medical testing into a storefront to keep those animals safe and keep them from being infected; probably most of them anyway would have the immunity to fight this disease; but to be able to do that would free up more space; and if the North Animal Shelter was shut down from adoptions, then staff could concentrate on putting the dangerous dogs there, and the bite dogs and investigative dogs could utilize that facility.  He stated they would have to let the public come and try to claim a lost or stray pet; with the combination of that, along with the fact that Dr. Crawford, himself, and the South Animal Center Manager will be there in the morning; they are going to do all of the testing again; and he will get those out as soon as possible so they will know exactly what they are dealing with in terms of dogs with immunity.

 

Mr. Whitten advised staff will take questions if the Board has any; he is sorry to have to interrupt the task at hand; but he thought it was important to get the Board the information firsthand and before staff actually undertook the actions in case it has any issue with how to proceed.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he does not see any concern from the Board as staff seems like it is taking appropriate steps.  He inquired what has the experience been Statewide with distemper this year; and stated he understands there has been a higher than typical incident.  Dr. Crawford advised since December 2006 there have been documented outbreaks in 12 shelters, they are not all county municipal shelters, some of them are private humane societies, including those that are adoption guarantee or no kill; currently they just finished clearing the outbreak in Pasco County Animal Services; they are the ones that used Mr. Graves trailer a couple of months ago to provide temporary housing while it was rearranging its shelter premises; there are currently distemper infections going on in shelters in the Panhandle of Florida, on the West Coast, and down in Miami; and Alachua County where she is, there was a horrible outbreak that lasted for two months in the year 2007. 

 

Chairman Nelson thanked Dr. Crawford for all of her help; and stated the Board looks forward to her coming to Brevard and assist with the shelters.  Dr. Crawford advised they will do all that they can to help out with any resources they can provide; and this can be a successful venture.

 

Mr. Bowen stated it would be easy to euthanize all of the animals; the South Shelter is quite different in terms of how it is laid out to be able to move the animals around in isolation; and it is not the same with the North Shelter as it is a home that has been modified.

 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he traveled to Washington, D.C. over the past three days and met with agencies and Government officials, most specifically representatives from defense and NASA; it is clear that between the cutbacks at NASA, a possible another realignment between 2011 and 2015, and the suspension of a lot of programs and military platforms, Brevard County is really in trouble; talking to the agencies and Government officials, everyone is very non-committal right now, they are in transition, are nervous, and very calculated what they are going to admit to or not admit to on the future of the Space Coast; he was up there with the EDC, Space Coast Defense Alliance, and all of the Chamber presidents; what came out of everything is it is very similar to a hurricane off of the shore of Florida heading to the Space Coast; and no one seems to be preparing.  He advised Brevard County is in a Katrina-type situation and no one seems to be responding; and no one from Washington, D.C. seems interested.  He explained one of the comments that kind of got him upset when people said Detroit just lost 20,000 jobs; those were not Government workers or NASA projects, those were private industry workers; what he decided to do, he was asked by the Chamber presidents, and he is going to meet with them if it ok with the Board, to schedule some kind of economic development summit or something similar to that so the Board can figure out what can be done in preparation for what is coming in and get serious about being the squeaky wheel; he is having lunch with the Chamber presidents next week and a couple of business leaders; he told them the Board’s workshop ability is limited right now; but there is time.  He stated if that is fine with the Board he will proceed with that and will schedule something.  He advised he wants all five Commissioners to be part of this.

 

Chairman Nelson stated it is excellent; it is going to be a difficult time and will get worse before it gets better; and he looks forward to a workshop.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she agreed that it will be a very good thing; it is not going to be the history of the Space Program, it is specifically for the problem the County has; and it is a much focused discussion.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated when going to Washington, D.C. and talking to any representative they think Brevard County Commissioners is being parochial and it is not true; it is Volusia County, Orange County, and Indian River County; it is a huge impact; and that is something that needs to be communicated to the Florida State Senators.

 

Chairman Nelson stated one of the things the Board has also talked about is diversification of the Space Center; the economy has to be diversified; all of Brevard County’s eggs cannot be put in a Federal basket because it fluctuates so greatly and rapidly that the Board cannot counter that; and it gets to the point where a person questions is it worth it because of what it does to this community about every ten years.  He advised the Board needs to have a game plan that puts Space in perspective in the community that it is just another industry, not the industry.  Commissioner Anderson advised there have been some small victories; it is not all bad; but it is going to get bad.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated the Board needs to advertise that there may be Commissioners at Commissioner Anderson’s picnic because he is serving food; and inquired what the day of the picnic is.  Commissioner Anderson advised the picnic is May 2, 2009 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Rodes Park on Minton Road.

 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated there was a wonderful opening ceremony of the Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall; it was well attended; and it was good to see everyone out there and the participation for the Veterans and all of the soldiers.

 

Chairman Nelson advised that goes on all week long, with the reunion piece of that this weekend; it is touching, but there is also some fun to be had as well; and it is a great event.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated there is a House Bill 5121 that is a waste disposal fee that has passed in the House, there is no companion bill in the Senate, but apparently it is going to be utilized as some type of bargaining chip in the overall budget discussions; the downside for Brevard County is this is a $1.25 per ton additional fee for waste disposal; the County gets no additional benefit from this; and it is just a check that the County will write to the State that goes into its general revenue to spend however it feels.  He explained to Brevard County it means it will have to do a rate increase hearing for Solid Waste; and the County gets no benefit but will take all of the grief over a rate increase.  He stated he would like to send a letter to the Legislative Delegation in opposition to the Bill that is in effect an unfunded mandate, that it will have an impact on Brevard County, and no benefit to it.

 

Motion by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize the Chairman to send a letter to the Legislative Delegation in opposition of House Bill No. 5121 for an additional Waste Disposal Fee of $1.25 per ton.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.       

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated this Bill was kind of moving through without a whole lot of fanfare, but it is just unfortunate; it is just an attempt to raise revenue locally; and in effect put the blame on the local board.  He stated the Board went through a lengthy and difficult and rate process that it solidified the rates for a five-year period; in the end it was a very good structure; and now the Board would have to come back and readdress that.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated he wanted to discuss the flow of the meeting; there are a significant number of cards under Public Comment and those would be taken next; the only other item that would have folks here to discuss it is Item VI.A; and he was going to suggest that the Board VI.A first and then the Public Comment cards because those are budget related.

 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she had some questions when she was reviewing the financial statements; and she noted that the organization that Ms. Tenpenny represents is upside down on its balance sheet.  She stated when reviewing the financial statements she noticed they have about $3.6 million tied up in a building with related $4.3 million loan on that building and then accrued interest; the accrued interest she understands, up to two-thirds can be forgiven, one-third of it has to be paid up; but even the one-third that was supposed to be paid back they are having a hard time meeting the interest payment alone.  She stated the other discussion she had with the organization she found out they were paying them 18 percent of the $1 to administer these loans, and that works out to $180,000; and inquired why the County does not administer these programs.  She stated when she is going to give up $180,000, that is at least ten more first-time homebuyer loans and existing staff can be utilized.

 

Nicole Tenpenny with Community Housing Initiative, Inc. stated the building in question is a 56-unit apartment complex located in Melbourne on the west side of Wickham Road directly across the street from Brevard Community College’s Melbourne Campus; they actually applied for and were granted funds from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s SAIL Program back in 1996; the SAIL Program, which stands for the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program provides financing to for-profits, non-profits, and public entities for development of affordable multi-family construction; in 1996 they were awarded $4.3 million at a 9 percent interest rate for a 15-year term; the benefit of using the SAIL Program is that if the owners of the property commit to providing units to household earning 40 percent and 60 percent of the area median income then they are not required to pay the entire nine percent interest, they are only required to pay the three percent interest; however, the remaining six percent has to accrue on their financials until the end of their 15-year term, which is in April 2012, at which time that will be 100 percent forgiven.  She stated on page 14 of their financials there are several columns on that page, she wants to point the Board’s attention to the liabilities and the assets portion of the Willow Brook column; there is a line item that says accrued interest; this accrued interest as of the date of these financials, this is the amount that Florida Housing Finance Corporation is going to forgive at the end of their 15-year term; and when the sale loan matures, which is in April 2012, Florida Housing will review their performance during their first loan term to decide to extend the terms of the loan and to extend the availability of these units.  She advised she contacted Florida Housing this week; it has several apartment complexes throughout the State with similar financing like Willow Brook has; they have been able to find a loan and a loan modification that agrees to extend the term of the loan, begin paying on the principal balance, amortizing the balance over another 15 or 30 years as long as the owners continue to commit that these units are going to be rented to households earning 40 percent and 60 percent of the area median income.     

 

Chairman Nelson stated Community Housing Initiative has not been paying any of the principal but the State has not said anything about that.  Ms. Tenpenny advised the three percent that they are required to pay is only a requirement if they make a positive case flow at the end of the year; the State reviews these financials; they have to turn in monthly occupancy and financial reports to Florida Housing; annually they come out to the property and review all of the records; and they are fully aware of the status of these reports.  She stated if there is not a positive cash flow then they are not required to pay the three percent interest; when there is a positive cash flow they pay that; so for this actual year they paid ten of the 12 months they paid the three percent. 

 

Chairman Nelson stated in effect the State is running a grant program; it wants to have affordable housing; and as long as they are able to keep those filled and show that they are filled the State is okay with it.  Chairman Nelson inquired if they decided they wanted to stop doing this would the property go to the State; with Ms. Tenpenny responding yes, it would go back to the State.  Chairman Nelson inquired who is present with Ms. Tenpenny today.  Ms. Tenpenny introduced Tom Shope who is their certified public accountant, and the on-staff Financial Specialist Brenda Weed.  Chairman Nelson inquired if Mr. Shope is independent of this group and is not part of this organization; with Mr. Shope responding that is correct.  Chairman Nelson stated he read the auditors report and it seemed to be good; and inquired how he would describe this.  Mr. Shope responded the auditors report is what they refer to as an unqualified opinion on the organizations financial statements; they are to address the financial position of the organization and it liquidity and its ability to meet its obligations as they become due; and during the course of the audit process they had no significant concerns about the organizations ability to continue as a growing concern.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if Community Housing Initiative has five or six CD’s that is totally about $2.5 million and they are rolling over at different times; with Ms. Tenpenny responding yes.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if there is a cash flow problems can they can reach into those CD’s and meet the obligations for several years; with Ms. Tenpenny responding that is true.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if she can help him understand what the County’s obligation is when it comes to affordable housing; stated he is not sure that has been really clear; he knows the County has to offer affordable housing; and inquired how is it paid for.  Ms. Tenpenny advised she does not know what the County’s obligations are and she would have to turn it over to Gay Williams.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the interesting thing here is the question was raised regarding a service that the County was seeking versus the actual operation of this element of their operation.

 

Housing and Human Services Director Gay Williams advised the obligation of the County is to provide affordable housing throughout the community, a variety of housing that would meet the needs of the community pursuant to Florida Statute; in doing that, that is a mandate, and what the State has done is provided communities like Brevard County funding to do just that; and this is a part of the funding and the strategy that the Board has approved to provide affordable housing.  She stated the piece that has gone to the Board is the First Time Homebuyers strategy, but that is just one of the strategies that this Board has agreed to do for the community.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if there was not Federal or State funding for affordable housing is there a mandate that says there has to be affordable housing; and how will the County funded that if it was not getting Federal or State dollars.  Ms. Williams advised through the County’s General Revenue.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the Board does not take the Federal and State money it will have tax taxpayers of Brevard County to support that housing; with Ms. Williams advising to do some level of affordable housing.  Commissioner Bolin stated that would mean taxpayers would have to pay twice.

 

Chairman Nelson inquired why the County uses a contractor for the service versus doing it in house; with Ms. Williams responding it is more cost effective; stated people within the organization are not certified or competent to do the counseling piece that comes with providing affordable housing; in addition, there is not enough manpower; often times not everyone who applies actually goes to the end and receives funding; but the same amount of time still has to be put into it.  Ms. Williams stated what it equates to, the organization gets over a little $2,000 per client only if they close; the time still has to be put into the client to get them to the closing; a lot of times they fall out along the way; but they still have to receive the counseling and the time that is put into it.  Chairman Nelson inquired if because of the stimulus program the County is actually getting more dollars currently; with Ms. Williams responding that is through one funding piece.  Chairman Nelson inquired if the workload has declined; and stated those people are fully-employed currently and doing his or her jobs; the County is not facing layoffs from a lack of work perspective; but it is an economic consideration; with Ms. Williams advising absolutely.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired what exactly they do; with Ms. Tenpenny advising they actually provide housing counseling services, which are pre-purchased counseling, foreclosure prevention counseling, and rental assistance counseling; they also provide affordable rental opportunities and the administration of the down payment programs, which they do with the City of Melbourne, City of Palm Bay, City of Cocoa, City of Titusville, and Brevard County; with those five programs, as of March 31, 2009, they have assisted 505 households since 1997 into their first homes with assistance from the five municipalities they work with; and they prescreen the buyers to make sure are income eligible and they have the ability to obtain first mortgage financing.  Ms. Tenpenny stated without obtaining first mortgage financing the down payment is not going to be of any help to the buyer; they income certify the buyers to make sure they
are income eligible via the State and local regulations; they walk the buyers through any lender issues; they review the good faith estimate so the buyer is not going to be a victim of any type of predatory lending practices; they conduct a home inspection on the property to make sure the buyer is receiving a safe, sanitary, and decent housing; and they accompany the buyer to closing, review the HUD 1 settlement statement to insure all of the charges that are showing on the settlement statement are actually what was disclosed on the good faith estimate, prepare the lien documents, and take to closing their check because they pay out of their own funds to close on each of these homes.  She advised they are going to closing, going to write the check to the closing company, and then the title company is going to record the County’s second lien possession on the property; once the home is closed on, they submit the County approved reimbursement request and all of the supporting documentations, which is buyers income eligibility, loan documents, and the security instruments; all of those are submitted to Brevard County; and the County allows 45 days for payment on these requests.  She stated they need to have that cash flow available because this is the way they operate their programs with all of the cities; there is zero risk on Brevard County’s part because they are spending their money first; Brevard is reimbursing them for money they have already spent; and if County staff looks at the reimbursement request and have a concern or problem, it just does not pay them for money they already spent. 

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the State or Federal guidelines require that the buyer go through the program they put them through; with Ms. Tenpenny responding all of the five different programs that they administer all require that the buyer participate in some home buyer education workshop, which they conduct once a month; it is from 8:30 to 3:00; and in that class they walk the buyer through the home buying purchase from beginning to end.  Ms. Tenpenny advised a realtor, lender, representative from a title company, representative from the Fair Housing Continuum, and has all of those agents there to walk the buyers through the First Time Home Buyers Program.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated one of the things he noticed in some of those CD’s are maturing, but the rate on their CD’s was somewhere between 3.78 and 5.6 percent; so if a person looked at that, it would not make sense to cash those CD’s in when they are borrowing that money at a three percent rate; and he thinks they are doing a good job.

 

Ms. Weed stated that Commissioner Infantini brought up the point that they are getting 18 percent; she does not know where that figure came from because they normally pay about $2,000; most of the time they usually get assistance of about $3,000; and she is thinking that is more like six or seven percent rather than 18.  Commissioner Infantini stated she could have been under the mistaken impression that they were giving $15,000 per homebuyer so that rate would be incorrect.  She stated when she spoke with Ms. Weed she said some municipalities were charged $2,000 per loan; however Brevard County was charged $2,600; and inquired how did they come up with the $2,600 per loan as opposed the rates charged to the other municipalities.  Ms. Tenpenny stated Brevard County pays $2,600, and all of the municipalities pay that except for the City of Palm Bay.  Ms. Weed stated usually it is more than $15,000 that they get; by looking at the financials for this year the average the homeowners got as to this date, the average was probably $30,000 and they get anywhere from $2,052 to $2,600; and actually that $2,600 was $2,335 until the new contract.

 

Ms. Weed stated she actually did a cost basis, and she probably should have brought it with her, which she can provide to the Board, showing how many hours they actually do that because it was like Ms. Williams said, sometimes there may be five people who they work with 15 hours each that do not go through; they are only paid if the people go the whole way; and they do a whole lot of work when they do not get paid at all. 

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he is glad Commissioner Infantini brought this subject up; she was not aware of the mandates on affordable housing and the fact that the County has to provide it; the question was how does the County pay for it; he feels better about the Board’s decision to accept that $6 million because if it does not it will come out of the General Fund; and that is taxpayers dollars.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated the Board is obligated to scrutinize everything that comes through; and he is telling the voters to demand it right now especially anything that has taxpayer money flowing out.  He advised there is a workshop on March 14^th and coming back to the mandate thing, he would appreciate staff providing exact Federal and State Statutes for the minimal the Board has to do as a County.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated he agrees with Commissioner Anderson; if the Board knows what the mandate is and what is the minimum is that the Board can look at it intelligently and see if there is anything that the Board may have enhanced over the years.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated her original reason for bringing this up is that she has been waiting for months for this housing workshop; when she receives information a week before the meeting she tries to get as much information as she can; and when she received the financial statements the night before, and promptly, as soon as she asked they were provided; and if she is not going to be the one to ask questions she does not know who is going to ask.  Ms. Weed stated she should be questioning things because it does look questionable until she knows the whole facts.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated he has a number of cards under Public Comment; it looks like a group of them are associated with Freedom Outpost Ministries funding and the other is with Country Acres; to his knowledge the Board is not working with any particular issue with any of those other than in a general sense; and he has about 15 cards on that issue.  He stated he will take the Country Acres one first; and then Gina Hage can come up and the Board can see what the issue is rated to that; and it may resolve some of the questions.

 

Carolyn Mobley, President of D & C Housing, Housing is spelled with an “e”; implemented in the housing is a Three E Program that they offer to all of Brevard County; she is presently on the Country Acres Advisory Board; what interests her about the Advisory Board is that she used to be homeless at age 11; she understands how it is to be abused, neglected, and abandoned; she lived in a situation where there was drugs and alcohol; lived in a situation where there was sexual abuse, where a mother was willing to do cocaine versus feeding her six children; and she understands where these children are coming from.  She advised as a bold spokesperson, an advocate for these children, she expressed her concern, that is why she pursued this Board so these children can have a voice; in her root of going through what she went through she had someone to believe in her, which allowed her to believe in herself; and some of these children are not in a position to have that type of counseling or encouragement.  She thanked the Board for allowing her to be here; the Board has worked hard with the community and citizens; she is in Commissioner Bolin’s District; this is a concern and passion of hers; and that is why she does what she does in spreading the Three E Program as much as she possibly can.  She stated a person cannot tell or relate a story unless he or she has experience it, and she has experienced it; and she thanks and praises God that she has been put in the correct hands to put her negative situation to make a positive situation out of it.  She stated she would like to get the Three E Program inside of Country Acres to let the children know that there are people out there that are just like them but it take them to believe in themselves to make a difference.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he noticed that a lot of these cards are about Freedom Outpost.  Gina Hage advised it is not about Freedom Outpost; there are some that are affiliated with them; there are also some working homeless, homeless, and some that are not affiliated with them; she will not be here in May 14^th; and these are people who to let the Board know his or her heart, and wanted to have three minutes in front of the Board just to share the need in the County firsthand.

 

Ms. Hage, with Freedom Outpost Ministries, stated they are a faith-based substance abuse transitional housing program; they have different facets; in Merritt Island they have low-income housing that is nothing to do with the Program; they have a thrift shop and food pantry in Melbourne, they have a church; and there are a lot of different facets to this ministry.  She stated on a daily basis they see the great and growing need of the homeless; there is not one day that goes by that she does not receive calls from someone needing shelter; even case workers when they call her, they are just so frustrated because they are just going in circles; people are coming to Circles of Care, needing help for many different reasons; then those people have to go somewhere; and the caseworkers call agencies like Freedom Outpost to try to place these people somewhere so he or she do not turn around come right through the same thing again;  and the need is greater than what is out there and what they are able to provide.  She advised the problem in Brevard County is increasing as people continue to lose their jobs and their homes as the economy continues to shift; she heard someone say earlier it will get worse before it gets better; it will hit every facet of everything; and the County needs to provide more emergency shelters, transitional housing, and permanent, low-income housing, along with supportive services.  She stated she heard Commissioner Infantini questioning a lot about money for case management, but she thinks a lot of the organizations do that; they have never taken a paycheck; her husband has to have employment because the people that they deal with just do not have money; and the County has to do this because it is their job to.  She noted a lot of the non-profits are driven to help people; it breaks her heart when someone calls her and she cannot help them, especially when it involves children; and it is terrible and getting worse.  She explained the County needs these services to help those in need before all hope is gone; she has seen depression take over many and some to the point of suicide; and this is hitting all aspects of people.  She advised three or four months ago a man owned homes and businesses and stuff; the bottom began to fall out; he was working at McDonald’s and he blew his brains out in Palm Bay; people deal with this in different ways; but when there is no hope and depression sets in people will deal with it in different ways.  She stated it is a Countywide problem and it is increasing; they live in America where many have laid down their lives for freedom and they are on the streets; men, women, and children are sleeping in cars, abandoned buildings, tents, under bridges, or wherever they can lay their heads; someone’s, mother, dad, child, each different but all the same with no where to go; in Brevard County and America, even those that are in the prison systems are given a place to lay their heads, shelter, and food; and when time is served, they are sent right back out on the streets with nothing.  She stated most people receive $100 in which he or she gets a bus ticket and a brown bag; some of them do not even have that; and there is not a whole lot to do unless there are agencies to help them get back on their feet.  She explained today she comes before the Board to ask it to continue to serve the people in the County, those with broken wings, to give them a place to help them mend so they can fly again with dignity by increasing the amount of funds to the Department of Housing and Human Services as the need is so much greater this year; as the Board decides the budget for the upcoming year and weight out the pros and cons for the finances in the County its choices will directly affect many lives, and much is at stake; if funding is not increased for Housing and Human Services and it is not allowed to do the job in the community, she truly believes that crime will increase and it will be spending money in other areas; and in this recession Brevard County can come through this and everyone can be proud to live in the County together.  She advised this is not about Freedom Outpost Ministries; and she would love to be able to get some dollars to help more people, but if she does not as long as people are getting help that is all she wants.

 

Robert Thomas stated in 2008 he came out of Department of Corrections; he had no place to go and no where to live and at that rate he would be on a homeless schedule and probably back on drugs; but due to the housing programs he was able to get housing, help, food, shelter, clothing, medical help, and so on; if he did not have that program there is no telling where he would be; and this program is important for those people coming out of jail and having to live on the streets to get help and not to go to the lifestyle of drugs and crime; and he hopes the Board will use this to help them.

 

Mike Silvio stated he has been homeless for about 15 years through different situations; there is a great need for people to just keep their sanity and try to find work; being homeless it is hard to keep clean in these programs to help people with their hygiene so he or she can get work; sometimes he is behind a building and he sees no reason that he cannot lay his head to stay out of the rain, and the next thing a policeman may come back there; and a person is arrested for trespassing just for trying to survive.  He stated being homeless brings its own problems and miseries; as long as there is hope crime would go down; and to just give people a chance.

 

Marty Laney stated he lived in a residence in Brevard County for 34 years; he has seen more and more homeless families and individuals throughout these years because of rentals and not having enough affordable housing; most of the people he sees are single parents raising kids and they struggle; if the low-income housing is taken away and not being supported, the crime in the County will triple; the jails are overcrowded now; and these people really need these programs.  He advised he has worked for the last 15 years helping people like this; he met Pastor Gina from Freedom Outpost Ministries, and they do a lot for the homeless people; and Brevard County needs to keep the funding and even upping the funding for the homeless and transitional housing.  He noted he has been disabled since 1992 and he cannot do much; he went to a homeless convention end of last year and he saw so many homeless people; a lot of them are good people but they cannot afford the housing; and if there was more low-income housing maybe the Board can get the people off of the street into the low-income housing.

 

Corey Strauss stated he cannot stress to the Board how important this program is; he is 33 years old and has a college education; he has been having trouble finding jobs or holding down a job because of his mental health and medication problems; he is Bi-Polar and has severe depression; he has been hospitalized numerous times in the last couple of years; and he knows how important it is because he does not work and is trying to collect disability, if he had housing he could meet his goals.  He stated he sees every day people come through these programs that have nothing when coming out of jail; he has been there a few times; and it is the worst feeling in the world.  He advised he was reading the Our Vision Sign and it said providing for health; and if the Board takes away housing people will lose their health, education, social needs, and it may as well take that poster off of the wall if it takes away housing.

 

Jim Bryant stated he has been a resident in Brevard County for approximately 12 years; he has worked with numerous organizations in the community regarding homelessness, employment, and such; he has been homeless for about six months due to the housing market crash; he has lost his home, truck, and his life; and for Brevard County to consider losing the income for low-income people at this point with the economy like it is would not be a good decision.  He stated people have already spoken that the crime rate would most likely go up; more people like himself will be sleeping in tents; the tent villages have increased in different areas in the County; but unfortunately they are seeing children in the woods.  He stated children in living in the woods in tents is not a good sign for America; people like Gina and other community organizers are doing the best they can; unfortunately there is just not enough places for people to live; and if the County can provide a place for someone that has a shower, telephone, and a place to cook their meals, that alone is a huge investment.  He stated for people like himself he would be more than grateful to do any type of work; and he hopes the Board will take into consideration people like himself as well as the single moms out there that need the help.

 

Al Smith stated he has been in and out of prison almost all of his life because the fact was every time he got out of prison he did not have anywhere to go; he almost did about 27 years; but now thanks to Freedom Outpost Ministries he is in the low-income housing because of Pastor Jim and Gina.  He advised he is clean from drugs; he was provided with food and clothing; and he is glad to be a part of the program.  He advised he had no where else to go when he got out of DOC; and he appreciates everything the County is doing for him.

 

John Pope stated he is thankful for Freedom Outpost Ministries; he has been with them for seven months; he works so he has a place to stay; and low-rent Government housing, especially beachside where he used to live, is really good.

 

Anthony DeSimone stated he unfortunately was homeless when he was 12 years old; he ended up going to prison as a result of that; he spent a long time in prison; and during that time he lost his mom, brother, his family, and had no place to go.  He stated it just so happens when he was sitting in prison and it was getting time for him to get out he had no place to go, there was not many choices in Brevard County; he has either been in jail or on probation since 1986; and he has 60 days left on his probation.  He stated through Freedom Outpost he was able to get his life back in order; he started a business, he is working on his second business, and he is getting married; and Gina gets telephone calls all of the time and cannot help people and cannot direct anyone anywhere else.  He noted he loves animals, but it is sad to know that Freedom Outpost has 14 horses, and they can get hay, food, and money for a horse quicker than for a human being.  He stated Jim and Gina bring hitchhikers to their own home because there is no place for that person to go; the younger generation trying to start an at-risk youth program through Freedom Outpost; his goal in life is to be a role model; he cannot change what he went through, but he can change his future; and had he only gotten a bus ticket after getting out of prison he would have probably ended up in a bar somewhere.  He stated the majority of people who are in prison are very talented, smart people, but there are just things that happened in their lives; and if they are given a chance to do something and given a step up it will make all of the difference.

 

Michael Bishop stated he is 45 years old he used to have a business, a really nice home, and two cars; now he has a tent with a hole in it and a bicycle with perpetual flat tire.  He stated being homeless is day-to-day survival as a person has to fight every day for everything he or she has; he goes to a labor hall where there is no work so he hangs out at the Daily Bread to eat coffee, donuts, and sign up for a shower; a guy comes in saying he has four hours worth of work and is paying $20, and that is $5 an hour; and now he makes the decision of eating a hot lunch and getting a shower, or dig a ditch for four hours for $20.  He just recently moved his campsite, he is old school and he can take of himself, it is the new kids that do not even know how to set up a tent, there were baby toys in this campsite that were left there; that is wrong; there needs to be more; and someone has got to do something.

 

John Jane stated he has been homeless for about ten years off and on until he met Jim and Gina; they set him up with a home in Merritt Island; he started getting his disability so now he has a place to live that is low income that he can afford to live in; if it was not for that he would still be on the streets; and he is grateful for the low-income housing.  He advised there needs to be more low income housing, especially for the women and children.

 

Anthony Johnson stated he is present on behalf of Freedom Outpost and because of the housing problems; right now he is staying in one of the houses, but he has been looking for help; it has been really hard; but it has been a blessing that Jim and Gina have been able to give him a place to stay, otherwise he would be out on the street.  He noted he and his wife have one income, and he has been looking for places to stay but with just his income they cannot afford them.  He suggested the Board consider the situation because people are really hurting because of food, housing, and job situations.

 

Russell Marquis stated he is a working homeless Veteran; the average homeless person in Brevard County is possibly a Veteran; when he or she was asked to go to war they went; and there are people now coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who cannot find work.  He stated he can take care of himself he lives right next to Mr. Bishop; it is sad that people who have served the country cannot get food, cannot lay their head down as he or she will get harassed; and homelessness is a problem that is not going away and it cannot be swept under the rug.

 

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:26 a.m. and reconvened at 9:45 a.m.

 

 

Kelly Marquis stated he is here to speak on behalf of the working homeless and the families with children in need; please help the people who are looking for a hand up not a handout; that is all they are looking for; it is really a growing problem that will get worse; and not all of the homeless are out there trying to scam the Government, he or she is just trying to survive.

 

Ginger Ferguson, Executive Director of the Coalition of the Hungry and Homeless of Brevard, stated they sponsor WIN Housing, which is a transitional and permanent housing for persons with disabilities; the WIN Vet Program, which is transitional housing for Veterans; and Victory Village, which is permanent housing for disabled Veterans.  She stated they housed last month 200 men, women, and children in the programs, but the sad thing is they received over 500 calls from people they are unable to help.  She stated everyone knows the housing situation, there are 9,000 displaced folks who own their homes but their homes were foreclosed on; people are losing their jobs; it is getting worse; and it is very desperate right now and people are in a crisis situation.  She stated they work very closing with Housing and Human Services through the continuum of care collaboration that is a network of all of the agencies in Brevard County that provide support services to the homeless and those at risk of homelessness; they have been able to bring in to Brevard County just from HUD $6.6 million just for their housing programs; they have brought in over $2 million through the Department of Veterans Affairs to help homeless Veterans; and they are doing the very best that they can to meet the needs of Brevard County.  Ms. Ferguson stated she challenges each Commissioner to find a place within his or her District where a facility can be placed; where people can be brought in, see what the needs are, and provide for those needs; this County is 72 miles long, people from Titusville cannot be sent to Palm Bay when he or she does not have transportation or money; and there needs to at least be a drop in center in each area.  She stated shelters are needed; there are no emergency shelters; there are over 2,000 on any given night that have no where to go; but yet those people are rousted out of the woods and tell them that they are trespassing.  She advised a tent city is needed at least; there needs to be a place where people can go and pitch a tent legally; help is needed; and it is critical that each person supports the efforts of the non-profits to bring more Federal dollars and more tax dollars in for affordable housing.  She noted any opportunity that they can have to bring more money in, the Board needs to take advantage of that; staff has been wonderful; staff works with them, helps them, guides them, gives technical assistance, and support the efforts because they know people are out there trying to make a difference; and more money is needed.  She explained becoming homeless is the most traumatic thing that could happen to a person or to a child; the Board heard one gentleman say because he became homeless at 12 years old it lead him on a path of destruction, and that is what is going to happen if something is not done to support the children; crime can be reduced, people can be helped become self-sufficient again, they can be put in a home with support services that is needed, and a person cannot just be put in a place he or she cannot afford and watch them fail; the Board’s help is needed; and they are here to help the County.

 

Marvin Riley stated he has had a long-time struggle with drugs and alcohol; he has been in and out of prison four times because of the destruction of his life; at that time he did not know any better; but the fourth time he went to prison he knew he had to do something as he cannot consist of running in and out of the streets.  He stated upon being released this fourth time he was asked where he was going and he told them he did not know; they wanted to give him a ticket back to Vero Beach; he told them he cannot go back there as his life is nothing there; and there are two places he will not let them send him, to Hell and to Vero Beach.  He stated the next day they asked him if he would like to go to a transition home; he talked with Pastor Jim and he told him they had a bed for him but there are rules and regulations; he told Pastor Jim he will do whatever it takes to keep his head under a roof; by going to a transitional home he was changed after smoking crack for 24 years.  He stated if there was more money to do more with, he is quite sure a lot of people would be helped.

 

James Stewart stated he broke his ankle, he has no family, and he was walking down the street with his crutches and his backpack and Jim asked him to please come with him; he provided him with housing until his leg healed; they are the working poor, they have an income but it barely covers anything; and even with disability, it may be able to pay the rent but nothing else, including medication.  He advised his medications cost over $200 a month.  He explained housing is needed that people can afford; and funding is needed for that housing so that those who work and collect disability and have health problems can afford a place to live.

 

Pastor Jim Hage, with Freedom Outpost Ministries, stated they started the ministry about 10 years ago; he is not present about the ministry, he is there about the condition of the County and the people of the County, not only the ones who are homeless now but the ones that will be potentially homeless in the next few years; a number of people said they got out of prison and had no where to go; by looking at the statistics on the Department of Corrections website, there has been a great increase of the last three years of people going to prison; and it is projected to keep on increasing.  He stated he does not want to narrow it down to people who have been in prison, but they are coming out and need a place to go; over 5,000 prisoners will be released to Brevard County in the next year and one-half; those are people that if they do not have somewhere to go, no programs in place to help them get jobs, and some security and safety, it will affect the County in a negative way.  He stated his other job is the Director of Case Management for Brevard Long Term Recovery Coalition; he has been doing that for four years; he has been through Hurricane Jean, Francis, Tropical Storm Fay, Wilma, he has managed oversight of a number of case managers for over 3,000 cases; the majority of these people are one paycheck away from being homeless; when a person lose their positions, home, and do not have insurance the Board needs to look at getting funds into the County that would help in those areas; and when people lose their property and they cannot repair it, it just creates a bigger problem for more homelessness.  He encouraged the Board to look outside the box, not only with funding sources used in the past, but look to different areas with Federal Stimulus money possibly and other areas in the State to bring in either grants or other funds that would help supplement case management because it is really imperative intensive case manage to change their lives, turn them around, and make them productive citizens.

 

Carmen Morina thanked the Board for its help and support.  She advised she is the Director of Housing for the WIN Housing Program Coalition for the Hungry and the Homeless; they provide their clients with housing, food, clothing, and furniture; they see everything; the Agency is wonderful; and it has helped so many people.  She stated they provide wonderful case management.  She stated the main thing they need is the Board’s support; and they cannot do it without the Board.

 

Gwen Walker stated she works for the Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless and Carmen Morina is her supervisor.  She advised she is present to let the Board know the support services they provide is imperative; she has gone into the woods to a campsite, gotten a woman out, and placed her into a home because she is passionate about caring for others; each of them have a place to go when leaving his or her job; people have routine things that he or she does; but these people are on survival mode.  She inquired if each Commissioner were to be placed in their situation what would he or she do and how would each survive; without support services people like her and her co-workers, those people will not have a chance because there is no one else who will go out in the woods and pull someone out; and she thanked the Board for listening to what everyone is saying.

 

Sharon Esposito, Representative of WIN Housing, stated she talks weekly to a family sleeping in a car with children; that is extremely disturbing; the most disturbing case she has dealt with is she was able to place a family in housing due to WIN benefactor; the funding source allowed her to place this family; the mother is a Veteran; she was sleeping in the car with a three-month old baby and an 18-month old child; and they had been sleeping the car for three months.  Ms. Esposito advised they had been turned away by everyone; there was no place for this family to go; that is deplorable; and the United States is supposed to be the richest country in the world but it cannot accommodate the Veterans.  She stated they place the family in WIN Housing, which is not the Veterans program; now the family is being moved on to the Veterans permanent housing program; this is a true success story; and that does not happen often because many times when people go to the survival mode it kicks in and he or she become somewhat primitive.  She stated it is imperative that it is done one family at a time and that takes supportive services, which is case management; much of these HUD funds do not have funds for that; and people cannot be placed without support and people to say here is where you go for food and to provide referrals. 

 

Judith McLuckie stated they have a heartfelt request of each Board Member; she wants each person to think he or she goes home and find that there is a foreclosure sign on the house and that maybe he or she did not know how much money was owed, and suddenly he or she does not know where to live; then he or she goes to work the next day and finds out they are laid off; now he or she no longer has a home or a job; and inquired how will they find food and retrieve the home; and she wants the Board to feel what it may be like.  She stated each person here is one paycheck from being homeless; and homelessness is a sad thing.  She advised they go out once a year and do a homeless count in January; she too went out to some of the camps; the camp she went to was very interesting; it was the cleanest camp she had ever seen; and most of those people worked for daily labor and has a what is called a steady ticket; and a steady ticket means those folks have a job every day and that is important for them because that way he or she knows at least they can keep their campsite.  She explained recently there have been many folks walking through their doors that are requesting a tent or food; she asked about that campsite that was behind the Merritt Square Mall and they said it was gone because the police would roust them out; there needs to be a place for these folks to shower; and can maybe get a shower at a drop in center, but Cocoa has no drop in center.  She stated some of the people go to the Sharing Center to bathe; many of the people do smell; when a person cannot get a good shower or wash their hair then how will they get a job; and many of the folks on the street have had a home and a car.  She requested the Board thinks with its head, feels with its heart, and know that monies really need to be provided to give more housing so those folks can be helped.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he and Commissioner Bolin went through a Homeless Workshop and it was good to hear what those issues are because it has not gotten better it is continuing to get worse.  He thanked everyone for attending the Workshop and giving the Board that information.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated the Board has a lot of work ahead of it; it needs to think out of the box for other alternatives; while she sees most of the faces that are here today are men, there were a few women; a lot of times the men who are left behind because they are supposed to be strong; and the men need protecting just as much as the women do.  She stated she does not want the men to think that they have been forgotten.  She does not have any solutions today, but she will promise to work harder to find better solutions for this situation because it will get worse before it gets better.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated Pastor Jim does some wonderful work; some of those stories will bring tears to a persons eyes; what is important is as the Board moves into its budget cycle and it goes through the programs, he hopes the Board will give the time, treasure, and talent that it needs to, to address some of the issues; money is given to the Animal Services; and he hopes the effort and time is given to this issue as well.

 

 

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten stated this includes the health insurance and the strategic planning workshops; this will be the seventh workshop this fiscal year and the seventh budget related workshop; in preparing for these workshops staff has actually conducted four Countywide meetings soliciting employee cost cutting suggestions; he will walk the Board through the summary results from the anonymous online employee suggestion survey; the departments have developed their listing of priority services and programs; and that is before the Board today.  He stated departments are developing 20 and 40 percent reductions scenarios; it is the Board’s responsibility to set policy and provide direction with regards to the budget development process; and with that direction staff will hopefully bring back to the Board a quality product, i.e. balanced budget proposal.  The Board has previously during the course of those seven workshops directed staff to focus on several initiatives and that has been done through the strategic planning and direction during those workshops; within the strategic plan it has asked staff to focus on the following strategic areas or the issue areas, infrastructure, public safety, social services, the provision of services, and in that the detail on that or the discussion centered on reducing the duplication of services and the prioritization of a central services; it has talked about fiscal stewardship, employee issues, economic development, and citizen engagement and education; and with regards to employee issues he believes the Board actually directed staff to minimize layoffs where possible and feasible.  He advised if staff continues with the schedule that is laid out before it, staff would have conducted ten workshops through the course of May prior to actually receiving property tax revenues, revenue projections from the State, and budget proposals from the Charter Officers; the May workshop schedule should be altered to only have one of those workshops as staff actually needs time to work within the process so that a sound, balanced budget proposal can be presented to the Board for its consideration; that proposal cannot occur until after receipt and analysis of all relevant information; and that information would be revenue projections, revenue figures or property tax figures from the Property Appraiser, from the State, the final Legislative proposals, Charter Officer budgets, and a thorough analysis by staff, department directors, and assistant county managers of the employees suggestions, departmental reduction strategies, and the input from the Citizen Budget Review Committee.  He noted staff is continuing to analysis and incorporate to the extent staff can the proposals that were contained in the industry professionals report; Frank Abbate will walk the Board through some examples of how staff intends to format that response; but just to put the Board on notice, staff is actually intending on providing formal responses to those suggestions.  He stated regarding the May workshop schedule, based on what Commissioner Anderson said today, the May 26^th workshop can be set aside or scheduled for an economic summit workshop if the Board cares to undertake that; the May 21^st workshop should actually focus on the Charter Officer budget submissions; and in some cases the Board may want to invite the Charter Officers before it to present its preliminary proposals.  Mr. Whitten noted outside agency funding and discretionary services and programs, the methodology on which the Board should be considering for program and service reductions; and by way of example staff has looked at four-day workweeks; does the Board want to close down buildings for a day; does the Board want to close them down for some day during the week; Library Services is 99 percent funded from the property tax; and some discussion needs to be had regarding how the Board balances the Library Services budget for the coming fiscal year.  He inquired if the Board will consider closing libraries or simply consider reducing the service hours to match that deficit across all libraries.  He stated staff will also at that workshop intend on bringing the Board the remaining department and office consolidation proposals; and whatever recommendations staff receives from the Citizen Budget Review Committee.  He stated he would ask prior to getting into the presentation that the Board would consider altering the schedule to allow staff to come back to it on the May 21^st workshop, re-title the May 26^th workshop to Economic Summit, and forego the May 7^th workshop.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she agrees with Mr. Whitten; the Board needs to get a product before it to discuss as a whole; she and Chairman Nelson went through the budget process the first year; it was a budget process where the Board almost had to build the budget from the ground up; and it was horrific.  She advised the second year the Board did the opposite; the staff put together the budget and presented it to the Board, the budget in whole; and that worked a lot better that it could actually see a product and then discuss what it wanted to change.  She stated by having workshops in May when the guts of the budget is not completed would cause the Board to spin its wheels; and she would like to change the May 26^th meeting to the Space Economic Summit if that would give Commissioner Anderson enough time.  Commissioner Anderson stated that is a good plan. 

 

Chairman Nelson advised the Board did something in the last couple of years where the workshops themselves are actually run by the Commissioner who was conducting that; and inquired if Commissioner Anderson would be the Chairman for the Economic Summit workshop.  Chairman Nelson stated Commissioner Infantini has the Housing workshop.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he agrees that staff has the Board’s priorities.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the Board would be nibbling at edges instead of dealing with the final reality of where it is going to have to go; he does like the concept of having the Constitutional Officers here to talk; one of the things he struggles with that keeps him up at night is the fact that the County has the MSTU for the Sheriff that is going to have to be reduced to meet the revenue requirements, in other words the taxable values Countywide have gone down, so the Board’s choice becomes to ask the Sheriff to reduce by that amount of money or the millage is going to have to be raised to generate the same amount of money because there is no other alternative to fund it; it cannot be funded by General Fund and money cannot be moved from anywhere else to help him; and that is the dilemma as the Board is going to be faced with a lot of these special districts and mileages’ and that is why it is so complicated for the Board as that it looks at things on a big picture basis but it cannot get there from here.  He noted he would love to hear from Sheriff Parker on what his thoughts are; the Board knows it will have those kinds of issues and difficulties; even on the County side the Libraries have the same kind of issues where there are limited options for the Board to help them; and he is very comfortable with having staff put together the budget and tell the Board what it can get for that, and then the Board can respond and react to that.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she has had discussions with Sheriff Parker and he does know that there are going to be declining revenues; and she believes he is working to provide the best he can for that budget.

 

Mr. Whitten stated he wants to walk the Board through some of the information; he is not sure the Board has the updated program/service elimination forms, they have been revised; this is a cover on the departments that have been revised since the Board actually first received that; and what staff will do is make sure it gets the Board either a completed package, completed revised package, or to provide it with the revised pages.  He stated the intent of that was to drill down to the lowest level of service delivery so the Board would have in front of it all of the options with regards to the services and programs that are provided within the agencies; a number of these revisions were actually to go back and make sure that staff has done that; and staff will continue to look at that as it goes through budget development.  He reiterated he wanted to make the Board aware that staff has been continuously working on the revision of those pages.  He stated he is going to let Mr. Abbate walk the Board through the Employee Cost Cutting Survey Summary, and Response to the Industry Professionals Report.

 

Interim Assistant County Manager Frank Abbate stated staff had developed after the Strategic Workshop; one of the primary strategies that the Board indicated was important was making sure staff obtained input from employees relative to what could be done to minimize layoffs in the organizations; and one of the important aspects was making sure anonymous opportunity as well for employees to do that.  He stated every department had meetings with employees to obtain feedback and it was broken down into two specific areas; one was things within the department; from a global prospective, there were generalized Countywide meetings available; and staff attempted the best it could to follow a format that was recommended to them by President and CEO of Parrish Medical Center George Mikitarian who went through something, came in and spoke to a number of the County’s Leadership Team, Managers, and Senior Directors about how they approached it, and they were very gracious in walking staff through that.
 
Mr. Abbate stated after providing all of the cost-cutting suggestions they attempted to do a short, abbreviated survey that was sent out to the employees to obtain the generalized feedback from employees, not specific suggestions, but on very general themes that were potential big money items that they could then consider in terms of getting significant input from a cross-section of employees rather than individualized comments.  He stated that is exactly the approach staff attempted to do; what it did with that approach is it used a survey instrument on the Internet, which is an anonymous survey instrument; people were also afforded the opportunity to provide additional comments; Kimberly Prosser has been involved in aggregating and compiling the information, including responses to all of those suggestions on a Countywide basis from various departments; and that will be provided to the Board as well as made available on the Internet for all employees to see responses to the various suggestions that have come forward.  He advised the information will be augmented over the next few weeks as employees provide input; it was based on approximately 800 responses; several hundred comments have also been received independent of the meetings that were part of the survey instrument; and staff will provide all of that information as it is compiled to the Board and employees as well.  He stated the areas staff was concentrating on, there is some basic demographic information about whether an employee is full-time, part-time, and whether he or she participates in group health insurance program because there are specific questions that relate to health insurance on there; staff addressed the issue to minimize layoffs would people be willing to take furlough’s; the responses were pretty much across-the-board on that; it ranged from 18 percent to 22 percent in any of the categories; and there was a spread in that category between zero days and 13 days.  He stated those that responded, approximately 22 percent were willing to furlough up to 13 days; the category that received the most responses, which was at 24.4 percent was three to five days; and at zero days it was 18.8 percent.  He noted a second option was a salary reduction; people would prefer furlough’s to overall salary reductions; although in the area of the 2.5 percent, seven days would equate to 2.5 percent; and that is the area in the salary reduction that had the greatest response and that was at 24.4 percent.  He advised the next question on the survey dealt with if there were furlough’s and it came down to that and there are a couple of choices of how that would occur what would he or she prefer to see; three things offered were reducing the workweek to four days and nine and one-half hours a day and 38 hours a week; that equates as a five percent reduction in pay for individuals; the second choice was furlough being 13 days annually, which equates to about five percent, and taking five of those furlough days as a mandatory time around the Christmas holiday; and the third was eleven holidays as unpaid plus an additional two furlough days.  He stated the first was to go to a 38-hour workweek, the second was the furlough with the week between Christmas and New Years, and the third was for unpaid holidays.  He explained those were limited options but staff wanted to get a feel from people as to what their preferences would be in the event that the Board felt there was a need to go in that direction.  He stated staff addressed the issue of rather than reducing salaries would he or she prefer to see increases on the health insurance side, and the response was not that positive; if the Board decided to go the way of increasing insurance rates by how much someone’s salary is; and the Board may see a significant change in that response.  He stated the final area staff asked outside of additional cost cutting ideas was if the Board shows at a future date to do another voluntary separation incentive program would he or she participate; and the initial response was about 17 percent said yes. 

 

Mr. Whitten stated he would like to go back to number five because he may have heard him wrong on that.  He stated the first reference was the shortened workweek; and inquired if the second preference is the 11 unpaid or the 13 furloughed.  Mr. Abbate advised the 13 furloughed.

 

Mr. Abbate stated the next area that Mr. Whitten asked him to address was the Industry Budget Review Report; both Tom Rosenberg and he had the opportunity to meet recently with Bill Cunningham and Dan Evans from that particular committee; he thought it was a very productive meeting; they gave them input relative to the efforts staff has been undertaking in the Management Services Group to be responsive to that committee report; and he advised them that there was five departments within that group that had already prepared responses.  He distributed copies of the Report to the Board.  Mr. Abbate stated a variety of the departments are working concurrently with everything that is being done here to address the Report and those issues. 

 

Mr. Whitten stated they actually required that all departments that were addressed in that report to provide the Interim County Manager a response; and staff will work with those members of that committee to put in a format where those responses can be reviewed.    

 

Mr. Abbate stated the reports are from Human Resources, which had the Risk Management/Employee Benefits component, Facilities Department, Central Services/Purchasing, Fire Rescue, and the Budget Office; what the Board will see in those reports are the relevant comments and recommendations that were made by the Budget Review Committee; and then the responses from the Departments in terms of what actions have been taken, where they are today, or why actions have not been taken.

 

Mr. Whitten stated there are major themes that were addressed in the survey and that have been discussed from time-to-time at the Board workshops; and staff wanted to talk about one of those themes being the ability to take salary reductions and have that mitigate the shortfall. He stated he is going back to what the Board has seen before the potential tax roll reductions; those scenarios have been done based on maintaining the current millage or not rolling forward to recoup the same revenues the County has current; and staff has done those all the way from ten percent reduction on the tax roll to a 20 percent reduction on the tax roll.  He advised the Board can see at ten percent it is from $20.8 million all the way up to $41.6 million; and when he talks about the tax roll he is talking about the 26 mileages’ that are represented on the tax roll.  He noted the County will experience, as will everybody around the State, reductions in the major revenue sources those being FPL, State share, the Half Cents Sales Tax, and the Communications Services Tax; staff ran scenarios there ranging from the 7.5 percent reduction of $4.1 million all the way to the 20 percent reduction of $11 million; and obviously there is a low and high range if those reduction scenarios are put together.  He stated $24.9 million being the low range and $52.7 million being the high range.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if Mr. Whitten is saying the potential for the Board to reduce its budget can be between $24.9 million to $52.7; with Mr. Whitten responding based on a ten percent reduction and a 20 percent reduction; and stated the low range would be a combination of a ten percent and probably the $7.5 for the State shared, and then the 20 percent from property tax and the 20 percent from the State shared.

 

Mr. Whitten stated looking at those major themes, salary reductions, health insurance premium plan adjustments, or some combination of both.  He advised what staff has done is look at different scenarios; if all of the Board and Charter Office employees, everyone that receives a paycheck with Brevard County on it, if there is a salary reduction across the board for all Board and Charter Office employees of two percent it would equate to a $4 million reduction in the Board’s expenses; if it looks at a five percent salary reduction across the board it would be $10.1 million; and if it looks at a ten percent reduction across the board salary reduction it would be $20.3 million.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated that is looking at all of the Charter Offices; the Sheriff’s Department has union contracts, the Board does not control the Sheriff’s and Property Appraiser’s budget; and for this savings all of those agencies and contracts out there would need to be adjusted and agreed upon.  Mr. Whitten advised everyone has to play under that scenario. 

 

Mr. Whitten stated the State has a proposal for all State workers no reduction for those earning less than $26,400, a four percent reduction for those earning between $26,400 and $80,000, and a five percent reduction for those who earn over $80,000; staff applied that to the County employee group; this would reflect the same salary level as the page before, the $203 million annual salary.  He stated it is the all end scenario if the Board took the State proposal and applied it to staff, including the Charter Officer’s, it would be a reduction of the Board’s payroll expenses of $8.2 million.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the problem he has with that is that if a person is making $26,399 a person does not take a cut; if a person is making $26,401, he or she is now going to make $1,000 less than the person next to them; that is the difficulty of that mindset, not that the State ever comes up with things that does not make sense; but the Board would get hammered over those kinds of issues.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated it could be based on the Income Tax structure where each net dollar and then raise it incrementally in larger increments because right after $26,400 the Board can say one percent or something like that; and it can be calibrated just like the tax rate schedule.  Chairman Nelson stated what the danger is in this simplistic approach to it creates all of these edges that the Board then has to deal with.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated and the State’s intent, which was a false intent to protect lower income workers, in some cases the Board has guys that are collecting a pension that only wants a $26,000 job as he or she does not have to feed a family; and the guy next to him doing the same job has to feed a whole family.  Chairman Nelson stated it is interesting information but he does not know how viable it is.

 

Mr. Whitten stated staff stripped out, as Commissioner Fisher alluded to earlier, the Charter Offices and the employees that are covered by collected bargaining or labor agreements and applied the same across the board payroll reduction percentages; two percent under that scenario would be $1.3 million; if the Board looks at the earlier sheet it was previously $4 million; it can see the drop off by excluding the Charter Offices and collective bargaining and labor agreements; the five percent is $3.2 million whereas before it was $10.1 million; and then the ten percent reduction scenario is $6.5 million whereas before is was $20.3 million. 

 

Mr. Abbate stated he wanted to highlight for the Board a couple of points regarding the health insurance.  He advised based on the current plan that exists, the Board would need if there was an 11 percent increase approximately $5.5 million of additional revenues if the plan did not change in the future; based on what the Board told staff previously, the initial efforts of the County Manager and the County Manager’s Office would be that for additional plan costs staff is going to try to build the budget assuming a Board funding of an additional $2.2 million and $3.3 million being what additional accomplished through plan design changes and/or premium adjustments; subsequent to the Board meeting would be by changes to employee dependent retiree premium rates, prescription co-payments, high deductible plan (HRA) or combination of the above; and staff’s obligation and the direction the Board has given staff is that it needs to actively explore all of these opportunities.  He stated staff has met with the Employee Benefits Insurance Advisory Committee, they listened very carefully when the Board said to try to develop something that would be a model that would provide the maximum flexibility; staff has done that so they can look at wherever the Board wants to go relative to health insurance; and staff has that model and it has been shared with all members of the Employee Benefits Insurance Advisory Committee.  He stated staff is trying to put the Board in a position to provide the maximum flexibility relative to health insurance when it has to make those very difficult decisions as to salary reductions, furloughs, health insurance, other program cost cuts or eliminations, and so he thinks staff will be prepared as it moves forward; he is hopeful to come back to the Board sometime in May as staff is working very diligently with all of the hospital systems; the City of Palm Bay was visited to look at its health clinics; the Brevard Physician’s Network was met with; each one of the hospital systems that a potential of employee health clinics is a way to offset potential high deductible plan options were met with; the School Board was met with; and dialogue was held with the City of Titusville and City of Melbourne.  He stated the Board gave direction to try to do partnerships; staff has been aggressive with that; it has a meeting with the Brevard Community College next week to gage its interest; and staff is trying to look at all of the potential possibilities that are out there and hope to be able to give the Board some information there to see if there is any interest and if it is an opportunity to provide effective health care in a more effective manner.  He noted staff is committed to doing everything it can to bring the Board that as an option to see if it wants to pursue it further.

 

Mr. Whitten stated staff gave the Board the sort of high and low ranges with regards to potential revenue loss; by looking at the top row, which addresses that, the seven percent, ten percent, and all the way up to the 20 percent, $24.9 million to $52.7 million; the 4.5 percent employer increase in health, the $2.2 million, if the Board reduces out or take a salary reduction across the board for all Board and Charter Offices employees it would reduce those figures by $10.1 million; and the Board can see its remaining projected shortfall would be $17 million on the low end and $44.8 million on the high
end.  He advised if the Board drills down and only apply the salary reduction to Board employees and non-union employees on the low end it would reduce out from the Board’s shortfall $3.2 million the same figures across the board; looking under that scenario again this is Charter Offices and union personnel not included; and the Board can see its remaining shortfall under that scenario on a low end is $23.9 million and on the high end $51.7 million.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated one of the options being looked at was instead of an actual monetary decrease in salaries the suggestions were different like the unpaid holidays or the furloughs; and inquired if the furlough could be enacted with the Constitutional Offices.  Mr. Whitten advised he likes to call furloughs dressed up salary reductions; when talking about the Charter Offices, the Board’s acceptance of their budget; and if the Board would suggest that to them, it would be in essence saying it was reducing their funding by that amount of money.  He advised the Charter Offices can challenge the Board on that; then again, the appeal process has been talked about for the Charter Officers; that is the scenario the Board would be up under; and the Charter Officers would have to willingly accept that or they could appeal that to the appropriate State Office.   

 

Commissioner Fisher stated that some offices will say they have already done furloughs with their office; and Mr. Ellis would probably say he has already done some furloughs and salary reductions.  Chairman Nelson stated in the Clerk’s Office the Board just funds a very small piece of that office; and inquired why he would furlough someone who was fully-funded.  He stated in other words the Board funds them and they are funded for this full year, so it is not a revenue issue for the piece that the Board funds; it is a revenue issue for the fees and charges that they have; he is not sure why Mr. Ellis would furlough that part of his staff; and if he furloughs someone he should send the money to the Board since it is a service the Board pays for.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired when is it anticipated when that workshop will be scheduled; with Mr. Whitten responding May 21^st; and stated he is assuming a letter will be drafted from himself of the Chairman.  Commissioner Anderson stated he finds it hard to believe that they do not understand the dilemma the Board is in; they can appeal it; but then they also have to face the public opinion with that appeal. 

 

Chairman Nelson stated what the Board is saying to them is that the Board believes they can take a percentage cut; and that Constitutional Officer has the option to figure out how to manage that whatever the mechanisms may be.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated there are things the Board can control and other things that it cannot; $3 million is really not that much; the Board does not have that much control; salary reductions do not solve the problem.  He noted the thing the Board does not know yet is if the Board makes a 15 percent reduction that there is a level of service that will be dropped because of that; taxpayers expect a certain level of service; the Board is going to have to make a decision if it is willing to drop to that level of service or does it want to give the citizens more. 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated Mr. Abbate said the County had an increased participation with the voluntary separation plan; and inquired if it is in part due to people being advised that he or she was on the unofficial termination list and to hurry up take the package before he or she was fired on April 1^st; stated she received quite a few telephone calls from people who were told he or she was on the unofficial termination list and to hurry up and grab up the package because they would not eligible after April 1st.  Mr. Abbate advised he would not doubt that many people who are in that group; it is a mixed bag; but it has significantly increased even excluding Permitting and Enforcement and Planning and Zoning staff.  Commissioner Infantini inquired how many other unofficial lists staff has published as far as a person is going to be terminated so hurry up and jump.  Mr. Whitten advised if there is real and current possibility that a person is going to be subject to layoffs, the human thing to do is to advise them of their options; he does not think anyone was told to take the package or be fired; what a person may tell people and what they hear may be two different things; the Board is going to have to address the shortfall; and the message from staff was there is a $1.2 million shortfall and baring something miraculous the Board is going to have to get at that shortfall by reducing its expenses, which the biggest expense is its staff.  He noted staff deserves a little bit of credit in advising these people of their options because he has worked very hard to find them slots in other departments; employees were advised that there was a potential for everyone from the top of that organization to the bottom of the organization to be on a layoff list; and the voluntarily separation program was picking up and perhaps he or she needed to look at all of their options.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she gets a little concerned because the Board is talking about taking an option of possibly taking a furlough and she did not see that the option was necessarily offered to Permitting and Enforcement and Planning and Zoning; she understands Mr. Whitten has a job to do and he is doing it very well; but she sometimes questions the path; and she was looking at the whole job elimination strategy as that was one of the things she requested to see what jobs were set to be terminated and what positions were left.  She stated one of her other concerns was when directors are terminated for cause or because the position is going to be eliminated, the directors seem to come out doing pretty well and the people on the bottom do not come out so well; if staff can find an engineering job who was a director but cannot find a person a $25,000 a year job who was Code Enforcement for instance. 

 

Mr. Whitten stated in Code Enforcement and Permitting there were four people placed, non-directors and non-supervisors; what allows him to sleep at night is knowing that they have actually given them the opportunity to take advantage of those openings there; the placement of folks has to be based on need, need within the other departments; four actually have not been placed because he or she has to go through the interview process; and he has limited most of the hiring to internals.  He stated it is difficult to do that because there are parks that are opening up; some of the safety sensitive positions, people just are not qualified to do those; he has been fair; he has said from the beginning people are going to be included in the process; the survey was a population of the major themes out there; furloughs will not get the Board to the significant numbers; and the Board will still experience some salary reductions.  He stated they are being fair to people; people are not being picked by faces or by who they are, it is based on the need of the organization; staff does have that response with regards of how they pick the positions in Permitting and Enforcement; but remember there are also positions in Planning and Zoning that are being reduced and that was two issues; and there was a need to balance that budget real time in Permitting and Enforcement and construct an organization going forward that would allow the County to meet those minimum level services that the Board is going to require and that is necessary to provide to the public.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if there is a danger in extending the voluntary layoff program since the timeline has been changed on the budget workshops.  Mr. Abbate advised one thing that was not done when the program was initiated it was not extended to part-time employees, and so they currently do not have that option because it was only made available to full-time employees; stated he does not know if the Board has an interest in doing that; but there are areas, Parks and Recreation and Libraries being the two predominant ones, that there are many, many part-time employees; and group health insurance does not come into play there, but if that was offered there may be a number of people who may chose that option voluntarily because it gets to the point of an official layoff notice.  He stated he does not think there are dangers to extending the voluntary separation program beyond May 1^st; it is a voluntary incentive separation program, which means a person voluntarily does it before formal layoff decisions are made; if it is extended indefinitely it is no longer a voluntary separation incentive program it is a severance package being offered; and the only timing issue when decisions are made and that is why the issue Commissioner Infantini made is a dilemma because there is a 30-day window period for people to voluntarily go in it; but when a department goes in an says it is a person’s formal notice, technically at that point it is not a voluntary separation. 

 

Commissioner Fisher stated from an organizational standpoint whether a person takes a voluntary layoff and gets the benefit because he or she saw it coming or whether someone 30 days later; the decision was made that that position is going to be terminated; and he or she did not have the foresight to do that, it is costing the same amount of money either way.  Mr. Abbate advised if a person takes the voluntary incentive program and the person leaves, the County pays those individuals, when the decision is made later on a person does not get the severance package.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if the severance package could be given to an employee whose position was terminated; with Mr. Abbate responding the cost would be the additional weeks paid for every two years of service.  Mr. Whitten stated the Board would be ultimately paying more; and the cost difference is if a person is a layoff candidate he or she does not get the one week of pay for every two years of service.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if he has ten years of service with the County how much pay would he receive; with Mr. Abbate responding five weeks of pay.  He inquired if he has ten years and 30 days with the County and he did not accept the voluntary layoff how much it would cost him.  Chairman Nelson advised the difference is the voluntary makes it a managed reduction, but once it is severance it will cost more.  Commissioner Fisher stated he does understand how it would cost the County more money.  Mr. Abbate stated it will cost the additional five weeks of pay; if a person is laid of June 1^st under the way it exists now, that person would be gone and would get whatever accrued annual and or sick leave and that would be it; if the Board extended the voluntary separation to anyone then the amount of additional weeks pay that a person would get; and that would be an additional cost that the Board would not otherwise have on June 1^st if the person is let go.  

 

Mr. Whitten explained the person would be paid for the five weeks and then they would be paid for the amount of time that he or she has been with the County; the 30 days he or she is on the payroll; but when the program ends the cost associated with folks entering that program go away; and if the Board allows them to step in after the ending of the program he or she would be paid, for example, that five weeks of pay that was not anticipated. 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated the Board’s intent was to say hey we do not know what will occur in the future a person needs to look at his or her options and where they stand in the organization and make an educated guess if they want to go or not.  He stated he could usually tell with any organization he ever worked for his level of danger was.

 

Mr. Whitten stated by looking at the salary and benefits that would no longer be on the books it is approximately $1.5 million; and there is a lot more activity than last year.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the Board understands what all of the potentials are; the reality is as the budget is put together it will get a better feel for what works; he would not want to see the Board put a constraint on some of the departments at this point in time because it will kill innovation by a decision along those lines; there may be different solutions in different departments based on the requirements of those departments; and if the Board selects a particular way to go it may take that flexibility off of the table.  He inquired why a person would not want to be in a union given the fact that if they are pulled out of the mix; but if the Board starts separating them out that way then suddenly those circumstances change.  He advised the Board needs to consider that it treat everyone the same because otherwise it is setting itself up for a much difference circumstance.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the Board knows that a level of service is going to drop to a certain level, will it set on it will have to live with those revenue dollars it has coming to it.  Commissioner Anderson advised by looking at the amount of revenue increase over the last ten years he would not support right now a revenue increase to the citizens
as he or she is having a hard time as it is.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what he means by revenue increase; with Commissioner Anderson responding he will not support a millage increase.  Commissioner Infantini stated she does not want to raise taxes; taxpayers today are losing their homes; and the last thing she wants to do is subsidize her health insurance at the risk of taxpayers losing their home over it.  Commissioner Bolin advised she concurred.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he is keeping an open mind because there may be an unacceptable choice that comes before the Board; the one that sticks out in his mind is the MSTU Deputies; inquired if the Board is expecting the Sheriff to layoff deputies; and that may be an unacceptable choice.

 

Commissioner Anderson advised that is Sheriff Parker’s choice whether he wants to have taxes raised as an elected official or not.  Commissioner Bolin stated the Board just did give the Sheriff the opportunity to go for this grant for 40 deputies; and that will make some difference.  Chairman Nelson stated he recalls there were some strings attached to that, which is he cannot lay off 40 and hire 40 with Federal dollars.  He stated if the Board is closing all of the libraries in the south that may be acceptable; when the budget comes back the Board is going to be starting out with what they can do with the revenue that they are expecting; and the Board may not know it was going to be like that and that is when it needs to get into the discussions on a case-by-case basis.  Commissioner Anderson stated he thinks the Board can find a way to effectively run the Government on the revenues it is going to receive.  Chairman Nelson stated his point of reference is that when he hears that the rise in the last ten years, he has been here for two years and it has gone in the opposite direction.  Commissioner Anderson stated maybe in the last two years, but if people look at to the leading up before Chairman Nelson and Commissioner Bolin got elected it cannot be denied that the revenues went up.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated some of the constituents he has talked to, and no one wants to pay more taxes, but there has been some discussion where he has some groups where he asked if the taxpayer can pay the same amount of revenue today to keep the levels of service at the same level would he or she be fine with that; and that might be something each Commissioner may want to talk with his or her constituents.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated the homesteaded homeowner is different than the small business owner; that is where he is concerned; there was just an issue in Palm Bay with Palm Bay Road, some of the businesses are suffering due to the construction; and some of the small restaurants lost $40,000.

 

Chairman Nelson stated one of the things the Board is going to see is some of that property value decline occurred in some of those areas; and that will be the balancing act the Board will be looking at.  He stated this can be beat to death, but until the Board actually has the numbers in front of it that is when the difficult work begins for it.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated it is her understanding right now that the Commissioners are going to sit back and wait for staff to establish the budget; the Board is going to leave staff alone to do its thing and present without any of the Board Members bothering staff so it can get its work done; and then staff will present to the Board a budget that it will then look at.

 

Mr. Whitten advised he will give the Board a balanced budget proposal as required by the Charters required by Florida Statutes; he knows what the Board’s strategic issues are; he heard the Board say again regarding the mileages’; he knows what he has to do; and now staff has to analyze all of the data, turn the data into information, and utilize that.  He stated the Board will be back on the 21^st; a letter will be crafted to invite the Charter Officers, including the Courts as well; and talk about outside agency funding, discretionary services and programs, and the methodology for service reductions.  He stated he will use Parks and Recreation as an example; in the south the County has projects that are either in the ground or could potentially be in the ground; there are also some reserve dollars there; and he will need to know whether or not the Board is going to want to utilize those reserve dollars for reoccurring expenses for as long as those dollars will float those expenses.  He advised in the South Area Referendum the Board has operating reserves that could potentially bridge the gap between the economic funk the County is in now and when the economy comes back around; but he needs the Board to say that that is an acceptable way to address the operations of those projects.  He stated the Board has said in previous workshops that he should be looking at streamlining the organization and reducing duplications of services; staff will have some recommendations from the Citizens Budget Review Committee (CBRC); and staff will look at the employees suggestions to the extend that they are practical, feasible, or viable and incorporate those.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she does not want the work to stop on her boat ramp; and since the County is now down to two Assistant County Managers, she would encourage Mr. Whitten to make sure there are very strong directors so that the directors are in a position to report to just two Assistant County Managers and leave the hiring freeze on rather than replacing that position because that would be $123,000 not including benefits.  Commissioner Anderson stated that would offset the issue he has with the Animal Services Director also, the cost would offset it.  Mr. Whitten stated as long he is one of the two.

 

Mr. Abbate stated Tuesday staff is going to have before the Board the selection for the executive search firm that will be dialogue at Tuesday’s Board meeting.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated his suggestion is to let the new County Manager determine what is needed.

Motion by Commissioner Infantini, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to authorize the use of the County Seal on top of the covenants that will be presented at the opening ceremony of the Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion on April 25. 2009.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated he and Commissioner Infantini are going to be present at the ceremony; and requested staff to advertise that more than one Commissioner will be at a signing function on Saturday morning and the closing ceremony on Sunday.

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Infantini, to appoint Mary Louise E. Young to serve on the Internal Audit Committee, with a term expiring December 31, 2011.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to appoint Henry Minneboo, Jr. to the Citizen Budget Review Committee, with term expiring December 31, 2009.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.    

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve confirmation of appointment of Gina Lindhorst to the North Merritt Island Dependent Special District Advisory Board.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously. 

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to cancel the May 7, 2009 Budget Workshop and to change the May 26, 2009 Budget Workshop to the Economic Summit Workshop.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 12:28 p.m.

 

 

 

 

ATTEST:                                                         _________________________________

                                                                        CHUCK NELSON, CHAIRMAN

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                                                        BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

___________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK     

 

           (S E A L)