November 17, 2003

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on November 17, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida. Present were: Chairperson Jackie Colon, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Ron Pritchard, Nancy Higgs, and Susan Carlson, County Manager Tom Jenkins, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

PRESENTATION OF PLAQUE, RE: ROYAL CARIBBEAN, MARINER OF THE SEAS

Commissioner Pritchard presented a plaque to Brevard County and County Manager Tom Jenkins; and stated the County did a plaque exchange with the Royal Caribbean, Mariner of the Seas, commemorating the inaugural call of the Mariner.

REPORT, RE: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAMS WINNINGS

Commissioner Pritchard stated he and County Manager Tom Jenkins went to junior high school together in Fort Lauderdale; Mr. Jenkins later went to Fort Lauderdale High School and he went to Stranahan High School; and last Friday night, Fort Lauderdale played Merritt Island High School and Merritt Island won 43-7. He noted the week before, Stranahan High School played Fort Lauderdale and Stranahan won 48-27.

REPORT, RE: SOUTH BREVARD ADOPTION CENTER

Chairperson Colon stated this weekend at South Brevard Adoption Center was a lockup to raise funds for the spay and neuter mobile unit; she was locked up; and she is disappointed the Commissioners did not even give her $1.00 to get her out.

DISCUSSION, RE: CONSENT TO MORTGAGE OR LEASEHOLD INTEREST FOR TRINITY
TOWERS SOUTH, INC.

Assistant County Manager Don Lusk stated the item is at the request of Trinity Towers South, Inc.; the County owns the land the building sits on; the Agency is undergoing a re-mortgage and needs approval of the Consent to Mortgage or Leasehold Interest in order to move ahead; and the item needs to be expedited as Jim White, representing Trinity Towers South, Inc. has a closing in Jacksonville on November 18, 2003.

Assistant County Attorney Eden Bentley stated the Board has a copy of the closing costs; the Agency is refinancing in the amount of $3,456,000; its existing mortgage was for $3,256,000; and there is $200,000 in closing costs, which is folded into the refinance.

Commissioner Pritchard stated the only concern he has is that it always remains for low-income elderly housing.

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to execute Consent to Mortgage or Leasehold Interest for Trinity Towers South, Inc. to close on a refinanced mortgage with Project Funding Corporation. Motion carried and ordered unanimously. (See page for Consent to Mortgage or Leasehold Interest.)

Jim White, representing Trinity Towers South, Inc., stated the Agency has provided low income housing to extremely low income elderly persons for 35 years; it saw an opportunity to continue the service; it has Use Agreements in effect that it will continue to provide housing for the low income elderly for years in the future; and expressed appreciation to the Board for approval of the item.

DISCUSSION, RE: BUDGET PROCESS FOR FY 04-05

Commissioner Pritchard stated as part of the budget process it is obvious the Board needs as much input as possible; Steve Burdett is the County Finance Director; his input would be very valuable in directing the entire budget process; and he wants Mr. Burdett to participate. He noted Jack Callinan is his appointee to the Citizens Budget Review Committee (CBRC); Bob Klaus is also another member of the Committee; and he would like them to have full access to the discussion and development of the budget process. He noted the County Manager says in his transmittal letter of November 4, 2003, “Staff further believes the role of the CBRC should be evaluated.”

Commissioner Higgs inquired is the Board going to talk about what it came to talk about or is it going to go off on a tangent; stated it has an agenda it needs to follow; and if Commissioner Pritchard wants to talk about the CBRC then it is part of the agenda and people can be brought up at that time. Commissioner Pritchard noted this is not a tangent.

Chairperson Colon stated she started the discussion as she wanted to know what some of the people were doing sitting at the table; the individuals can sit with the rest of the audience; in the future the Commissioners could invite their appointees if the Board desires; and they should be part of the process. She noted today is to decide what kind of direction the Board would like to take.

Commissioner Pritchard stated he understands that; the enabling Legislation says, “The Committee is organized to assist in the budget review process and make recommendations to the Board prior to budget workshops. The CBRC shall attend with the Board of County Commissioners the budget workshops and may attend briefings.” He noted there is another item Mr. Jenkins brings up about having more citizen participation; these are the people the Board selected to represent the citizenry by being part of the budget review process; they need to be part of such process and not simply an addendum; and they need to be directly involved. He stated the same goes for Mr. Burdett, who is the County Finance Director; they all need to be part of the budget process; the County needs to change the way it has been doing this, which is following a spiral that is taking it further into the hole; and it needs to stop it. He noted one of the best ways to stop it is to bring in people who have financial management experience; Mr. Callinan had 30 plus years of operating a computer-oriented business and has a very acute awareness of what fiscal responsibility and financial management are, including goal setting, objectives, and strategic planning; and Messrs. Callinan, Klaus, and Rodriguez, Dale Young, and Kim Zarillo are good representatives of the public and should be directly involved.

Chairperson Colon stated the Board needs to follow today’s agenda; each Commissioner is welcome to ask questions and bring those individuals forward to elaborate on one particular issue; she plans on doing it in the future; and the Board needs to decide the protocol.

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, to direct staff to provide the enabling Ordinance that created the Citizens Budget Review Committee; and provide a report to the Board on the Sunshine Law, as requested by a citizen.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Board could have a full discussion on whether or not the Committee is needed; she can appreciate having it in the audience and listening; based on one of the memorandums Mr. Jenkins brought up back to 1996, the Committee has not provided anything of any weight that would help the Board in its processes in terms of the budget; and if the County uses the Committee, it needs to redirect or figure out how it is going to use it and how it is going to be incorporated into the process to make the best use of its citizen input. She noted she would like the report concerning the Sunshine Law done soon as it has been sitting out there for a long time; the County Attorney has had it and is working on it; and the report could be brought back along with the enabling Ordinance and other information as a discussion item to see if the Board can get its arms around what the Committee’s purpose is, the intent of using it, and what the County expects as an outcome. Chairperson Colon noted the issue would come back at a regular Board meeting prior to the next budget workshop to give direction on how it would like to utilize the Committee.

Commissioner Pritchard stated he will second Commissioner Carlson’s motion. Chairperson Colon called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Commissioner Pritchard stated for three years he was on the CBRC; it was a feel-good presentation whenever staff would come in and answer Committee questions; frequently additional information was not forthcoming; and sometimes with one person, who is no longer here, the answers were not relevant. He noted the Committee itself was treated in an off-handed way; he does not believe it was the intent when the CBRC was created and is not the way it should be utilized; the Committee is made up of people he would consider experts in the field; and the information they request should be provided forthwith and the comments they make should be regarded highly by the Board.

STATUS REPORT, RE: FY 02-03 STRATEGIC PLAN

County Manager Tom Jenkins stated approximately 18 months ago the Board did an 18-month Strategic Plan; one of things staff was asked to do was to provide a status report of the Plan, which has now expired; and such report is in the Board’s package.

Commissioner Pritchard stated Mr. Jenkins’ memorandum dated November 4, 2003 states, “This past budget cycle, the Board did its goal setting through an 18-month Strategic Plan. In addition, the Board and staff identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and priorities for each department office and the organization as a whole”; he does not have a copy of the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities; and the CBRC needs the information available.

Commissioner Carlson inquired is the November 4, 2003 memorandum on the budget process referred to in the overall Strategic Plan. Mr. Jenkins responded the process is a different topic; and the first item was simply the Plan itself where the goals were. Commissioner Carlson stated Mr. Jenkins mentioned the 18-month Strategic Plan and produced another memorandum that gave an update, along with other information. Mr. Jenkins noted the Plan and status report were provided to the Board. Commissioner Carlson stated the Board basically accepted the Brevard Tomorrow methodology; the process has continued with the first year action plan; the only place it was listed was under the departmental update of Agriculture and Extension Services, which talks about providing leadership to the Land Use Work Group of Brevard Tomorrow, but nowhere else does it touch on it, which surprised her; and there were several places where it could have been touched on because of the work already done and being done. She requested a report as to how the County has looked at Brevard Tomorrow in terms of integration into the current strategic report. She stated Page 3 of the November 4, 2003 report includes staff review of the budget process; it says, “Collectively, we offer some suggestions if the Board is interested in making changes to the current process. The Commission may want to explore getting broad-based citizen input prior to the goal setting process”; the Board did that over the last two and one half years with Brevard Tomorrow; and there was considerable input from the citizenry. She noted it is up to the County to follow what it wants; it is a community-based plan, which is an overlay on the Strategic Plan; it is what the Board set as priorities and what the County can afford; and expressed concern that none of it was actually incorporated in any of the recommendations and very little was put into the overall strategic update. Commissioner Carlson stated a lot of things look good in terms of the progress made; there are lots of inconsistencies in how progress is measured; and some are measured and some are not.

Commissioner Pritchard stated he does not consider Brevard Tomorrow’s input to be the final guideline as to how the County should do something; whatever process it is using and whatever determination it has come up with is certainly something worthy of considering; but he does not take it blankly and accept what it gives as the mandate. Commissioner Carlson stated the point she was making is the County received considerable citizen input; many of the people in the room have been partial to the process; there are people in County government who are helping to guide part of the process, including land use, growth, and developing smart growth principles, etc.; and she does not want to discount any of that. She noted she has additional input; Commissioner Pritchard put together the way he sees the budget process; she did the same thing, only on a higher level; and Commissioner Pritchard was dealing with the process of budgeting and she was dealing with the goal setting side of things. She stated both issues will have to be compared as the Board gets further along. Commissioner Pritchard stated he does not see anything planned about the Strategic Plan; he does not see any measurable goals or objectives; he sees a goal, such as providing for the health, safety, education, and social needs of the community; and it is a lofty goal broken out into an alleged Strategic Plan. He noted he does not see any strategy; he sees a business plan which does not give him any business plan; and the funding plan says unfunded; so he does not see where this is a plan at all. He stated it starts off with a lofty goal and something that could be attained, but after that, there is nothing measurable as there is no objective or real status on how things are going to be done, and no report other than a very broad generalization of a funding plan. He noted the way the Plan is laid out and the previous plans provide no way to measure whether or not the goal has been attained or whether the County is moving through the goal process effectively, let alone efficiently; he sent Mr. Jenkins three memos and copied the Board members; one memorandum deals with the Strategic Plan and includes Office of Natural Resources Management; and there is no relationship between the system goal and department goal. He stated the memorandum says, “. . . to insure Brevard’s quality of life continues into the future by reducing the loss of critical habitat, listed species, and native plant communities . . .”; but nowhere does it say how it is going to be accomplished; he does not see anywhere where the detailed tasks are for such Office; and it is Countywide and the same foundation that has been set up. He inquired where are specific requirements that drive the organization; stated they all seem to be self imposed; what he finds in looking through the Strategic Plan as it is laid out is it is not a Strategic Plan; and in some of the areas it is not visioning but more like hallucinating as it is not going to happen. He noted he wonders why the County has spent so much time spinning its wheels coming up with all these great flow charts, but there is nothing measurable at the end of the flow chart; one of them said the goal had been completed because the Commission decided not to do it; that is not completing a goal and is not doing a goal; and there is a difference. Commissioner Pritchard stated trying to measure how effective the County has been doing something by not doing it, is not giving it 100% batting average, but a zero; and the information needs to be reflected more appropriately. He noted the County has been having the tail wag the dog; it cannot come up with the altruistic goal of doing something and then expect to hire more people and spend more money in order to achieve whatever the goal may be; the County should spend this year dealing with the five broad general goals it has and working some way to see if they will fit into the amount of money that is available, including prioritizing what the departments are doing and looking to see if there are things the County should not be doing or doing better; and it should not be creating any more “creative revenue streams” that are encumbering small groups of people, and learn to live within its budget. He stated the County needs to have a vision as to where Brevard is going; it cannot afford to continue the visioning process the way it has been doing it; the visioning process is off track; he does not have any real basis that it can lead the County to a point where it feels it has accomplished something; and there are no steps along the away to show it is making any progress. Commissioner Pritchard recommended status quo on the goals and maybe make some other changes; he has some recommendations; and perhaps the County can incorporate them into the overall process as it works on developing the budget.

Chairperson Colon stated the purpose of the workshop is to be clear on the direction the Board wants to go for the next year; during its meetings it does not have time for each Commissioner to provide all the inputs; it is more comfortable having the workshops and the opportunity to understand better; and during the budget process, one of the things she personally saw was usually every department came before the Board and gave a presentation. She noted it was not done the last time; the presentations may have helped, but there was no money; the County told the departments there was no money and not to come before the Board as it was not going to allocate “x” amount of dollars; and even though there may not be those dollars, the presentations may be needed so the Board can know if it does not allocate certain dollars, what effect it is going to have on the departments. She stated the presentations should be done next year; starting the budget process early gives the Board a better understanding of the issues; the Commissioners and citizens can see the implications of trimming the fat and how it is going to affect the departments and level of services; and she wants to hear from the Board on the priorities. She inquired is the County going to continue the path of last minute pressures that come before the Board; stated she would like to see a breakdown from the Budget Office staff of what the grants mean for the Sheriff’s Office and County departments, including when the grants expire, how much it is going to cost the County, and where is the money going to come from; and those types of discussions are healthy.

Commissioner Scarborough stated he likes the multiple year as it is very important; a lot of the Board’s actions in one calendar year can have fiscal impact in a subsequent year; Commissioner Pritchard is asking the Board to be more responsible in getting involved in the process earlier; and Commissioner Carlson has done a lot with strategic planning. He stated it becomes extremely difficult when there are so many different functions to do measures; Commissioner Higgs has championed having comparables and how the County is moving as opposed to other areas; one of the things that needs to be part of the discussion is going back to the measures; and it is not just reducing the budget. He noted if the Board reduces the budget and gives the people a much poorer product in the process, it has done them a disservice; it is taking significant measures and strategic goals and saying these are the things the community has identified as measures that need to be moved forward, and these things have been attained with adequate levels; and it also wants to move forward in an intelligent process and bring several different dialogues to the table simultaneously.

Chairperson Colon inquired is there something with the process that Commissioner Higgs would like to see the Board apply that she feels may be lacking, and what are some of the things she would like to see. Commissioner Higgs responded the benchmark measures the Board established some years ago are important; they measure the quality of the community and people need to understand where the County is with them and where it is going; she thought the measures were good and helped the Board understand where the community was going; and they tied into the Strategic Plan. She stated the reminder of where the County is with the measures it started back in 1995 or 1996 should be reviewed; she has no problem starting the budget process earlier; it all boils down to when three Commissioners are ready to move; and no matter how early or late the process starts, the Board needs to know certain things in regard to revenue. She noted refreshing everyone’s memories about what the departments are doing and what they want to do is not a bad thing to do; as the Board establishes goals for the coming year there are some specific things it needs to work on in terms of establishing priorities; it has to deal with the issue of the jail if it is going to talk specific goals and objectives; and it needs to complete those things it began to discuss some time ago when it sent staff back for a report or began an ordinance. Commissioner Higgs stated the Board needs to reflect on its responsibilities as Commissioners and what the boundaries are, including how it works as a body and as individuals; establish guidelines for what they do; as a group, the Board needs to be ready to deal with things in an expeditious manner; and it is good about letting the public speak, taking the input, and getting more input. Commissioner Higgs noted she wishes the Board could be more concise; sometimes it becomes a difficult thing for the public to continuously come back and talk to the Board about things; it is not productive; and she is looking forward to the year ahead.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Board received a booklet with the community strategic measures; there is a lot of good data; there could be interesting discussion on some of the data; and the memo with the booklet says, “Attached for your review is a draft of the community strategic measures that have been compiled and distributed to the Commissioners. It is hoped that this document can be used as a resource and provided to Brevard Tomorrow as the implementation team seeks to identify measures as a long-term success”; and inquired did it get sent to Leadership Brevard; with Leigh Holt, Strategic and Human Services Planning, responding affirmatively. Commissioner Carlson stated it is a great document for the Board to review as it is thinking about what is quality in the community; she feels similarly in terms of the jail situation and the sales tax; there are a couple of tools the County could develop to help it assess the quality of County government and its relationship with the citizens; and the knee-jerk analysis of the infrastructure referendum is that the people do not trust government. She noted the message the people sent to the County is very clear; the most common complaints were what was done with the lottery; it happened in the mid-1980’s; and even though local government had nothing to do with that, the Legislators did. She stated a lot of people were thinking it was the panacea that was going to help the education system; obviously it went away; other reasons for not voting on the tax were as simple as not putting up a light at an intersection and the follow through was not there; and a tool she is familiar with to help with the credibility side of the equation is the Comparative Performance Measurement Report and Sterling process. She noted such Report is done by the International City/County Management Association (ICCMA); the Association reports on city and county governments’ performance in more than a dozen areas to see how they are doing; the report analyzes how well they are performing their job and helps identify government practices that improve performance; and the cost is modest. Commissioner Carlson stated the City of Jacksonville uses the report; the Gap Report came out from Tallahassee that talked a lot about looking at performance and things of that nature with county government; the City has actually gone through the Sterling Award process; and the County took it one step and did departmental strategies last year, which was included in the strategic update. She noted the second tool is one she found in Orange County; it had a local survey done; every two years it assessed citizen priorities with citizens’ view on how government performance and community conditions are; and she does not know what the cost is or if the Board thinks it is worthwhile. She stated the County has Brevard Tomorrow, the Strategic Plan, and its own ideas about its priorities; it needs to do an assessment from the citizens to see what they are thinking, especially after the sales tax, and how it can use that to better perform up to the level they think it should be performing; and requested staff look into those tools.

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to direct the County Manager to provide a report on the costs for the Sterling Award process, Comparative

Performance Measurable Report, and local survey to the Board as possible tools for the County to use.

Commissioner Higgs stated she wants to see the Sterling process and gap measures; and she is not interested in doing a survey.

Mr. Jenkins stated the first part was ICCMA and not the Sterling process. Commissioner Carlson advised it is part of the Sterling process. Mr. Jenkins stated he understands but it is not the Sterling process. Commissioner Carlson stated it is a tool that is used. Mr. Jenkins noted he wanted to make it clear that Commissioner Carlson was talking about the ICCMA measurement portion of it.

Commissioner Scarborough stated it would be interesting to see what staff could do if the price is reasonable; and inquired why would it hurt the County to find out where people are interested in one thing or another. Commissioner Higgs responded she does not mind knowing what it would cost to do a survey; but she is not ready to do a survey. Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board could find out the cost and parameters for discussion purposes. Commissioner Higgs noted she does not mind getting the information, but she does not believe it is where she wants to go. Commissioner Scarborough stated some of the information was gathered by Orange County; it surveyed all the surrounding counties, which is great; it has an ability to understand what Brevard County is in comparison to other counties; and those reports need to be obtained so it is not paying to redo something that has already been prepared for the County. Commissioner Carlson noted the other piece in the conversation with Orange County might be how it has used the tools to its benefit; she is not interested in making additional work; she would like to get a good present-day picture of how the citizenry is thinking and what they would like to see the Board do; and through the Brevard Tomorrow process, she knows what people want based on all the leadership that was part of the process. She stated the leaders in the process with Brevard Tomorrow represent a lot of the citizens the County talks about, even though there are some who are suspicious of the whole process for whatever reason.

Chairperson Colon stated she does not believe it takes a rocket scientist to see what the community is talking about in regard to trust and accountability; she does not need to spend taxpayers’ money to come back and figure out why they did not vote for the sales tax; when she has town meetings, one of the things people talk about is accountability and trust; and there are corporations, such as hospitals and those types of institutions, that will hire someone from the outside who comes in and does auditing. She noted it is not the kind of auditing the County does internally; if it had someone from the outside come in to see where it could possibly trim 20%, he or she may say there is probably 5% or maybe 20% that might be able to be trimmed; they will go into each department and analyze them completely; and then again they may say there is no waste and the County has already cut it right to the bone. She stated these are the kinds of dollars she would not mind spending on someone from the outside to do that kind of auditing to give the Board a reflection if it wastes time in its workshops in saying it needs to trim the fat; for her and the citizens to have the comfort level, the County needs to bring in outside help to analyze each department; there is some cushion throughout the departments; and as a Commissioner, she does not have a background in finance, so she does not have a clue where to start and see where these things are. Chairperson Colon stated if the Board hires an outside firm to come in, it will be able to analyze things; it does not only do it for governments, but all kinds of corporations; it will give the County a measure of where it is; she would hate to say to the departments they need to cut 20%; and she is not prepared to do that.

Chairperson Colon called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered; Commissioner Pritchard voted nay.

Commissioner Pritchard stated the County does not need to spin its wheels on any self-serving report it is going to get from ICCMA or whomever; it is not a knee-jerk reaction; the citizens made it very clear what they think about how the government is running, as well as the School Board; and if Orange County used the report to go ahead with 20/20, it was not in the loop and was rejected too at 56%. Commissioner Pritchard stated Commissioner Carlson keeps talking about Brevard Tomorrow like it is the second coming of Christ; he has been involved with Brevard Tomorrow and it is CEO’s and upper management; if Commissioner Carlson wants to get him some idea of how to fund a program or what is needed, he needs some guy who lives under a bridge; and he does not need people who are rattling their jewelry telling him what needs to go on in the community. He noted he wants to see people who are directly involved with the community, but not at the level that many of the participants in Brevard Tomorrow have; he looks at Brevard Tomorrow as an input and simply that; he is not going to just roll over because Brevard Tomorrow said this or the strategy is that; and it probably wholeheartedly supported the sales tax issue which got shot down 65%, so it is not in touch with the community if that is what it is coming up with. He stated the community has said it does not trust the County to manage its money or provide things; if it wants to get back this element of trust, then the County has to show the people it is doing something that is going to provide them with what they really need, not necessarily what they want because sometimes the wants can be things that the majority of the community does not need; and the County needs to provide services that cannot be provided otherwise and cut out the fluff. Commissioner Pritchard noted there are a lot of things the County does that do not need to be done; they make some people feel good, but they are not providing a general welfare to the community; the County going to other types of reports to show how well it is doing something when it is not doing it well is not in the best interest of the taxpayers, including spending the money to do it; and it has enough expertise here that should listen to what the voters have said and what needs to be followed.

Chairperson Colon inquired is there support for bringing an outside agency to look at each department to see if they can find savings. Commissioner Scarborough responded he would like to bring a lot of different things back to the Board to review different avenues; he has a fundamental feeling how this is going to work or not work; and the more options available, the happier the County is going to be.

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to direct the County Manager to report back to the Board concerning the use of an outside agency to review County Departments for possible cost savings and the cost for such an agency.

Commissioner Carlson stated staff needs to bring the information back to see how much it is going to cost; she does not have a problem with it as long as it does not cost a lot; the Sterling process allows government to evaluate itself; and it may be a flaw, but she does not know. She noted it is all about quality processing and making sure it is done in the most efficient manner; she does not have any problem going to the outside; and she is not sure if that element of the Sterling Award in Jacksonville was done by an outside entity. Commissioner Higgs stated the Sterling process is an outside framework. Commissioner Carlson noted it is an outside framework that is applied to get the Sterling Award or whatever, but she does not know if there is an outside person who comes in and evaluates it based on a template; and the County needs to define exactly what it is asking staff to come back with.

Chairperson Colon stated she does not think any Commissioner is comfortable enough to be able to say this is a $400 million plus budget and it knows exactly where to analyze where there could be some savings and waste; an outside person may come back and say there is room for improvement or no room; it would give the Board some comfort level; and it has never happened in the County before. She noted internal auditors are totally different as far as procedures; she sits on the Internal Audit Committee; and it is not the same. She stated if there is a company with a track record of showing a corporation it is able to save millions of dollars, it is worth paying for it if it is going to save taxpayer dollars; and that is where the comparison comes in. Commissioner Carlson stated hopefully what staff will be looking for is someone who has gone into a corporation, government, etc. and has looked at the processes, duplications, and efficiencies; and they can try to get whatever it is the department has to do and has been defined by the Board, how much it is costing, and how it can streamline. Commissioner Pritchard stated that is why when he is looking at the Strategic Plan he is questioning this year developing a plan that has lofty goals without the Board knowing what it is able to do; the idea is good of having someone come in who would have a fresh perspective; and one of his suggestions is to reconvene the jail committee and get fresh blood on it to come up with workable solutions. He inquired if any of the Strategic Planning Office’s recommendations have been considered or implemented over the past three years; and stated if not, why bother tasking staff with a futile time-consuming exercise. He noted to develop a plan with goals the County probably cannot achieve is wasting its time and spinning its wheels; it has goals here; if it continues those, that is fine; Mr. Jenkins has come up with some reasonable suggestions for the jail and creating a facility that would cost much less than creating a high intensity pod for career criminals; and there is a lot of merit to what he has to say. He stated overall the Board recognizes something has to be done with the jail; it has said many times that there are people incarcerated that should not be in jail, but in a treatment center because they are drug-addicted, alcohol-addicted, or have mental problems; there are a lot of things the County can do without saying it needs to spend $35 million and build another jail pod or two; and Mr. Jenkins’ suggestions are worth looking at, but it does not have to be a goal. Commissioner Pritchard noted if the County makes it a goal to do this, then it is saying by not doing it that it has not lived up to that goal either; and ongoing discussion and improving the jail situation is an issue that needs to be dealt with.

Chairperson Colon called for a vote on the motion. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Commissioner Higgs stated the County had an ad valorem referendum on the firefighters’ issues in 1998 and it passed; it had an ad valorem referendum on various parks and recreation issues in 2000 and it passed; at the very least it knows from the last referendum that people do not want to pay additional sales tax; but before it makes huge assumptions about what people were telling it, it should also recognize that those two referendums in 1998 and 2000 passed and the people were saying they liked the County and trusted it. She noted the County needs to be careful before it says one thing or the other; it should not be totally certain of what the public was telling it with the sales tax referendum, any more than it is totally certain because the previous two referendums passed; as a caution, the message was loud and clear the people do not want a sales tax; and requested the County be careful of what it hears from that. She stated it could also say because the public approved several Constitutional amendments that they love pigs; sometimes the County gets mixed signals from what it gets in elections; being more efficient, accountable, and measuring what it does is absolutely the way it should do it; and it needs to tell the public what it is doing. She noted the public is ready to believe the worst if they do not have good information that the County may be doing something better. Commissioner Pritchard noted Brevard County did not like the pigs. Commissioner Carlson stated the key was the mixed messages; part of the issue was the sales tax passed by a 3:2 vote; those who did not like it campaigned against it; and the community as a whole does not understand that when there is a commission at opposing ends. She noted if anything goes forward referendum-wise, the County has to get the super majority of the Board and make sure the Commissioners who did not like it do not publicly say they do not like it; the County will never get anything passed that way; it means government is pounding each other; and if they do not trust each other, which the sales tax showed, there is a big issue there. Chairperson Colon stated it is part of freedom of speech. Commissioner Carlson stated a majority vote of the Board was to have the referendum and allow people to have the legitimate right to vote one way or another and educate them, not trying to say yea or nay; and there was a huge flaw in the process. Commissioner Higgs noted she does not know if there was a flaw or not; she voted to put the item on the referendum and talked to people about what was there; and she was not advocating it. Commissioner Carlson stated the Board agreed to educate the public on the issues.

Commissioner Scarborough stated the way it has worked in the past is taking department by department; and requested the County Manager begin to contemplate department by department discussions for the budget process. He noted the County needs to determine what type of analysis it is going to have at the table; it would like to review it in a more strategic cost analysis basis than it has historically; and the conversations will probably be more productive. Commissioner Higgs stated years ago the County went through each department and had line item budgets; maybe this year it needs to be done; and additional time could be invested in workshops during the spring. Commissioner Pritchard stated Mr. Jenkins recommends four budget workshops starting in February 2004, which is what he recommended; he does not want to wait until Spring as he wants to be able to get all the information the Board possibly can to make sure it has time to digest it; the Citizens Budget Review Committee and County staff also need time; and everyone can be well educated and have a good idea as to where the County can and cannot go. He noted if the Board takes the direction of hiring an outside firm to provide input into the way the County is doing things and perhaps can do better, it is good to start earlier; and suggested the workshops start in January 2004. Chairperson Colon stated she agrees with Commissioner Pritchard in beginning the budget workshops in January 2004 to start the year off right. Commissioner Pritchard suggested the second or third week in January 2004. Commissioner Scarborough stated Commissioner Pritchard supported Chairperson Colon’s concept of bringing in an outside agency; corporations bring in outside consultants; it is information outside that can be brought in and applied to systems without cutting services, but cutting costs as the knowledge is there; and the Board also needs to hear from Mr. Jenkins when the information can be available. Commissioner Pritchard stated the County could start its budget workshops in January 2004 and have County departments give the Board an overview of their operations; and the spreadsheets and flow charts could be available. Commissioner Scarborough noted if he had a report and there was information on procedures and processes, it would be good to discuss with the department head at that time. Commissioner Pritchard stated he can look at a flow chart and organizational chart; he has had enough years doing that to get a good feel for what is going on; if it is reviewed by an outside agency, he will have a better understanding so that when the Board meets with the outside agency it can say what about this, that, or the other; and the agency can say this and the Board can add to it, and it is at a point where it has a clear understanding of what it observed, what it was told, and what the other organization is saying so the County can move forward with the budget process. He noted he hopes the County will have all of the information available by May 2004; that is his goal since the Board does not meet in June 2004; and it could digest everything and come back in July 2004 and say this is where the County needs to go and can make adjustments.

Chairperson Colon stated one of the criticisms about the federal government is there are “x” amount of dollars available and pressure put on each department to make sure the dollars are spent; if not, the budget is cut the following year; meeting with the department heads and getting ideas with them is positive; and there needs to be feedback. Commissioner Higgs stated as much as she thinks the Board could be very unproductive by meeting a lot more, it has to have a position that three Commissioners agree to as to where the Board should move; it is only going to evolve as the Board sits in a public session; individually the Commissioners have no power whatsoever; and the Board is going to have to meet, as painful as it is sometimes, and make it productive. She noted she mentioned in her goals that the Board has to clarify its boundaries; and the only way to do that is to collectively agree to it and meet to determine the County is moving forward with certain issues. Chairperson Colon stated she made it perfectly clear how she felt in September 2003 about the sales tax issue; she stayed consistent; if an issue does not apply with a Commissioner’s philosophy, it is good to know ahead of time whether the Board can count on the support from a Commissioner or not instead of letting the process continue until September and there are only two votes; and it is very unfair to the Board, citizens, and County departments. She noted she wants to be a team player; if it is the case to waste time, not accomplish anything, and make no changes, she has no intention of supporting next year’s budget; she hopes it is not the case; and she is coming in very optimistic about the process and excited about the fact that the Board is starting the workshops early. She stated after the first year of the budget process she requested the budget workshops be done earlier; the reasons she got back from staff for not doing the workshops earlier was because the County had to wait to see what the State was doing with its budget; it could be based on the September 11, 2001 incident; and it is a totally different world now than it was in the past, and the County did not know the kind of monies it was going to get from the State. Chairperson Colon reiterated she wanted the process to start early so the Board did not have any surprises or deja vu in September when hundreds of people from the community come in requesting the Board not cut their budgets.

Mr. Jenkins stated the review staff is proposing to start in January 2004 would be on the current budget; it is basically to get everybody very familiar with what is in the current budget; the new budget cannot be developed in January 2004; and what the Board would be doing, starting in January 2004, is going through the current year’s budget, showing the historical issues, etc. so that when it comes time to do the new budget there will be an increased awareness of exactly what the budget consists of, including funding sources, what is mandatory, what is discretionary, who are the beneficiaries and users of the service, and what are the issues and trends affecting various agencies. He reiterated the Board will be discussing the current year’s budget, using it as the benchmark to move to next year’s budget.

Commissioner Higgs stated staff is going to discuss what it sees as needs in the next budget and it will not come with the new budget; and it will come with the current budget and each department will have its needs for the upcoming budget. Mr. Jenkins noted that is correct.

Commissioner Carlson stated it is going to be based on the effort the County went through with the departmental strategic or business plans; and inquired are there processes within each department that are actually flow-charted so the Board can see how the process works and evolves. She noted it is part of the whole effort in seeing the process; the Board is going to review how each department operates; it has already done strategic planning for each department; and she knows Commissioner Pritchard does not understand the strategic side of it because strategies do not happen in a day and it takes years and years.

Commissioner Pritchard inquired if Commissioner Carlson thinks he just fell off the truck; with Commissioner Carlson responding sometimes she wonders when she hears his comments. Commissioner Pritchard stated some of the things Commissioner Carlson says makes her sound so lofty and the rest of the people sound so ignorant. Commissioner Carlson noted absolutely not. Commissioner Pritchard stated he would like to put it in perspective; Commissioner Carlson talks a lot, but does not say much. Chairperson Colon requested the Board stay focused. Commissioner Pritchard stated what the Board is doing here is silly; the strategic plan is silly; what he expects to get out of the budget process is when Mr. Jenkins talks about what the County is doing; and he wants to know what it is doing, where it is going, why it is doing it, and how much it will cost. He noted someone can throw in any buzzword they want. Commissioner Carlson stated maybe Commissioner Pritchard should use strategy. Commissioner Pritchard stated strategy is a buzzword; and the whole point is this strategic planning is a load of nonsense. Commissioner Higgs noted such planning is not a load of nonsense. Commissioner Pritchard stated there is no strategy; if there is a strategy to do something, then there is a way to do it; and there is no way to do it that is listed in the “Strategic Plan”; and if the County is going to have such Plan, it needs to have measurable objectives, but there are none.

Chairperson Colon stated the County can plan and vision; it is important to have strategic plans and benchmarks within reason; it always has to realize if there is a champagne taste with a Coca-Cola pocket; and it cannot be accused of not getting feedback from the community and putting in a strategic plan together. She requested Dennis Rogero explain what she shared with him in regard to the information in the binder.

Budget Director Dennis Rogero stated Chairperson Colon requested everybody’s performance measurements, and goals and objectives in a binder, as opposed to interspersed throughout the budget to include revenues, expenditures, etc.; it would be similar to the program changes last year during budget development for the current year; and staff provided a separate book to the Board with program changes for each department. He noted Chairperson Colon requested staff do the same in budget development for the performance measures, and goals and objectives of each department. Chairperson Colon inquired how soon can staff provide the information; and noted such information is available and just a matter of putting it in a binder and giving it to the Board. Commissioner Carlson inquired what is different than what the Board had last year. Mr. Jenkins responded Chairperson Colon would like certain information extracted from the budget document and put in a separate book. Chairperson Colon inquired when will the information be provided to the Board; with Mr. Jenkins responding a couple of weeks. Chairperson Colon stated she would like the information as soon as possible; it gives the Board the foundation and understanding; the budget is huge; and for everyone to think individuals are going to go page by page is not reasonable. Mr. Jenkins noted it is a great idea to separate the information. Commissioner Pritchard stated the information would be available for the Citizens Budget Review Committee and Finance Department.

The meeting recessed at 10:20 a.m. and reconvened at 10:35 a.m.

Commissioner Pritchard requested the representative from the Citizens Budget Review Committee discuss the Strategic Plan and any suggestions the Committee may have as to a better implementation.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Board has an agenda item coming back for discussion about the Committee itself and perhaps there could be input from all the members at that time. Chairperson Colon stated individuals took time to attend the workshop today and it will only take a few minutes to hear them.

Kim Zarillo stated even a small business administration recommends a strategic planning process, so the County was wise to do that; maybe the methodologies are not in place and have to be reviewed from time to time, as do strategic plans; the County is on the right track; and it would be good to have some outside evaluation if it is not overly expensive. She noted it is what the Committee started talking about piecemeal at the last meeting.

Jack Callinan stated he reviewed the Strategic Plan and found what he viewed to be a major weakness of significant limitation in the Plan itself; the reason it is a weakness is because it omits one major area, which has been paramount in almost every corporation’s way of doing business for the last 40 years; basically it represented productivity enhancements and efficiency; and he saw nothing in the Strategic Plan which addressed those issues. He noted the Plan reflects many noble goals and the Board’s plan, in most cases, is consistent with the goals; on the other hand, department business plans seem to be out of sync in many cases with the goals; one of the goals is to maximize government performance and yet there is only one reference to improve government performance in the Strategic Plan, improve customer service by streamlining, which is a very nebulous position to take because the County has not defined what streamlining means. He stated only one department plans to streamline; this fact and the fact that only one department could streamline its operation is upsetting, but equally as disconcerting is that the benefits of streamlining were not itemized, nor were any standards of measurements provided so that project success could be evaluated; specifically, it could include what are the speed improvements and how much more efficiently will the department operate; and what this failure points out is that the concept of return on investment is alien to the Strategic Plan, which is a very major weakness. Mr. Callinan noted there seems to be one area where goals and the Board’s plans are incompatible; maximizing government’s performance when it comes to efficiency and cost is impossible if it is limited only to improving customer service; in order to maximize performance, it must be across-the-board; and every department must be reviewed to be made more efficient and to maximize productivity. He stated such element is not in the Strategic Plan; it is what the corporate environment has done over the last 20 years; the President indicates one of the reasons the economy is going to get better is due to efficiency; and it has to start at the top. He noted he cannot blame the departments for not addressing this because it started with the Board and limited their ability to address the issues by putting in the Strategic Plan the way it did; he changed what he thought would be more meaningful goals and a strategic plan for the County; those changes include maximize government performance, initiate a process to improve government operating efficiency, improve communications, and provide excellent services for citizens; and the Board’s strategic plan could include review of each department plan to improve efficiency by improving manpower utilization, setting achievable goals, and automate those areas which will result in financial and/or manpower efficiencies. Mr. Callinan stated if the Board changes the plan on that basis, it will address what has to be addressed within the County and make most of the community feel more comfortable that the Board is doing its job.

Commissioner Scarborough stated Chairperson Colon had a suggestion to have someone from the outside come in and do an analysis; and inquired is what Mr. Callinan contemplating with efficiency included in the motion. Mr. Callinan responded it should be included; he has heard people say they want to do the review cheap; however, there is no such thing as doing it cheap on that basis; and if the County is going to do it, it is going to have to spend money. Commissioner Scarborough stated he would appreciate Mr. Callinan working with the County Manager as he looks for input. Mr. Callinan noted he will be happy to do that; the County has a good group; but the Board has to set the tone and goals for the employees or they are not going to do it.

Commissioner Carlson inquired did the Committee ever look into full cost accounting; with Mr. Callinan responding no. Commissioner Carlson inquired has the Committee considered it; with Mr. Callinan responding no. Commissioner Carlson inquired is it a good way to go about looking at the budget. Mr. Callinan stated he reviews an area and does not want to get into generalities; each department has measures of its own; there are no general measures across-the-board; and the County does not have one business here, but 23 different businesses and each one has to be looked at individually and independently for its measurements. He noted he does not understand the point Commissioner Carlson is making. Commissioner Carlson stated the point is there are many different businesses, but they are interrelated; if there is a growth issue, it deals with land development, permitting, code enforcement, etc.; they all need to be intertwined somehow to figure out the true costs of growth to assess for it and make sure the County can stay within its budgetary restrictions to pay for that growth; and if it is not, then it has to figure out some other strategy to make it work. Mr. Callinan stated first the County needs to find out what the costs are. Commissioner Carlson noted that is her point, full cost to the County. Mr. Callinan stated the County should be doing that.

Bob Klaus invited all the Commissioners to look at the budget book; stated it is not a satisfying document; the measures are not satisfying; and he agrees with the comments of Mr. Callinan and Ms. Zarillo. He noted the Board is in agreement about what it wants, but in order to have satisfaction, it needs to review the book; that is the part that has to be satisfying for the Board; if it can explain the book better to its constituents, then they will support the County instead of being against it; and reiterated the book is not satisfying. He stated for about $50,000, the County can probably get somebody to train Mr. Jenkins, his immediate staff, supervisors, and managers on how to do the self-evaluation; they would have to tell the Board regularly about how they are doing something and the progress; if the Board wants somebody going into each department, it would be a very intense piece of work and expensive; and nobody knows the County better than Mr. Jenkins and his staff. He noted the Sterling Award is about self-assessment, getting on board, and going for the prize; the Board needs to consider going for the prize; it would give everybody more satisfaction; and he would strongly suggest the Sterling Award.

Dale Young stated the only statement he heard that he disagrees with is that growth does not pay for itself; the only thing that keeps government growing is growth; every dime government gets in comes from growth; so if it is not paying for itself, then one needs to examine why it is not paying for itself and it must be costing too much. He noted the only budget the County has to deal with comes from its annual growth; and it may want to reconfigure its examinations in the budget year.

Chairperson Colon stated there was discussion about having the Citizens Budget Review Committee involved in the budget workshops; and it is something that would be positive. Mr. Young stated he agrees with starting the budget process earlier; the County should have been doing it before; the Committee can assist the Board during the process; and it appreciates the time the Board gives it.

Commissioner Scarborough stated there have been several different proposals and concepts that Mr. Jenkins will be working on; and requested Mr. Jenkins provide the Board with a summary and printed material on what it would entail.

Commissioner Pritchard stated the comments that were made by the Citizens Budget Review Committee were right on target; that is why he is advocating giving the Committee a seat at the table so that it can respond and be part of the interaction; the Commissioners have a perspective based on wherever their background is; and the members of the Committee were picked because of their specific expertise. He noted it is obvious from the comments the Committee members made that they have that expertise; he would like to have the Committee’s feedback immediately as part of the discussion so that the Board does not get off on a tangent and is able to focus on what it would like to accomplish; the end result is always the Board’s decision; but the input should be made immediately so the Board can refocus whatever its conversation may be at the time.

Chairperson Colon stated in between the actual meetings the Board has, there could be a workshop with the Committee; such meeting could be held in the morning for no more than one hour; and the time could be dedicated specifically to receive feedback from the Committee.

Commissioner Pritchard stated Ms. Zarillo has a Masters Degree in Policy and Management; her expertise is valuable to the input and process; that is why he would like the Committee present and part of the relevant discussion; and the Board is obviously going to set the tone; but sometimes a little fine adjustment along the way helps with the tone.

Chairperson Colon stated the Board should meet some time in December 2003 as it is going to start the process in January 2004; perhaps once a month the Committee could provide feedback to the Board at its meetings under reports; and it would be important to do that as the Committee members have the expertise.

Commissioner Higgs stated if the Board is going to set the tone for what it is going forward to do, which is to be the leadership body, it needs to work together as five people; Chairperson Colon has done a good job over the past year of trying to lead the Board in a way that is both civil and progressive; it needs to take that as a goal; and it is well and good to have input from the Committee. She noted the Committee should be invited and requested to be a part of all the meetings the Board has and listen to the review; the Committee can provide input as it sees fit; she wants the Committee to be part of the process; and unless it is hearing what the Board hears, then there may be a gap in its understanding. She stated there may be some value in a meeting, but she is not sure; the Committee needs to provide its input as a group and then meet as the Board meets to talk about the budget as it begins in January or February 2004; the Board has to decide how it is going to work this; and it needs to work together and listen to each other. Commissioner Higgs noted even when the Board members disagree, they need to remain in a civil way; unless they do that, the Board is not going to move this forward; it cannot get into trivialities or clichés; and it has to deal with reality. She stated the Committee should be invited to be a part of all those meetings and then given an opportunity to speak as it sees fit.

Chairperson Colon inquired is the process that took place today something Commissioner Higgs would encourage to bring the Committee forward; with Commissioner Higgs responding no. Commissioner Higgs stated the Committee members can speak as any citizen can; but it could meet subsequent to listening to the hearings and then have a report with one voice in a subsequent meeting; and it may be more productive.

Commissioner Pritchard stated Commissioner Higgs is asking for status quo; with Commissioner Higgs responding not at all. Commissioner Pritchard noted this is going to do the same thing that has been done year after year after year; if the Board does not do something different, then it is not going to do anything different; if it allows this to continue as it has with objectives that are in the budget book that are literally meaningless with a Strategic Plan, that is not any strategy whatsoever, and stifling the input so that it fits at a time that might be more convenient is going to produce where the Board is today; and when it gets into the budget part, he is going to have the Finance Director speak about the budget process and what the County has been doing, which is wrong. He noted it needs to be changed; one of the ways to change it is to take more input more frequently; that is why he is encouraging the Committee to be directly a part of the discussions the Board has with planning and budgeting; and to do otherwise is a status quo process.

Commissioner Higgs stated she is not agreeing to the status quo and it is not what she is advocating; she wants the Board to move forward and to do a better job with what it is doing; to say status quo is wrong; and to say the County can always do it better, be more efficient, save more money, and be more productive are valuable goals, and she endorses them. She noted what she has seen is the Board spends so much time without actually engaging each other in a discussion in coming up with a consensus of what it wants to do; that is all she is suggesting; it is not status quo and contrary to what the Board has been doing; and she says get the input and the Board make a decision and move forward.

Chairperson Colon stated the Board has to follow its agenda; the workshops give an opportunity for each Commissioner to hear what the others have to say; it has to happen with respect; and the words silly and wrong are very offensive to the other person. She noted the other person shuts down immediately; if the individual had a good idea, he or she is going to feel very uncomfortable bringing it to the table because of the fear of being chastised by another Commissioner; it is very unhealthy; and the Board has carried itself very professionally and civilly in the last year. She stated some Commissioners may not agree with another Commissioner’s idea, but they have to be careful of the words they use; she does not want any Commissioner to shut down; she has felt that in the past; and this year was quite difficult for her as the Chairperson because she does not want to monopolize the meeting. She noted a meeting that has that kind of respect and is civil is the kind of meeting that is going to be worthwhile; she does not want any Commissioner to feel uncomfortable coming to the workshops; she wants everybody coming with a positive attitude and knowing they have to respect the other Commissioners; and she has no right to say that a Commissioner is wrong. Chairperson Colon stated today’s workshop is going to be one of many meetings; Commissioner Higgs will be chairing the meetings soon; the Commissioners have to follow the Sunshine Law and are not allowed to say what is on their minds behind the scenes as it is a violation of the law; the meetings are the only time the Commissioners are able to discuss the issues; and respect is critical.

Commissioner Carlson stated the Board has discussed departmental and strategic issues; and provided a memorandum to the Board and staff, including a diagram. She noted Brevard Tomorrow was the Countywide Strategic Plan that was done; there is the Comprehensive Plan, which is the government’s plan describing what the County wants to be; when she first got on board, one of the first things she asked for was to see what the County has or has not accomplished based on the Comprehensive Plan; and the Board went through that and is trying to accomplish those things. She stated the Boards’ Strategic Plan is a statement of its highest priorities and what the needs are; the departmental plans get into the operational business plans describing how to accomplish what is in the Comprehensive Plan; the resource documents include the budget, Capital Improvement Program (CIP), and best management practices; and she wants the Board to acknowledge that the documents exist. She noted in the past she has found problems with trying to convert the process of a desired action into the resources; it begins at the departmental level; it is what the Board is going to be analyzing; and the departmental plans have to be described in terms of the personnel and resources required to make them work. Commissioner Carlson stated the lofty ideas of departments, how they translate into dollars, and what the County can and cannot afford is critical; none of that has any meaning if there is not a methodology for translating plans; it has been the missing link of what she has been trying to capture through the budget process; and there needs to be some sort of programming document that connects the dots for everyone. She noted in reviewing the first few pages of each budget item, one cannot connect the dots to the CIP, the budget process, and the Strategic Plan; and the County needs to make a real effort at looking at the model, which is just a diagram, and determine what are resource documents and how they are programmed into the process to make it achieve whatever is in the Comprehensive Plan, which is the designing document for Brevard County. She stated the complaint she has always had is the CIP; there is a thick document that goes through all of the unfunded things that can and cannot be done in the County; the CIP is five years; and one would expect if the County is budgetarily using the document that it would have a budgeted amount of achieve a set goal over five years of time. Commissioner Carlson noted what the County sees is a loading of the budget where there is nothing for three years and all of a sudden everything is prodded into the third or fourth year, which indicates the CIP is not being used correctly; reiterated the dots need to be connected; the County needs to find out how it can make the efficiencies, put them in the budget, and start connecting the budget with the CIP to plan for the types of things it wants to see happen in the community no matter how lofty they might be; and the County has to budget for it within its means.

Commissioner Pritchard stated he provided a memorandum to the Board on fiscal responsibility; and read excerpts from the memorandum, as follows: “In reading the County’s Strategic Plan, I note the complete absence of financial constraints and any reference to financial affordability goals. The only place financial info appears is in the current status descriptions. There are many strategies that state add, fund, obtain, focus, complete, and similar verbs. All such terms are by definition budget breakers. It’s very easy to promote feel good programs and projects without first considering what funds are available or can be made available. To do so is folly because it projects a sense of being responsive to all outside demands while ignoring how or to what extent the project or program can be implemented. Any project or program or activity that does not first start out with financial constraints will inevitably result in an unaffordable plan doomed from the start. The fact that most plans are based on a desire to improve the status quo should be recognized as resource constrained no matter how good the intent. Also, it is important to understand all recurring costs associated with an activity, not just the initial recurring costs.” Commissioner Pritchard suggested at every Commission meeting and posted throughout the work areas of County employees, the following message be visible: “Brevard County Commissioners and County employees are committed to enhancing and insuring Brevard’s quality of life today and always, while judiciously managing within the resources provided by the citizens.”

Chairperson Colon inquired who is the Chair of the Citizens Budget Review Committee; with Commissioner Pritchard responding Dale Young. Chairperson Colon stated the Committee could meet and then try to set a date for the Board and Committee to meet for approximately one hour; it could prepare the Board for its workshop in January 2004; and before the workshop ends today, she wants to know the protocol on how the workshops are going to be taking place and if the Board is going to allow the Committee’s input or just receive reports. She inquired when the Committee meets; with Mr. Young responding the Committee has set up at least a monthly meeting and sometimes meets twice a month. Mr. Young stated the Committee’s December 2003 meeting data has already been set for December 4, 2003 at 3:00 p.m.; requested the Committee focus at its meeting on what was discussed today; stated the Committee could meet with the Board in a workshop format for about one hour in between a Board meeting so another meeting date does not have to be set; and the Committee can give the Board feedback. Mr. Young stated that would be a good format for the Committee; and at its next meeting it will put its ideas together from the Board’s workshop today. Chairperson Colon inquired what is the Board’s last meeting in December 2003; with Mr. Jenkins responding December 16, 2003. Commissioner Pritchard inquired why try to squeeze meeting with the Committee on the same day as a Board meeting, and could the Board and Committee meet after the Committee meets and the Board’s last meeting in December 2003. Chairperson Colon inquired if one hour is sufficient time; with Mr. Young responding one hour would be okay for any report the Committee makes. Chairperson Colon stated it would basically be the Committee speaking to the Board; and the Board should not be doing all the talking as it is doing that today. Commissioner Pritchard inquired about public comment; with Chairperson Colon responding the Board will see how it goes, and she does not want to see everybody coming out.

Commissioner Carlson responded if the Board goes back to the very beginning of this meeting, it made a motion to talk about the enabling Ordinance; and she would like to make a motion to reconsider it as the Board has given as much lip service as it needs to. She noted it seems obvious to her by the discussion that it wants to have the Committee continue as it is with some additions or whatever and get it incorporated into the process; that is fine with her; she brought it up because she thought there were questions on having the Committee be involved in the process; and she wants to reconsider the motion. She stated it would be a waste of time to bring up the item and talk about it any further. Commissioner Higgs stated she would like to look at it again. Commissioner Carlson noted if the Board is setting dates, it seems to be premature to even bother; and if the County has the enabling Ordinance and wants to change it to identify exactly how it wants the Committee to coordinate with the County, that is what she was intending on doing. Commissioner Higgs suggested staff provide the enabling Ordinance that created the Citizens Budget Review Committee after the meeting between the Board and the Committee or even simultaneous when the Board meets with such Committee.

Chairperson Colon stated she supports the continuation of getting feedback from the Committee; today was a perfect example of how positive it was; she did not hear anything that she would feel uncomfortable with moving forward; and a time will be set in advance on December 16, 2003 for the Committee to meet with the Board.

DISCUSSION, RE: COMMISSION GOAL SETTING

Commissioner Higgs inquired if Mr. Jenkins is going to come back with additional information in regard to the Jail; with County Manager Tom Jenkins responding affirmatively. Commissioner Higgs inquired has Mr. Jenkins looked at a privatization effort and what other private firms are doing in terms of that; stated Indian River County is also involved in building a jail; and inquired has staff had any contact with abutting counties that the County might partner with in some construction efforts.

Chairperson Colon stated she is not in support of just building more jails until the Board feels comfortable it has done everything within its power to prevent more people coming into the jails; it would probably be a matter of partnerships throughout the community with organizations or the State; and those are critical issues that need to be discussed. Commissioner Carlson stated Mr. Jenkins talked about the issue of preventative things in his memorandum; it was as a second thought with the primary thought of building a jail; and it warrants a lot of discussion.

Commissioner Pritchard stated one of the suggestions he had was reconvening the jail committee and getting some fresh blood on it to come up with workable solutions; some of the solutions Mr. Jenkins has make a lot of sense; it is taking the people who do not need to be incarcerated into a treatment center; and it costs a lot less than putting them into a jail.

Chairperson Colon inquired will the discussion be part of a workshop or at a Board meeting; with Commissioner Higgs responding it probably needs to be in a workshop. Commissioner Higgs stated there have been two jail committees; they came to the same conclusions; and it is time the Board decides what it is going to do. Commissioner Carlson stated Mr. Jenkins had a memorandum to that extent; and the Board needs to take the memorandum and use it. Chairperson Colon stated it is a matter of philosophy and not a matter of right or wrong; and it is which direction the Board wants to take in prioritizing. Commissioner Higgs inquired does the Board agree to a jail workshop; with Chairperson Colon responding affirmatively. Commissioner Scarborough stated all the options need to be on the table; there are a lot of dynamics in a jail; the problems are not simple; and the Board needs full discussion.

Commissioner Pritchard stated he would like to have Steve Burdett speak about the County’s spending.

Finance Director Stephen Burdett stated the main purpose of today’s meeting seems to have been strategy; what Commissioner Pritchard is asking for is actual financial information; and inquired if the Board wants to get into it or would it prefer to leave its meeting to strategy.

Chairperson Colon stated Mr. Burdett has heard the discussion that has taken place today; it would be positive for the Board to receive something in writing from Mr. Burdett on where the County is going and where it could tweak a little and change; and Mr. Burdett’s input is appreciated. She inquired which direction does Mr. Burdett want to give the Board today. Mr. Burdett responded the issue is the financial pattern of the County’s General Operating Fund; if it is not addressed today, it needs to be addressed within the next couple of weeks; the issue has been touched on in the past; but as the Commissioners are familiar with managing their own checking accounts, when they run out of money, there is a problem. He noted he does not know if this is the appropriate place to do it; he has sent information to the County Manager’s Office; if the Board desires to give staff additional time to put a plan or suggestions together, that is fine; and he does not feel like jumping the gun, but within the next couple of weeks, the Clerk is going to need to come back to the Board and County Manager to discuss the situation.

Chairperson Colon stated obviously there is a lot more to it; if there are some concerns, Mr. Burdett needs to put them in writing and give the Budget Office an opportunity to see if there is some compromise; if not, the issue needs to come back at another workshop; and maybe staff does not feel that way, but maybe the Board believes something has to go forward. Commissioner Carlson stated perhaps at tomorrow’s meeting under reports the County Manager could let the Board know what the communication has been; if there is something that is in need of being discussed further on another agenda, the Board could do that; and it would probably be more appropriate.

Commissioner Pritchard inquired if the County does not change its current way of doing business, what is going to happen. Mr. Burdett responded the General Fund is going to run out of money and it is going to make it more challenging for the Board to borrow funds; and creditors do not like lending money if someone does not have good credit. Chairperson Colon inquired is Mr. Burdett able to put this is how the County is doing business and this is some of his recommendations so that the Board can have it in black and white and be able to compare what the strategies are. Mr. Burdett responded he can do that. Chairperson Colon stated the Board would be able to know exactly the things that need to be taken care of right away so the County does not get into a problem next year; and that is why it is critical to bring up this topic now. Mr. Burdett stated it is both a short and long-term issue. Chairperson Colon inquired can Mr. Burdett separate the short and long-term issues; with Mr. Burdett responding affirmatively.

Betty Hooley stated she and her husband are retired citizens in Brevard County; they love the County; and suggested the Board have the County departments submit the amounts of funding they have spent within their budget; and noted if there is money left over, the County can match the funds and give it to the departments. She noted it will probably be expensive in the first year, but the County will have competition for the departments to save the most money so they can get the most return; the County would not need to have an outside agency come in and tell it how to do the budgeting; each department would be responsible for its own expenditures; and hopefully, the departments can stay within the budget they have presented the year before. She stated if the departments are frugal and manage beautiful, the County could give them a bonus of what they saved so that next year they will try to save more. She noted the attitude that every penny given needs to be spent is not a good way to live; and staying within the budget is important.

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 11:25 a.m.

ATTEST:
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JACKIE COLON, CHAIRPERSON
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA
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SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

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