That’s just the way the world works, right? Winning feels good – losing, not so much. Ask anyone wearing team colors at the end of the season and you’ll probably get a resounding YES to that statement.
When the win or loss is among one’s community however, it’s not as easy to justify one winning at the expense of someone else.
It’s all about balance
Our Commissioners in St. Johns County are obligated to balance the needs of everyone who is a stakeholder in the County. What is a stakeholder? That would be any person or group that affects or is affected by decisions of an organization.
Clearly residents are stakeholders and are affected by all decisions of the County legislative body. Businesses are stakeholders too. Case in point – a decision 20+ years ago to close the old Vilano Drawbridge and build the new Usina Bridge was devastating to businesses along Vilano Road, many of which fell to neglect and decay.
Businesses – yes, even land developers – affect and are affected by decisions of the County and are therefore stakeholders.
But here’s the interesting part – there is a mutual benefit (dependency?) between stakeholders. Residents rely on businesses – yes, even land developers – to provide us with a home to live in, food to eat, clothes to wear as well as jobs to enable us to live our lives well.
And those businesses rely on residents.
Perhaps the County is simply out of balance
Our economy has been a rollercoaster for a couple decades and when the economy goes awry, legislators at all levels hasten to adjust so businesses and residents are minimally impacted. This involves pulling levers and hoping that lever doesn’t dislodge another lever and cause even more problems.
The economic conditions in 2008 sent then-Commissioners on a quest to restore balance. They pulled levers, hoping to preserve economic stability for the County. Whether those levers were the right ones to pull can be debated, and often it is many years later when that answer becomes apparent.
It bears repeating this from an earlier blog post:
“It is very important to remember why St. Johns County development is where it is.
Between 2000 and 2008 SJC approved multiple PUD’s/DRI’s totaling more than 100,000 single family units. Then the deep recession hit. Construction came to a halt.
In 2013/14 the economy recovered, and residential development returned and has remained quite robust for the past 10 years. The vast majority of homes constructed over the past 10 years were approved prior to 2008.
This rapid growth strained the infrastructure, which has struggled to keep up. The current Board of Commissioners is acutely aware of this, and now includes infrastructure as a requirement for development.
They have initiated a $500 million infrastructure building program, but it will take time to catch up.”
Is balance possible?
I suspect that depends on who you ask. If a stakeholder is happy with the decision, they win and feel good. If the stakeholder is unhappy, they feel a loss. That doesn’t feel good.
I guess that means balance is not possible.
What, then, is the answer?
Here is my thought. With the complexity of every decision that our County Commissioners make, it is important for any stakeholder to learn about our government, talk with the Commissioners and look beneath the obvious, recognizing that what you want may not be the best for the County as a whole.
The more residents engage in thoughtful, respectful debate, the clearer their issues are to the policy makers.
Disrespecting the Commissioners with nasty photoshopped memes tells the world that you will only accept a decision if it is in your best interest.
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