The last County Commission meeting was a disaster for residents and families.
Virtually nothing was discussed about improving the quality of residential life in Camden County. And tonight's budget meeting will assuredly set citizens back.
The County Commission meeting was mostly about manipulated budgets, and landfills, and robbing Peter to pay Paul. Oh yeah, they approved spending hundreds of thousands to fix what broke at our parks during the PSA's reign of neglect. Of course, the Saint Marys swimming pool remains in ruin.
Our County Chief Financial Officer reported that the County needed to maintain a large Excess cash balance in the 2025 Budget in just three weeks because they never know when they might need a few million more here and a few million more there. How's THAT for "budgeting"? For instance, to avoid a tax increase in an election year, the ridiculous 2025 budget shows that the cost of running our General government starting next month will be 6.38% less than last year. How is that possible since just like us, the County pays more for fuel, salaries, bonuses, copier paper, and electricity this year than it did last year? What's being cut out starting on July 1st?
Perhaps Representative Steven Sainz can explain to us common people how the County's budgeted use of State Community Block Grant Funds to build the still unfinished and ever-more-costly 'Resiliency Center' accomplishes the FOCUSED intent of the funds?
They're not exactly misusing the funds --- they've simply chosen a project that will deplete funds primarily intended to directly benefit our neighbors in need. In fact, the Resiliency Center is an expensive new, never-ending cost center like an airport or jail that will ALWAYS come before citizens' everyday needs. In fact, a quick Google search for Resiliency Centers shows there's no common understanding of what a resiliency center should be or does. The County documents are very vague about what our "Resiliency Center" will actually do. But like the grant enabling the gun range, we got a grant for a resiliency center and we're gonna have one of those, too. Ask your neighbor if they know what a "Resiliency Center" does? They probably don't because there's no standard definition across the USA for what a Resiliency Center is supposed to do.
Not to mention the ongoing spaceport money pit replacement that's in the 2025 budget. Ben Casey's new airport is supposed to replace the now-closed Saint Marys airport. Mind you, the new airport is not for commercial airlines - it is for small private planes! If the old airport was so valuable, how many businesses moved out of Camden when the Saint Marys Airport closed? After all the old airport only supported an average of 5 take-offs and 5 landings each day. Simply, the number of airport users who will fly their private planes into Casey's new airport will not be enough to support its cost. In fact, the airport consultants told Casey and his lame-duck buddies that the airport would cost Camden taxpayers over $5,000,000.00 by 2041 and would only hire its second employee in 2037. It will lose money all but two years through 2041. The airport business consultant shows those two airport employees will only earn as much in 2037 as Steve Sainz is making now at his current Camden Connection gig!
And get this, the airport is being justified because of the Raydient Wildlight development in Yulee (closer to Fernandina's real airport and Jacksonville International Airport than it will be to Camden's). They also include Cumberland Inlet development at the former papermill site (Has anybody heard anything about if that project is still breathing?) And they justify it because White Oak Plantation, you know, that rhinoceros place in Florida, plans to build a private golf course. They even used the new Hyundai car plant that's 97 miles away on I-16 in Bryan County to justify building an airport because, who knows, somebody might come to Camden to build car parts for Hyundais and need an airport to transport their liquid hydrogen for the factory forklifts.
Oddly, many self-important shakers and movers wonder why job-producing company owners and their staff don’t want to locate in Camden where our government commits “Civicide”. Yes, many self-important community 'leaders' are truly clueless. It happens because they ignore their obligations to acquire citizen input, to provide full transparency, and to attend to important "Quality Of Life" community needs. Instead, they pursue glamorous mirages like spaceports, airports, movie studios, tax-exempt warehouses, and a multi-million dollar "Resiliency Center" complete with a few hundred computer hookups.
Some Commissioners seem to be in a hurry to become a Jacksonville suburb.
But Jacksonville/Atlanta/Chicago/Baltimore is not what most Camden citizens want to be a part of.
(On a VERY POSITIVE NOTE: This writer was on vacation when our home fire alarm reported a false alarm. We quickly reported it was a false alarm but Fire Chief Terry and Sheriff Jim Proctor have a routine policy to send a first responder to verify that all is OK. Sure enough, video showed the Deputy arrived in about 10 minutes and checked that our home was OK. At 4:11 AM!!! They can't promise 10-minute service like that throughout all of Camden's 600+ square miles, but we know for a fact that they work very hard with the always limited resources they have. We're very thankful we live in Camden County.)
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