Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/329100
environs dedicated to preserving green space, they also have made no secret of their loath- ing for the fiscal neutrality requirement. And why not? How could they make the obscene profits they enjoyed during the boom years if they were forced to pay for roads, schools, water and sewer and other infrastructure spe- cific to their planned developments? Their solution was a simple one: Support development-friendly candidates for the County Commission who are willing to revise the 2050 Plan to remove most of the provisions onerous to their interests. The result has been the election of a decidedly pro-development con- tingent on the County Commission, led by Commissioner Joe Barbetta. Barbetta has been vocal in his disdain for the 2050 Plan, claiming it is imperiling the county's economic future. In discussion after discussion of the 2050 Plan in commission meetings, Barbetta has consistently articulated the same posi- tions as developers. At no other time was this more obvious than when the County Commission felt compelled to have an independent review of the plan to develop guidelines for its application going forward. Barbetta blocked every attempt to hire an economics expert from academia and instead foisted on the commission the selec- tion of Donna Arduin, a well-known political operative with minimal qualifications for the sort of economic review needed for the 2050 Plan. That almost backfired on Barbetta when Arduin's firm, Laffer Associates, delivered the first draft of its analysis and it con- sisted almost entirely of a pro-development, anti-smart growth screed that practically advocated repealing the plan in its entirety. So shocked were other stakeholders in the county at the brazen- ness of this philippic from Arduin's firm that Barbetta — in his best Louis Renault imper- sonation — had to join the chorus of outrage. The firm had to do two rewrites of its analysis until it was palatable enough for Barbetta to force-feed the material to the other commis- sioners … not that there was much resistance from most of them. In fact, only Commissioner Nora Patterson has been a consistent critic of Barbetta's move to eviscerate the 2050 Plan and open up the undeveloped eastern county to virtual pillaging by profiteering developers. On many votes on changes to certain elements of the plan, Patterson has been on the losing end, 4-1. So why, one might ask, do developers feel the need to spend tens of thousands of dol- lars to influence the election of two new county commissioners? Developers are aided in their efforts by being able to focus only on Republican candidates. Despite being a minority of county voters, Republicans have a stranglehold on county offices. The Democrats' perennial timidity in the face of Republican hegemony has perpetuated this situation. OPINION Sarasota News Leader June 13, 2014 Page 99