From: John Patten, Venice Florida! dot
com
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 8:08 AM
To: Sarasota County Commissioners Shannon Staub, Nora Patterson, Jon Thaxton, Joseph
Barbetta, Paul
Mercier
Subject: Parking fees at the beach? Have you lost your minds?
Say, here's a good idea -- let's piss off all of the tourists, hotel owners,
tourism business owners, and all of the residents at the same time -- let's
charge for the beach!!!
I will make it my religious duty to never, ever, pay this fee. If you make it
law, I will break it and openly encourage everyone else to.
This is political insanity. You folks never charged the proper impact fees all
along to developers, so let's come up with more goofy ways to screw the average
citizen to make up for the loss.
DO NOT DO THIS!!!! This is just flat out wrong.
-- John Patten
-- Venice Florida! dot com
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From: Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson
<npatters@scgov.net>
To: John Patten
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2008 9:32 PM
Subject: RE: Parking fees at the beach? Have you lost your minds?
Dear John,
I appreciate your input on the subject of parking fees at our beaches. It may be
political suicide but in the end it may be the responsible thing to do. In
addition we might have to do other things that we hate or and people won't like
or else do without a lot of things people need or simply love. We will see how
bad the county finances really are in the next month or two.
The only real reason we would institute paid parking is to generate more
revenue. The argument about used other counties is really only to show that
other counties derive revenue from this source and it is not unusual and did not
kill tourism. We are looking at all beaches and I am sure the ones that would
produce the most parking revenue would be on Siesta Key. In Englewood there is a
special issue because Charlotte County charges for parking at the same adjoining
beach so people come over to use our free parking. I don't know if that causes
shortages of parking, but I would guess if it does not now, it will at a later
time.
How do you feel about charging fees for parking boat trailers at our boat launch
facilities? They are overloaded especially at Centennial Park in the City of
Sarasota where half the users are from Manatee County. They come here because
Manatee County is short on facilities and have not made the same investments
that you, our tax payers have. Many feel we should charge fees because not
everyone uses the facility. Not exactly the same as beach parking but close.
I really appreciate your concern and of course user fees hit everyone, rich or
poor. That is why the fee should be low if we do this for an annual pass. I
think that if we wade into this that the amounts quoted are too high. Those who
travel here for vacations presumably can pay a few dollars to spend the day at
the beach without the same hardship as the least well heeled of our residents.
This is far from a done deal. You should know, however, that there are a lot of
services we offer at little or no cost that will be challenging to keep that
effect the least wealthy of our community more than beaches.
Examples might be the health clinic that we run at the Health Dept., which is
above and beyond what most counties fund. We are partially funded on that effort
through Medicaid reimbursements. The state, since their own budget is short 5
billion, is lowering the Medicaid reimbursement and that will cause a deficit of
between $500,000 and $1,000,000. Keeping that clinic will be one decision
although I cannot imagine we would close it.
Another will be the level of transit which we have spent millions improving with
the aim of helping folks who cannot afford cars for every member of the family
or are simply unable to drive. We put about $15,000,000 a year of local tax
dollars into that effort, far more than most counties. In the last couple of
years we have routes that we started running every half an hour that are
standing room only. We may have to look at shrinking that effort.
The sheriff is the largest single item in our budget and this year for the first
time he has been asked to make a cut instead of simply slowing the growth of his
budget. One thing he is thinking of cutting is the police resource officers in
elementary schools. I already have emails telling me that is horrible and one of
the most important services.
In the end we will either have to raise the tax rate, up some fees, or cut
services that some folks will be unhappy about losing. It's just kind of the way
it is right now.
Sincerely,
[Sarasota County Commissioner]
Nora Patterson
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From: John Patten
To: County Commissioner Nora Patterson
Subject: Re: Parking fees at the beach? Have you lost your minds?
Date: Sun, 25 May 2008, 8:13 AM
A thoughtful response, and I thank you, but one that misses the point entirely
and just becomes a sales pitch for further governmental pickpocketing.
During the heyday of development, governments got fat, banking on a future that
the math showed could not possibly go on forever. Now the inevitable has
happened: the Ponzi scheme that unfettered growth unleashed has collapsed. Every
family and business has had to severely cut back its spending -- hell, I quit on
cars on went to a scooter (85 MPG). Yet if you compare cutbacks in the private
sector compared with that in government, the numbers don't add up ([Sheriff]
Balkwill's sweetheart deal with a health service provider, e.g.).
[County Manager] Jim Ley has frozen his pay -- I feel his pain... not. If all of
you up on that dais were to cut your salaries in half, I would be impressed. I
don't think you're gonna do that.
And so we come to this new "sin tax" on sunshine, beach, and water, only it's a
sin tax without any sin.
Allow nude sunbathing on Caspersen and Lido beaches and you would fully be able
to justify charging a premium rate for a premium service. European tourists
wouldn't even blink at opening up their wallets, and they would come in droves
just for that freedom. Short of that, you are proposing to charge us for
sunshine and air for no better reason than that you (you collectively, county
and city governments, not you, Nora Patterson) lacked vision at a time when it
was critically needed.
We all need more money, I much more than you. Taxing me for the view, which is
the one reason I still live in this overpriced hell-hole that southwest Florida
has become, is an insufferable and intolerable insult. It is as though I am
being taxed because I was unable to convince you that this economic payback day
was coming at a time when slow growthers were screaming it.
It is both insult and injury to even consider assessing this, and I don't give a
rat's rip what other counties are doing. If that's so good there, go run for
their county commissions. I don't think it's that good an idea, so I'll stay.
Well, that and it's not that easy to fit a roll-top desk and major appliances on
a scooter, so moving is not an option.
Curb your spending and knock off the threats of [cutting] vital services.
Balkwill can fish from the pier just like the rest of us.
-- John Patten
