The Newscaster/Nature Coast News
PAGE 11 - May 7, 2008
Editorial - Opinion - Commentary
Yankeetown Comp Plan Fails At State Level
A Guest Commentary by Carl Mazzuca
Yankeetown Mayor's Report
Faced with possible implementation of arguably the most destructive Comprehen-
sive Plan conceivable for any community, Yankeetown may have received a "stay-of-execu-
A Guest Commentary by Mayor Dawn Clary
tion" last week from the State of Florida. The Citrus County Chronicle Legal section for
To give everyone a heads up, you will probably being hearing a lot about the recent
Wednesday, April 30th and Friday May 2nd carried mandatory Notice(s) of Intent by the
Department of Community Affairs statement on our comprehensive plan amendment submis-
Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to find the Yankeetown Comprehensive Plan
sion that we adopted last February. The DCA has stated the comprehensive plan amendment
not in compliance with state law.
is not in compliance with the applicable regulations. The reasons essentially revolve around
This action is spurred in no small part by direct intervention of residents, land
our Capital Improvements Element or plan. #1. We were inconsistent in the classification of
owners and tax payers who have argued that the town government's plan will turn Yankee-
the level of service required for our roads. The Capital Improvements Element and the Traffic
town into a tax-oppressed waste land. These arguments fell on deaf ears. But not at DCA.
Circulation Element state two different levels of service, one says level A and the other level
This is not trivial. Not to the State nor the tax payers. It is grievous and expensive
C. For those of you that are unfamiliar with "level of service", it is a standard of service and
misfeasance on the part of the elected and appointed officials in an attempt to achieve their
has several classifications with "A" being the highest. It makes sense that you can't have two
narrow, selfish vision of a Deed Restricted, dictatorially controlled community. It represents
different standards. #2. While we stated that we have storm water deficiencies, we did not
12 month's of disregard for and manipulation of the rules of the planning process. Not one
include any projects in our Capital Improvements plan or explain why we had none, which was
analysis of impact has been done. That is incomprehensible even for amateurs.
mainly because we did not have definite funding as is a new requirement. #3. We needed more
Over one year ago the Town Council hired Rebecca Jetton a qualified expert accord-
data and analysis on our population, and its future growth to support our infrastructure. The
ing to Council to, among other things walk us through the comprehensive planning process
DCA recommended remedial action is to revise the Capital Improvement Element to be consis-
and get it done or something close to it. Today Ms. Jetton is gone having opted to not renew
tent with the standards and policies in the rest of the comp plan.
her contract with Yankeetown and conveniently leaving us at the most critical phase of the
Also to provide more data and analysis regarding the projected growth of the town
process. She was paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 for this failed effort. There
and more data on a projection of revenues that are available to fund our capital improvements.
is no question that getting out of this mess is going to be much more costly for the taxpayers
After the revision and corrections are made, public hearings will be held as we did before. A
in this town.
warning, I am not the expert on this, my discussion here is meant as an informational overview
Anyone hearing Council discuss the hiring of multiple experts to "help" us through
and my understanding from the reading of the letter sent to me from the DCA. Our legal staff
this situation during Monday's Council meeting would not have had any inkling that this is a
and Planning and Zoning staff will be moving forward to resolve this problem, and it is
disaster. Council does not think it's a disaster. And they will make every effort to trivialize and
resolvable. The Comprehensive Plan is a very large complicated document, I think our team
downplay this event. They caused it but will not stand up and take responsibility. And now
did great on our first big effort.
they are teeing us up for the next round of wasteful spending in pursuit of their agenda of
Special Thanx this week goes to the Bike Path Committee for the new bike racks that
creating the perfect deed restricted community.
they have donated to be placed at various locations around town. They have given one to
During the meeting Councilman Shanahan explained a number of unanticipated
town hall and it has been placed in front of the sign for the playground beside town hall.
expenses mostly related to equipment failures. He said more than once that most of our
Many of our visitors to town hall and the playground do come by bicycle so it will be nice to
equipment and infrastructure is old and failing. Things are falling apart, he said. In the next
have a good place to park them. The Bike Path Committee has been quiet lately but it is still
breath they are discussing and voting on how to spend whatever it takes to jam this night-
in existence. Ray Phares is a relatively new president who has taken over from Glen Spetz.
mare plan down our throats.
Other members are Larry Cohan, Dick Kellman, Mark Moore and this author.
The extraneous costs and possible resulting adoption of this destructive plan are
Don't forget your mother this coming weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all you
incomprehensible. But the abuse of authority to trivialize their outright ineptitude and dis-
moms out there, even if your only kid is a cat. Good Night and Good Luck.
honesty at our expense is an outrage beyond words.
The question now is, what do we do? Lay down and get run over or let this govern-
Letter to the Editor:
ment know we will not accept their plan to control our lives?  Good Day and...good grief!
Dear Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite,
I read with interest your latest issue of "On the Hill, Off the Cuff" about high gas
Letter to the Editor:
prices. The lack of refining capacity has been a growing problem in this country for almost 4
Town of Inglis Commission, this is to let you know that (Police) Chief Tim Bible has
decades as has our growing dependency on foreign oil. The lack of any meaningful activity to
made Inglis his third choice of employment, as you are aware, by him telling the commission
resolve these two "opportunities" along many other "lingering" issues falls at the feet of
before you he was going to Iraq. He did not resign so Inglis could move on, he kept us in
BOTH the Democrats and Republicans. Both have answered the call of special interests and
limbo. That commission has been replaced, and it is up to you to replace Bible. He has served
failed to put the best interests of the American people in the forefront of their endeavors for
us well, if you want to say that, but it is obvious he has other plans and needs to move along.
the same period of time, if not longer. Both have refused to take the hard road for fear that they
A man could have resigned, instead of dragging Inglis through the mud. If he won't
might upset those that provide the $$$$, etc. that they feel they need to be re-elected.
resign, you need to send him on his way. Inglis has suffered long enough over this issue.
We have a two party, Smoke and Mirrors, political system which is dominated by
Resolve it, and let's move on.
special interests, money and the powerful. One of these interests is the Federal Reserve Bank,
He can go get a lawyer to fight him being fired, but at least we would be rid of the
which the bulk of the public thinks is part of the government but is in fact a private bank
future problem of him as a (police) chief in Inglis and a liability to the town.
controlled by a handful of the largest banks in this country and the world.
The new commission should examine his background check, as Mrs. Betty Berger
Just after the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor (the Japanese botched getting the
did. She was the only sound mind on the previous commission on this issue! He has repeat-
Declaration of War to Washington, D.C. beforehand) a Japanese Admiral said about us:
edly stomped on his contract, and any lawyer that would represent him would lose, because
I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a fearsome resolve.
he neglects his duties as chief, daily.
Perhaps $4 gas, a lingering war, a weak dollar and economy, another bailout of the
Again, WE THE PEOPLE have elected you to save Inglis. Let's start by stopping the
financial system, social security woes, etc. will awaken the American public again. This time
lights-off scare tatics of this chief, and save the town a lot of money by downsizing the police
perhaps they will focus on those who supposedly represent us at all levels of government and
department and getting control of the future.
do a clean sweep of all the talking heads, posers and the like and in the future spend as much
He stood and told you he was here to stay. Let's see if Inglis has a voice in the
time knowing what is truly going on with their tax dollars and government as they do on
commission we have proudly elected. Here are three points you could consider to terminate
sports, looking good and planning vacations.
this contract. (1) He sought employment elsewhere (which violates his duties to Inglis). (2)
We are on our way to becoming a third world country and it's time to start really fixing
His background check is appaling to the new commission. (3) The town has to downsize to
the problems instead of a lot of "posing" for the public and getting little or nothing meaningful
save money. If he leaves, we can keep two officers. If he stays, two of the working men will
accomplished. Looking for meaningful accomplishments not obfuscation.
have to go!
Drew White, Inglis
Fred Clark,Lecanto
NAPA Auto &
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