TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Rhoades, Griffin Squabble Over CRA

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: November 9, 2008

SEBRING - Voting in commissioners Gene Brenner and Kathy Malie to their respective chair and vice chair positions on the Community Redevelopment Agency at Tuesday's Sebring City Council meeting seemed like a routine item.

That is, until Councilwoman Margie Rhoades asked for it to be pulled from the consent agenda.
Rhoades said her reason was so she could vote against the appointments and to say why she was voting against it.
Rhoades and Councilman Dan Andrews had voted for Bruce Borkosky when appointments for the board of CRA commissioners came before the council in October. Brenner and Malie won by a 3-2 margin.

"There's not a lot of oversight over a lot of the tax money they get," she began.

It was deliberately set up to be that way, explained CRA Executive Director Pete Pollard Thursday, as it was explained to him in 1982 by then City Council Chairman Mary Bryant.

The tax funds Rhoades refers to are derived directly from properties located within the boundaries of the CRA district and cannot be spent anywhere outside of the CRA district.

"In 1981 the Sebring City Council chose to appoint a board of commissioners to comprise the CRA instead of declaring themselves the CRA," said Pollard, who stepped into his role as director in 1982.

"One of the reasons they chose to do that, as it was explained to me at that time, was it would help to keep the politics out of the process," he said. "Over the years (27 of them) it's worked very well."
Rhoades questioned why the board had three salaries on its budget; Pollard's, his executive assistant Robin Hinote and a secretary.

"I don't think they need three people in that office," she argued.

Pollard told the city council that the secretary position was on the CRA budget but was not filled. He said they had no immediate plans to fill it at this time.
Rhoades said she felt the board was not going in the right direction and that the CRA guidelines were not followed when Lakeview Drive was developed.
Councilman John Griffin staunchly disagreed with Rhoades' assessment about the direction the CRA was going.
Rhoades didn't like some of the decisions made regarding façade grants, like when residents at the Fountainhead Condominiums had their front doors replaced with grant money.

She argued the condo's maintenance fee paid for general maintenance.

Pollard said the doors were not covered by general maintenance.

"Concerning the door issue, the CRA board changed its rules to limit the grants to projects greater than $1,000," Pollard said Wednesday.

Before that, the way the rules were written, they really couldn't say no to those applicants.

It doesn't cost $1,000 to replace a door, he said.

However, the board has made exceptions to that rule where Rebuilding Highlands County was able to apply for a façade grant to purchase materials for less than that amount.

The board also made an exception for the Art League at its Artist Village when it extended a limit of $15,000 over two years and then extended it again for another year. The Art League ultimately received $12,066.57 over a three-year period, Pollard said.

"It reimbursed 30 percent of paid receipts," he said.
Rhoades said she felt she would like to see term limits so leadership can turn over once in a while.

It was argued that it was hard enough to get people to put in long hours for those unpaid positions.

After some discussion by Mayor George Hensley over a possible workshop to discuss the matter, Griffin said Rhoades is entitled to her opinion, but he disagreed with her.

"I don't think that for the last 25 years the CRA has hardly ever made a major decision where they haven't come to the council for approval," Griffin said.

Its appointed board works within the statutes, he said.

"One person has a problem with the way the CRA operates," he said. "I don't think the CRA has a problem with the council."

Pollard said Thursday that there is a system of checks and balances built into the statute that established the CRA. Those include replacing the board of commissioners and declaring the city council as the CRA board or disbanding the CRA all together, he said.

The chair and vice chair were reappointed by a 4-1 vote.

Joe Seelig can be reached at 863-386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT