Media Update

By Ron Cunningham
Editorial page editor

I'm thinking seriously about voting for the county's road sales tax in November.

But, I just don't know.

Oh, I know that some roads around here are in bad shape.

And while I might not agree with the commission's decision to spend the money on “asphalt only” (with the odd sidewalk thrown in), at least there's no ambiguity about what we're voting for.

Still, I just don't know.

I don't know if I can trust commissioners to keep faith with the voters if the thing passes.

For all I know, somewhere down the road (no pun intended) they will find a loophole to let them spend our “asphalt only” money on something else.

Heck, it might be a loophole big enough to drive a rapid transit bus through for all I know.

Listen, I'm not one of those who say you can't trust government, period. By and large, I think our local elected officials try to keep their word and do the right thing.

Still, there's an old saying: Actions speak louder than words.

And it looks very much like the county commission is getting ready to turn our CHOICES trust fund into a slush fund.

For expediency's sake, they are going to dip into CHOICES to the tune of about $3.3 million to help pay down the county's Medicaid debt to the state.

A debt that the county insists it doesn't even owe. It's joined other counties in a lawsuit and thinks the state is guilty of unfair and erroneous billing.

But pay we must. And, commissioners have a memo from the county attorney saying it is perfectly legitimate to divert CHOICES money to Medicaid.

And maybe it is, legally speaking.

Even so, it's a terrible breach of faith with the voters who approved CHOICES not all that many years ago.

As Commissioner Paula DeLaney pointed out this week, if voters had known going into the ballot booth that some of the money would go to pay off indigent care bills (and disputed ones at that), it never would have passed.

No, voters were under the impression that CHOICES would provide health care for “working poor” residents who make too much money to qualify for indigent assistance but not enough to pay for private coverage.

Because that's what they were told CHOICES would do.

Granted, this is an easy promise for commissioners to fudge on. In recent years, CHOICES has been much demonized in our letters pages and elsewhere as pure socialism and a waste of tax dollars.

But that doesn't negate the fact that a majority of voters in the 2004 election inked in the “yes” bubble for a quarter-cent sales tax; voting in effect to lend a helping hand to their less-fortunate neighbors.

They did not vote to help the county perform a one-time debt mitigation sleight-of-hand.

Hence, my dilemma.

If this commission is willing to break faith with the voters of 2004 for expediency's sake, what's to stop some future commission from finding loopholes in our asphalt only sales tax?

I want to believe that won't happen.

That the will of the voters will be respected now and ever more.

But, actions really do speak louder than words.

So, I guess I'll just have to wait and see if commissioners act to take the trust out of the CHOICES trust fund.

By Cindy Swirko
Staff writer

Looking for a new family member in a cat or dog? Plenty of them will be available Saturday at the annual Summer Lovin' Pet Adopt-a-thon held by University of Florida veterinary students at Alachua County Animal Services.

The adopt-a-thon, now in its third year, was started by the students out of concern for the number of animals being euthanized at the county shelter, primarily because of a lack of space.

“The first time was sort of, ‘wow, the shelter is really overrun' and it was a lifesaving event. Then they realized what a great success it was, and it turned into an annual thing,” said student Stephanie Hon, who is involved in the event. “The hope every year is to give the shelter a reprieve in July because their numbers really go up on the summer.”

Hon said about 130 animals will be up for adoption with a bit more than half being cats because summer is a heavy time of the year for kitten births.

All pets will cost $5 and will be spayed or neutered, microchipped, vaccinated, dewormed, treated for fleas and licensed. Usual adoption costs are $75 for cats and $85 for dogs.

The low cost for the event is due in part to a grant from the Wagmore Foundation, a local nonprofit with directors including philanthropist Gladys Cofrin and former Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan. Veterinary students will be contributing about $5,000 and are preparing the animals for adoption.

In 2011 6,328 cats and dogs were brought to the shelter, of which 2,214 were euthanized. Animal Services interim director Vernon Sawyer said the Summer Lovin' adopt-a-thon is a help in reducing those numbers.

“It's awesome,” he said. “Last year we got out all of our adoptable animals. This is great event.”

The event is dedicated this year to Persephone Athene, 27, an Animal Services employee who was killed on her way to work in a traffic crash in May.

The adopt-a-thon will be July 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 3900 NE 53rd Ave.

Facts
If you go
What: Summer Lovin' Pet Adopt-a-thon
When: Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Alachua County Animal Services, 3900 NE 53rd Ave.
Cost: $5 for a dog or cat that is spayed or neutered, microchipped, vaccinated, dewormed, treated for fleas and licensed

By Robin Politowicz
Special to The Sun

It's that time of year when the number of animals in Alachua County Shelter tick upward and adoptions plummet during the long days of summer. It doesn't have to be this way, though!

Animal-friendly Alachua County has many organizations and dedicated municipal employees who would love to help you adopt your next best friend.

Come to the Summer Lovin' Adoptathon at Alachua County Animal Services on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. There, students and faculty from the University of Florida Shelter Medicine will spearhead an effort to adopt every animal in the shelter! They've done it before, and they pledge to do it again.

Did you know that a significant percentage of dogs at shelters are purebred? If you're looking for a dog of a specific breed or with certain characteristics, look no further than Alachua County Animal Services or the great rescue groups in this area. There's no need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to purchase such a dog, who almost always comes from an inhumane environment at a puppy mill.

The same goes for animals sold at the flea market or on the side of the road; they are often under-socialized and inbred resulting in a host of both behavioral and medical challenges. Search for pets at local shelters of any size, shape, or type at www.petfinder.com.

As far as cats and kittens, there are multitudes available every day. Unfortunately, many people surrender entire litters of kittens to Alachua County Animal Services, which does not have the space or resources to cope with the huge numbers.

The public can make a huge impact simply by not bringing kittens into the shelter. Finding homes for kittens with friends and neighbors gives them a much better chance than bringing them to a crowded, overburdened shelter.

Kittens under eight weeks of age have much less chance of making it out of the shelter alive. They can't be spayed and neutered when they're this young, and they're highly susceptible to contagious disease and infections.

Despite the efforts of a strong coalition of animal rescue partners, who visit the shelter daily to transfer at-risk animals into temporary foster homes, more than 2,200 animals were euthanized in 2011 simply because of lack of space and time to keep them. This flood of animals peaks in the summer. In June and July last year, Animals Services took in 1,323 animals.

The people of Gainesville have too much compassion to allow this to continue. Everyone can help:

■ Spay/neuter your pets. It's easy and cheap, and you will be free from any unwanted litters. The surgery also provides medical benefits to your pet. Check out Operation Petsnip (www.nmhp.net/Home/SpayandNeuterClinic/tabid/142/Default.aspx) to find out how you can get your pet neutered.

■ Do you feed community cats? They need to be spayed and neutered as well. Fortunately, this service is available free of charge! Operation Catnip is one of the most successful and well-respected programs in the country. It provides trap-neuter-return options for cat caregivers. Check out a trap, bring the cat to their monthly clinic, pick up the kitty and return to his/her environment. It's that easy. For more, check out Operation Catnip at www.facebook.com/operationcatnip or call them at 352-380-0940. The next clinic is Sunday. The helpful staff will help you even if you have never trapped a cat before.

■ Visit all the great pets available at the Summer Lovin' Adoptathon at Alachua County Animal Services on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Adoptions are only $5 for all animals during this event! For the price of a latte, you can save a life, make friends with a new pet who will be your loyal companion for years, and send a message that in Alachua County, we are making great strides toward saving lives.

In both 2010 and 2011, the vet students helped adopt every single animal at the shelter. Let's keep the streak alive! More information is available at www.facebook.com/SummerLovinAdoptathon.

■ Should you find yourself in a position where you might have to give up a pet, please be proactive and encourage others to do the same. Individuals can list their pets on sites such as Petfinder.com. Post flyers and let your social networking friends know about your situation.

There are many strategies you can use to avoid taking your pet to a shelter where it may be euthanized. More information about finding homes for pets is available on the Best Friends Animal Society website at www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/resources/.

I hope that these suggestions lead to fewer homeless pets in Alachua County and beyond. A hearty thanks to the students and staff of UF Veterinary Medicine, all our local rescue groups, and the staff of Alachua County Animal Services

Robin Politowicz is a network specialist for the Best Friends Animal Society.

By Shayna Posses
Correspondent

Every night after work, Greg Newburn takes a leisurely, 45-minute walk around his Haile Plantation neighborhood with his wife and 1-year-old son.

"We thought it was unique, but we tried the next day and didn't even make it as far as the day before, because we were getting mauled by mosquitoes," he said. "We're basically prisoners in our own home."

Haile is in the county, which does not spray for mosquitoes as the city of Gainesville does. The dilemma prompted Newburn to write a letter to county commissioners, complaining about the abundance of mosquitoes.

The bane of Florida summer living has become worse than usual in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Debby, which soaked areas that had been mostly dry in recent years, said Chip Skinner, Gainesville Public Works spokesman.

The city started sending out three spraying trucks on June 28 to combat the mosquito population, according to a city of Gainesville news release. They use the chemicals Aqua-Reslin and Duet, which city staff said affect only adult mosquitoes.

"It's been four or five years since we've had the mosquitoes be as bad as they are right now," Skinner said recently. "I had two last night that could have carried me and my dog away, they were so big."

Gainesville Mosquito Control starts spraying when its mosquito traps catch at least 25 adult mosquitoes per day, a level Gainesville has far exceeded, said Karen St. Pierre, interim entomologist for Gainesville Mosquito Control.

Another requirement before the city starts spraying is a rate of about three mosquitoes landing on an individual within a minute of them standing outside.

Mosquito Control also uses resident complaints to gauge the problem.

St. Pierre walked into her office Monday morning with 258 messages on her machine from the weekend.

Before Debby, she said she'd been receiving two to three calls a week.

St. Pierre estimated that the city will continue to spray for at least the next two weeks to try to alleviate the problem.

Currently, Alachua County does not offer mosquito spraying services. The issue was brought up at the Tuesday commission meeting by Commissioner Susan Baird.

Commission Chair Paula DeLaney explained that mosquito spraying has been discussed in years prior, but it was always shot down because of budgeting reasons and resident concern from individuals with asthma or other breathing issues.

"My concern is the diseases mosquitoes carry," Baird said. "I'm like, you're going to die of something. I mean, I'd at least rather take the chance."

Each municipality takes care of mosquito control individually.

Rains lead to an increase in standing water, providing more places for mosquitoes to lay their eggs, Skinner said. Gainesville and the surrounding areas received about 13 inches of rain in June, according to a city of Gainesville news release.

"Mosquitoes like any standing water for their breeding grounds," he said. "They need that water to hatch their eggs."

Public Works suggests emptying water out of bird baths weekly and pet bowls daily, Skinner said. Residents should check boats, flowerpots, trash cans, discarded tires and wading pools for standing water.

The city also offers gambusia fish to residents that have some sort of permanent standing water on their property. These small fish eat mosquito larvae and can be requested from Gainesville Mosquito Control at no cost.

The Alachua County Health Department is mainly focused on mosquito surveillance, health department environmental health director Anthony Dennis said. said.

The health department has six sentinel chicken flocks to detect antibodies that indicate mosquito-borne illnesses in the region, Dennis said.

Mosquito-borne diseases do not affect chickens, he said.

"That's always been done," he said. "That's the most traditional way. That's fundamental mosquito surveillance."

The most common illness this time of year is the West Nile Virus, Dennis said, though mosquitoes also spread such diseases as Eastern equine encephalitis and St. Louis encephalitis. Symptoms for these diseases include headaches, muscle aches and fever.

No cases have been reported so far this year, Dennis said. The diseases are rarely fatal.

"Typically, you get over it pretty quick," he said. "You could get it and not even know."

In order to protect against mosquitoes, it is recommended that residents wear light-colored clothing outside that covers exposed skin and use repellents containing DEET, he said.

Mosquitoes feed more at dawn and dusk, so residents should stay inside at these times if possible.

"In Florida, it's all about exposure," Dennis said. "It's a summer thing. It happens every year."

By Christopher Curry
Staff writer

Confusion reigned, or at least surfaced, as Acting County Manager Rick Drummond unveiled his fiscal year 2012-13 budget proposal Tuesday.

County commissioners had expected a hold-the-line budget. While Drummond's proposal did that with the general fund's property tax revenues, it included an overall increase in general fund spending of about $2.14 million to approximately $128.3 million.

That increase, Drummond said, was due to the fact that the carryover of unspent monies and unbudgeted revenues at the end of this fiscal year was expected to be about $2.14 million more than typical.

Suzanne Gable, the director of the county's Office of Management and Budget, said the county usually ends a fiscal year with a carry-forward in the range of $12 million to $14 million and that money goes into the next fiscal year's budget and toward covering the bills until the next fiscal year's tax revenues begin to roll in.

In the budget proposal, the additional carry-forward funds were plugged back into the general fund for items such as the Supervisor of Elections costs for required equipment purchases and the November ballot, the annual debt payment for the jail roof and a heating/air conditioning system replacement, a spending increase in the county's capital program and a $1.2 million "core services" account.

Heading into next Tuesday's budget meeting, which includes a preliminary vote on the millage rate, some commissioners questioned if the money shouldn't go instead toward avoiding -- or at least lessening -- the proposed general fund property tax rate increase.

Commissioner Susan Baird said it is only "extra money" because the general fund budget includes that property tax rate increase.

With property values projected to decline by 3.38 percent, the proposed general fund tax rate would increase from the current rate of 8.5956 mills to 8.8963 mills, which would result in revenue of approximately $95.28 million. That is only $140 more than the current fiscal year's budgeted revenues.

One mill equals one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value.

The proposed tax rates for the municipal services taxing units that fund law enforcement and unincorporated services would remain the same. The tax rate for the MSTU that funds fire services would be reduced by some 10 percent from approximately 1.34 mills to 1.2 mills, resulting in $806,000 less revenue.

That reduction is not projected to affect the department's services because the reductions were one-time expenditures, including equipment purchases, in this fiscal year's budget.

Combined, the total property tax revenues for the general fund and the three municipal services taxing units would decline by a little more than $1 million.

If the County Commission maintains the current general fund property tax rate, the projected revenue reduction is $3.2 million. Under that scenario, Drummond's proposal would eliminate some 26 positions, including up to 14 positions and two ambulance units in the Fire-Rescue department.

Baird, who wants to maintain the current tax rate, opposed that option. She said "core" government services should be preserved and social programs such as the Community Agency Partnership Program, which provides monies to nonprofits serving the poor, should instead be eliminated.

The budget proposal includes a 2 percent salary increase for all employees of the departments under the County Commission and the constitutional officers -- a projected cost of $1.4 million.

It would eliminate 6.5 full-time equivalent positions, most of them vacant, in the departments under the Commission. From fiscal year 2008-2009 until fiscal year 2012-13, the total number of full-time equivalent positions under the County Commission will have declined from 914 to 854.

Funding for CAPP would be cut by 15 percent or $175,000.

The Sheriff's Office budget would rise from approximately $65.7 million to almost $66.1 million. That includes the addition of 12 new positions at the jail, the first year that additional employees will be phased in.

It also includes the use of $3.3 million from the CHOICES program, which primarily funds access to health care for the working uninsured, to cover some of the county's additional Medicaid payment requirements mandated by a bill that the Legislature passed last session.

In June, commissioners voted 3-2, with Mike Byerly and Paula DeLaney in dissent, to tap the CHOICES trust fund for the Medicaid requirements.

During public comment Tuesday, Allan March, the chairman of the CHOICES advisory board, said all 10 members present at Monday's meeting voted to oppose the use of CHOICES money for the Medicaid obligations. March said that was not the intent of the program that voters approved.

By Christopher Curry
Staff writer

Now it goes to the voters.

Months of sometimes contentious County Commission debate over a transportation sales tax culminated Tuesday evening with a 3-2 vote to put before the voters in November a referendum on a 15-year, ¾-cent sales tax for roads.

Commissioners Lee Pinkoson, Susan Baird and Winston Bradley were in the majority and Mike Byerly and Paula DeLaney in dissent. That's the way the vote broke down in late March, when commissioners divided a one-cent sales tax for transportation into a ¾-cent tax for roads and a ¼-cent tax for Gainesville's Regional Transit System. It's also the way the vote broke down in May when the majority killed the RTS transit tax.

Both of those moves drew the ire of the Gainesville City Commission majority. Last month, city commissioners voted to have staff draft up a resolution to oppose the sales tax referendum if the County Commission did not increase the city's share of funding. The County Commission majority did not, so issue of the city opposing the referendum should be back for a vote at an upcoming City Commission meeting.

The city would receive approximately $5.5 million - or 24 percent - of $22.5 million that the roads tax would raise annually. Some $12.97 million would go to the county, and the smaller municipalities would split the rest.

City Commissioner Thomas Hawkins told county commissioners Tuesday that their handling of the tax cultivated "ill will" with the City Commission and the current the funding split was a "tremendous slight to the Gainesville taxpayers" who typically support tax referendums. Given that, he predicted the measure would be "dead on arrival" in November.

For the majority of the County Commission, the deal breaker with Gainesville was the city's decision to include its planned bus rapid transit system on the list of projects eligible for funding. With an alternatives analysis to determine specific route alignments just under way, County Commissioner Lee Pinkoson said the city's planning for bus rapid transit was not far enough along to put it on the ballot.

A road sales tax last went to voters in 2004 and failed. After a report showed a $380 million backlog in the county's road resurfacing needs, talks resurfaced and fizzled in 2010 only to commence again in 2011.

There has been a push to delay the referendum until 2014 -- both from those who oppose the decision to eliminate the city's transit projects and from those who want to see how the November elections will change the complexion of the County Commission.

Baird opposed any delay, saying the condition of the county's roads will "only get worse" by 2014.

Byerly and DeLaney both opposed the initial decision to divide the tax and the subsequent decision to kill the transit piece. They said those votes undermined the City Commission's authority to determine Gainesville's transportation priorities. Byerly, in a previous interview, and Delaney, from the dais Tuesday, each said they will encourage opposition to the tax proposal that the majority of their board approved.

The specific sales tax under consideration is a charter county and regional transportation system surtax. State law allows counties with a governing charter to levy the tax with voter approval and grants those counties authority over how the money is split, with the option of sharing it with municipalities via interlocal agreements.

Revenues may go toward road, bridge and other infrastructure projects as well as transit operations and capital expenses.

While choosing this tax, the county will limit expenditures to road projects -- and some sidewalk construction -- that could have been funded with an infrastructure sales tax.

By Christopher Curry
Staff writer

The Alachua County Commission approved a tax rebate Tuesday for the medical research and pharmaceutical firm Nanotherapeutics -- contingent on an expansion plan that would add up to 150 new jobs.

Through the state's Qualified Target Industry incentive program for high-wage jobs, the county would offer a rebate of up to $105,000 paid out over four years.

The city of Alachua would make an equal $105,000 contribution, which the Alachua City Commission is expected to vote on later this month, said Edgar Palafox, the county's economic development coordinator.

The combined $210,000 local contribution from the county and city of Alachua would comprise 20 percent of a total tax rebate of up to $1.05 million. State government would be responsible for the remaining 80 percent of the incentive.

Nanotherapeutics began as a startup company in the University of Florida Sid Martin Biotechnology Institute and now has 45 employees at its offices in the Progress Corporate Park in the city of Alachua.

The company is now competing for a $400 million, 10-year federal contract to develop and manufacture pharmaceuticals. The details of that federal project were not included in Nanotherapeutics' application for the QTI because the firm requested and received confidentiality.

Pending the outcome of that bid, the firm has plans for a $150 million 145,000-square-foot expansion and the addition of up to 150 new employees with an average salary of $90,000, according to its application.

The County Commission approved the QTI application 4-1, with Commissioner Mike Byerly in dissent. Byerly consistently votes against QTI applications, saying that he opposes direct payments of taxpayer money to private firms.