Brooksville Main Street City Council City of Brooksville

City Council Dumps Funding Support for Brooksville Main Street

The members of the Brooksville City Council are not all that different from most other small towns the size of Brooksville, one would think. But after watching how some council members continue to disparage what Brooksville Main Street has done for the city and what the city itself has not is … the word escapes me … “baffling” will have to do. It is clear, as a body they are out to destroy the only good thing the city has had going for it in terms of Economic Development in decades. City Council has now voted to remove all funding for Main Street Brooksville from the city’s 2021 proposed budget.

But as individual members, this position, thank goodness, was not unanimous. Members positions were as follows:

  • Betty Erhard, who simply hates the program, the organization behind it, the members of the organization, and has consistently tried to do everything to kill it, made a motion, literally before any discussion took place, to defund Main Street by moving the proposed budget allocation to other purposes. She made this motion as she has at other times to destroy Main Street during her term on the Council.
  • Robert Battista, seconded Erhard’s motion and while doing so confirmed once again in a ten-minute monologue that he is a non-believer in the city’s future. He then later “called the question” before the discussion was ended and voted for the motion to defund.
  • Vice Mayor Pat Brayton also voted for the motion to defund. Brayton has voted both for and against the program in the past. His concerns remain unclear. It would be helpful if we could know them so we could work to address them.
  • Bill Kemerer voted against the motion. He consistently makes thoughtful points, asks sometimes tough but appropriate questions and has been supportive.
  • Mayor Joe Bernardini also voted against the motion to defund. It was a Zoom meeting, which creates new challenges for facilitating. He had a tough task trying to manage a tough issue and giving each Council member fair opportunities to speak and when finally getting the opportunity to give his own opinion after the forced vote, he spoke about his continuing support for Main Street.

The Forced Vote

When city staff accidentally left Brooksville Main Street’s Executive Director’s report they’d requested off the agenda and a motion with a second was on the table, the discussion that took place was on the motion and not about the agenda item. Erhard had made the motion before any discussion had begun then

Later, before the discussion was complete, Battista “called the question.” This forced a vote before further in formation Main Street might have offered as well as any Florida Main Street’s State Coordinator, Katherine Beck, who was available by telephone from Tallahassee, may have offered. Even the Mayor was prevented from sharing his opinion before the vote. Thus, despite anything the Mayor might have done, the discussion was then limited to the motion and not the overall information about operating the Main Street program that could and should have been available to the Council members before the vote. Had there been further debate, the information that would have been forthcoming might have resulted in a different outcome. Hopefully, what happened can be changed as discussed below.

The Nonsense of it All

Those who want to get rid of Brooksville Main Street seem to have no idea that abandoning the program is clearly not in the city’s best interests. I believe they know all the good things people are saying about what Main Street has accomplished. Yet some council members cannot stop their personal knowledge deficits and biases from blinding them to what the city needs and the opportunity that stands in front of them. They either cannot see or consciously choose to deny that Main Street is building real community belief in the city, hope for its future and, most importantly, that it’s achievable. What they seemingly pay attention to instead are continuous, unfounded, sometimes unrelated, rumors and incorrect or insignificant negative things about the program. This information is apparently provided to them by only a handful of individuals whose legacy has been negativity and destruction of plans to help Brooksville and who have never presented an alternate plan but simply been against anyone else’s.

The Message it Sends

The question you likely have is, why does it have to be this way? And so do I. But that’s perhaps for a future post. Just know that, as a body, they have bugled to all current and even prospective city businesses, property owners and residents, that they do not give a flip about what Brooksville Main Street is trying to do for the city and will not support it in the city’s 2021 budget in any form, period.

So, what’s going to happen to Brooksville Main Street? What’s the city going to do about Economic Development if Main Street can’t survive without the requested $45,000? Will the momentum Main Street has built – vis a vis the hard work and growing support from city businesses, property owners, and residents, and the increasing number of visitors to the city – be lost? As a start, know this: We’re not going away. I refer you to an insightful and thoughtfully written letter by Brooksville Main Street’s Executive Director, Natalie Kahler, the morning after the city washed its hands of the program. Read it at this link: https://voiceofbrooksville.org/blog/2020/07/30/response-to-monday-nights-city-council-vote/

The City’s Short Term (?) Plan

Earlier in the meeting, City Manager, Mark Kutney had presented the Council a “strategic plan” for an Economic Development Office for the city which included the potential for two new staff positions and a sweeping set of new responsibilities for them and the rest of the city’s existing staff. A careful read indicates it’s simply an attempt to duplicate much of what Main Street is already doing. The Council told him to consider only one of the positions and charged him with adding further details including a better handle on what it all would cost.

Incredibly, Council Member Erhard said she supports the plan and is ready to implement it even before knowing the estimated final costs or how long it would take. Based on what was presented, even a very conservative guess might put the cost well over $150,000 and well over what the Main Street is already doing it for. As for how long it would take, my guess is several years just to get it semi-functional, assuming they can get in place all the complex coordination with the many other players involved and the volunteer support that will be required for it to work. City Manager Kutney also stated, but I don’t think it registered, that his plan, as presented, was only about one third (!) of what it would actually take to accomplish its stated goals. So, if the estimate for the effort described is roughly $150,000, is the total cost going to be three times that amount? It’ll be interesting to see what he comes up with.

So, is all lost?

Hopefully not. The city’s budget isn’t finalized until September and even if it is, City Council can amend it later, but if it’s after September 30 the process becomes more complicated. Once Manager Kutney puts the cost together for his new Economic Development Office, working with Brooksville Main Street instead should become a more acceptable option. If there’s a chance to change at least one vote before then, we need to try, and there may be such a chance this coming Monday, August 3. See “Alert” Below.

Alert

If you’re one of Brooksville’s growing number of concerned businesses, residents, or property owners who believe and love our city and want your voice to be heard and have an impact, now is the time to let City Council know your feelings. You can do so by writing to each of the City Council members at the email addresses shown below, but you need to do it today (7/31). Natalie Kahler, Brooksville Main Street’s Executive Director, will be making its quarterly report to the Council this Monday, Aug 3. You can request your email to the Council to be verbally read into the record. Having your email read into the record by the City Clerk would be a great way have your voice heard, guaranteed! Just make sure it can be read in less than three minutes. Those of you who are in other parts of the county but love the city and many of the Main Street events it has held hopefully will write in as well.

Finally

Let there be no mistake. For the City of Brooksville to truly become the best city it can be and achieve what is clearly possible, there needs to be a strong interaction of sincere belief, appreciation, and support for the mutual roles that city government and the city’s community each must successfully carry out in unison. The Brooksville Vision Foundation and Brooksville Main Street believes it will happen and looks forward to having a strong and effective partnership with the city one day soon.

Council member email addresses:

jbernardini@cityofbrooksville.us

pbrayton@cityofbrooksville.us

rbattista@cityofbrooksville.us

wkemerer@cityofbrooksville.us

berhard@cityofbrooksville.us

mkutney@cityofbrooksville.us

jbattista@cityofbrooksville.us

Stay tuned …

The Voice of Brooksville Main Street