By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 04/13/08
ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH -- The board of the Anastasia Mosquito Control knows it faces real challenges for 2009 -- a possibility of three new members, centralization and modernization, all while tax revenues keep getting cut.
The board met in a day-long workshop Saturday with a professional facilitator who is helping the district map its priorities for 2009 and onward.
Marilyn E. Crotty, director of Florida Institute of Government at the University of Central Florida, led a cooperative discussion that produced a clear list of three priorities, such as whether to open a new base facility, whether to renovate the existing facility on Old Beach Road, and whether to close the Ponte Vedra Beach and Hastings facilities and move those offices to district property off State Road 208.
Crotty was hired to prevent the tumultuous in-fighting, rudeness and chaos that marked the 2008 budget hearings.
"We'll list the priorities now, then your staff will be challenged to come back with a work plan with budget figures in them," she said.
The list contains one hot potato the board must face this year -- purchasing a helicopter.
Chairwoman Jeanne Moeller said at the beginning, "If we're going to establish a budget with taxpayer dollars, we should put our hidden agendas on the table."
Board member John Sundeman dismissed the earlier disputes.
"Small boards are like marriages, you have good weeks and you have bad weeks," he said. "This process is going to determine the future of Mosquito Control."
Former board chairwoman Barbara Bosanko agreed, adding, "We're a blended family. We have some internal housekeeping issues we need to clean up. So it's good we get it out and put it on paper so we can see it."
The board has two members who have said they will not run in November -- Linda Wampler and Emily Hummel, and one, Barbara Bosanko, who said she hasn't decided whether to run again or not.
One elephant-in-the-room issue not discussed was the St. Johns County Commission's desire to hold a referendum and find out if the voters want to continue with the district or allow the county to absorb it into its structure.
Another issue that will almost certainly be contentious down the line is whether the district needs an aerial spraying program.
The board's list of large priorities includes: communications and education, personnel, fiscal, service delivery and facilities. With that done, Crotty expected to go into further detail.
"You're going to find more things to agree with than not," she told the board.
Hummel said she enjoyed the open dialogue. "This is the first time we've had a chance for all of us to speak our minds," she said.
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