More and more, it seems, we’re losing local control of our community.
We’ve got appointed bureaucrats in Washington telling us 32 high-speed trains a day are coming down our tracks, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.
We’ve got elected legislators in Tallahassee telling us that profiteers can turn single-family homes in residential neighborhoods into weekend hotels, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
And though we put ourselves in a tough spot with a Vero Beach Utilities contract that now does more harm than good, some power agency operating out of Orlando is telling us we’re stuck with it.
Forever.
You OK with that? I’m not.
I’m sick of people who live somewhere else telling the people who live here what’s best for them, with no regard for what we want and no consideration for our quality of life.
I’m fed up with outsiders making decisions that greatly, and sometimes negatively, impact our community – decisions they’re authorized but are not informed enough to make. Decisions made for the benefit of others at our expense. Decisions we’re perfectly capable of making for ourselves.
I’m tired of feeling powerless, frustrated, bullied.
And based on the feedback I’m getting from all corners of Indian River County, I’m not alone.
“You just nailed it,” County Commission Chairman Wesley Davis said. “I’ve been hearing it a lot lately – why doesn’t what we want matter? – and for all the reasons you mentioned.
“People feel helpless,” he added. “We’ve got too many unelected bureaucrats in Washington and Tallahassee making decisions that impact us, locally. The power needs to be given back to the voter, especially when it comes to issues that affect our community.
“The government that governs best is the one closest to your doorstep.”
That’s because local governments must answer to local voters. Too many members of the Florida Legislature and U.S. Congress couldn’t find Vero Beach with a map.
Back in 2011, the Legislature passed a law allowing homes in residential neighborhoods to be used for short-term vacation rentals.
It did so because enough politicians representing enough people in enough parts of the state wanted it.
The fact that most folks here were opposed to such rentals didn’t matter.
We were outnumbered.
The same is happening with All Aboard Florida, which has tremendous support in the heavily populated communities it would serve – the proposed, high-speed rail system would connect South Florida and Orlando – but is facing fierce opposition here and in other Treasure Coast communities that would see no benefit and be forced to endure plenty of harm.
Generally speaking, nobody in our county is embracing AAF, which plans to subject us to passenger trains barreling non-stop though the heart of our communities at 100-plus mph.
That’s in addition to freight traffic, which, as a result of the widening of the Panama Canal, is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years.
Yet, despite our strong objections and pesky protests – government funding is being challenged, lawsuits are being filed and opposition continues to grow – the project continues to move forward with the backing of federal and state politicians who care nothing about our way of life.
Again, what we want doesn’t matter, because we don’t have the political clout in Washington or Tallahassee to stop it.
We’re outnumbered.
“I don’t care,” Sebastian City Councilwoman Andrea Coy said. “The rental issue is a non-factor up here, and we’re not affected by the Vero electric controversy, but when it comes to the train, I’m going to battle them until the day I die.
“I understand what we’re up against,” she added. “I understand why people think it’s already too late, that this is a done deal. But it hurts my heart to hear that because, if we don’t keep fighting, we definitely will lose.
“We still have a chance, so don’t give up. It’s not too late. Until I see that first high-speed train rolling through the city, I’m going to keep fighting.”
So will the Indian River Neighborhood Association, which, led by chairman Honey Minuse, formed the Train Impact Coalition – members represent the county’s residents, organizations and governments – to address potential impacts of AAF and the seemingly inevitable increase in freight-train traffic.
Minuse believes the coalition can successfully challenge AAF’s business plan using the National Environmental Policy Act to require the company to recognize and mitigate the impacts of high-speed rail in our communities.
“You can’t just stand on a street corner and hold up a sign saying, ‘This is a bad thing,’” Minuse said. “You’ve got to work within the system that’s in place, and that’s what we’re doing. I think the people in our county are happy to have someone stand up for them and their rights.”
In fact, the IRNA is hoping to do the same in addressing the short-term vacation-rental issue in our community.
The city of Vero Beach had a preexisting ordinance prohibiting the short-term rental of residential homes – which it understood to mean less than 30 days – so it thought it would not be affected by the state law passed in 2011. Shrewd lawyers had other ideas, and the issue now is in the courts.
But the county played right into the state’s hands when it voted in 2012 to allow single-family homes to be used as hotels as long as the owners acquired state licenses and collected tourist taxes.
“The County Commission created the problem when it took away the restriction in 2012, so now we’re urging commissioners to do what they can to correct it,” Minuse said. “What can be done now? The county needs to regulate these rentals as a business, because that’s what they are.
“They are businesses being conducted in single-family residential neighborhoods,” she added. “They’re going to diminish property values and destroy neighborhoods. So we’re keeping pressure on the county to regulate them as much as they can. “We have to protect ourselves.”
We do indeed. But what if you’re outnumbered?
What if you live here, in our seaside slice of heaven, as a proud member of a special community that wants to retain its peaceful ambiance and small-town charm but doesn’t have enough votes in Washington or Tallahassee to fend off the intrusion of high-speed trains and transient rentals?
What do you do then? What do we do now?
Shouldn’t the residents of this community have the right to decide whether they want 100-mph passenger trains zipping through the county at all hours of the day and night? Or single-family homes in residential neighborhoods used as hotels? Or FPL to replace Vero Beach utilities as their electric provider?
I believe so.
I believe the rail company’s private property rights, long protected by federal law, should end where they infringe on ours, especially when they threaten our quality of life.
I believe the State Legislature passed a bad law when it allowed the short-term rental of homes in residential neighborhoods, for the same private-property reasons.
I also believe people shouldn’t be forced to overpay for electricity when there is a less-expensive alternative readily available.
Mostly, I believe the people who live here can be better trusted with the governing of our community than anyone in Washington, Tallahassee or Orlando.
“With all that’s been happening, I can’t blame people for feeling the way they do,” Davis said. “Clearly, something needs to change.”
But how?
Public protests? Political pressure? Legal challenges?
How do we successfully take on the power brokers in Washington and Tallahassee and take back control of our community?
Ahh, that’s the question.