Okaloosa County BOCC — August 28, 2013 — Agenda — reading text

Agenda Item 8: Transition Budget (RE: 9/18/13 Gulf Consortium Meeting Materials) Dave Parisot This message was sent with High importance. You forwarded this message on 9/12/2013 7:45 AM. Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 12:30 AM To: Doug Darling [ddarling@fl-counties.com] Cc: CHolley@fl-counties.com; SBleakley@ngnlaw.com; John Dowd; John Hofstad; Rick Owen Bcc: In regard to Agenda Item #8, Continuation of Transition Budget, I respectfully request you provide the following information to all Consortium Directors and Alternates prior to the meeting on Sept. 18, 2013 as an addendum to this agenda item. It's time to lay the cards on the table.: 1. A list by individual counties of the total amounts paid into the Consortium to date. 2. A list by individual counties of the total amounts paid to FAC prior to the official formation of the Gulf Consortium. (I assume these amounts will be only from the 8-county group) 3. A list by individual counties of the amounts paid to FAC prior to the passage of the RESTORE Act. (Again, I assume these amounts will be from only the 8- county group) By the information requested, I'm sure you can see where I am going with this. The 8-counties have carried the far greater majority of the funding for the Consortium and ALL of the funding to FAC for services prior to Congress passing the RESTORE Act. Your proposal in Agenda Item #8 is for the 8-counties to continue to bear 75% of the costs of operating the Consortium. Yet, I have seen nothing that the 8-counties will receive 75% of the RESTORE funding via Pot 3 as we do in Pot 1. At the same time as the 8-counties are being tasked to continue to fund 75% of the costs of the Consortium, we are also expending our county funds for consultants and other expenses to develop our individual county Multi-Year Plans required by the RESTORE Act. It's time for the 15- counties to start paying their share of the freight for the Gulf Consortium. Why should the rural counties of Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla in the Panhandle be paying a higher amount than counties like Pinellas, Hillsborough,, Manatee, Sarasota or Monroe? Please remember that none of the 8-counties has yet received even one-dollar from RESTORE. A more equitable cost-share of the Consortium needs to be devised. If the 8-counties do continue to pay 75% of the Consortium costs, then it is only fair that all future Consortium meetings be held in the Florida Panhandle, rotating among the 8-counties. Doing this will at least reduce the travel costs and time for the Directors from the 8-counties to attend the meetings. It is probably time that the Consortium also get away from the seemingly self- imposed 2-hour meeting limit. As the developments of the RESTORE Act move forward with more detailed planning now that we have the draft Treasury Rules, it is going to be tough get get through an agenda in two hours. If that means "divorcing" consortium meetings from the regularly scheduled FAC meetings, so be it. Of late, I have noted that often various of the Consortium Directors are being pulled away from participation in the Consortium because they have obligations with the FAC meeting to immediately follow. This particularly occurs when the Consortium meetings precede the FAC functions. Of course, when the Consortium meetings are after the FAC meetings, it seems many of the Consortium members are in a rush to get home. Perhaps it is time to hold the Consortium meetings as "stand alone" meetings. Dave Parisot Okaloosa County Commissioner, District 2 Board Vice Chairman (2012 & 2013) 1804 Lewis Turner Blvd., Ste 100, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547 Office: (850) 651-7105; Mobile: (850) 855-1042 "Make it Better; Make it Lasting; MAKE IT HAPPEN."--General Wilbur Creech, USAF, Ret. NOTE: DUE TO FLORIDA'S BROAD PUBLIC RECORDS LAWS, THIS E-MAIL, INCLUDING YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS, MAY BE SUBJECT TO PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. ________________________________________ From: Doug Darling [ddarling@fl-counties.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 4:13 PM Subject: 9/18/13 Gulf Consortium Meeting Materials Gulf Consortium Directors and Alternates: The meeting materials for our Consortium Meeting next Wednesday, September 18, 2013 from 10:00 am – 12:00 noon EST in Palm Beach have been posted on the website. www.FACRESTORE.com<http://www.FACRESTORE.com> There are updates that will be posted to Agenda Items #4 & #5 that you will receive another email about next week. Please let us know if you have any questions. Regards, Doug Darling Connected to Microsoft Exchange