Agenda 01/25/2011 Item # 9H
Add On
Item 9H
January 25, 2011
MEMORANDUM
DATE:
January 20, 2010
TO:
Board of County Commissioners
FROM:
Commissioner Jim Coletta
RE:
Economic Health and Viability of Collier County
Dear Commissioners:
Like you and so many around Collier County, I've thought a lot recently about how our
community can work together to improve Collier County's economic health and viability.
I think the majority of us - across the community - understand that economic
diversification is critical to our future, and I earnestly believe that there is common
ground to work from in building a healthy economy for Collier County.
As Commissioners, we see every day the devastating impact of the national economic
collapse. It was even worse here than many places, since nearly all of our economy
depends on population growth, tourism and agriculture.
We have many important responsibilities to the people of Collier County - keep our
citizens safe, to keep taxes low, make regulations efficient, provide infrastructure and
keep our environment pristine - in short, to make this a great place to live and work. In
addition, we all know that any time we use public dollars we need to act as smart
investors of the limited taxpayer dollars.
Our recent experience has taught me that a local economic diversification initiative
cannot and will not succeed unless our residents understand and believe in it. In addition,
I advocate that as Commissioners, we should develop and adopt a public policy objective
supporting economic diversification. Finally, I believe that such policy objective needs a
dedicated funding source - approved by the people. The policy and funding source must
be in place before, not after, any specific opportunity is considered.
Add On
Item 9H
January 25, 2011
Board of County Commissioners
January 20, 2011
Page Two
So, I think the time has come to ask the question: "Do we as a community agree that
economic diversification is necessary? Do we as a community agree that limited public
investments are a useful and may be a necessary ingredient to compete with other
communities for business expansion or relocation opportunities? If so, what kinds of
public investments make sense? "
In my opinion, it is our responsibility as elected officials on the County Commission to
develop policy, to facilitate the targeting of companies that conform to that policy, and
provide financial incentives where they will best serve our entire community. It also is
my opinion that it is the responsibility of the citizens of Collier County to decide whether
they want to create a dedicated funding source from which those investments would be
made by the Commission. I would like to discover whether the people of Collier County
want to invest in this kind of economic diversification program and, with your approval I
propose that we ask them.
I make this proposal knowing that it cannot go anywhere without your endorsement and
ultimately without the support of the people of Collier County. I have therefore asked the
County Manager to schedule an opportunity for the Commission to consider this proposal
and, with your approval, to allow me to reach out to all parts of the community -
including all those who were so vocally and deeply engaged in the issue of economic
diversification over the last year - get their thoughts, and come back to the Commission
with a proposal on how to proceed.
In consideration of your input, I plan to place this on the agenda for the Board meeting on
Tuesday, January 25,2011 as an add on under item 9 Board of County Commissioners.
Very truly yours,
James N. Coletta
Commissioner, District 5
Cc: County Manager
County Attorney
Ian Mitchell