OKEECHOBEE – Candidates for Okeechobee County Commission District 5 were quizzed on local issues at the Okeechobee County Political Forum, held July 30 at Osceola Middle School.

Commissioner Kelly Owens did not seek re-election. Candidates include Glenn Attaway (DEM), Austin Harvey (DEM), Billy McCullers (REP) and Michael Sumner (REP). Attaway and Harvey will be on the ballot in the Democratic Primary. McCullers and Sumner will be on the ballot in the Republican Primary. The primary winners will face each other in the general election in November.

The candidates were divided on the subject of impact fees.

“Impact fees are important,” said Harvey. “It seems to be there are a lot of foreign developers coming to Okeechobee. More of this area has now been sold and that will be developed.”

He said impact fees are one way to go after Miami developers, foreign developers and foreign buyers, so that Okeechobee people will benefit from all of this new development.

“I don’t think impact fees are a good idea because they affect far more than just the developer,” said McCullers.

 “We tried them once before. It didn’t really work out,” said Sumner. “That being said, we’re building a new high school now, that if all the new developments that are coming online do fill up, and they have kids, we’re already in a situation where we don’t have enough school space.”

He said the upside is the tax revenue from the homes. “In a lot of ways, an impact fee is not necessary because you do get that money back in ad valorem,” he added.

“The problem with impact fees is they are kind of arbitrary. They hit a lot of your local developers and businesses just as much as the developers coming in,” said Attaway. He said the county can use other ways “to make what they want to do fit what we want in our community.”

The candidates asked how they would pay for the county jail expansion currently underway.

“I am always for lowering taxes, but we have to pay for things,” said McCullers.

 Sumner said the current commissioners sold bonds to pay for the jail and the money must be paid back. “We needed to build. The old one was crumbling,” he said. “If you have to build a new jail every 30 years, you have to build a new jail,” he continued. “Paying for it, maybe increase the millage rate.”

“They’re building it so obviously they have a plan for it,” said Attaway. “It’s kind of like a house and a mortgage.” He said the county commissioners have to figure the jail costs into the county budget.

Harvey said the county is growing at an enormous rate with out-of-town developers. He suggested requiring that at least 25% of labor force and suppliers used for new developments be local. He said that would result in more tax dollars for the county.

In response to a question about water quality projects, McCullers said projects are needed “further north than here.”

Sumner said the county can’t do it all. “We do need a way to keep our water quality where we would like to have it,” he added.

 “They made a good start on it with the reclamation of the river,” said Attaway. He said the best place for additional water cleaning projects would be on the other side of the river.

“Water quality is always going to be an issue,” said Harvey. “The garbage from Orlando and Disney is being blamed on the farmers.” Harvey said the Kissimmee River was cut straight and the county should work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to “see that undone.”

On the question of drainage issues, Attaway said the county can do more to get it out of the neighborhoods and to some of the major canals. “There’s only so much you can do with water,” he said.

“I live on a canal waterway lacking maintenance,” said Harvey. “I would pump more water than has ever been pumped before. We have gutted nature’s water system and we should try our best to return it to benefit wildlife and the community.”

“Water can’t run uphill,” said McCullers. “It’s simply a matter of relying on additional resources.”

Sumner said drainage issues are different in different parts of the county. “Oak Park is different than Treasure Island,” he said. The county could start with some of the projects that are already approved, he added. The county is constrained because the state is in charge of overall drainage.

When asked about the most important issue facing the county, answers were mixed.

“There are more Family Dollars than Family parks in Okeechobee. This is the change that Okeechobee wants? I don’t think so,” said Harvey.

“The county commission doesn’t have the authority to tell a business they can’t be here,” said McCullers.

Sumner said the most important issue is managing the growth that will inherently come. He said thousands of people a day move to Florida. The coasts will eventually fill up.

“County commissioners need to steer that growth in a way that keeps Okeechobee, Okeechobee,” he said. They also should work to bring higher paying jobs to Okeechobee County so the young people don’t have to leave to find work.

 The most important issue is managing and regulating growth, agreed Attaway.

“It’s going to happen,” he said. “All you can do is get everybody on the same page. Make sure that you’ve got your vision in mind. Then if someone wants to come in and build, they have to match your vision. Make sure they keep natural areas, keep the traffic own and pay for the infrastructure.”

He said county should promote ecotourism to promote the natural areas of the rural center of the state. “When they see what it is like, they won’t want to destroy it,” he said.

The video of the forum is on the Lake Okeechobee News page on Facebook.