"The rest of the story . . ." - An opinion

Submitted by Walter J. "Junior" Boatright

Current County Commissioner and Board Chair

Candidate for Nassau County Clerk of Courts

April 26, 2016

"While Mr. Crawford crows about a "fully funded CIP," he routinely fails to mention that the only funded project beyond year #2 is resurfacing and widening Pages Dairy Road. Do our citizens believe this is the only capital project need?"

Walter J. "Junior" Boatright Candidate for Nassau County Clerk of Courts

Mr. Crawford, our Clerk of the Court, published an open letter [in the News Leader and other publications] where he took credit for Nassau County's improved credit ratings in recent years. And as many of you are, I"m happy to give you "The Rest of the Story."

In 2005, after acknowledging serious financial concerns, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) established the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). "We" (BOCC) developed sound financial policies, created the first ever 5 year capital improvement, and fleet replacement plans, as well as ensuring the attendance of the OMB Director at every Commission meeting to assist the board with all financial matters. In 2007, our reserves were built so sufficient, there were identified funds to maintain the County's capital assets. This led our County to evaluate and plan for future needs, and remove the "negative credit watch" by rating agencies.

While Mr. Crawford has written many letters to the local newspapers taking credit for strengthening County finances, he has had no influence in any decision made by county officials, nor the merits we graciously received.

However, he will tell you that he watches these meeting on live broadcast, but only to send representatives to these meetings. In reality, the people he sends to represent him aren't there to provide information to facilitate a better decision or engage in financial discussions, they're only there to take notes.

Mr. Crawford's only communication to the Board of County Commissioners in his role as Comptroller, or CFO, has been through media press releases. Does this sound like someone who has truly engaged in the important discussions necessary to make Nassau County more financially sound?

Once the Great Recession hit in 2008 and local real estate values plummeted, the BOCC had to make very tough decisions. We did not want to burden taxpayers in this difficult time, so we reduced 67 staff positions, eliminated many projects, and because we did not know how long the recession would last, BOCC chose to use replacement reserves, and divert capital improvement funding (one cent sales tax) to pay for operations. (We did not have to further reduce services.)

For years our budget staff warned Mr. Crawford about the long-term consequences of under investment in maintaining our infrastructure and especially our more than 800 miles of roads, more than half of which are unpaved and expensive to maintain. But Mr. Crawford, again through numerous press releases, asserted that the County had no budget problems, millions of dollars in the bank, and a "fully funded Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)."

Fast forward to today, while the credit rating remains positive, there have been ample signs of potential negative rating action if no solid plan is established to take care of the under investment in maintaining depreciating and degrading infrastructure and to discontinue the drawing on reserves. While Mr. Crawford crows about a "fully funded CIP," he routinely fails to mention that the only funded project beyond year #2 is resurfacing and widening Pages Dairy Road. Do our citizens believe this is the only capital project need?

While Mr. Crawford loves to chastise the BOCC through press release and op-eds over county finances and take credit for everything positive, our citizens need to know the unvarnished truth. The millions of dollars in cash Mr. Crawford claims is in the bank and available to provide services and maintain our roads, building and parks, simply isn't there.

The County has indeed come a long way since 2005. I"m proud of what the BOCC has accomplished in my eight years on the Board, but citizens need to know the whole truth about the County's financial condition and not Mr. Crawford's politically motivated sanitized version.

Now you know the rest of the story.

Editor's Note: The Fernandina Observer received Commissioner Boatright's opinion after Nassau County Clerk John Crawford's opinion piece "How far we've come," was published in the News Leader on March 30.