Message from Commissioner Vana - February 2010

We live in interesting times. As the Commission deals with the economic challenges and prepares for the upcoming budget cycle, we are also dealing with everyday issues that are ongoing.  In this newsletter, I thought I would highlight some of the issues we have been dealing with.

You have probably heard that we are attempting to deal with the proliferation of pain clinics in PBC and have proposed a moratorium on new clinics.  We are working with our legislators for what hopefully with be a legislative fix for the problem.

We are looking at the number of committees that have been created by the Commission over time to determine which if any can be combined for efficiency.  We are evaluating which ones may have stopped meeting or whose mission may have been completed and are no longer needed.  While we do not want to limit public input, I believe that we should respect the time and effort of members and make sure that tasks are meaningful and the results of committee work are noted and implemented. Further, in a tight budget year, every opportunity to save tax dollars is important.

Of course, we are all concerned about the families in the Acreage who are faced with finding a cause for the cancer cluster noted by the Health Department.  My colleagues and I have urged our state and federal partners to help find solutions to this problem as quickly as possible. I know we all care about their situation as our community is one that I am proud to say is caring and helpful to our neighbors.

Additionally, we have been working on climate change issues that we will need to prepare for.  Palm Beach County has joined a four county coalition with Dade, Broward and Monroe counties to formulate regional solutions.  We are hopeful that with regional cooperative efforts will come more opportunities for federal grant funding.

There is much, much more, but those issues will be for another newsletter.  I hope you are all well.  It is an honor to serve you.  Please remember, I am only a phone call (561-355-2203) or e-mail away (svana@pbcgov.org).

Sincerely,

Shelley Vana
County Commissioner
District 3