Martin County Commissioner Stacey Hetherington Shares Leadership Insight

Martin County Commissioner Stacey Hetherington is a native resident of Martin County and a 4th generation Floridian. She took time from a busy schedule to speak with Sam Yates and The Florida Business Forum Podcast about her views on a variety of topics and issues. One area of focus is quality of life in Martin County and maintaining the our precious local waterways. She also talks about COSTCO.

Transcript

Sam Yates: 0:06

Hello everyone and welcome to another informative episode of the Florida Business Forum Podcast. Let's open the Florida Business Forum floodgates and let the information begin to flow. Here's your Florida Business Forum information guru and Anchorman Sam Yates. Hello, everyone, the information floodgates are indeed open and flowing on another episode of the Florida Business Forum Podcast. Now I'm continuing to take an informational dive into the political leadership here in Martin County, Florida. Martin County while not unique is sort of a benchmark County in my opinion when it comes to leadership roles and achievement for the county commissioners for the constituents that they represent. And I might add the achievements by the Republican leaders that is capturing a lot of attention not just here in Martin County, but state wide. So welcome to all of our listeners, the Florida Business Forum, my guest today, Commissioner Stacey Hetherington, Commissioner, thank you for being on the program today.

Stacey Hetherington: 1:10

Sam, it's great to see you. And thank you for inviting me. You know,

Sam Yates: 1:13

I might sound like a bit of a broken record, as I travel around the state, everyone in the political circles that I that I run into, they know about Martin County, they know about what's going on here. As far as growth and development. To that end, some of their comments are negative, especially those that want to build and build out more here. But most every one is very positive about the leadership. And that I think is a testimony to you and the other Commissioners, so I want to get into a lot of those things. But for your district, I think it's important. So I always like to start with learning more about our guest, you and I have known each other for a long time. And we have a lot of public relations connections. But tell us about yourself.

Stacey Hetherington: 2:06

Sure, well, Sam, you know, I am a fourth generation Martin County native here, and I'm raising my two sons. So they'll be the fifth generation Martin County residents soon to be graduating Martin County High School, too. But I grew up in Indiantown, Florida, which is the far furthest West that you can get probably in Martin County. I've lived in different parts of Barton County, and I've seen changes really, over the years. But back in, you know, I went to University of Florida moved back to Martin County, which a lot of people say we're not coming back to your hometown. But it was a place after I decided that I could spread my wings to wherever I want, that there's no place better delivered in Martin County. So I worked in public relations for a long time was behind the scenes and you know, not holding an elected office. And then, you know, gradually became more and more involved in, in policy in Martin County. And I'm happy to represent now District Two for the last five years, and in office for the next three years as well. So but you know, my heart is like many Martin County ins is that we want to keep Martin County special. And I love the place that I've grown up, I love the place I live and I do what I do. So I can make this continued great place to be.

Sam Yates: 3:27

And you and I both share the the being a Florida native. We we have seen what has happened in in our communities. I'm native to the area as well. So I can share all of that you just talked about district two dozen compass steward East Stewart right now, a lot of buzz going on about Costco. Just recently, I did a small post on a social media platform. And as we're talking it's had more than 30,000 views and I was just blown away by that. A lot of positive about Costco a lot of negative but I wanted to get your stand on Costco

Stacey Hetherington: 4:07

sure the way I see it now, I believe that everybody likes the company Costco you know, there's a lot of people that want to shop and I don't do a lot of bulk shopping my shop myself, but you know, that, of course is in the city of STEWART So with the county commission doesn't have a jurisdiction, where they are currently planning and and have appealed. But what I always try to keep in mind to there are people that are our opponents of the current location. But if you remember, back several, several years ago, I wasn't on the commission, but Costco was proposed to come into palm city there at the corner of the turnpike and 95. And there was also you know, opposition to that location. So lo and behold Costco ended up pulling their application. And if we look at that same location now Now, people might see a Tractor Supply, they should be seeing a wall law coming up soon. And a couple other things a storage unit. And what they have to realize is that piece of property was zoned a certain way for many, many years before this commission came into office before the last commission, and we're talking 2030 years or more. And the companies that are located now they were entitled to be there. So whether we liked the companies or didn't like the companies, you now see them sprouting out, in my opinion, Costco would have been well, much more well suited for that particular location. But there are some people that, that have the feeling that if we don't get this, then we'll not get anything. And that is what I try to educate my constituents on. It's a misnomer, that just because something doesn't go there, something hasn't gone there in 30 years, that it can't, you know, when somebody owns a piece of property, they are have private property rights. And if they follow the rules, and that, that doesn't mean changing the Commission as to change the rules, they follow the rules outlined, than they are entitled to be there. And what you'll see is it's getting harder and harder for local officials to have as much say in those rules, because legislation keeps changing and taking away home rule. And we don't get as much we want to say we, you know, county, local elected officials don't have as much say so anymore, as they had in the past.

Sam Yates: 6:42

And I'm glad you said that. A lot of people that I'm running into, not just here in Martin County, but all over the state are very upset about not having that home rule authority like they used to have. And apparently, there's not anything elected officials can do about it at this point.

Stacey Hetherington: 7:01

Well, you'll see legislation in every year there's legislation passed, you'll see a lot of legislation that was passed in this particular legislative session, that takes some control for development out of the hands of local officials. And we see that some of the reasoning and the logic behind that is because there are certain municipalities and areas that make decisions that erode people's particular rights. So then, you know, Tallahassee kind of has a snap reaction and, and tries to put that back into perspective. But it's unfortunate, because we want, you know, we are different and unique in Martin County than, say, Miami or a Polk or, you know, and I would venture to believe talking to officials in Polk and all that they feel the same way that they are different. We all have different priorities. Whereas, you know, some a rural county in the middle of the state, they really want more growth and development. And they, they need and rely on the tax money, and they might need certain infrastructure, they qualify for different grants. So the most important thing, and I hope that we carry this message through during future legislative sessions that we can kind of have our own, you know, create our own destiny here, because you can't paint with a broad brush across 67 counties. It doesn't work. You know, we understand the the, the origination of that is to try to make sure that people are following the laws of the state. But we would always like to you, me, myself, encourage more home rule because we want Martin County to we are in touch, you know, best in touch with our local residents. So government closer to the people is always I think better in local communities.

Sam Yates: 8:58

You know, I have to say, based on how you describe that, and you described it very well, that one day, a lot of folks would want to see you at a state level, is that something that you've considered?

Stacey Hetherington: 9:13

Well, right, right now, I'm happy, you know, I'm happy. I never thought I would be sitting as a county commissioner, to be honest, I always thought I would be working behind the scenes. So you never know where life might, you know, guide you in the future. So I will never say never, but I am really very comfortable because this is also what I like about being a local official is that, you know, my constituents in districts who come to me and they have a drainage problem or a traffic problem, I can directly go and help them resolve that and I the further you get it up the ladder, it's harder to help constituents but I'm very happy where I am and I appreciate the people that are serving in our local and state and federal offices now. as well,

Sam Yates: 10:01

well, I'm just gonna say to our audience, this is something we're going to keep an eye on, because talent should not go to waste. And you know, I know you. So if you ever want to let people know that that is definite, let me know. And I'll help you share that

Stacey Hetherington: 10:17

you will be then one of the first people I call if that ever happens, that's

Sam Yates: 10:21

great water quality. You know, I know that that's something that all of our commissioners have expressed thoughts on yours.

Stacey Hetherington: 10:30

Sure, I think we always keep in mind now we we have a record, you know, proposed budget this year in Florida for water quality. And the last couple years has been the same at the state level and the federal level, Martin County has certainly invested in doing its part with our septic to sewer program where we're changing over, you know, that people have to, I always look in the mirror and realize that we are control, you know, we contribute each one of us, and you can't point the finger in different ways, because everyone contributes, in a certain way to water quality issues. So, you know, we, we continue to make the steps we can, and our local communities like the septic to sewer, you know, like doing things in our own backyards, you know, that building or the stormwater treatment areas and things that will help achieve our goals locally, then those are the things that are most important to me, because of course, we always want to have zero Lake Okeechobee releases, and those major federal issues. And we will continue to fight you know, policy wise against doing that. But there's so many things that we can do right here locally, in our own backyard, to be good stewards of our water. And I think it's also important to because, you know, people are moving here from different areas and and record numbers from different states and, and some, some people that are not as in tune to Florida water issues don't understand the route, and they're overstay their route to the police. They don't understand. So it's important. I think that we educate people because as they move here and their new residents to Florida, they understand the whole system and how it relates together, both between you know, course you always hear the Lake Okeechobee. But how does that work in my backyard, with my septic tank, and with some of the things that we're contributing fertilizer, it other things like that directly in to the system, we can all do our part, not just local, elected officials state, federal, but that's it's a big, big picture.

Sam Yates: 12:52

And I can relate to that septic situation, because I've been knocking on Commissioner herds door, our neighborhood is on septic, and we're near the the St. Lucie River. And I've been told that, oh, you're going to get that conversion about 10 years from now. And I was like, wow, you know, maybe we can speed that up. So, you know, I think a lot of folks are very concerned over our water quality, you have a reputation of being very conservative and fiscally conservative, how happy are you with what's going on with our economy and how the county is spending dollars?

Stacey Hetherington: 13:30

Well, I'm happy to hear that you have you say I have a good reputation of being fiscally conservative, because that, to me is is an important value and principle that I have both as an elected official. And, you know, I take that to heart because every dollar we spend is, you know, a tax dollar, and that's your money and me my money as a taxpayer. So I want to make sure it's someone's a good steward of it. So every policy that I consider, I try to, you know, think this is my wallet too, and how can we spend this in the most conscientious way to get the results we want? We know what the priorities are, you know, like, public safety and, and good infrastructure. And I try to assess the priorities of residents and taxpayers and align that with kind of like a need and want system, right. We need to have good public safety, we need to have good drainage we need and then kind of prioritize the wants down the road just like I do with you know, myself and my home and my kids.

Sam Yates: 14:43

You know, you and I do share a lot of common background public relations. You're Associated General Contractors member I'm a board member for the Gold Coast Builders Association. So we we understand construction and we understand people building affordable housing, how are we stacking up, in your opinion on affordable housing for our workforce?

Stacey Hetherington: 15:07

Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell you just a little, my son is going to Tampa Clearwater area to go to aviation, maintenance and avionics school. So you'll be an a&p mechanic. And he says, Well, Mom, when I graduate, it's a 16 month program and he'll be a licensed a&p, you know, could work anywhere on any, you know, kind of airplanes, corporate or private, any, so I probably am going to have to stay in Tampa, because I don't think I'm going to be able to afford to live in Marin County, which is, you know, as parents, as residents, as business owners, you know, you don't want to hear that either young people or people, businesses that they want to hire their workforce. And that's the biggest complaint from businesses is that we can hire the workforce because they can't afford to live here. We always hear, you know, teachers, firefighters, young people coming out of school. So it's a problem and there's a there, I think there's a lot of different ways that we can address it. Know, what I do want to do is try to address it locally. I'm not really happy with some of the legislation that passed this year, which which, again, everybody, apparently in the legislature, as we do locally, saw affordable housing as a priority. As you see the Senate Bill 102, live local ag passed, you know, I would prefer to have a little bit more local control over what types, you know, of local policies that we put in place. But that's it's an issue, I think that is not going to be solved quickly. But if we can take into account small changes that we can make locally, to continue to chip away at it.

Sam Yates: 17:00

I'll share with you and share with our audience at the same time that one of our area builders from the Gold Coast Builders Association, but also a member of other builders associations around the state was recently invited by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to do a demonstration product project of their product on the National Mall in June. And essentially, they are working with cold form steel, which for those that may not know, if you go into a typical office building, the walls are covered with sheetrock or a covering. But behind it, there's steel product that's holding everything together. And in many cases, that can be pre threat pre fabricated and sent to a site and buildings happen very quickly. And less expensive than typical concrete or concrete and wood frame construction. They're taking that concept into the housing industry, which caught HUDs attention and in turn, has caught the attention of a lot of love legislative leaders in Washington. And I think that's something that those new approaches, those should probably be something we all not just from a county commissioner standpoint, I think we all have to to keep an eye on those new developments that make housing more affordable.

Stacey Hetherington: 18:30

Right. There's things like that, which I think is is fabulous to that we can have the manufacturing, you know, here in Martin County, that sounds like a great business to have. But if we keep going, you know, in mind that everything has a cost you what even our policies sometimes have an expense, well, that expense is always passed to the consumer. Right. So if it's a bad policy, you know, the developer might, you know, come in and apply us, you know, the policy, but that the price of that gets passed along always to the consumer. So you want to have high standards and good standards. But you also realize that net development is going to happen naturally. So you keep the high standards and good standards. And don't don't put policies in place that create so much red tape and bureaucracy because that will impact affordable housing at the end of the day because it always gets passed along to the consumer always.

Sam Yates: 19:36

There's another little sidebar to that part of my duties and responsibilities with the Builders Association is sharing and developing a website called homes for all and it looked at just what you're talking about that happened down in the Dade County area with a tremendous amount of of legislation that was passed Need to change impact fees and pass all of those costs on. And I would recommend if you for our audience, if you want to look a little bit further into that it's called homes for all.com. But, you know, I would digress and, unfortunately, Commissioner get you and I together and we start chatting in the next thing. You know, we're still chatting tomorrow. But before I wrap up, is there anything that we have not touched on that you wanted to make sure to share?

Stacey Hetherington: 20:29

Sure, we talked, we touched on affordable housing, we touched on water quality, which is one of my big things I'm always involved in, you know, how I can help the next generation, you know, I've always been working on any kind of local policy issues that are good for our youth, here in Martin County. And I always like to share with people that there's a lot of things there's, there's a lot of moving parts to government. And I had some people in my office last week and the week before, they didn't actually like a decision that I made on the board for a particular project. And they and I appreciate the fact that they called up and said, I want to know why or why is, you know, why are these apartment buildings going and steward and I explained to them, you know, the difference between the city and the county and how decisions are made and what the state says that I can do and not do. And you know, what, whether we agreed or disagreed at the end of that meeting, there was such a good feeling, you know, this this lady, again, she was completely opposed to the decision that I had made on a particular project. And she appreciated so much to education. And I think that, you know, as a county, you and I are both communications people, I always say, the best thing we can do for our residents, you know, is communicate, be transparent, and communicate. So I always keep that open door policy, that any resident can call me at any time, whether they liked the decision. And of course, if they need assistance in their neighborhoods, or communities, but they can just call and pick up the phone and discuss, why did you make that decision. And every decision I make is always a thought process that I go through my head, I read the information, and then I make a decision. And again, not every person will agree with that decision. But I'm always happy to discuss with any resident, why the decision is made, or why we do anything, you know, here at Martin County, local government. So I just encourage people to kind of keep that in mind, or is certainly always open, and I'm happy to take their call. And anytime and and that's to me very, very important. It's always been one of my priorities. Since day one, actually, I think it's still in my priorities every year,

Sam Yates: 23:09

ladies and gentlemen, and that also is a true trait of leadership, when you have the ability to listen to both sides, and even if someone disagrees with you, if you're their opinion. So I want to commend you on that. Thank you, Sam. And I want to thank you for being here on the program. And just as you have an open door policy, if there is ever an opportunity that you want to share something, whatever it might be, my doors always open and you're welcome to share those bits of information here on the Florida Business Forum Podcast.

Stacey Hetherington: 23:41

Well, I appreciate the opportunity to spend some time and catch up and chat with you today and I look forward to come back coming back again soon.

Sam Yates: 23:48

Ladies and gentlemen. We are going to hold her to that. So we look forward to it. Stacey, thank you very much. Excuse me. Commissioner Hetherington. Thank you very much and for our audience. Thank you for listening. And until our next Florida Business Forum Podcast Have a great day everybody. The Florida Business Forum is dedicated to showcasing Florida businesses and CEOs of all sorts to promote their business or not for profit in the only business forum of its type in Florida. Thanks for tuning in. And remember, the Florida Business Forum is now accepting guest applications. Have a great day everyone and stay tuned for more business