Manager's Blog
"Creating Respect for People and Place"
Randall H. ReidAn Earth Day Message
4/22/2008 4:15:00 PM
Earth Day is a celebration focused on our environment, and in the final analysis the day is all about the individual choices and decisions we make, most frequently, as consumers and citizens. As individual employees and heads of American households we play an integral part in the bioregional and international systems of resource extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal that has a global impact on the planet and our fellow human beings.
To Do My Duty, To God and Country
8/13/2007 10:40:00 AM
All of us in Alachua County Government extend our condolences to the family of Specialist Christopher Todd Neiberger. Chris lost his life while serving with the United States Army in Iraq on Monday, August 6, 2007. He was the son of Mary June Neiberger of the Alachua County Equal Opportunity Office and Dr. Richard Neiberger. Chris graduated from Gainesville High School in 2003. He was a member of Boy Scout Troop 454 and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He joined the Army after spending two years at Florida State University.
Resolving Annexation Disputes: Alachua County Becomes a National Model of One Approach
7/24/2007 5:45:00 PM
One of the least heralded accomplishments of the past year is the formal adoption of an annexation transition agreement, known as the ATA. The City of Gainesville and Alachua County entered into an Annexation Transition Agreement formally on March 13th 2007. The intent of the annexation agreement is to identify the fiscal and service delivery impact of annexations and how they may be mitigated to avoid immediate impact on the County. The agreement also provides a schedule for representatives of the City and County to identify appropriate areas and chart out a strategy and time frames for annexations which the County could support. This allows for a balanced approach to avoid the cherry-picking of only revenue producing commerical areas or wealthy residential enclaves and avoid serpentine patterns. This initial effort is underway now with teams of employees meeting to discuss these complex issues. At some point in FY08 staff teams from both jurisdictions will provide this information to their Commissions in a discussion of how Gainesville may expand its corporate limits in a mutually agreed upon program of annexation. We hope other communities will follow along and sign similar agreements....
PROPERTY TAX RELIEF AND THE EROSION OF HOME RULE
7/10/2007 6:10:00 PM
Today is the day I submit the Tentative Budget to the County Commission for FY 08 and FY 09. This year's budget message theme is Sustaining County Services in an Era of Property Tax Reform. Over the next two fiscal years of FY08 and FY09 our efforts will revolve around the actions we will need to undertake to sustain the County's organizational capacity to provide core services and build new infrastructure in the face of mandated property tax relief legislation and what I consider the erosion of home rule....
