unless they want to bring the Board all their money and it will find places to put it, she would be
glad to help with that administrative act too.
Chair Zonka stated on a more positive note, she has called Mr. Golden after work hours and he
has been helpful to her in different personal situations with people that have come into her life
either through her other job or just members of the public; she appreciates him and she hopes
he knows that; and she hopes that she says thank you enough.
Commissioner Smith commented he thinks the entire Board appreciates Mr. Golden; he goes
above and beyond; and he is a real asset to the community.
L.5. John Tobia, Commissioner District 3, Re: Board Report
Commissioner Tobia stated he is the only one that met with these folks; he met with them twice
for an hour and one-half; they recognized a problem which they do not get any credit for; it is
everywhere and none of the Board is denying this; he tasked them with looking at the County’s
budget; he provided them with a copy of the County’s budget six weeks ago and asked them to
please identify things in the County’s budget that they would prioritize less than affordable
housing, because he does not think the Board is going to pass a tax increase; and he
explained to them this is how he comes to the Board, like let’s pay the employees more money,
but he does not say that, he says here is a way in order to do that. He went on to say he does
not want to say just flat out raise taxes, they are more than welcome to do that, but at least they
could come to the Board and say they want to raise taxes and this is where they want them to
go; they said they did not want to do that; he tasked them with going through the budget and
they came back five weeks later to my office; he was ready for how they were going to find that
$10 million; they had a plan and it was to find a staff member and have the staff member go
through the budget and do that; and he asked if that was the work product they had in six
weeks. He noted he was absolutely disgusted with their lack of empathy that they claim to
have, but they do not want to work and that is disgusting to him; then they get to this meeting
and they claim that the Board Members do not show up; it is very easy to show up, what is hard
is to do the work; and they just did not want to do the work. He continued by saying his office is
open but they have to do one of two things, either say they want a tax increase, there is nothing
wrong with that, he will not vote for it, but at least be honest; or say parks are not that
important, he apologized to Mary Ellen Donner, Parks and Recreation Director, but they want to
cut parks budget in order to do this; he added there will people who will come up and say parks
are more important; he thinks the Board will agree that low-income housing is very important;
there is an influx of more than $20 million that can help right now; and he reiterated, there is
more than $20 million that can help right now for housing. He commented the County is not
going to buy anyone a house; the Board has no control over the market; he will task them or
anyone else please go through the County’s budget, it is online; he is more than willing to send
anyone a copy and have anyone come to the Board and tell them anything, not just low-income
housing, what they think is more important or what they would prioritize more; it may not be the
Board’s priority but at least they would come prepared and provide a suggestion, he thinks the
Board will listen; and what they will not listen to is, get staff to do that, because quite frankly
that is not staff’s job, it is the Board’s job as policy makers to make those decisions. He advised
if something is a priority to someone, then they can go through the work and do it themselves;
he mentioned again that he was the only one who wasted an hour and one-half; and the best
part of that time was the four minutes that they prayed, but everything else was unfortunately
an absolute waste of time. He stated he was absolutely disgusted that they got up there and
said the Board did not care and that it did not show up; the reality is they did not show up; he
reiterated his office is always open if people come in with a plan; he actually told them what
they needed to do and they neglected to do that; shame on them; and if they want to run to the
paper instead of doing the work they are more than willing to do that but they will not get much
sympathy the Board. He went on to say he has two things real quick and then one that may be
a bit longer; this was dealing with the North Brevard Public Library Advisory Board and the
