CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
What do you think is the most pressing issue facing Nassau County and how do you plan to address it?
The most pressing issue affecting Nassau County is growth and how to control it. Since I took office 4 years ago we have raised impact fees paid by developers by 220 percent. During the next four years, we must continue to raise our development standards so that the growth we do get is of high quality and pays for itself completely.
What does “smart growth” look like to you?
While I do not like the term “smart growth,” I strongly believe that people already living in Nassau County should not pay for new people to move here and new people moving to Nassau County should not cause people already living here problems.
Should the county government do more to create affordable housing? If so, what steps would you take as commissioner to make this happen?
While the County can assist with density bonuses and potential impact fee abatements, it will take a partnership between the County and private enterprise to deliver affordable housing. I do not support Section 8 or other housing where 100 percent of the units are low-income.
How do you factor in conservation when so many new businesses and developments are being built?
The County, through its Conservation Lands Acquisition and Management (CLAM) program has a process to objectively identify lands that are most beneficial for conservation. There is a ballot initiative (which I support) this November to provide funds to borrow up to $30 million to acquire conservation lands that would be open for public use.
As a county commissioner, how do you intend to engage with commercial and residential developers, especially when community members voice concerns?
It is critical that community concerns be given great weight when developments are proposed that can affect them. I have always considered resident comments and will continue to do so in a second term. An example is that I was the deciding vote to side with the community and reject eleven 85-foot-tall towers on Amelia Island a couple months ago – telling the developer to go pound sand.
Who do you think should be financially responsible for recreation and infrastructure costs in new developments?
The developer should be responsible for recreation and infrastructure costs in new developments. These burdens should not be passed to the existing tax base. Developers wanting sweetheart deals can Pound Sand!
How do you see Nassau County evolving as a tourism destination? Should the county invest more money in the tourism industry?
I believe that Amelia Island is close to the maximum number of tourists that can be supported. However, the county as a whole has more room to grow tourism and provide jobs for our residents. For example, sports marketing is an untapped market that would make sense for the Westside once the FIFA class soccer fields at the Westside Regional Park are completed.
The recent retirement of County Attorney Mike Mullin highlighted the issue of public records. How will you ensure that you abide by Florida’s Sunshine Law?
I have fully followed all aspects of the public records law in my first term and will continue to do such in my second term. As a County Commissioner, I have taken classes on Public Records with the Florida Association of Counties as a Certified County Commissioner.
CANDIDATE STATEMENT
Editor’s Note: Aaron Bell (REP) is running for County Commissioner, District 2. Bell submitted the following for publication.
Thanks to the good citizens of Nassau County I am your current elected County Commissioner for District 2. I am the husband of Sarah, a prosecutor, father of Matthew, 13, and Audrey, 7, and a proud resident and taxpayer of Nassau County. I am a former CEO of a multimillion-dollar business with 80+ employees and I have a master’s degree in business administration. I have been active in my community over the years, serving on the Economic Development Board, Chamber of Commerce Board, Northeast Florida Regional Planning Council, and Amelia Island Montessori School Board.
When I first ran for County Commission 4 years ago, I did not like the path that our county was taking. It seemed to me we had rampant growth without any forethought or planning and an “anything goes” mentality. We live in a place with an exceptional quality of life, be it on the West Side with its rural charm, Yulee with access to parks and conveniences, or Amelia Island with its beautiful beaches and marshes. My goal today as it was four years ago is to preserve our quality of life for my children and your children through wise decision-making, planning, and controlled growth.
I have seen some suggest that we must control growth but not have any litigation. This is like taking a knife to a gunfight – we are needlessly taking a major tool out of our toolbox to combat bad development. Obviously, litigation should be a last resort, not a first action, but it should not scare us. Should we not litigate and instead roll over, developers will get greedy and ask for more and more. We do already have a County Attorney with a full staff on the County payroll to defend these types of cases – let’s use her to protect our way of life.
There has been quite a bit of ink spilled about the Raydient litigation and why doesn’t the County just settle and stop appealing negative verdicts. The County has only appealed one verdict so far. To sum up the salient points of the appeal in a nutshell – if the County wins the appeal then Wildlight is responsible for paying for parks and recreation in Wildlight. If the County loses the appeal then countywide taxpayers (that is you and me) are required to pay for parks and recreation in Wildlight. I am simply not willing to force all County taxpayers from Amelia Island to Yulee to Hilliard to Callahan to Bryceville to pay tens of millions of dollars over the coming decades for parks and recreation in Wildlight just to end a lawsuit.
I have a very simple philosophy that helps guide my decision-making on the Commission. I firmly believe that people already living in Nassau County should not pay for other people to move here and that people moving here should not cause people already living here problems.
I am proud of my accomplishments over the past four years – banning gambling dens, raising impact fees on developers by 220%, lowering taxes for the first time in over a decade, and denying Riverstone’s eleven, 85-foot tall towers on Amelia Island. Going forward I am going to keep fighting for you as we control growth, continue lowering taxes, and tell bad developers and those that would harm Nassau County to go pound sand.
I look forward to working together with you for the next four years to protect our way life here in Nassau County. With your vote on or before Aug. 23, we can make that happen.