Joe Cobb

by Kim Hawk

TIMELINE
• November 2004: Jack Tanner, first registered libertarian elected in Lee County, Florida, with 129,000 votes.
• January 2005 to June 2006: Jack is unable to reduce wasteful spending.
• July 2006: Tom Clark runs for Seat 3 against incumbent Mark Smith. Kim Hawk runs unopposed for Seat 5.
• November 2006: Tom Clark wins. First libertarian majority on an elected board in Lee County, Florida.
• January 2007: Jack Tanner emails agenda to interested agencies.
• Jan. 11: New board votes 3-2 to eliminate wasteful spending.

Six-thirty a.m. Thursday morning was clear and cold. I felt nervous and excited about my first meeting as an elected Lee County politician. The first indication of something special was the sign at the entrance to the old Twistee Treat building on Hancock near 41 indicating our meeting had been moved to a larger room.

Jack had emailed the agenda and invited media. Everyone knew what was likely to happen. Bureaucrats began to file into the room. Federal, state, county and city managers of agriculture, utilities, water and parks departments took their seats. Jack had never seen anything like it. Two years ago he couldn’t get board members to attend. The air was electric. I could feel the tension in the room. Our two employees Nik and Garry were there. Mark, the board member unseated by Tom, was there with a scowl on his face. No media were present. Cookies and doughnuts sat largely untouched in the center of the table. My stomach was in a knot. I didn’t know if I could do what I came to do.

Chairman Jack Tanner quickly moved through the agenda until he opened the floor to discuss the termination of the mobile irrigation laboratory and our two employees. The next 45 minutes or so were consumed by a series of earnest and emotional pleas by the government managers. Phrases like “millions of gallons wasted” and “billions of gallons saved” were used. Papers were pushed around with columns, charts and graphs. A case was cited in which an elderly, feeble, poor woman, unable to manage her lawn sprinklers, was “saved” by our wonderful program.

Familiar threat

The process was disturbingly familiar as I have witnessed this play acted out in many state, county and city boardrooms over the years. Politicians eager to be re-elected are unable or unwilling to stand up to intimidation and embarrassment that comes with a difficult or unpopular decision.

The Cape Coral utilities manager was impressive and forceful. At one point he said, “Citizens don’t protect themselves so we have to.” He concluded, “You may as well keep this program because if you don’t we will find a way to continue, and the taxpayers won’t save a dime.”

I have heard this threat before. For years myself and a small and determined alliance have successfully fought off a county sales tax. Lee County officials repeatedly scolded us saying, “If you kill this tax we’ll just find another way to raise taxes.” Ever since I was a child, threats and intimidation have provided me with the energy and determination to do the opposite and face the consequences.

I waited until everyone had their say. I started by telling a familiar but fictional story. I said, “Imagine county police coming to my home and taking my wife to jail in handcuffs because I failed to pay a fine for making unnecessary trips in my car and wasting gasoline. Imagine her living with a criminal record caused by a law she didn’t know existed.” I went on, “We don’t make criminals out of people who waste gasoline because we have a relatively free market in gasoline. We do make criminals out of people who waste water because we don’t have a free market in water distribution.”

I turned my attention to both our employees and said, “I feel sad that I am about to vote to end your jobs but I am going to do what I believe is right, not what I think is nice.”

I now know how uncomfortable and awkward it feels to look government workers in the eye and tell them “You’re fired.” I felt sad for the two men whose income was lost and at the same time I felt exhilarated thinking of the thousands of taxpayers who will keep more of their own money.

Nirvana

I looked around the room. Some looked bewildered. Some looked shocked. Our employees, Nik and Garry, were visibly angry. Garry was muttering something I’m glad I couldn’t hear. Jack called for a vote. Ron Edenfield brusquely pushed back his chair and stood, announcing, “Let the record show I don’t have time for this. … ” Ron walked out. Jack was unfazed. Paul Dinger voted to keep the service saying, “I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water.” Jack, Tom and I voted to end the program.

The government managers were mumbling to each other. I heard phrases like “this is unbelievable!” They stayed behind to discuss their next move.

I felt many conflicting emotions on my way out. As the day wore on I gradually realized that this was a dream come true. I am 49 years old. For 35 years I have complained about our intrusive and expensive government. Now I am government, and I am doing something about it. I have found my nirvana. Jack, Tom and I will do whatever we can to prevent other agencies from thwarting our attempts to reduce government waste and regulation. We owe this to the taxpayers and ourselves.

I believe this event should be celebrated as the historic and encouraging story that it is, not as a promotion of the Libertarian Party but as a fundamental shift of political thought. Libertarianism is a philosophy and a way of being, not just a party name. Ninety-seven years of unchecked government growth have given us a $9 trillion debt, a failing government school system, an endless war on drugs, bankrupt pension schemes and unaffordable health and home insurance. All of this is financed by taxes that have increased from 10 percent of the average worker’s income in 1914 to 50 percent in 2007. Radical change is long overdue. Ronald Reagan once said, “Government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem.” He implied what I believe. We are the solution.

— Kim Hawk is a member of the Lee County, Florida, Soil & Water Conservation District Board.

Copyright January 25, 2007, News-Press.

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