I am running for county commission to defend county taxpayers from crony capitalism and to reign in the out-of-control growth machine that is threatening to destroy the Sarasota County that we cherish.    

Investopedia defines “crony capitalism” as, “instead of success being determined by a free market and the rule of law, the success of a business is dependent on the favoritism that is shown to it by the ruling government in the form of tax breaks, government grants, and other incentives”. 

As a business consultant who has created many business plans, mine always include a section to analyze the finances of a business to determine its success. If the company is failing, it should adjust its business plan or dissolve the business. I never would suggest that a business finding itself unprofitable,should abandon free market practices and turn to taxpayers for bailouts or handouts. Yet this has become a standard in some industries. Taxpayers are burdened with costs of government services provided to these private companies. Several examples occur in Sarasota County. The foremost is the proposed change to the existing fiscal neutrality policy in 2050, which stipulates that costs of additional local government services and infrastructure built or provided for new developments shall be funded by properties within those proposed new developments; additional government costs should not burden the existing taxpayers who live outside the new developments. 2050 is an optional overlay designed to allow smart growth amid conservation of natural resources and habitat.

Wanting to build cheaply outside of where infrastructure exists, developers are calling for severe changes. They tell our county government that they can’t afford to build unless they burden taxpayers during the early years of development, but hope they may become ‘fiscally neutral’ as much as decades later. A successful business in the true free market absorbs the cost of startup. Forcing this burden onto the county is not fair to taxpayers. We wind up with higher property taxes, reduced value for existing properties, reduced government services, inadequate roads, sprawl and a degraded environment. 

Currently, this commission provides these developers with incentives although analysts state Sarasota’s housing market is more than adequate for several decades and adding more will diminish the values of existing housing.  

With two open commission seats, voters have opportunities to begin to turn this around—I’m applying for the job to get that started—please vote for me.

Lourdes Ramirez is a Republican candidate for Sarasota County Commission District 4