Ritter says Broward deserves new courthouse
Submitted by Broward District 3 Commissioner Stacy Ritter to BrowardNETOnline.com
Stacy Ritter
After nearly a year of work by a task force that I created as Mayor, the Broward County Commission voted to approve funding for a new courthouse. I was one of six commissioners who voted to approve the funding. After many public meetings, the task force came to the conclusion that the only way to correct all the problems would be to tear a portion of the courthouse down and build new. Not only will a new courthouse eliminate problems from broken elevators, air conditioning and bursting pipes to the stench of mold and mildew, but it will put people back to work during this soft economy. Repairing the old structure was not an option. It was too old and too unsound, with engineering studies finding it would not withstand another hurricane and cost too much in repairs.
Voters rejected a new courthouse proposal in 2006, but this new, scaled down plan that was approved by the commission over 3 years later, is going to cost about half of the previous proposal yet still offer all of the benefits.
The jobs this construction will create including everything from the architects and design teams, to the demolition crews and construction workers. Direct jobs include painters, plumbers and electricians. Indirect jobs will flourish as companies which supply the materials for the project will have to hire people because of the increased demand. Even lunch trucks and restaurants in downtown Fort Lauderdale will grow as they supply the workers with “good eats.”
Many of the jobs this construction project will create you won’t see right away. When workers go home with more money in their pocket, they will take their families out to dinner, buy their kids new things and spend their hard earned cash at more local merchants. Those merchants will grow and, in turn, hire more people.
The cost to you, the taxpayer, to create thousands of jobs here in Broward County is just $8.00 per year.
Besides the jobs this project will create, it brings Broward’s backed up court system into the 21st century. Judges, attorneys, county workers, BSO deputies and some 10,000 citizens every week, will get a state of the art facility and one where they won’t have to potentially share an elevator with a handcuffed and shackled murderer.
It was the right time to make this sound business decision, to bring jobs to Broward and take advantage of some low interest government bonds that won’t be available after next year.
Contact Ritter at: http://www.broward.org/stacyritter/ or calling her office at (954) 357-7003 or e-mailing at sritter@broward.org.
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