MediaUpdate

​By Cindy Swirko

For Shereka Williams-O’Neal, taking her two small children to vote early has become a family ritual, and on Saturday, she got in with a few minutes to spare.

Williams-O’Neal — with son, Matthew, 4, and daughter, Maliha, 3, in tow — was one of 8,341 voters to cast ballots for local and regional offices in the nine-day early voting period. Williams-O’Neal wore her "I Voted" sticker while Maliha proudly sported a "Future Voter" sticker.

“It’s a ritual for us," said Williams-O'Neal. "As a mom with toddlers, it can be challenging, but I try to take them to the polls with me so they can see the importance of voting.”

Alachua County Elections Supervisor Pam Carpenter said the total number of early votes topped the turnout in 2012 for the primary election.

That year, however, fewer early voting days were held. Still, the growth of early voting continues and may have been helped somewhat Saturday by a potentially rainy Tuesday when polls are open for traditionalist voters.

Voting Tuesday will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The only change in polling places is in northeast Gainesville. Voting used to held at Highlands Presbyterian Church on Northeast 16th Avenue, but has been moved to the Ironwood Golf Course on Northeast 39th Avenue because Highlands Presbyterian has closed.

Longtime Gainesville businesswoman Giovanna Holbrook said she usually votes at her polling place. She voted early this election for the convenience.

“I’m happy to have done it and this is a very nice place to do it,” said Holbrook, who voted at the elections office on N. Main Street.

Total early voting for the Tuesday primary was 8,341, with the Millhopper library on Northwest 43rd Street leading the way at 3,971 voters.

On Saturday, 460 voted at the elections office, 882 at the Millhopper library and 486 at the Tower Road library. The numbers were not verified as final when voting closed at 5 p.m.

Several events were held during the early voting period to get people to the elections office location.

On Saturday, the inaugural Millennial Voter Festival was staged by the African-American Accountability Alliance. The festival was at the Bo Diddley Plaza and various groups shuttled voters to the site.

Among the van drivers was Ronald Lyles of Faith Baptist Church.

“I’ve been doing it throughout the day and have taken about 100 people here,” Lyles said. “There were a lot of people at the plaza in the afternoon.”

Also, a Parade to the Polls event on Saturday on behalf of Alachua County Commission incumbents Mike Byerly and Robert Hutchinson drew marchers along Main Street from First Magnitude Brewing Co. to the elections office.

While early voting in this year’s primary topped the 2012 primary, it fell short of the turnout for the spring presidential preference primary. Carpenter said 13,038 residents cast ballots then.

“It really shows the difference when the presidential race is on the ballot,” she said.

​By Bob Palmer Special to The Sun
In an Aug. 21 guest column, “Stormwater and the war on affordability” local developer Dean Cheshire painted an alarmist, sky-is-falling picture of the alleged effects of Alachua County's efforts to find better ways to manage stormwater. Cheshire’s piece is filled with so much exaggeration and so many unsubstantiated allegations that it hard to know where to start in correcting the record. But I recently attended a lengthy briefing by county staff on stormwater, so I’ll give it a shot.

Cheshire claims that the County Commission is “plunging forward” and “thrusting ahead” with new requirements to treat stormwater that will “devastate any remaining hopes for affordable housing in our community.”

The county is hardly plunging and thrusting. In reality, staff is engaged in a careful evaluation of cost-effective practices to reduce nitrogen pollution from new development. Assisting them is a team of internationally recognized stormwater experts, including representatives from the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida’s Stormwater Academy.

County staff have already reached out to local stormwater design engineers, municipalities, citizen advisory groups and many other stakeholders. This review is still a staff exercise, not ready for public workshops overseen by the Alachua County Commission until mid-October at the earliest.

Cheshire claims that “current estimates predict increases of over $20,000 per new home in new regulatory costs.” Needless to say, he doesn’t cite the source of those estimates. They are pulled out of a hat and will likely turn out to be wild exaggerations.

Most critically, Cheshire never bothers to explain why county staff are studying options for reducing nitrogen pollution from stormwater, although his overall tenor suggests that staff are embarked on this misadventure because of their strong aversion to affordable housing. The actual reason for this re-examination is simple — it’s Florida law. Cheshire may not like the law. But it is the law.

State water regulation requires a "net improvement" in pollutant loads discharged into impaired watersheds. And the most recent iteration of that water law passed nearly unanimously in January, with “aye” votes from all four members of the county’s legislative delegation. Cheshire’s Business Community Coalition no doubt supported these representatives, so maybe his gripe should be with them rather than with humble county staff attempting to fulfill the law’s mandates.

State water laws provide that impaired waters must be cleaned up through Basin Management Action Plans, in which the contributions of various polluters are determined and their responsibilities for reducing pollutants are established. Virtually all of Alachua County falls within two BMAPs. All entities contributing to nitrogen pollution in the Orange Creek or Santa Fe Basins are expected to share responsibility for their clean-up (e.g. agriculture is required to implement best management practices).

As an example of a project that evolved from the Orange Creek BMAP process, Gainesville Regional Utilities and its customers spent $25 million constructing Sweetwater Wetlands Park to cleanse nitrogen flowing out of the Main Street treatment plant before it discharged into the Floridan Aquifer, the source of our drinking water.

So the county’s examination of stormwater options is not an idle exercise. It’s a sensible step in contributing the county’s fair share to the clean-up of two highly degraded aquatic systems that define our county.

To suggest, as Cheshire does, that “not a single scientific study” has implicated stormwater is ludicrous. I would refer him to the voluminous reports and publications from the two BMAP working groups for their discussion of stormwater pollution.

Cheshire apparently feels that these legal requirements are someone else’s problem besides the developers he represents. “We could take a look at septic tanks,” he suggests. However, state law wisely makes clean-up of compromised waters a group effort — those contributing to the problem should contribute to the solution.

The county is not considering applying new stormwater standards to existing development, only new development. Builders of new development, who will be contributing new pollution via stormwater, should be responsible for mitigating that pollution rather than pawning off the cost on the general population.

The county is at the beginning stage of doing what it is legally required to do and should be commended for initiating a broad discussion and for attempting to be responsible for its impacts on the environment. No decisions have been made and won’t be for many months. Economic considerations will surely be part of the picture.

Let the process go forward and let all the affected and responsible parties be mature enough to take responsibility for their contribution to a more livable community.

— Bob Palmer is a board member of the Florida Springs Council and lives in Gainesville.

​All of Alachua County's Walk Through Time monuments - representing wars from the American Revolution through Desert Storm - will be moved to the cemetery on Hawthorne Road

By Cindy Swirko

Two tons of granite got a grand escort across Gainesville to a new resting place in a cemetery.

The granite was the World War II monument at Alachua County’s Walk Through Time at Veterans Memorial Park on Tower Road.

All of the monuments there — representing wars from the American Revolution through Desert Storm — will be moved to the Forest Meadows Cemetery East on Hawthorne Road to make room for new monuments at the park.

“We’ll be pouring a new slab with new memorials, new tile. The slab here had settling issues, so we couldn’t use it. When we get done, the Walk Through Time will have 80 years’ more life on the same slab,” said John Gebhardt, chairman of the Alachua County Veterans Memorial Committee. “Then we can present a memorial for Gulf War veterans in a proper way.”

Right now, visitors walk across bricks through the war progression, with each foot-long brick representing a year. When a new slab is built, it will allow for 80 more years.

The World War II monument was the first to go. A veteran’s honor guard presented colors and led the Pledge of Allegiance. A crane hoisted the monument onto the bed of a truck for O.T. Davis Monument Co. and Sandblasting of Gainesville.

Once secured, it was driven across town with an escort from the American Legion Riders motorcycle group and Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies on motorcycles.

Gebhardt said the World War II monument will be the only one getting the escort. The rest will quietly be taken to Forest Meadows and placed in the veterans’ area of the cemetery.

Construction on the new Walk Through Time will begin once the old monuments have been moved. It will include a monument for service members who lost their lives in conflicts in Middle East after Desert Storm.

The project has been planned for about three years, said Jim Lynch, former county Veteran Services director who now works for Forest Meadows

“We finally did, after all of these years. I was here watching it when they put them in in 1993 and I’m here watching them take it out,” Lynch said. “The main reason we had to build a new monument is that we lost seven young men from the area whose names weren’t up yet. We have 267 names of Alachua County veterans up here, and their names weren’t included.”

Lynch said the new Walk Through Time will be completed and dedicated on Veteran’s Day Nov. 11.

​The UF/IFAS Extension Alachua County Office has announced a new environmental horticulture program for September, Gardening for Seniors, which will be offered Sept. 7 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the

UF/IFAS Extension Alachua County Office, 2800 NE 39th Ave.


The class, which will be taught by master gardener Laurie Sheldon, will offer instruction on making gardening easier with tips on reducing aches and pains while working outdoors.

— Staff

​With a significant storm bearing down on Florida, elections officials are encouraging early voting in case the state has a rain-soaked Election Day.

Thousands of local voters didn’t need any encouragement, having voted early already. Other voters should take advantage of the opportunity today and Saturday before early voting ends.


Cheer: Alachua County's early voters, for already participating in the Aug. 30 primary election.

Supervisor of Elections Pam Carpenter reported that 5,498 early voters cast ballots as of Friday morning, already more than the 5,164 who voted early in the 2012 primary. Hopefully many more voters head to the polls before early voting ends and other voters endure any weather Tuesday to cast ballots on Election Day.

For more information on the election and early voting sites, visit http://bit.ly/alachuaelectioninfo.

Jeer: Pierce Education Properties, for problems at the Pavilion at 62nd apartment complex in Gainesville.

A number of new tenants moving into the complex last weekend found their apartments in disarray. They told The Sun of problems such as apartments being dirty, damaged and bug-ridden.

A spokesman for San Diego-based Pierce Education Properties, which bought the property in May, said the problems resulted from a cleaning company leaving the job prematurely. But that doesn’t explain other issues such as University of Florida students being paired with much older roommates or finding their apartments being assigned to someone else.

A city spokesman said residents with problems such as broken windows or water leaks could contact code enforcement, or seek help from UF’s student legal services. The city should consider measures that ensure renters have some other recourse when apartment owners don’t fulfill their obligations.


Cheer: County and city commissioners, for raising the prospect of a resolution to a county lawsuit over the use of the former Regional Transit System headquarters.

This a very tepid cheer, given that commissioners debated for 2.5 hours in a joint meeting Monday without agreeing to much. But with commissioners instructing their staffs to try to negotiate a deal, at least there is less of a chance now of a long and costly legal battle over the property.

At issue is a portion of the property that belonged to the county before being given to the city for the RTS site. A clause in the agreement says it reverts to the county if used for a non-transit purpose.

Given the property’s location next to Depot Park, the community would be well served if the land was part of the continuing revitalization of the area. Commissioners should be considering ideas such as a cultural center or mixed-use development rather than wasting time on an unnecessary legal battle.

Attempts by County Manager Lee Niblock and Commissioner Lee Pinkoson to trade with the city for other concessions make the whole matter even more questionable. They’ll get a real cheer when the legal action is ended.

​Electronic equipment taken from Livingston's home is being evaluated for its value as evidence, a police officer said during the attorney's first appearance in court.

By Cindy Swirko


Additional charges could be filed against Assistant County Attorney Robert Livingston IV, who was arrested Wednesday for attempted sexual battery of a child, following analysis of evidence seized from his home, police said.

Electronic equipment taken from Livingston’s home is being evaluated for its value as evidence, Gainesville Police Officer John Pendak said at Livingston’s first appearance hearing.


“We got electronic items to have forensically analyzed. We believe it will lead to further evidence of these crimes and more,” Pendak said. “We found at least one checkbook with a substantial amount of money.”

Pendak added police also found documents that indicated the accusers fear Livingston.

Eighth Circuit Judge Denise Ferrero set bond a total bond of $50,000 — $20,000 for each of the two attempted sexual battery of a child counts and $10,000 for a child abuse count.

He was released from jail later Wednesday. Ferrero also ordered that Livingston have no contact with the accusers or with his wife Melissa, who was also charged with child abuse. Livingston cannot have unsupervised contact with minors.

Livingston must surrender his passport and wear a GPS monitoring system.

Among those who spoke on Livingston's behalf at the hearing was Alachua County Commissioner Robert Hutchinson, who said he has known Livingston professionally through county government and personally through a local recreation program. Livingston is active with Gainesville Area Rowing.

“He works extremely hard in the community on a number of items and as a county attorney, we trust him,” Hutchinson said. “He truly believes in the rule of law ... I’m fully trusting of his judgment.”


Hutchinson told The Sun on Friday he routinely attends first appearances and arraignments to learn more about the criminal justice system and volunteered to speak on Livingston's behalf when he heard the longtime county counsel faced criminal charges.

"I did not know what the charges were until I got to first appearance," he said.

A 17-year-old girl told investigators Livingston touched her genitalia under her clothes one morning in June, Gainesville police reported.

The girl told Melissa Livingston that Livingston had sexually abused her, the report said.

On a later occasion, the girl tried to escape, and Melissa Livingston grabbed her and called for Livingston, the report said. The girl broke free and ran, but Livingston reportedly pushed her to the ground and the two then cornered her.

Melissa Livingston grabbed her around the neck and pushed her against a washing machine, according to the report. When the girl broke free and ran, Livingston again pushed her to the ground and pinned her, the report said.

Another girl then distracted Livingston, which allowed the victim to escape, police said.

The second attempted sexual battery charge Robert Livingston faces stems from a report from another young woman who told investigators he molested her several times over a one-year period in 2012.

Livingston, an attorney for the county for about 20 years, is on administrative leave with pay.

Staff writer Christopher Curry contributed to this report.

​County spokesman Mark Sexton said Robert Livingston was placed on administrative leave with pay Thursday.

By Deborah Strange

Assistant Alachua County Attorney Robert Livingston IV was arrested Wednesday on two counts of attempting to sexually batter a child, according to Gainesville police.

Melissa Latham Livingston, 63, was also arrested on a child abuse charge. County records show the two were married as of 2011.

According to a Gainesville Police Department arrest report, a 17-year-old girl told investigators Robert Livingston touched her genitalia under her clothes one morning in June.

The girl told Melissa Livingston that Robert Livingston had sexually abused her, the report said.

On a later occasion, the girl tried to escape, and Melissa Livingston grabbed her and called for Robert Livingston, the report said. The girl broke free and ran, but Robert Livingston reportedly pushed her to the ground. Melissa Livingston and Robert Livingston cornered her.

Melissa Livingston grabbed her around the neck and pushed her against a washing machine, according to the report. When the girl broke free and ran, Robert Livingston again pushed her to the ground and pinned her, according to the report.

Another girl then distracted Robert Livingston, which allowed the victim to escape, the report said.

The second attempted sexual battery charge Robert Livingston faces stems from a report from another young woman who told investigators he molested her several times over a one-year period in 2012, a report shows.

Melissa Livingston and Robert Livingston were booked in the Alachua County jail. Her bail was set at $10,000, his at $50,000.

County spokesman Mark Sexton said Robert Livingston was placed on administrative leave with pay Thursday.

“Mr. Livingston is at the beginning of a legal process," Sexton said in a prepared statement. "The county has taken the appropriate step based on the information we have available to us at this time.”

Livingston has been an attorney for the county for about 20 years, Sexton said, and he earns about $116,000 a year.

​Our community has reached a point at which we must take a hard look at our values. Do we citizens and residents of Alachua County place people first or money?

Right now the "business" interests (that's code for bankers, builders, speculators and their lobbyists) are preparing to inject hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to place their favored and compliant candidates on our Alachua County Commission.

Whom do we value more: ourselves and our neighbors, or the interests of out-of-county developers and others who would surely expect favor when they bring their business before our County Commission? Please vote accordingly on Aug. 30.

Katy Davis

Hawthorne

​At Alachua Conservation Trust, Robert "Hutch" Hutchinson worked to preserve and protect the cultural and environmental treasures of our community. He led by working hard and inspiring others.

One project, Prairie Creek Cemetery, brought the option of natural burial to Alachua County. Hutch remains a dedicated volunteer, often serving as “chief grave digger” when families choose to bury their loved ones in a simple, old-fashioned manner.

When Hutch was elected in 2016, he embraced the challenge of figuring out how best to extend mercy and most effectively deploy services to people suffering episodes of mental illness. His efforts are helping our community remove the stigma associated with this medical condition — an important and timely change.


Please vote to re-elect Hutch between now and Aug. 30. He still has much to do in his lifelong endeavor to help Alachua County achieve its unique destiny as the perfect place to live!

Lesa Holder

Gainesville

​Robert Livingston IV, an Alachua County assistant attorney, was charged Wednesday with attempting to sexually assault two minors...

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​GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- An Alachua County attorney and prominent member of Gainesville's rowing community was arrested today on charges of sexual assault on a minor....

Click to read more.

​By Christopher Curry

Alachua County plans to start work on three long lingering resurfacing projects next year.

Battered County Road 236, Tower Road and Northwest 43rd Street are in the 2016-17 budget that goes to the County Commission for approval in votes scheduled for Sept. 13 and Sept. 27. On Aug 16, commissioners and staff put the finishing touches on a plan to use a mix of gas tax and general fund monies to pay for the trio of road projects. The resurfacing of each worn roadway has been under discussion for at least a decade. In the case of Tower Roads, talks go back more than 15 years.

The county’s focus and money will primarily go to repairing crumbling pavement, with sidewalks, shoulders and bicycle lanes largely left as they are. One exception is the state grant the county expects to receive for a paved multi-use trail path along a stretch of Tower Road.

“The roads are deteriorating so fast that if we don’t take care of the travel lanes, we are going to be looking at complete reconstruction,” County Engineer Ramon Gavarrete said. “We’re going to try to tackle all three next year. They may overlap into the following year, but we are going to start next year.”

To reduce costs and finally move to construction on the Tower Road project, the county cut a circa 2011 plan from to bury overhead electric utility lines along at an estimated cost of $3.8 million. The county also expects to use a state grant to build a multi-use trail along a stretch of Tower that does not have a paved trail or sidewalk and to leave the five to six foot wide sidewalk now along another stretch of the road as it is.

Here are details on the projects

Tower Road — The county plans to resurface a little more than four miles of road from a little north of Archer Road to Southwest Eighth Avenue. The road project will also include turn lane construction and bus bays. The county’s budget is $3.47 million. County officials also expect to receive a $1.34 million Shared Use Non-Motorized (SUN) Trail grant from the Florida Department of Transportation for a paved multi-use trail.

County Road 236 — The county plans to spent just over $2 million on construction to resurface the approximately 4.2 mile stretch of CR 236 from US HWY 441 in High Springs to Interstate 75. In High Springs, there will be some work to make the sidewalk ADA compliant and fill gaps in the sidewalk. Gavarrete expects the contractor who gets the project to start work in early 2017.

Northwest 43rd Street — The county has a $7.5 million budget to resurface about 6.3 miles of NW 43rd from Newberry Road north to US Hwy 441. The project includes a four lane stretch and a two lane stretch toward the north. The county plans to keep the current width of travel lanes, bicycle lanes and, along the four lane stretch, sidewalks.

To get projects moving, County Commissioner Lee Pinkoson said the county has supplemented gas tax revenues with an increase in general fund monies for resurfacing work and scaled back construction plans to get work moving.

“We are using the money we do have to pave some roads,” Pinkoson said.

In the case of CR 236, the battered road that links I-75 to US 441 in High Springs, the county will use only general fund monies for the project.

The County Commission is mulling a policy change that would use the approach the county took on Tower Road on future road resurfacing projects. Where money is tight, the county is mulling whether to delay or do away with the construction of bicycle lanes and instead go with a paved multi-used trail.

​By Christopher Curry

The Alachua County Commission approved a tax incentive for Gainesville medical device company NeXtGen Biologics on Tuesday.

The future tax refund of up to $24,500 through the state Qualified Target Industry (QTI) program is contingent on a NeXtGen Biologics expansion that would keep the company in the local area. The Gainesville City Commission also approved a future $24,500 tax refund in a unanimous vote last Thursday, but kept the name of the company confidential at the request of NeXtGen.

The combined $49,000 in local incentives are a local match for a total tax rebate package that could reach $245,000 based on the number of jobs added and the average salary of those jobs. The state of Florida would pay out the remaining $196,000.

NeXtGen Biologics is expected to add up to 35 jobs with an average salary of $73,882 and make a capital investment of $1.425 million as part of its expansion, according to information provided to the city and county.

The company is also considering Buffalo, New York, Denver, Colorado, and a location in Texas, according to a county staff report. NeXtGen incorporated in 2014 and produces tissue-based medical devices.

The County Commission approved the QTI incentive application 4-1 Tuesday with Mike Byerly is dissent. Byerly consistently votes down QTI applications, saying it is inappropriate for governments to use taxpayer money to make direct payments to private firms.

Also Tuesday, the commission delayed a vote on a QTI application from Brammer Biopharmaceuticals in Progress Park in the city of Alachua until a future meeting.

Brammer had applied for a total tax rebate of up to $250,000 — $25,000 each from the county and the city of Alachua, and $200,000 from the state — for an expansion to add up to 50 new employees with an average salary of $42,482 and a capital investment of $2.3 million.

​Ideas for future uses at the county's site include a mixed-use development, a parking garage for Depot Park, office space or government headquarters.

By Christopher Curry

The new Depot Park is an early success, but the Gainesville and Alachua County commissions are still wrangling over the old Gainesville Regional Transit System property next door.

After more than 2½ hours of debate Monday, commissioners decided to negotiate to try and stave off a lawsuit over the ownership and use of the former RTS Administration and Operations Center at 100 SE 10th Ave.

Back in 1981, the county deeded 3 acres of that bus service property and multiple buildings to the city, with an agreement that it would revert back to the county if it was no longer used for transit.

After RTS shifted its operations to its new facility at 34 SE 13th Road, city officials sent county officials a letter asking if the county would waive the clause from the 1981 agreement and let the city keep the property for a non-transit related use.

Instead, the county filed a lawsuit in April against the city, saying they wanted the property back.

The two sides have since put the lawsuit on hold to try and work out an agreement.

In separate votes Monday, the County Commission and City Commission decided to have their staffs negotiate a deal where the city would pay the county to waive the reverter clause and allow the city to retain ownership without using the property for transit.

The City Commission also voted to pay about $27,500 for environmental studies to try to determine the extent of pollution from petroleum tanks and old oil from the RTS facility as well as contamination from uses in that area of downtown decades ago — including the old Gainesville Gas Co. coal gasification plant and a CSX rail yard.

The level of contamination those studies find could hamper or delay any future use. For example, the cleanup of the property that is now Depot Park ended 15 years after the first discussion of a park and cost about $30 million.

With the empty former RTS buildings and site right next to the new Depot Park, commissioners also kicked around ideas for land's future use. Gainesville Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos mentioned an amphitheater or cultural center. County Commissioner Mike Byerly said land adjacent to Depot Park was prime real estate for a mixed-use development.

“It’s park front frontage on a beautiful new facility,” he said. “I would hate to think it would still be a government building, let alone a bus facility.”

County Commissioner Lee Pinkoson suggested a parking garage for those visiting Depot Park and other downtown attractions or a joint county-city government building that could potentially free up the County Administration Building and City Hall properties for downtown redevelopment.

In the short term, county staff eyed using the former RTS buildings for office space.

Gainesville officials identified potential transit-related uses that might include a compressed natural gas vehicle fueling station or a potential streetcar/trolley facility.

The possibility that the legal dispute over ownership might be renewed loomed throughout the meeting.

At one point, County Manager Lee Niblock and Pinkoson also suggested the county might drop its interest in the RTS property if the city made a deal on one of the other issues the two panels were set to discuss Monday.

Those included ownership of Fire Station No. 19, how to divide revenues from the Wild Spaces & Public Places recreation sales tax referendum that goes to voters in November and an idea that the city might consider sunsetting the city’s College Park University Heights Community Redevelopment Area, or CRA.

Niblock said the county might “trade one of those items for the RTS site.”

Pinkoson specifically identified ending the College Park University Heights CRA. In a CRA, property taxes from new development that would otherwise go to the city or county general fund goes instead to the specifically defined area.

The College Park University Heights CRA district includes the area between the University of Florida campus and downtown Gainesville that has already seen much redevelopment — with more expected.

In response, Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe said he doesn't think “horse trading” makes good public policy.