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Some Questions For David Greene

Posted May 15, 2007 by Billy Townsend

Updated May 15, 2007 at 05:15 PM

I recall speaking to Winter Haven City Manager David Greene only once. It was in 2002, I think, during the debate over the proposed Reliant Energy power plant that would have been built on the same property that CSX hub is now planned for.

The city was backing that plan strongly and had sent out a “fact sheet” to water customers about it. I did a story for The Ledger on that sheet pointing out that not all the facts were accurate. Greene did not return several calls for comment for that story. I eventually ran into him at a meeting and tried to get a comment. He responded that I had not been fair to the city in my reporting and that he had nothing to say to me. (I’m paraphrasing because I’ve not been able to find the link to that story. The Ledger must have purged it.)

Fast forward to 2007 and the CSX debate. I had a series of questions I wanted to ask Greene about the city’s approach to approving the project. Through his spokeswoman, Greene on Monday declined to talk to me. He referred me to strategic initiatives director Pete Chichetto or Assistant City Manager Dale Smith.

It’s certainly Greene’s prerogative to talk or not talk to whomever he chooses. But I think it’s worth noting that I’ve covered local governments on and off for 11 years. Never in that time has the head of a city or county government or the head of a major public agency simply refused to answer questions. David Greene is the first and only official with whom I’ve had that experience. And it seems a little odd considering how aggressive he is in promoting a high profile growth agenda for the city of Winter Haven and how important this project is to the future of Winter Haven and Polk County. All of this has been amply reported by various sources.

Anyway, here’s a list of questions I would ask Greene if I could:

Does the CSX hub have regional impacts?

If so, why do the city and CSX want to avoid a DRI review for the hub?

The County Commission, State Sen. Paula Dockery, and high-ranking officials with three Polk cities have said they want a DRI process for the entire CSX project. Are you content simply to ignore their concerns?

City and CSX documents show very specific plans and economic projections for a unified development, yet the state and CSX agree the company has no specific development plans for the second phase? Can you reconcile that?

When and if the second phase is closed upon, does that automatically convert the project into a DRI? Could you make that a condition of the sale?

It seems that Winter Haven city government has made virtually no effort to reach out to other local governments about this project. Is that correct? And if so, why is that?

If you were city manager of Lake Wales or Lakeland, what would you be doing right now in response to the CSX project?

Can Winter Haven effectively and ethically regulate a project it is contractually obligated to support?

Why no traffic study?

Does this process represent good planning?

Though they are based on pretty extensive reporting, some of the premises of these questions may be flawed. If so, I’m happy to have them corrected. But it’s not easy to get the city government’s point-of-view when the city manager doesn’t want to discuss it.

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