Reading local media reports, it appears that a number of local people are upset that the Anglers Club has a legal agreement to lease their property at very favorable terms. It has been suggested that it is in the public’s interest to rescind this agreement and write a new one. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The public would actually be severely damaged if we were to abandon the rule of law and allow legal contracts to be unilaterally canceled whenever one party to the contract saw fit. Imagine what life would become if life insurance contracts, lease agreements, purchase agreements etc. could be ignored at will.
If the anglers club would voluntarily agree to rewrite the agreement that would be a totally different matter. However, I wouldn’t recommend it to them.
First of all, it is hard to see any benefit accruing to the people of New Smyrna Beach from having more revenue fall into the hands of the city government. It is a universal phenomenon that government operations rarely, if ever, suffer from insufficient revenue. However, they all suffer from the inability to use the revenue they do have in a truly efficient and beneficial manner.
Furthermore, the Angler’s club is composed of many of this city’s leading citizens. As a group they probably already pay way more than their fair share of the city’s taxes through their personal property and business property.
The city's own attorney says the Angler's Club lease is valid and serves a public purpose, thus meeting legal requirements. Going to outside counsel is just a waste of money. This is not an issue that is the talk of the town, but rather raised by a few townspeople -- insiders -- who attend the city commission meetings. The average citizen out there doesn't have a fight in this. And of course, by the time an outside counsel concludes the city attorney was right after all, city elections will have come and gone. Those who pushed for the outside review will say they were just doing the right thing and those opposed will say we told you so.
As for discrimination and past claims that the Angler's catered to white men only, so did many other entities in the city embrace segregation prior to civil rights era, including public schools. There are no outstanding or pending claims by anyone of denied access into the club based on race or gender. And such discriminatory clauses have been long gone.
I conclude that in the big picture of things no harm is being done by the Anglers Club’s very favorable lease agreement. Remember, the agreement was signed at a time when the city was very glad to have anyone take over the property and take care of it. When the agreement is due for renewal it can then be renegotiated.
I would recommend that the people of New Smyrna and their leaders forget about the Angler’s Club and concentrate on the large number of things that can be done in real terms to make the city a better place like dealing with the budget and keeping expenses in check, especially with the downturn in the economy..