by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
When most people think of Florida, images of beach balls, oranges and Mickey Mouse usually jump to mind. As natives know, it’s not all sunshine and fun times.
Adam Herbert, executive director of The Florida Center at the University of North Florida, is trying to deal with the cloudy times.
“Almost 70 percent of our gross state product is derived from just four sectors of the economy: industry services, finance/insurance/ real estate, government and retail trade,” Herbert said at Monday’s Meninak Club meeting. “This level of concentration is not healthy for us.”
According to Herbert, diversifying the state’s revenue sources is imperative to long-term fiscal survival. As evidenced after the Sept. 11 attacks, tourism is subject to drastic downswings. And efforts to infuse high tech enterprises and information technology have not been adequate.
As executive director of the center, Herbert has targeted several areas, including developing cities, managing the environment, caring for the elderly, educating a diverse student population, financing public services, conducting elections and meeting transportation, energy and fresh water needs.
Now, the question is how to tackle these concerns. The center has established a mission consisting of four elements: assessing economic, social and demographic trends; identifying opportunities to enhance economic growth; conducting research on major public policy issues for debate and expanding leadership capacity.
Employing Geographic Information System mapping, Herbert and his colleagues can track data on key factors such as grades of school children by school, voting trends by precinct and other uses. Studies will be conducted in educational policy, public management, social problems, urban and metropolitan issues and natural resources.
“I’m very concerned with the children in our state,” said Herbert, a former UNF president and chancellor of the state unversity system. “Twenty-five percent live in poverty and 20 percent have no health insurance.”
To implement the changes he believes are critical, Herbert hinted that a state tax of some kind would be necessary.
“I worry more about our young people and what kind of future we’re going to leave them,” he said. “I worry about the kind of educational foundation we’re laying. We’re convinced we can get everything we want without paying for it.”