Most Putnam residents support school plan; county split on quality of life
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Quint Studer, a community development specialist from Pensacola, talks to an audience Wednesday at the Putnam County Board of Commissioners meeting room in Palatka. -
From left, Putnam County Commissioner Bill Pickens and his brother, St. Johns River State College President Joe Pickens, talk with community redevelopment specialist Quint Studer following Studer’s address at a public information session Wednesday. -
Positively Putnam FL
By Al Krombach
Special to the Daily News
If talking positive makes a difference, as community development specialist Quint Studer said Wednesday, then Palatka and Putnam County are headed in the right direction.
Studer, the head of Studer Community Institute, visited Palatka after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. Despite a general slowdown in redevelopment efforts, he saw encouraging changes and he liked what he saw, he said.
“You’re still pushing – pushing pretty hard,” he told an audience of more than 50 who gathered to hear the results of a wide-ranging, quality-of-living survey.
The phone survey was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy and paid for by the Palatka Young Professionals.
“I love what you’re trying to do,” he said, noting the number of community activists, entrepreneurs and business owners in the audience.
Two years ago, he said, “We pretty much started on the 1-yard line or 2-yard line. But now, you’re at the 20. You’re getting some results.”
The survey answers were not surprising, Studer said, but the degree of feelings expressed was.
He noted 75% of respondents supported a county plan to build nine new schools. Based on that depth of support, he said, the Putnam County School District should move ahead quickly.
“What people want to see is not plans anymore,” he said. “They want to see action.”
Surveyed residents were almost evenly split on the overall quality of life locally, with 48% on the positive side and 52% on the negative side.
But some 78% rated economic conditions as poor overall, he said. Sixty-six percent said job opportunities were poor, and 62% said crime was a growing problem — a number belied by the actual statistics, which indicate a reduction in crime from one year to the next, indicating a need for better civic education.
The most-most negative response? Ninety percent of respondents said Palatka’s downtown nightlife was nonexistent.
Redevelopment will address many of the county’s woes, he said, but that will require a large number of people buying into the same plans. He advocated greater emphasis on early childhood education.
Economic redevelopment is a slow, steady process, he said. It means supporting small business.
Studer quoted Larry Harris of the Mason-Dixon organization who said the survey findings “document a clear consensus and direction on how Putnam County wants to move forward.”
Overall, Studer said, economic redevelopment is like planting trees. The best time was 20 years ago; the second-best time is now.
“You talking positive makes a difference,” he concluded. “Don’t underestimate the difference you can make here in Putnam County.
Before Studer spoke, St. Johns River State College President Joe Pickens outlined gains, or “bright spots,” in four areas of emphasis. These included Downtown (Palatka) Revitalization, Education, Civic Engagement and Economic Development.
Among gains, he included Palatka’s 100 block redevelopment; the Dashboard, a regular graphic depicting the county’s gains and losses; the Education Foundation of Putnam County; and two CBD/cannabis growth factories.
Studer is to meet today with the 1 Putnam group to continue redevelopment discussions.
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