Posted: February 20, 2009
An erroneous statement by National Public Radio (NPR) was broadcast across the country Wednesday, mischaracterizing the city’s economic condition and potentially damaging the city’s favorable reputation within the financial industry.
NPR’s news and commentary program “All Things Considered” ran a story about the downturn in the U.S. housing market affecting St. Lucie County and the city. The story was called “Hard-Hit Boomtown Considers Emergency Measures.”
Though the content of the story accurately stated that St. Lucie County is considering declaring a state of emergency to address economic problems, the promotional tease for the story that ran earlier in the program misrepresented the city’s reputation for being one of the state’s financially best-run cities.
The tease stated, “Not long ago, Port St. Lucie, Florida was one of the nation’s fastest growing cities ... Now the city may declare itself an economic disaster area, going from boom times to bust.” Furthermore, the subtitle to the NPR Web version says, “Port St. Lucie, Fla., was America’s fastest growing city. Now it might be a disaster area.”
The City of Port St. Lucie is not an economic disaster area and has no plan or proposal to declare such. City management believes the statement was aired irresponsibly, especially considering that no one from NPR contacted city officials for clarification of the concept, which was originated by a St. Lucie County official, not by anyone from city government.
Because of NPR’s erroneous statement, the city is working to defend its reputation in the financial industry, where Port St. Lucie has consistently earned strong bond ratings from respected agencies such as Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch, and has been awarded year after year by the Government Finance Officers Association and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing for superior financial management.
Additionally, home sales in the city have risen considerably in recent months, though prices remain low, and the city has removed most of the overgrown weeds and foliage on foreclosed properties that were devaluing surrounding homes. The city is as beautiful as ever.
City Manager Don Cooper and the City Council began taking steps three years ago to prepare for the current economic decline, and as a result, Port St. Lucie continues to maintain one of the lowest property tax rates in the state while still providing levels of service that continue the excellent quality of life residents demand. While the city does have difficult financial choices to make because of changes in the national economy, Port St. Lucie is still a financially sound city accomplishing many worthwhile goals, and there are many reasons to be optimistic about its future.
When NPR reports otherwise, whether in a tease or actual story, confidence in the city’s financial management is weakened, and Port St. Lucie faces the possibility of lowered bond ratings, which translate into higher borrowing costs. For this reason, the city has asked NPR to consider broadcasting a correction and to contact city officials directly when reporting on important local issues in the future.
For more information, contact:
Ed Cunningham
Communications Director
City of Port St. Lucie
(772) 871-5219