Tim Borden
For Indian River County Commissioner District 1
In 4 years from now, my goal is be here talking about our accomplishments not things we have to do. We need a business minded Commissioner, someone who has set goals and budgets, makes a business plan and executes on it. I have a plan, a plan to help the community grow without growth hindering our quality of life and without raising our taxes.
Vision, Issues, & Values
Tim’s 5 Initial Priorities for Indian River County
#1) GROWTH
Unprecedented accelerated growth is coming! A University of Florida study suggests that by 2030, which is only 6 years away, Indian River County will swell to a population of 207,000, around 40,000 more than our current total. Our roads
are congested already, and the lines at stores & restaurants continue to lengthen. So, we need to have a strong and flexible strategic plan in place. We must grow in a way that’s not going to mess up our quality of life. Our Q.O.L. is everything- that’s why we all came here, right? Borden likes to quote Warren Buffet. “Someone is sitting under the shade tree today because someone else planted a tree there a long time ago.” And covid really
exasperated the growth spurt we have seen in Florida. We were growing at a moderate rate and then suddenly everybody wanted to come to the, “Free State of Florida.” They wanted to get out of New York, they wanted to get out of New Jersey, and out of a lot of
other states. Tim is in the real estate business and the last 4 years have been crazy. But Borden believes our leadership kind of got caught off guard. They knew we were going to grow, but proper planning is mandatory now to ensure that our way of life remains in Indian River County, and Tim thinks there are strategic ways we can grow and maintain it.
#2) Senate Bill, House Bill 1379.
How many of you know that Governor DeSantis signed a Bill that says basically if you’re in front of the sewer line, you have to convert to sewer or hook up to a 2-step septic system by July, 2030? Most of the community does not. As Borden has been door knocking, as he’s been attending events, and delivering
presentations, most people have no idea that’s going on. Did you know that the septic system that needs to be converted to, or that sewer line that must be hooked up to is going to cost each homeowner around $18,000? Who’s going to pay for that? Right now we don’t have much guidance from the state government, but Tim will never forget what happened in 2021, as he had just been elected as the president of the Realtors Association of Indian River County. So, as President Elect, Borden was invited to go to
Tallahassee and lobby every year. The big issue at that time was Hometown Heroes. Hometown Heroes was a down payment assistance program, a bond program, that said if you were a first-time home buyer, you could be given money. It was for our first
responders, our police officers, our EMS, our schoolteachers, but it wasn’t guaranteed. You had to actually go up there, and lobby for it, and really, we had to fight for it. And no doubt that same thing is going to happen here with this sewer and septic funding. We need to be proactive. We have to be present, we have to fight, we have to ask, we have to lobby and we have to get that funding. We have to secure that funding here because let’s face it- we live in a very diverse community. We have the island- with homes there worth $15-$20 million, and we have houses on the mainland worth a couple hundred thousand dollars. We have folks on social security and fixed incomes- that’s what we really have to be concerned about. Who’s going to pay? Yes, we have this new law but how are we going to secure funding? It’s something Tim is very, very concerned about.
#3) The health of our Indian River Lagoon.
So, if we hook up to the sewer and make septic systems more efficient that’s going to be a big help. But, we also have storm water runoff. The State just allocated $100 million for the Indian River Lagoon recently, so what does that mean for us? We have four major points where the runoff happens in our county directly into our portion of the Indian River Lagoon. And we know that’s where the water drains into it and those toxins can enter the water. That can be a main source of where the fish start dying, and it messes up our seagrass and other marine life. So, if we could place a natural filtration system at one or more, and eventually all four of these places before it hits the lagoon- like we have in other areas- it could help solve many more problems. South of us in Jupiter they have had success with this option. But the main ingredient to saving our lagoon is working with every county to our south and Brevard County to our north in conjunction with our legislators in Tallahassee. The only way to completely fix our lagoon is to work with everyone else to solve it from end to end. Down south they’ve already implemented more of these priorities. They went out and secured funding for multiple projects and their portion of the lagoon is improving faster. Let’s just face it, one big reason we all enjoy life here is because of our lagoon. It’s an important pathway and gateway to our community. It is the view people desire for dinner and drinks and it is where our marine life should be thriving again. We want to go fishing, we want to enjoy the beach. It is imperative that we save and protect our lagoon! It’s important we start doing something more strategic right away.
#4 We’re talking about all these fixable items with growth, and the lagoon, and everybody says well Tim how are you going to pay for all these improvements? Many other government agencies either pay a grant writer a percentage or they hire somebody. Hillsborough County hired a full-time grant writer and in a very short period of time gained 41 million dollars in funding. Pasco County did also, and after about 4 months, they had already secured $17 million in funding, so what does that mean? That means it’s going to save us tax dollars, it’s going to solve a lot of these issues that are happening with growth, with roads, with parks, with green area. So, one of the things with growth, you know Sebastian did it right, you can’t go more than a half mile in Sebastian without seeing a park or a playground. And as parents of 2 little kids, soon to be 3, we love it! My kids love it and if you walk around the county there’s not as many parks. There’s not much green area compared to Vero Beach and Sebastian. So, I would like to hire a full-time grant writer. Let’s have a full-time position where a $50-$60,000 salary will go such a long way to secure this other funding that we’re lacking.
#5 The fifth priority is WORKFORCE HOUSING.
Workforce Housing- With Borden’s background in real estate this one is near and dear to his heart. Everyone should have a roof over their head. Much of our workforce cannot afford to live here. According to 2020 Census the Median Single Income is $28,770 ($2,397.50/Month) with household $57,945 ($4,828.75/Month). With the Average Rent being $2,400 a month it is difficult for those folks living here. Our Government and Private Sector must work together to solve this issue. Action must be taken now to solve this predicament. Tim has concrete plans that can solve these problems step by step. He wants to create new opportunities to house our first responders and begin by addressing two issues with one solution. We’ve got to take care of our own. Housing- so Sebastian Elementary, Pelican Island Elementary, you’ll see a lot of the schools that used to have a little mobile home onsite. When Borden went to school at Sebastian Elementary, he remembers it was Miss Roberta Barker. She was a deputy and she would watch over the school. So, one of the things Tim thinks we really need to propose is let’s take care of our first responders first. Let’s take care of our sheriff deputies first, and we can create a program where all the schools, we already own the land, partner with the school district. We partner with the school district, and put a mobile home there, we put a deputy at every single school, we house a deputy right there. So that’s going to do two things. That’s going to solve bridging the gap for some of our first responders with housing and it’s also going to help secure our schools again. 5,000 felon inmates were surveyed in the jail last year and 99.7% of them said that they would have never committed that felony or crime if they saw the presence of a police officer or even a police car. So, what are our high-risk areas that we’re so concerned about now? Schools, right? Schools are Borden’s first concern especially with children of their own. So, let’s do that to create affordable housing. We have state parks. We could put some of these housing options into state parks. The Environmental Learning Center used to have one, why don’t we have one there anymore? So, there are like 53 different opportunities for us to do that and Tim thinks that’s going to be something that really helps and bridges the gap to accomplish two positive goals we all share. We need to start thinking outside of the box!
This election that’s going to come up in August is not about this year, this election is not about next year, but this election is about where we’re going to go in the next 5 years. Where are we going to be in the next 10 years? And we need to have somebody that’s had a proven business track record, someone with entrepreneurial experience, so that 4 years from now they can tell you, “Hey this is what we talked about, and here is what we’ve accomplished, this is what we’ve done.” We created housing, we built some roads to not affect our quality of life, we’ve planned for this growth to be here. We’re going to make Indian River County a better place to live in than it is right now. Tim Borden has a vision for a better Indian River County, and he is asking for your vote on August 20th. Borden welcomes your research of his accomplishments and his ability to lead. He is an open book. Tim wants to meet everyone. He asks that you consider what he brings to the table and for you to cast your vote for him via your mail-in ballot, during early voting, or in person on Tuesday, August 20th, 2024. Remember Tim Borden!
The Leadership Indian River County Needs Right Now
So, who is this Tim Borden guy who we see is running for the District 1 Seat of the Indian River County Commission?
Tim Borden is a lifelong resident of Indian River County- having moved to Sebastian with his parents when he was just 7 days old in 1984.
FAITH
Religion was a big part of Tim’s upbringing. Prior to moving to Florida his parents were very active at a church in New York- El Bethel. His grandmother was the church secretary and was involved with the Salvation Army for many, many years. Borden’s grandparents were founding members of Riverside church where Tim started attending locally as a young child. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at a very young age, while his mother was the toddler teacher there for 20 years and received teacher of the year honors through Assembly’s of God numerous times. Tim started helping in the children’s ministry under Grant Foster at Riverside and then stayed involved with youth ages as well. Borden worked at the church from 14 years old as his assistant after school each day. Duties included washing the church vans, set up for youth and children’s services, and everything in between. Tim had been involved at Riverside Church from 1984 to 2014. Borden preached in the youth group a few times a month from 2009 to 2014 and he led a youth Bible study, and also filled in for the children’s pastor on a regular basis whenever she needed his help. At one
time the youth group became so large that they held two services each week, middle school and then high school, busing in children from across the community. The youth group grew to around 200 children.
Once Danielle and Tim were married in 2017, they found out that her good friends from Fort Lauderdale had taken over as pastors at Community Baptist Church on Roseland Road in Sebastian. She went to high school with them and had even attended her friend’s dad’s church. After Covid they started getting involved at Community Baptist in late 2022. Tim now teaches Sunday school 1-2x a month and although he has not done youth ministry there, that vocation remains to be something near and dear to his heart to this day. Borden has led the age group for his children there for sports camp and Vacation Bible School for 2 years, and now Tim has been an integral part of the team leading the efforts toward bringing Community Baptist Christian School to a reality. In regard to the school, the pastor asked their family to dinner and shared his vision for a Christian school. The Borden’s felt compelled in their hearts and Tim knew this was something very important to his family and to their church.
They had previously tried for 12 months up to that point with little to no luck and no direction from the county. Tim and others began to work together, literally the next day, setting up meetings with civil engineers, planning and zoning staff, and many others to start the process to open a school. This entire new effort took almost another entire year. Borden shared, “The best thing to describe it is from a verse in Proverbs- “…train a child in the way he shall go and when he gets old he will not depart from it…,” He continued, “Children are innocent and pure of mind and with the way this world is we need Jesus involved in their learning
lives,” Tim added, “These things should be taught at home from parents and then reiterated with their teachers in my humble opinion.” The initial Phase at the Roseland Road Campus for Community Baptist Christian School was approved at
the Indian River County Commission Meeting on Tuesday, June 4th, 2024! This school is going to start at 90 students due to space, but they believe the Lord is going to use this as the start for a possible expansion at another site soon.
FAMILY/Coaching
Throughout his youth in Sebastian he became passionate about the place he had the opportunity to grow up in, and was also very active with sports as a youngster. Another fun fact is that Tim’s Grandfather ministered at the Indian River county jail. He would preach, visit, and console the inmates. Tim’s Grandfather was his best friend growing up and played a big role in his upbringing. Not a day goes by that Borden would trade anything to spend 5 more minutes with him- may he Rest In Peace.
Tim got married in May of 2017 to Danielle. They welcomed their first son, Timmy, into their family in 2018, and their second son, Daniel, arrived in 2020, and more recently on Friday, June 28th, the Borden’s added their first baby girl, Brielle to their family.
Just like Tim was raised here, he wants his children to be raised here. And, now since their third child, a baby girl, Brielle, has now arrived, they also want her to be raised in this same place-
somewhere safe, somewhere secure, somewhere quiet. Sports were a big part of Borden’s life as a child/youth. He has now coached Little League Baseball in Sebastian for the last three seasons including tee ball and then coached a minor league team last year with a dear friend. Tim believes that baseball or any sport for that matter is much more impactful than just being a sport. He knows the children learn how to be a teammate, what it feels like to win, how to deal with a loss, what hard work results in, and mostly they should represent an opportunity to have fun. Borden thinks there is nothing that compares to coaching his children, and seeing their growth, to help them learn, and to overcome challenges and to gain the understanding of how to succeed. This is something Tim intends to continue to do for all of their children in baseball and basketball.
REAL ESTATE/Treasure Coast Realty/Leadership
Borden attended Sebastian Elementary, Sebastian River Middle, and graduated from Sebastian River High School in 2002. While attending his first Semester at Indian River State College Tim started working for a real estate developer, and he encouraged him to obtain a real estate license. So, he took his advice and went on to do so. Borden was blessed and; became almost immediately successful in the industry selling numerous homes/properties at a young age. Tim bought his first home in Sebastian at 21 years old in 2005. In 2008, the financial crisis hit, and real estate sales and home values crashed to a halt. Borden was 24 and wondering what he had to do to pay his mortgage and survive. In 2010 he started managing investor funds and they started buying/selling properties from foreclosure sale/court house and after a short time became very successful and found a niche to renovate distressed properties and give new families the chance of home ownership. Tim continued working in the real estate business, and, then he decided to open his own business- called Treasure Coast Realty. The years 2010/2011 were most likely one of the worst times to open a real estate business. That’s when every corner had foreclosures going on, but you know Tim and his team kept their noses to the grindstone and worked very hard through it all! He was probably one of the only brokers that opened a big store front in that time period. They tried to plan properly as they knew what they were getting into. Tim has always believed in PLANNING THE WORK, and then WORKING THE PLAN in everything he has endeavored to do! They continue to execute that plan, although it needed tweaking along the way, as the conditions in this area changed. They created a plan, a true business plan, and Borden’s Treasure Coast Realty T.E.A.M. executed it- and that formula for success continues to this very day. Borden started out renting available space which proved to be a prudent part of his plan, until a huge rent increase was implemented from a landlord in 2018. Not knowing exactly what he was going to do moving forward, an answered prayer for him evolved to change his thinking about a brand-new opportunity. Tim sought out, and then bought an historic property on Main Street in Sebastian that needed to be completely renovated in order to become viable.
It was the historic 1925 John Beugnot House. As has been the case throughout most of his adult life, Borden chose to do most of the work himself, along with an experienced renovation friend, Paul White, who is from England and had worked on many old homes from the 18th to early 19th centuries there. It took them around one year to completely renovate the building and maintain its status as, “historical”. They worked nights, weekends, and countless hours to get the job done.
Looking back, Tim explained, “God opened many doors at the right times for this project,” he continued, “Sometimes the bad things end up becoming the biggest blessings in your life.” And, Tim’s entrepreneurial skills have continued
to blossom at every turn with Treasure Coast Realty. The Indian River County Chamber of Commerce celebrated the achievements of local companies at its annual Industry Appreciation Awards event on October 29, 2020, and The Award for HISTORIC RENOVATION went to Tim Borden for The 1925 John Beugnot House in Sebastian, then becoming the home to his Treasure Coast Realty.
Borden’s leadership involvement in The Realtors Association and the Industry- Tim became the treasurer for The Realtors Association of Indian River County in 2013. And, he was the chairman of the MLS in 2015, and again in 2019. Borden was elected as President Elect in 2022, served as President in 2023, and is a Past President/Director in 2024. Tim has been a State Director for The Florida Realtors Association since 2022. And, he was on the professional standards committee on the state level in 2022. Borden is currently a state Trustee for Affordable Housing- which is a 5-year appointment. He has consistently traveled for legislative meetings in Tallahassee to meet with Debbie Mayfield and Erin Grall numerous times. And, Tim met with Marco Rubio in 2023 in Washington DC concerning legislative issues in Florida. Borden was also recently named to the 2023 Florida REALTORS® Honor Society for his 2 nd year in a row.
Tim Borden’s #1 Objective for Indian River County
“The most impressive, “pictures”, during my first 4 years, if elected, as your
District 1 Indian River County Commissioner, would be snapshots of me listening
to you,” Borden explains, “And, then delivering on your needs and the issues we
seek to tackle on your behalf for the strengthening of our lives together, our
businesses, and our way of life in this county,” Tim added. “Making all aspects of
our county government more user friendly from a resident standpoint and when it
comes to running your business is my #1 Objective!” And, Borden reiterates in
conclusion, “As part of the Indian River County Government, we serve you! Not
the other way around! Our accomplishments are never as important as getting
the results we need to make life better for you here!”
“Please join our T.E.A.M. as I seek to make all Indian River County departments of
government more business- and resident-friendly than ever before!”
-Tim Borden
Always listening, always thinking, ALWAYS CARING ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY!
We are a T.E.A.M., because Together Everyone Accomplishes More!
Ready to Support Tim for Indian River County Commissioner?
For financial contributions Please make checks payable to:
Tim Borden Campaign Fund
1068 Main Street
Sebastian, FL 32958