ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla (CBS12) — What started as a St. Lucie County budget workshop turned into a tense exchange between two county commissioners, with one commissioner making pointed comments about Lakewood Park residents and another firing back over what he called an attempt to “educate” the board.

The exchange happened Monday during a St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners budget workshop, after commissioners debated funding for economic development and whether to support the Economic Development Council at its full requested amount.

County Manager George Landry first laid out several budget scenarios for commissioners, including options tied to the rollback tax rate and funding requests from the sheriff’s office, the clerk’s office, judicial agencies, Hands of St. Lucie County and the Economic Development Council. The board discussed whether to fully fund the EDC at $325,000 and how to close a multimillion-dollar gap if commissioners chose a rollback-rate budget.

During that discussion, Commissioner Cathy Townsend defended the EDC, saying commissioners cannot market the county the way the organization does. She also criticized the Chamber of Commerce, calling it “nothing more than a social club” and saying the EDC provides more value to the county.

Commissioner James Clasby pushed back on the idea that the county should continue subsidizing the EDC at the same level, arguing that St. Lucie County is already attractive to businesses and should prepare for a future with tighter budgets and less reliance on property taxes.

That led to a sharp personal exchange.

“Commissioner Townsend, let me just say this once,” Clasby said. “You need to stop trying to educate other people on the board.”

Clasby continued, saying the board had seen what Townsend had done as commissioner and that the policies and development projects she supported were “some of the reasons” he ran for office.

Townsend responded that she was not ignoring him, but was telling him to talk to people involved with the EDC.

The meeting then moved on, but the tension resurfaced later when Landry raised a separate topic: whether St. Lucie County should begin reviewing its commission district boundaries.

Landry said the county’s rapid growth over the past several years may have created population imbalances among districts. He noted that Florida law allows counties to review district maps in odd-numbered years and asked whether commissioners wanted staff to start looking at possible changes for early 2027.

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Townsend said her district stretches across several areas, including Lakewood Park, and argued the boundaries should be reviewed.

She then made critical comments about Lakewood Park residents, saying they are “very demanding” and making a remark about people there having “a mouth for lying, Townsend also said they were “probably friends with” Clasby.

Clasby responded by defending Lakewood Park.

“I really like Lakewood Park and the people there are my friends,” Clasby said, while agreeing that the district boundaries need another look.

Commissioners ultimately appeared open to having staff gather data and bring back examples of potential district changes later this year, with possible action in 2027.

CBS12 is working to get reaction from Townsend, Clasby and Lakewood Park residents about the exchange.