December 18, 2010 The Winter Park City Commission approved amendments to the Commuter Rail agreement by a 3 to 2 vote on December 13, 2010. The Orange County Commission then approved these amendments unanimously the next day. What does this mean? It means that SunRail trains will stop at a new commuter rail station located with the existing Amtrak station in Winter Park if and when SunRail becomes a reality. (It currently appears that SunRail is on track to receive authorization and release existing funding to start construction of the system.) The great achievement for Winter Park is that common…
Year: 2010
Cleaning up after the dog fee
October 18, 2010 Monday, October 11, 2010 our city commission approved fees to use Fleet Peeples Park with your dogs effective December 1, 2010. Commissioners Dillaha, Cooper, and McMacken voted for the fees. Commissioner Anderson and Mayor Bradley voted no. (I am not a dog owner.) Hundreds of Winter Park residents and non-residents take advantage of Fleet Peeples Park weekly to exercise dogs off leash and socialize with other dog owners. This has been going on for over ten years. Dog owners are a constituency whose needs should be addressed just as the city addresses needs of other constituencies ranging…
Defending our City Commission
September 30, 2010 I have never before had reason to tell you about a unanimous decision of the Winter Park City Commission that I strongly agreed with. I have a reason now. Unfortunately and unwisely, the commission decided in their budget decisions to provide for the possibility of increasing their pay ($200/mth for commissioners and $250/mth for the mayor) which has not been changed since my mother changed my diapers. This is virtually all the Orlando Sentinel had to talk about (here also) and it sends a very incomplete message. We should be focusing on the bigger picture. All Winter…
Who Owns the Risk?
September 27, 2010 To: Mayor and Commissioners, City of Winter Park, FL Subject: Who owns the risk? – or- What does Winter Park have to look forward to if Amendment 4 passes? I write to encourage unanimous support for the 2010-2011 city budget you preliminarily approved at the meeting of September 13, 2010. While there are important concerns about the wisdom of recommending spending increases for projects of personal interest to certain commissioners who also recommend decreasing previously established benefits for city employees, overall, your instincts are to be encouraged and applauded. Each of you deserves praise for the unanimous…
The End is Near
August 26, 2010 It has taken several years and much effort to wake the people of Winter Park to the reality that righteous nonsense, lies, and hypocrisy are not a substitute for experienced judgment and leadership. Many more citizens are beginning to recognize the reality. Purveyors of divisive prattle in Winter Park are revealing themselves. (Click the image then press “Ctrl +” or “Ctrl -” to resize within a browser window.) The facts can be found here. Please help as we seek honorable, experienced, and capable people to serve our city in the March 2011 city commission election. Talk to…
Dishonorable
August 22, 2010 Karen Diebel, former Winter Park Vice Mayor and candidate for US House Seat in Florida District 24, believes in individual freedom, individual responsibility, smaller government, and financial restraint. I am a supporter. Craig Miller, an opponent of Diebel’s in the Republican primary for the District 24 US House seat, along with former and current Winter Park city commission members Margie Bridges and Beth Dillaha, believe in character assassination and personal vendettas. Miller mailed a letter to District 24 voters written by Bridges and Dillaha. The authors know this letter contains false and misleading claims about Diebel. The…
More Wasted Time for Winter Park
August 12, 2010 Ms. Dillaha offered another one of her missives in today’s Winter Park/Maitland Observer: http://wpmobserver.com/WPMObserver/article.asp?ID=4319 What possible good can a city commissioner do by repeatedly, publicly, and falsely criticizing another member of the commission? (Answer: None. It can only do harm.) The continual “work sessions” called by Ms. Dillaha are meaningless efforts by one commissioner or set of commissioners to sway the opinion of other commissioners, not to get “work” done as she asserts. Each commissioner has the individual responsibility to do their home work, question city staff, establish their position on every issue and then vote. That’s…
Dillaha Needs to Stop the Nonsense
May 28, 2010 Dillaha is quoted in this week’s Winter Park/Maitland Observer as follows: But Commissioner Beth Dillaha railed against the idea of the city being on the hook to pay for a station and part of the system if dedicated funding for it were to disappear in the future. “You cannot tell a future sitting commission that you have to pay for these things,” Dillaha said. “You can’t do it. It’s the law.” Following the meeting Monday, she said that many of the supporters of the system and the current agreement were those who would benefit financially from SunRail,…
Just a Thought
SUBTITLE: When Reality Meets Righteous Nonsense May 28, 2010 Dear Mayor and Commissioners, I urge you to re-read the writings linked below in light of expected material reductions in assessed values recently provided by the Orange County Appraiser. Wes Hamil has already provided you with the estimated impact of these reductions on our 2010-11 operations as follows: ****************************************************************************************** From: Wes Hamil Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 11:34 AM To: Randy Knight; Michelle del Valle Subject: Property tax numbers We received our “best estimate” numbers from the Property Appraiser this morning. Our overall valuation decreased 10.4% while the valuation in the…
When Pigs Fly
May 26, 2010 Several people have asked me for a clarification of the 3 to 2 vote regarding commuter rail at the May 24 city commission meeting. Here it is: Three of our five commissioners thought it was a good idea to ask Orange County to allow Winter Park to leave the commuter rail system at any time for any reason without any financial obligations and instructed the city attorney and city manager to talk to Orange County about this idea. Regards, Pete Weldon