Here is a letter I wrote to the Winter Park Mayor and City Commissioners today: June 15, 2011 Mayor and City Commissioners of Winter Park, After listening to the audio of your meeting of June 13th I felt compelled to write. I had the opportunity to talk with Jack Rogers at a “Community Conversations” session (or was that “Factional Conversations”) and was enlightened by him noting that when Park Place, Douglas Grand, Landmark, and the Carlisle were approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission there was one woman attending some of these meetings who noted that three of the five…
Author: Peter Weldon
Realizing Transparency
April 26, 2011 As a citizen interested in governance I marvel at the great job our city management and staff do to further transparency. Our city has been extremely proactive and a leader in making information available to all. Use these Internet resources: Virtually any information can be readily found at the City of Winter Park Web Site. Stay connected with automatic email notices of city events important to you. Register for the city Outreach program (emergency notifications). Friend the City of Winter Park Facebook page. Receive Tweets about city news in real time. Our city management and staff provide…
Urban Planning Lecture March 16th at Rollins
March 9, 2011 Bruce Stephenson of Rollins College contacted me about an upcoming lecture I thought may be of interest to some readers. Andrés Duany will be discussing planning and civic organization on March 16th at 7:00 PM in the Bush Auditorium at Rollins. Click here for a preview of the lecture. Regards, Pete Weldon
And the winner is: Winter Park
Congratulations to Sarah Sprinkel and Steve Leary. The numbers speak for themselves.
Truth or Consequences.
March 6, 2011 Below you will find messages I received this weekend. One from a former mayor and commissioner who served our city for 12 years, another from a former member of the Historic Preservation Commission and a current leader of the friends of Mead Gardens, and then one from a group of citizens. Please vote on Tuesday. Please encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to vote on Tuesday. In recent years our local elections have provided an outlet for the most strident and churlish among us to willfully engage in lies, distortions, hypocrisy, and character assassination, I presume on…
Don’t let your vote be manipulated.
March 1, 2011 City management noted material falsehoods (see below) in the Fleet Peeples Park mailer sent under Herb Weiss’s name. Herb Weiss acknowledges that the the mailer was paid for by people who wish to remain anonymous. The most sensational points about “environmental devastation” in this mailer are totally bogus, fabricated, a manipulation to support an intentionally inflammatory conclusion designed to influence your vote on March 8. Don’t fall for it. Our city deserves better. We as voters need to see through the curtain of fear and elect people who are motivated to serve our city, not their personal…
Is this the behavior of a Winter Park city commissioner?
February 25, 2011 Every Winter Park voter needs to read the email exchange below before marking their ballot in the March 8 election. Related reading: Lawyers or Leaders? When is something true? Regards, Pete Weldon
I Heard It Through the Grape Vine.
February 24, 2011 I was informed this evening that there continue to be people in Winter Park who disparage me personally, apparently because they disagree with my political positions. Ah, Winter Park, where character assassination is the political practice of choice. It seems some in Winter Park consider me a “nut job” and a rumor spread about me three years ago has resurfaced. Did you know that I was “a trust fund baby whose family paid him not to be involved in their family business?” Funny, neither did I. The lack of character and quality of such people continues to…
Herb Weiss Speaks (but what is he saying?)
(Be sure to check out this follow-up post from March 1.) Herb Weiss authored the six page mail piece Winter Park residents received recently that details his concerns about Fleet Peeples Park. The following is my letter to Herb on the subject after speaking with him at length about these issues. February 24, 2011 Dear Herb, First let me thank you for investing so much energy into something you believe is important and for your time on the phone discussing these issues. As you have likely noted, I have been at it for several years and appreciate those willing to…
Vote NO on Amendment #1
February 18, 2011 You will find an Amendment on the ballot for the March 8 election. The language of the Amendment (see below) offers no insight into it’s consequences. Our current mayor and six former mayors are recommending a NO vote on this Amendment for the following reasons: A NO vote protects against electing a majority “slate” of three members at one time who would serve four years without challenge. A NO vote protects our current right to change the majority view on the City Commission annually, assuring governance is responsive to the wishes of the citizens. The Charter Review…