It has been a while since I published articles on winterparkperspective.org because our city and our commission has been moving forward in a constructive manner. City finances are now solid although our pension liabilities continue to be a significant risk and the state legislature refuses so far to make changes necessary for the city to effect material changes. The Winter Park housing market continues to rebound in transactions if not increasing values. Numerous significant commercial redevelopments have been approved and several are coming out of the ground, all of which are reasonably within the density and uses defined in our…
Category: Ethics
The Poison People
January 21, 2012 Must we be continually disappointed by the negative and misleading communications we all receive when there is a Winter Park election? One Steve Lester recently sent around an email claiming he is the holder of “facts” about Ken Bradley and Florida Hospital. Dr. Lester conveniently and intentionally left out the fact that he is a radiologist who has been upset over contract disputes with Florida Hospital for years. One lawsuit he was involved in with Florida Hospital goes back to 2002 (go to the Orange County Clerk’s web site and look up case # 2002-CA-006670-O). That Dr….
The Right, the Wrong, and the Illegal
December 12, 2011 This negative mailer was distributed just before the March 8, 2011 Winter Park city commission election and caused an understandable stir. After the person claimed on the mailer to have paid for it acknowledged he did not even see the mailer before it was sent (Will Graves), I filed this complaint with the Winter Park Police who sent it on the the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida for investigation, seeking to find out who was behind the mailer. The Detective Supervisor for the Circuit Court followed up on June 21, 2011 with this report noting that…
Notional Accusations
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…
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…
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…
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…
Time to Stop the Nonsense
February 25, 2010 You received a flyer in the mail today promoting a yes vote on Amendment #10 on March 9th. Florida law requires a filing with the City Clerk identifying the people responsible and the sources of financing for political communications. Also, an individual can send political communications provided they identify themselves. The flyer you received was attributed to “Ten for Winter Park.” Per my phone calls today, neither the City of Winter Park nor the Orange County Elections office has any information on this organization. [Update: “Ten for Winter Park” registered with the City on March 3, 2010…