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…
Category: Money
Issues related to city finances including taxes, spending, utility pricing, debt, and revenue.
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…
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…
What to do? What to do?
The fighting in Winter Park over commercial redevelopment, “McMansions,” the commuter rail stop, and all things obstructionist and isolationist continues to take its toll on our willingness to face reality. While our tax base withers and our revenues fall Beth Dillaha, Margie Bridges, and Phil Anderson sit on our City Commission and spend all their time discussing conservation districts, historical districts, killing the commuter rail agreement with Orange County, the “Hometown Democracy” referendum, imposing super majority voting requirements, and applauding themselves for stopping everything in their path. A few months ago Bill Donegan, Orange County Property Appraiser, made a presentation…
Possible Winter Park Green Space Foundation
Local entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Goldman has stood up to help our city plan and execute the expansion of green space in Winter Park. I wrote Steve the following letter to encourage his leadership and to make sure the circumstances involving the USPS property on New York Avenue are fully and accurately considered. ****************************************************** November 11, 2009 Steve, I am sorry you did not accept my invitation to talk. I fully support the creation of the Winter Park Green Space Foundation. I elaborate on this below. All the people of Winter Park will be indebted to you if your group…
More Misrepresentation
David Strong recently sent out an email that continues to misrepresent his record. He continues to take credit for projects and accomplishments he had little or nothing to do with and continues to tell an incomplete story about taxes and city reserves. David Strong Claim: Reduced city spending by $2 million in response to reduced revenues caused by the economic downturn. Reality: Original 2009 budgeted city revenue was reduced by $2,000,000 as a result of State mandated reductions and the passage of Amendment One in January 2008. The City Manager letter that introduces the 2009 budget makes this clear (see…
Stay away from the fumes.
The One Winter Park folks have gotten great millage out of a gas can full of accusations that their political opponents are being influenced by owners of commercial property. David Strong is the darling of those who claim anyone running for office against him must be under the influence of commercial property owners because that candidate accepts campaign contributions from people who own commercial property in Winter Park. Did you know that many contributors to David Strong’s campaign own commercial property in Winter Park? Did you know that David Strong is a Winter Park commercial property owner? It is interesting…
Let’s thank David Strong for his service and elect Ken Bradley Mayor of Winter Park
First, you need to know that I do not have and never have had any business dealings involving Winter Park commercial property. The only property I own in Winter Park is the home I live in. My only interest is the pursuit of rational, positive, and professional governance for Winter Park. If you take a minute to get past ethics issues, campaign misrepresentations, and propaganda you will see there is a fight going on in Winter Park that is unnecessary, expensive, and dangerous. The fight is between owners of property in Winter Park and a group of extremists led and…
Redevelopment is good for Winter Park
There has been lots of screaming and yelling about redevelopment over the past several years. How about understanding the real impact of redevelopment on our quality of life and financial security? Look no further than the Winter Park Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). Our resident anti-growth militant Beth Dillaha has referred to our CRA as “a slush fund for developers.” Let’s explore that conclusion. A CRA is a defined geographic area where incremental property tax revenue from both the City and County must be reinvested within that same area. Winter Park’s CRA area is roughly bounded by Webster, 17/92, Fairbanks, and…