The following reveals exactly why we must not elect Cynthia Mackinnon as mayor and exactly why we must elect Steve Leary as mayor. This post responds to Beth Hall’s views as expressed in a comment on this blog. Beth goes into great detail about her concerns and in doing so offers our city an opportunity to discuss context so that we are all working off the same set of facts. Beth Hall says; Sometimes, rightly or wrongly, candidates for office pay the price for the sins of their forbearers. Witness the outcome of the recent mid-term elections at the national level. Similarly, witness…
Playing the Suspicion Card.
During my involvement in Winter Park issues over the past nine years a small group of citizens (the same people all the time) promote irrational and politically motivated suspicions about our elected officials, claiming or implying that elected officials have conflicts of interest without the benefit of evidence, or that these officials are influenced to corruption by those with financial interests in Winter Park. Those spreading suspicion receive re-enforcement from an impressionable few who follow their lead, creating a voice that irresponsibly undermines trust in both city management and our elected officials. In notable cases, including the current mayoral race, candidates for…
2015 Election Information and Candidate Debate Schedule
Below you will find information from the City of Winter Park web site regarding the upcoming election and candidate forums. Get to know the candidates. Get to know the issues. Be sure to vote! Regards, Pete Weldon _________________________ 2015 Election Schedule General election will be held Tuesday, March 10, 2015. For more municipal election information, please contact the City Clerk’s office at 407-599-3277 or email cityclerk@cityofwinterpark.org. For absentee ballots, contact the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office at 407-836-2070. For Orange County election information in general, please visit Orange County Supervisor of Elections Upcoming Candidate Forums Tuesday, February 10, from…
Partisan Fallout
There is an uproar about partisanship in the Winter Park mayoral election. The facts point to Mackinnon being less than forthright. Here is the time line and documents I have found: January 5, 2015: The Orange County Democratic Party explicitly endorses Mackinnon. (Here is a copy should they remove the link.) January 23, 2015: The Orange County Republican Party makes a point of Mackinnon’s contributions to the 2012 Obama campaign in an email and then follows up with a post card. January 26: Mackinnon implies her opponent “a candidate” is the one being partisan and illegally so. Mackinnon says, “Did…
Our Choice For Mayor
February 22, 2015 Dear Fellow Winter Park Voter, CLICK LINKS BELOW TO ACCESS SOURCE MATERIAL. I am a Winter Park resident committed to reasoned governance for our city. I am paying for this letter with my money. I have served on city boards for eight years, having been a member of the city’s Code Enforcement Board, and currently serving on both the Tree Preservation Board and Planning and Zoning Board. While elections tend to be emotionally driven and lack substance, I hold Winter Park to a higher standard; a standard based on knowledge of the circumstances, policy substance, and results. Based…
History of Recent Development Approvals
I document the history of several recent Winter Park development approvals below (click links for source material). As a member of the Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board I thought it important that voters have a factual frame of reference so as to not be confused by false narratives and “whisper” campaigns that always seem to show up during election season. If you are frustrated by the 4 story apartment buildings on Denning you can blame the commission in place in 2006, not the current commission. CNL Office at Denning and Morse. This three story 88,000 square foot office building…
Winter Park Development Reality
I write as a member of the Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board and in the spirit of the duty of the board to keep the “public informed and advised as to” matters impacting development in our city. I encourage readers to explore the various links to source information below. Fear and frustration of many citizens was evident this past summer in the “no density” reaction to a proposed change in our comprehensive plan related to planned developments, or “PDs.” This change was not approved by the city commission. Objections to the proposed PD changes were founded in reactions to…
A Primer on Development
I offer the following points about development to share some of the realities I have learned as a member of the City of Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board. Much of the reaction to development approvals has been based on incomplete understanding of the city’s role in development. While there will always be political differences on where private property rights begin and end, the Federal and State Constitution, Federal and State statutes, Federal and State Court rulings, the City Comprehensive Plan, and local codes define the width and shading of the gray areas. Interested citizens may wish to learn more…
“Visioning”
November 14, 2014 Mayor and Commissioners, I commented on the proposed “visioning” process at the November 10, 2014 commission meeting, liking the proposal to a political massage parlor. I know your intentions are good and I apologize for the intensity of my concerns, but I have seen this “visioning” picture before and it is not pretty. A few years ago we spent, as I recall, over $400,000 (including costs of contract termination with the consultant) on something called “Planning the Possibilities.” This prior “visioning” process too was intended to seek community consensus on development. I participated in this process with…
Density Nonsense. Separating politics and reality.
Winter Park Commissioner Carolyn Cooper recently distributed a video listing recent Winter Park developments completed or underway on Denning Drive and 17/92. ….and then concludes “and it just doesn’t feel right.” Guess what? Carolyn Cooper VOTED TO APPROVE every one of these projects AND every one of them was approved within the bounds of legal entitlements from earlier approvals or otherwise built within all material limitations of our building codes and zoning rules. So Carolyn, please tell the people of Winter Park what “just doesn’t feel right” and what you propose to do about it? Regards, Pete Weldon