It is my hope that the most wise and thoughtful Winter Park citizens will review these circumstances and get involved with this issue. My last writing on the continuing saga of the post office property ended as follows: “Please contact MayorandCommissioners@cityofwinterpark.org and tell them to stop the misrepresentations and obfuscation. Tell them if they want to buy the post office they should support a referendum seeking the approval of the voters and stop playing games.” Well, today’s meeting offered some hope (see below) but confirmed that the current process is replete with misrepresentations and obfuscation, and that games are being…
“We won’t spend your money for our pet project!” Sure.
Please review this and then contact MayorandCommissioners@cityofwinterpark.org to express your opinion. City Commissioners Phil Anderson and Beth Dillaha have put forth a Motion for discussion at the August 10, 2009 City Commission meeting to proceed with fund raising related to having the City purchase the post office property on New York Avenue. This motion (see pages 54 – 58) is based on the principle that “no taxpayer funds will be used.” However, preliminary financial projections used to justify the Motion omit known critical elements and costs, and significantly underestimate the donations required to complete the proposed project where “no taxpayer…
Citizen Letters on Ethics
The City of Winter Park posted all the written correspondence received by the Ethics Board in response to its call for public input. Read the letters here. (Be patient, it takes some time to show up.) There are some interesting points made. The biggest issue with many is what are being generally called “LLC” contributions that are presumed to have a”bad” influence on elections under the presumption that such contributions constitute efforts to purchase influence for financial gain. How do you define “bad” contributions and separate them from “good” contributions? How can you ban “LLC” contributions and still permit contributions…
Better Ethics, or Unethical Power Play?
There are important State laws in place concerning conflicts of interest, campaign contribution limits, and campaign financial reporting. The recently established Winter Park Ethics Board was formed at the behest of a small group of citizens more concerned with limiting the voice of interests with whom they disagree than in doing the work required to compete for votes in the marketplace of ideas. The purpose of the Ethics Board in the eyes of those demanding its formation is to rubber stamp campaign finance restrictions more stringent than State requirements under the righteous banner of improving “ethics” in Winter Park. The…
Conflicts of Interest and Hypocrisy
Winter Park City Commissioners and acknowledged best friends Beth Dillaha and Margie Bridges have been consistently and totally opposed to including people on City Boards who make a living through any connections to real estate. For example, they fought the appointment of real estate executive Pitt Warner to the Ethics Board and then tried to get him removed. Beth Dillaha and Margie Bridges share a conviction that anyone with a possible financial interest in an issue, however remote, must have a conflict of interest and, therefore, it is unethical in their view for such people to serve on City Boards….
And the winner is…. Ken Bradley.
Ken Bradley won the Winter Park Mayor’s seat today with a vote count of 3400 Bradley to 3016 Strong. I do not offer condolences to the loser. I believe David Strong was wrong for Winter Park and am pleased we will now have the chance to face the our city’s many challenges with a more rational, positive, and professional focus. As much as I disagreed with David Strong’s priorities and policies I came to respect the man for his willingness to serve. I only learned this by running for office myself and coming to understand the vagaries and challenges involved….
Strong or Bradley?
Ken Bradley’s campaign has put forth a specific plan to provide our city with positive, rational, and professional leadship. David Strong’s campaign, in contrast, has been based on misinforming the voters. Every mail piece, every email contains the same incomplete, misleading information. (Sound like another mistake we made? Consistent, isn’t it?) “Our reserves have increased almost $1 million dollars since David became Mayor.” Misleading. The general fund reserves have only increased because David Strong voted to sell off $1,000,000 of city land and cancel $500,000 in city projects in 2008. He also voted to increase the millage rate and to…
Don’t Be Duped!
I received the following from Ellie Warner of Winter Park. I publish it here as a service to my community. Vote wisely on March 10. ___________________________________________________________ Remember the good old days, not so long ago, when sitting commissioners and the mayor remained impartial and thought it uncouth to even place a town candidate’s sign in their yard? That was then. This is now: Winter Park Citizens For Good Government: the anonymous unregistered PAC with a curiously familiar sounding name that sent out the Mayor’s bulk mailing in support of candidate Beth Dillaha with no money trail and with a bogus…
More Dog Poop.
There is an ongoing theme in the mismanagement of Winter Park. It always seems to involve dogs and their leavings. Dog lovers love Fleet Peeples Park. An organization was formed in 2001 to support and promote the park as dog friendly. Learn more about Friends of Fleet Peeples Park. With the Baldwin Park area maturing and more dog owners learning about Fleet Peeples Park there has been an increase in usage that has stirred the concern of some, which is understandable. However, the real issue may prove to be with the people David Strong appointed to the City Parks and…
Why Ken Bradley should be the Mayor of Winter Park.
Several readers have commented about my critique of David Strong and his friends, noting that I have not yet mentioned why I am supporting Ken Bradley. I support Ken Bradley because he is a rational, positive, and professional leader and David Strong is not. I support Ken Bradley because is has a proactive and positive vision for Winter Park where Davis Strong has an paternalistic, isolationist, dogmatic, and negative vision for Winter Park. I support Ken Bradley because he has the proven professional qualifications to lead a city of 28,000 people with a $150,000,000 annual budget while David Strong has…