The Right Side of the Lake :: Lake County Florida's local government news source from Citizens for Better Government LLC.

September 2, 2010 at 8:33 am

Lake County’s Economic Roadblock

The flawed process for writing the new 2030 Horizon Comprehensive Plan is coming back to haunt Lake County’s economy. The chickens of this ill begotten plan have come home to roost, and this plan has laid a toxic, salmonella filled basket of anti-business eggs, which could stifle Lake County’s economy for two decades. The Comprehensive Plan is flawed because under the direction of Commissioners Elaine Renick and Linda Stewart the system was manipulated to ensure that 8 out of 9 members on the Land Planning Agency (LPA) were hardcore environmental zealots who were also ardent supporters of theirs.

Environmentally Stacked to Manipulate

In the summer of 2009, our group exposed the cronyism and corruption of the LPA, after uncovering emails wherein Commissioners Renick and Stewart were having background communications to ensure their friends were nominated for and voted in as members on the LPA. Subsequently, the LPA was disbanded.

While the LPA was being stacked with environmental extremists, the other Commissioners were either asleep at the wheel, scared of their environmental kabob, or simply didn’t care. The entire system was manipulated to put only those who agreed with Renick and Stewart’s extreme views on the committee. To illustrate, we pulled the official minutes of the March 19, 2009 LPA meeting to review the members of the LPA.

The members listed were:

Rob Kelly – Environmentalist and Renick/Stewart Supporter. Kelly writes an ultra-liberal environmental blog, which openly supported anti-growth candidates.
Keith Schue – Environmental Lobbyist Nature Conservancy and Renick/Stewart Supporter. According to our records, Schue actually wrote most of the Comprehensive Plan. A paid for environmental lobbyist was allowed to serve on, and write, this anti-business Comprehensive Plan.
Vicki Zaneis – Environmentalist and Renick/Stewart Supporter. Zaneis wrote a testimonial for Linda Stewart, which was posted on Stewart’s re-election website.
Nadine Foley – Environmentalist and Renick/Stewart Supporter. Foley is a member of many environmental groups and considered one of the chief anti-growth forces in Lake County.
Terry Godts – Environmentalist who promotes Florida friendly plants through her business. We caught Godts lobbying to be put on the LPA, and she wrote a controversial email supporting Elaine Renick.
Cindy Barrow – Environmentalist, Liberal Democrat, and Renick/Stewart Supporter. Barrow was in constant communications with Renick about the Comprehensive Plan process and she worked tirelessly to manipulate the process so that no-growth voices were heard. Barrow wrote a “My Voice” column for the Sentinel denouncing growth by saying it does not pay for itself.
Michael Carey – Environmentalist who voted in favor of the plan’s adoption and according to our records he voted continuously with Peggy Belflower.
Peggy Belflower – Staunch environmentalist, no-growth advocate and Renick/Stewart Supporter. Leading environmental activist in Lake County.
Tim Morris – Owner of Ernie Morris Enterprise and an established business person not in the development industry. Morris was continuously harassed by other members for not supporting their over-the-top, no-growth policies.

Ladies and gentlemen, no one can dispute that the extreme environmental movement had an 8-1 edge in members on the LPA, and it appears 7 of the 9 members were ardent supporters of Commissioners Elaine Renick and Linda Stewart. The facts are indisputable – the fix was in.

Why is this important? The no-growth, environmentalists are now saying that four years and several hundred meetings were put into writing the Comprehensive Plan and that it represents the will of the people in Lake County. It is time for a get-real moment: Last week, 72% of the people in Lake County said they do not support the Renick/Stewart agenda, which includes the Comprehensive Plan.

The so-called public hearings were a farce, as any opposing voice during the LPA and Lake County Commission meetings were either shut down or given only three minutes to make their case to a pre-judging panel of environmentalists. It got so bad that they would not even allow Lake County’s own business task force to discuss problems with the Comprehensive Plan during these meetings.

The approval hearing that was run by Commissioner Renick, while Chairman Cadwell was ill, was a mockery to fairness because Keith Schue and Rob Kelly, both former LPA members, were allowed unlimited time to refute issues. The 2030 Horizon Comprehensive Plan is flawed because Commissioners Stewart and Renick scammed the system; nothing has been fair about the process.

The Plan Overlays

If stacking the LPA wasn’t enough, Commissioners Renick and Stewart pushed for an overlay on the Comprehensive Plan of a Rural Protection Area (RPA) designation primarily for South Lake County, which limits the area to two lane roads and five acre parcel developments. This move virtually ensured no commercial development in the area.

Even worse, in the final hours before the Lake County Commission’s approval hearing, Commissioner Elaine Renick concocted the South Lake Strategic Land Plan which was overlaid on top of the RPA and requires landowners to devote 60% of their land to green space. This plan takes property rights away form landowners without compensation. Commissioner Renick announced this new plan late on Monday afternoon, just before the Tuesday approval hearing in which Commissioner Cadwell absent. The landowners affected by this new plan weren’t notified and weren’t given due process. Once again, the system was scammed.

It was such a blatant backdoor attempt to manipulate the system that Commissioner Hill pleaded with the other Commissioners to postpone the vote for notification and the return of Cadwell. Despite her pleas, lapdog Commissioner Jimmy Conner sided with Commissioners Stewart and Renick. Commissioners Renick and Stewart manipulated the system in order to devalue most of the open in land in South Lake County therby affording the county the opportunity to purchase this land through its public land acquisition program. In other words, Commissioners Renick and Stewart were coordinating a government seizure of private property.

The Big Hitch

There have been some big hitches in Commissioners Renick and Stewart’s plan. Our group exposed them; the farmers in South Lake County stood up for their rights; and the people had enough of their anti-business ways, so they voted them out. Now, Lake County has a large number of landowners who have filed suits requesting administrative hearings to declare the Comprehensive Plan void.

The farmers and landowners should win, because it is crystal clear that the process was perverted by a group of environmental zealots who wanted to seize control of the private lands in Lake County.

The huge economic problem is that Lake County has a moratorium in place by the Florida State Department of Community Affairs because its current Comprehensive Plan is out of date. Businesses who would like to move to Lake County are very wary because there’s not an approved comprehensive plan. Without a road map, most are unwilling to invest millions of dollars in property which could be made worthless under a Rural Protection Area designation or Strategic Land Plan overlay. Without a good Comprehensive Plan in place, Lake County is shackled to this economic recession.

The Solution

In November, after the election has been finalized and the new Commissioners take their seats, the Lake County Comprehensive Plan must be promptly fixed and finalized so that economic developers can aggressively pursue business opportunities.
Lake County can’t afford to waste any more money on lawsuits because the landowners who have filed suit against the Comprehensive Plan are right and their cause is just. The new Lake County Commission should immediately commit itself to remedying the situation with these landowners by stripping out the Rural Protection Area and the South Lake Strategic Plan. Other legitimate private property concerns created by these overzealous environmentalists should be rectified at the same time.
The County Commission should charge the Lake County Zoning Board in conjunction with staff members to correct the plan within 60 days so that it can be re-approved by the Lake County Commission and submitted to the Department of Community Affairs for approval.

This nightmare of a Comprehensive Plan must get resolved so that Lake County can get totally focused on attracting business and jobs.

It is almost criminal how the environmental extremists in conjunction with Commissioners Renick and Stewart manipulated the procedure for the Comprehensive Plan. Their inexcusable actions have cost this county its reputation, business, jobs, time, and a treasure chest full of money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been wasted so that a small kabob of people could take control over private property. These lawsuits must be settled, the Comprehensive Plan must be finalized, and Lake County must close this dark chapter of irresponsible governance by Commissioners Stewart and Renick.

The Right Side of the Lake is a newsletter by Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C., and sign-up is free. If you would like to make a comment, please go to our website at www.lakecountygov.info, and we encourage you to pass this newsletter to everyone on your email list.

Haven’t Been Getting The Right Side Lately?

Due to a system error some emails may have been dropped from our distribution list. If you have not been receiving your newsletter please visit our News Letter Signup link to be re-added. We are very sorry for the inconvenience.

Click Here to Post a Comment Tags: 2030 Horizon Comprehensive Land Plan, Elaine Renick, Land Planning Agency, Linda Stewart, Rural Protection Act, South Lake Strategic Area Plan |

August 31, 2010 at 8:03 am

Campaign Mistakes 101 in Lake County

Posted by admin in Lake County

As a post-mortem to Tuesday’s primary elections in Lake County, it is imperative to offer some free, unbiased advice to the next field of political candidates.

Over the last few months, our group has interviewed, talked with, watched, and received countless emails from many of the local political candidates. Frankly, many of them were not prepared to run for office, and as the campaign heated up, their candidacies collapsed.

Right off the bat, we need to address the special interest money issue, which seems to be a boogey man that gets brought out every election cycle in Lake County. This county is in the midst of a great economic recession, and the problem with money during this cycle is that no one has any. The ability to raise money depends on the candidates themselves, not anyone pushing agendas. If a candidate is smart, articulate, and has common sense solutions to problems, the money available will gravitate toward you. Candidates who cry about other candidates getting “special interest” money are those who lack the skills to attract donors.

Unless you’re a candidate like Rick Scott, who has his own money, most candidates are dependent upon donations. By virtue of campaign laws, no one person can donate more than $500 per cycle. If you look at Leslie Campione’s list of donors (largest of all the candidates) you will see a boat load of people who gave significantly less than the maximum amount.

Did Campione raise more money than the others? Sure, but it wasn’t because a vast, right wing conspiracy selected her. Instead, when Campione spoke to the people, she inspired them enough to donate to her campaign. Campione was also very organized and worked extremely hard during her campaign.

If you can’t raise money for your campaign it is because you don’t like doing it, you can’t get it, or all you get is excuses; there’s a good chance you won’t win. People who give money to your campaign will vote, and it’s normally for you because they are now invested in you.

Below is a list of mistakes we saw many of the local candidates make during the last election cycle:

The candidate who represents him or herself has a fool for a campaign manager. Effective candidates allow someone with skills to run their campaign. Surround yourself with a truth squad, not cheerleaders.
Candidates should know the issues before they enter any race. Many of the candidates running for County Commissioner or School Board Member were a fountain of misinformation and didn’t understand the way local government works. The lack of knowledge was shameful.

Candidates must take a position on controversial issues. It became comical, the groans and laughter at Linda Stewart’s flailing around when she was asked whether she supported Amendment #4. She had an opinion on every other issue, but when questioned on this issue she said she hadn’t made up her mind and that it was a personal decision. Straddling the fence on issues will get you voted out of office.
An elected official should never target a group with political venom because a fired up group is a voting group. Telling the construction industry, the third largest employer in Lake County, that you don’t want any residential housing growth is not too smart.
Two slogans didn’t win this election because after the third forum most voters branded this candidate as a one trick pony. As a candidate, you want to be known for more than “Who is your buddy?” and “I’ve been a businessman for 33 years.” Most of the candidates who faltered had voters asking the old Wendy’s commercial question: “Where’s the beef?”
If you’re entering a race and you’re not serious about winning, or you’re in it to help another candidate by splitting the vote, then you will destroy your own political future. A story about Democrat Egor Emery and David Yeager assisting Linda Stewart to get qualified is bad. You need to be in the race for the right reasons and prepared to win. One of our members told us they have a picture of Yeager holding an Elaine Renick sign on Election Day actively campaigning for her. We hope that’s not true.
If you get halfway through the process and your candidacy isn’t gaining traction, cut your losses. It is best to withdraw from the race to preserve your dignity; but, most importantly, to preserve your time and money. Go to people you know who will tell you the honest truth and ask them if they believe you can win. Gut reactions in politics are usually wrong.

Keep the issues local and be careful about touting other politicians. Conservative Republican talking points on immigration and Obama Care don’t resonate in local campaigns, and praising another politician will link you to their negatives.
Candidates need to make clear arguments which are based on common sense. Mark Saunders repeatedly said Sean Parks was not a businessman because he did not own his business. Okay, does that mean every CEO on Wall Street who works for stockholders is not a businessman? That was a bad point that did not gain Saunders any voter.
Candidates should be professional and courteous at all times. There were three occasions in which candidates sent hateful letters to groups after they were not endorsed. Believe us, those letters were sent to all of the members of those groups. Group endorsements are great; but, if you don’t get an endorsement you should still be nice because there are people within that group that might still vote for you.

The endorsement of the Orbama Slantinel is not worth much in Lake County. The editorial board of the local paper has gone so liberal that they don’t share the values of most citizens in Lake County. This was proven with the endorsements of Linda Stewart and Elaine Renick. In the future, conservative candidates who know they’ll have no chance of earning the paper’s endorsement may be better off skipping their interview. The best way to minimize a paper’s influence is to ignore it.
Candidates must have the courage to engage political opponents on the issues. Although candidates don’t want to be perceived as a bully or boorish, responding to your opponent on policy and character issues is fair. If you’re unwilling to defend yourself and you don’t nail an opponent on his or her weakness, then he or she will be emboldened to hit you. Politics is truly bare knuckles.
Finally, the world has changed thanks to the internet. Before political newsletters like The Right Side of the Lake and our companion website www.lakecountygov.info, the electorate relied on local newspapers. Today, most voters are astounded by how much is not reported by local papers, and the internet has become a greater source of political information. There is a growing skepticism of all political leaders. Candidates with a checkered past and a hidden agenda will be exposed, so it is far better to be up front from the beginning.

Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. believes the marriage of the internet’s power of information and the Florida Sunshine Law has created one of the most issue oriented Lake County elections ever. There was no doubt where people stood, and what was really behind agendas. This is a good thing for the voters in Lake County. Please feel free to comment on today’s newsletter at www.lakecountygov.info and sign up for The Right Side of the Lake is free.

Click Here to Post a Comment | 4 Comments Tags: Elections, Florida, Lake County |

the The Right Side of the Lake blog

Lake County’s Economic Roadblock

Campaign Mistakes 101 in Lake County