Lake County Government’s Crazy Aunt that Keeps Flushing Jobs
With Lake County’s reported unemployment hovering around 12% and underemployment being around 20%, it is clear that jobs should be the number one concern of every politician in Lake County, Florida.
Citizens for Better Government, LLC believes current County Commissioner Elaine Renick exposed her true self in her “Dear Voter” letter on her website and in the candidate interview for The Daily Commercial. Apparently, jobs are not a primary concern to Renick because she proclaims her main priorities are stopping urban sprawl and water protection.
Renick states on her website, “I believe we should say no to sprawl” and “I am proud to be known as the commission’s ‘water lady’.” She only mentions the word “jobs” one time in the letter and that is in the context of not allowing growth to return to Lake County because of the “mistakes of the past.” The six paragraph letter talks about how she is going to continue her destruction of the Lake County economy by being a roadblock to business in order to protect her notion of a quality lifestyle. During the “mistakes of the past” time period, unemployment in Lake County was 3.4%. That percentage looks real good from today’s economic seat. Renick might want to check with the unemployed and underemployed and ask them how they are enjoying their quality of life right now.
In The Daily Commercial’s candidate interview, Renick lists her three priorities as fiscal responsibility, protection of water resources, and attracting good companies with high wage jobs. However, she adds a caveat to the third priority, saying, “We need to protect Lake County’s greatest asset, our quality of life.” Let’s quickly analyze all three of her priorities.
- Fiscal responsibility. Because Renick’s no-growth policies are killing tax revenues, she is basically warning you that services will have to be cut. Rather than discussing ways of growing the economy so that police, fire, and libraries won’t be slashed, she plans to reduce services.
- Protection of water resources. This is simply a ludicrous position because Lake County is literally a drop in the water bucket compared to Orange County and the huge amounts of water being used at the attractions. Renick has no control over the region’s water and, in fact, most people look at the “water lady” as the crazy Aunt with no real knowledge. Why would a Lake County Commissioner cripple the economy of Lake County and call herself the “water lady” when Orange County is the water hog of Central Florida? Oh, that’s right; the water issue is just a farce to stop growth and jobs so she can make sure her lifestyle is not bothered. Lake County doesn’t need a “water lady” commissioner; it needs a “job creator” commissioner.
- Attracting good companies with high wage jobs. In the very next sentence, she dilutes that priority by making it subject to “protecting our quality of life.” Quality of life? Are you kidding? If you are one of the nearly 20% who are unemployed or underemployed, then your quality of life is pretty darn bad. With Renick’s anti-business policies, rants, and lawsuits can anyone name a company that will come to Lake County? If a large company came a calling to do business in Lake County, we suspect the economic developers would put this crazy Aunt in a back office so she wouldn’t foul up the deal. The last person in Lake County who can attract business is Elaine Renick.
Citizens for Better Government, LLC will give Renick credit for one thing—she doesn’t try to hide her anti-business and jobs stance even when trying to get re-elected. It is also nice when a liberal, environmental extremist exposes herself so freely, as it makes our job so much easier. If you read between the lines of both pieces, we believe it is easy to see how Renick admits to intentionally slowing the economy of Lake County and being proud of it.
The oddest thing about Elaine Renick’s rhetoric is that despite the Great Recession, massive unemployment, building permits in Lake County being nearly at zero, and a foreclosure market that is horrific, the “water lady” seeks to slow the economy even further. Renick has personally done everything she can to kill businesses, jobs, and growth and now the “water lady” seeks to destroy those who are managing to survive this economic mess.
On a Side Note
This past Sunday, The Orlando Sentinel ran a guest column by Keith Schue entitled 21st century no place for tar and feathers. It is obvious The Orlando Sentinel and Keith Schue are real mad because both have been exposed for their biased agenda.
First and foremost, The Orlando Sentinel said of Schue, “Keith Schue is an advocate for environmental protection and responsible growth management.” Wait a minute—the man is a paid for environmental lobbyist for one of the most far left, environmental groups in the world, The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy group is preying on the poor folks on the coast by sensationalizing the Gulf oil spill to garner financial support to pay the salaries of lobbyists like Keith Schue. The reason The Sentinel did not disclose the fact that Schue’s employer is an environmental special interest group is because it would completely expose their biased agenda. Had Schue been on the opposite side, The Sentinel would have stated his full name with middle initial, his company name, and company position to inflict maximum harm on the person’s income.
How can The Sentinel say Schue is “an advocate for responsible growth management”? Under Schue’s guidance, and with the help of his buddies like Commissioners Elaine Renick and Linda Stewart, he has contributed to shutting businesses down in Lake County, causing horrific unemployment numbers. Is it responsible growth to have one in five Lake County citizens unemployed? If the 2030 Comprehensive Land Plan is finally accepted and adopted, the economic misery and unemployment that will follow for the next two decades can be laid at the feet of Keith Schue—the plan’s primary scribe.
Schue says an electorate (you and I) that votes blindly en masse (throw the bums out) “differs little from the reckless behavior of an irate mob.” So, when you are voting out the liberals who unemployed you, took your rights away, and who have ruined your County and Country, according to Schue, you are now part of an irate mob. When did the ballot box become so lethal in the hands of conservative, freedom loving people?
Schue’s column was a torture to read because he contradicts himself by first stating people were more civil in the early days of the Country and then saying, they had a lot of duels and tar and featherings. He tried to say the acrimony is worse today because of blogs and radio hosts—that would be this column, The Right Side of the Lake, and Ralph Smith, a local conservative radio host. Yo’, Keith, unless we’ve missed something, there haven’t been pistol duels lately or public tar and featherings.
Let’s face it—The Orlando Sentinel and Keith Schue become more irrelevant as other media expose the truth. When their lies and anti-business positions are exposed, they seek to shut down other voices. I can assure you that with both The Orlando Sentinel and Keith Schue’s Nature Conservancy, it is about one thing—money. Each time someone exposes their hypocrisy and left wing, extreme agenda, they lose supporters and money. Wait a minute, I guess we just tarred and feathered Keith Schue and The Orlando Sentinel— Oops!
If you would like to perform your own high tech tarring and feathering, leave a comment here or on our “What’s on your mind?” section. We don’t supply the tar and feathers, so keep it clean.
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