I wanted to remind you of a few significant loose ends you should get tied down before the FY2024/25 budget takes hold. There are five issues I think you need to either advance or conclude in the coming months:
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"When Apopka’s application was returned to the county a few weeks ago, while extremely well written and documented as to its benefits, there was a much larger request for $13 million. I have never seen a smaller municipality receive this large one-time grant."
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By Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore
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5/14/24
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Some Florida communities owe their very existence to golf. Sarasota is one, and The Villages is another. The Naples area is so linked to the links that it currently boasts the most golf courses per capita in the nation.
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By Craig Pittman, Florida Phoenix
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5/9/24
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While other metrics show Florida is getting “back to normal” from a business standpoint, statistics on hunger are grim.
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By Derrick Chubbs, President and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida
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5/9/24
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It's time for Code Enforcement, the Apopka City Council, and the RSR Homeowners Association to push back on the Golf Group with the authority and leverage it possesses.
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"We broke up into three teams to better discuss the tactics Deland employed. We discussed who could be responsible for similar improvements. We learned Deland was intentional about collaboration."
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"I could never have imagined what Deland looked like today after beginning its revitalization in 1985." Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore's two-part series on the transformation of Deland.
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By Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore
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5/6/24
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Olsen: "They're saying we're going to be adding 500,000 people. How many of those are coming to Apopka? What's our 2025 plan, or 2026 plan, or 2050 plan? We need to be thinking in advance."
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The environment wasn’t even an issue that Graham ran on, not at first. In seeking election as governor in 1978, he focused on education and crime. But then, well into his first term, a national magazine slammed him on his environmental record.
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By Craig Pittman, Florida Phoenix
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4/25/24
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Bob Graham — two-term governor, three-term U.S. senator — was always thinking about Florida, how to preserve Florida’s waters and save the Everglades, how to improve K-12 education, how to promote civic engagement, how to alleviate poverty.
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By Diane Roberts, Florida Phoenix
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4/22/24
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A forensic audit of a City's finances focuses on examining the financial records, transactions, and processes of municipal government entities such as departments, agencies, or public funds. Opinion by The Apopka Voice Managing Editor Reggie Connell.
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Becker was a generational leader. People with his skill set usually skip municipal politics and aim for a fast track to a CEO role in a Fortune 500 company or a higher office.
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As average temperatures rise across the U.S., heat illness is a growing safety and health concern for workers indoors and outdoors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that environmental heat exposure claimed the lives of 36 workers in 2021 and 56 in 2020.
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From the US Department of Labor, OP/ED by Jeannie Economos of the Florida Farmworkers Association
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4/18/24
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Why do spring cleanups succeed so reliably? Obviously, there are environmental and aesthetic benefits. But they go so much deeper.
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By Emma Durand-Wood, Strong Towns
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4/9/24
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It's best to view a politician through the prism of their motivations. If they are considering a run for office, voters should be aware of the possibility.
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Too many ordinary citizens in District 2 do not feel empowered. We must restructure smaller interdependent teams based on neighborhoods and local areas so all feel welcome. In essence, we must become …
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By Christine Moore, Orange County Commissioner/District 2
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3/27/24
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Municipal campaigns require a well-planned strategy. Running for office can be daunting and requires a lot of resources, including time, effort, and, most importantly, money.
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In an election that decides who will make decisions for a city of 60,000 residents and a budget eclipsing $165 million, it's disheartening that only 12% of registered voters participated.
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By Reggie Connell, Managing Editor
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3/21/24
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Some Florida lawmakers have proposed bills requiring everyone who employs outdoor workers to educate them about heat illness and provide workers with adequate drinking water, access to shade, and 10-minute recovery breaks in extreme heat.
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By Craig Pittman, Florida Phoenix
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3/14/24
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To determine your opinion, you will want to watch the previous meetings. Then, attend the March meeting to speak during the public comment period.
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By Dr. Phyllis Olmstead
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3/12/24
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Farmworkers got scorched yesterday by the passage of SB 1492, a bill that preempts local governments from passing even the most basic workplace protections.
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From the Florida Farmworkers Association
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3/11/24
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These lucrative land deals are supposed to preserve the property in perpetuity. But Kimberly Buchheit, a Central Florida land surveyor and environmental activist, told me, “Perpetuity has reached an expiration date: as soon as it is no longer convenient to protect land or restrict development.”
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By Craig Pittman
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3/7/24
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While ideally, in a perfect world, conflict would never occur – it does. So when it does, how can it be nipped in the bud so everyone can play well in the sandbox together?
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By Mark Goldstein, Marketing Director of The Apopka Voice
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3/7/24
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The county is committed to the federal Vision Zero Plan, which states as its goal, that even one traffic fatality is too many. The plan lists adding sidewalks as the most effective the lowest cost remedy for saving lives.
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By Christine Moore, Orange County Commissioner District 2
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3/6/24
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You can tell your city council, the mayor and commissioners, how you want the charter improved. Don’t wait. The next meeting is less than two weeks away.
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By Dr. Phyllis Olmstead
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3/3/24
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