Eco-Friendly Infrastructure Development

 Greetings to the residents of District 2, my name is Sandra Fatmi-Hall, and I’m running to be your next Orange County District 2 Commissioner. After 17 years of successfully working in the banking industry, I retired. Proudly, for the last 12 years, I have dedicated every day of my life to serving my community. Providing over 3 million meals to families in need throughout Orange County, awarding educational scholarships to students, advocating for $20 million in children and family services, and yielding over $3.5 million in economic impact through our programs and services.

I am running to be your next Orange County, District 2 Commissioner to transform our beloved district and county positively!! As your next commissioner, I will fight for affordable and equitable housing, economic development, and public safety. Change will not come if we wait on someone else or some other time. It must happen now! Change begins with you and me! Together, we can bring change to Orange County by Charting A Pathway Forward for generations to come!

This article will focus primarily on Eco-Friendly Infrastructure Development. During my listening tours and canvassing throughout the district, I have heard our residents and neighbors express concerns about stopping sprawl and making environmental decisions that protect our beloved ecosystem. I am here to tell you now; I’m committed to serving with our environment in mind and heart. 

 Like many of you, I want to have an environment in our district and county that makes sure it remains a beautiful place where you have the option to work, play, and raise a family. All my decisions as your next county commissioner will take all of that into consideration. 

 Environmental sustainability and eco-friendly development that incorporates both sustainable and transformative solutions are what I’m advocating for within our district, county, and state. As reported in the county’s Housing for All and Vision 2050 Plans, we must understand that we will continue to see an influx of residents in our county for the next 30 years; Therefore, we must create ways that can accommodate our residents living here already, our eco-system, and those that will be here in the future. This means eco-friendly infrastructure developments to transform our roads, streets, bridges, buildings, homes, and multimodal transportation options are necessary. Our commitment(s) will ensure that we incorporate sustainable energy usage while simultaneously reducing our carbon footprint.

 When considering economic, environmental, and social equity, we must pay close attention to a concept called smart growth.

Smart Growth is the intentional expansion of our district while simultaneously considering our environment and the impacts this expansion can have. Smart growth is essentially the idea that encompasses all aspects of development–from community feedback to specialist feedback–to ensure that this growth is useful and effective. Within Orange County specifically, we need to engage in smart growth strategies that are comprehensive in nature and meaningful to our way of life.

 Increasing economic development is directly correlated to the role of the commissioner. The role of commissioner requires many decisions to be centered around development and land use. Specifically, many of you are concerned about urban sprawl and how we can combat the impacts it has on our environment. Unfortunately, my opponent has gone out into the community and told residents that I’m for developers and increasing development in rural areas.

This is simply not true.

I am as much concerned about urban sprawl as you are. Here are my thoughts. This means a delicate balance of decisions like having density where it makes sense and conservation of our rural areas is also protected. Then, we must go above and beyond to protect conservation areas, utilizing our opportunities to lobby both the federal and state governments to attain funding that will allow our local government to acquire conservation lands that have sensitive habitats. This will ensure the ecosystems that matter most are being protected and preserve the wildlife that is crucial and unique to our Florida environments.

 I will always be an advocate for you and your concerns, and my support doesn’t stop when I sit at the dais in the Board of County Commissioner’s chamber. I will carry your voice from the local communities to the work sessions and to BCC meetings. Every time I speak or cast a vote, it will be in support of what you–our residents and neighbors–want.

We must fight to protect our communities!

 I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to meet so many people canvassing our communities in District 2. If I haven’t met you yet, there is still an opportunity to do so. We are actively canvassing and hope to meet you soon.

In the interim, please visit my website www.sandrafatmi.com to learn more about me and why I’m running to serve you!

If you need information on voting, please visit www.sandrafatmi.com/voting.

If you’d like to reach me directly, please email me at sandrafatmicampaign@gmail.com. I hope to connect with you soon; in the interim, please do not forget to exercise your right to vote. Early voting began on August 8th, 2022, and will end on August 21st, 2022. All 20 polling sites will be open from 9 am – 7 pm. Election Day is August 23rd, 2022, from 7 am – 7 pm. If you are in line at 7 pm, you will be able to vote! Happy voting!

Political Advertisement Paid for and approved by Sandra Fatmi Campaign for Orange County Commission, District 2