Platform

 …  When it comes to “Affordable Housing”, to be honest, I don’t really   know what to say, I don’t think anyone does.  I have been thinking  about  this question since my first Debate back in 2016 and I have been  to a  lot of Debates since then and there still is no real sustainable  answer  other than throwing more Money at it.  The Candidates answering  that  question at the Debates pretty much said the same thing, it all  comes  down to Jobs and Education.  And they are right, they need better  paying  Jobs so they can afford a decent place to live, and better  Education so  they can get those Better paying Jobs. I would like to sit  down with  many of you and talk about what we can actually do and how  it can be  accomplished in an affordable way.  As it is right now,  building  Apartment Communities is the way to go.  

 …  Lets face it, Leon County needs more FUN things to do besides Walking & Bike Trails.  Since I began Running for County Commissioner in   2015, I have been saying we need more Fun things to do.  We have the Apalachee Regional Park on the East Side that has about 100 Acres that   we can now utilize.  Instead of building a NEW park lets enhance this one.  I have always said, Build a 3 Acre Paintball Battle Field, build a   2 Acre Skate Arena, build a 2 Acre BMX Bike Track and build a Covered Rodeo Arena that can double as a Dog Agility Show Arena.  I still want to see these get built, because I know each one can bring in Commerce with special Events. 

  …  Our Law Enforcement are doing all they can with what they have.  When it comes to the Crime, I do not think I would call it Over-Policing, the Cops go to where the Crime is. If Crime is Higher in Areas, the Cops  should be patrolling those areas more often.  I would like to see  the City and County work together to create Sub Stations in the High Crime  Areas. They purchase one of the cheaper Homes in the area and renovate it, making sure it still blends into the area.  The Sub Stations should have 12 to 15 Officers per shift, work out of them  daily, being seen. Just having a presence in the Communities will stop  about 80% of the  Crimes plus, they will be getting a chance to know  those living there.

…   ALSO, as I have said many times before, I would also like to see a Course in the Schools, Grades 6th through 10th, on “Crime and Consequences”. The Students learn about Crimes, the Punishments, what it is like being arrested, what it is like going to Court, what it is like to be in Jail and Prison and what happens in side there, and what Life is like once released. They learn the Truth, the Reality of it all. What Freedom really means and what they will be giving up. 

 ... Our Commissioners have been talking about raising our Property Taxes for a few Years now.  WHY?  At this time, between the City and the County, we have close to if not more than, 1000 Homes being built and about another 1000 in the planning stages. Property Tax shouldn’t even be thought about.  All the Commissioners just need to slow down, stop wasting the Money and wait for all those Homes to sell. From what I have been noticing, every Home being built now are priced starting in the $300 Thousands and UP. That’s a lot of future Property Taxes. The County, City School Board should STOP talking about raising the Property Tax and that goes for the Fire Fee’s as well. THAT will be a lot of Taxes and Fee's coming in soon, just wait for it. The Commissioners need to also stop giving out the Tax Breaks to all the Developers, instead, if you must give them an incentive to build here, give them a break on the Permits.  We shouldn’t be paying Developers to build here.  

… That brings me to the question of, Why was the Children’s Services Counsel given the power to be able to raise our Property Taxes anytime they wish?  It’s bad enough that they don’t have any oversight on their Spending, the power to be able to raise our Property Taxes anytime they wish should be removed from them NOW.  

A UNIQUE IDEA:

… Here is a solution I came up with that some of you may like. When you buy a Home, Townhome, Duplex or a Mobile Home with Land and you Homestead it, what ever your Property Tax is on that Day it is Homesteaded, that will be the amount of your Property Tax until you sell it. It will not go up or down no mater what happens with the Value of that Property. When you sell that piece of Property, only then will the Property Tax increase (or decrease) to that Days value.

… As an example, When I first bought my Home for $89,900 Eleven   Years ago, I believe my Property Tax was $570 with everything. Now, 11 Years later, my Property Tax is $1007 with everything. If this idea was implemented back in 2014, my Property Tax would still be just $570 Today and if I sold my House tomorrow, the new owner would be paying possibly a little more since, I would be selling my Home for just over twice what I paid for it. That means the Buyer would be paying about Twice what I just paid.

… The Down Side to this idea is, they would have to use the Prior Years Numbers to figure out their Budget since they wouldn’t be able to predict when people would be selling their Homes. Those figures would be a Bonus but could be used for the upcoming Budget.   

 … This task shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish if you set your mind  to it.  The first thing you do is to list all of the Programs and  Nonprofits that receive Tax Dollars from the County.  We then conduct an  Audit on them to see if any of them overlap others and also find out if  any of them are not performing as they promised and we make that  difficult decision to cut ties with them. 

   … We need to be practical when spending Tax Dollars, if the City  wants to cut ties from the County on the Fire Fee ordeal, so be it, it’s about 3 Years away for that to happen so we have time if we start now.   We build Free Standing Buildings for our Fire Stations, nothing fancy,  we spend the money on the needed equipment instead of an over designed  Brick and Block Building.  For what the City spends to build one fancy  Fire Station, we can build about 3 Free Standing Building Fire Stations.   

   … The money we save being practical Spenders, we can bring back  services that are needed such as, Bi-Weekly Mosquitoes Spraying and  re-striping our Roads more often.  Lets also put back up the City Limit  Signs around Town on the major Roads, I think I have only seen one and  it is almost unreadable.  I for one would like to know when I am leaving  the City Limits.  I am sure there are more areas where we can reel in  Wasteful Spending so we do not have to think about raising Taxes.  Lets  show the City Commissioners what responsible and practical spending looks like.  

 … I am not sure what the obsession is with Hotels but, I personally  don’t think we need one at the Fairgrounds, the one they want to create  at the Airport, OK but not the Fairgrounds.  I would like to see a POP  UP SHOP FAIR take place at the Fairgrounds 2 or 3 times a Year on three  separate Saturdays. This is where small Shops in Tallahassee show up,  set up a booth to sell their Goods for one Day.  I have seen where some  Businesses do it at other Businesses.  I think doing a POP UP SHOP FAIR  at the Fairgrounds with many small Shops is a Win-Win Event.  Advertise  the Event a few times on several Radio Stations to get the word out I  believe that people from all over will visit.  We find Sponsors to help  with the funding to put these on so the Venders can set up a 10x20 Booth  for FREE.  

  … If you have lived here long enough as I have, I believe that Lake  Munson is now on its third Draw Down Cleaning.  That is where they draw  the water down and remove all the trash and debris and then dredge it to  remove all the sludge.  Believe me, you do not want to know what that  Sludge is mostly made of.  It seems that every time the Water Treatment  Facility at Capital Circle and Spring Hill has a Spill the raw Sewage  finds it way into Lake Munson.  This is part of my “Protecting Our  Drinking Water” agenda, I would like to see more stringent Monthly or  even Bi-Weekly Preventative Maintenance being scheduled.  There should  also be a Three Sided Lined Mote dug around the Perimeter to catch the  Spills and have Pumps installed to be able to pump it all back to the  Tanks where it belongs. 

    … The Lake Jackson Aquafer Preserve needs to be Protected from Developers, after all, it provides Drinking Water for Leon County. The Phipps Family owns 2000 Acres by or above that Aquafer and the Web Site for that Land, the Phipps Family stated that those 2000 Acres were not going to be Disturbed or Developed. NOW, they are wanting to Develop some of that Land. I was told they wanted to Build Homes on 1000 Acres. At this time it is zoned for 1 Home for every 10 Acres and they are trying to get the zoning changed to 20 Dwellings for ONE Acre. Of course they are also saying that they haven’t decided on the Number of Homes they are planning to build per Acre but I will bet, it will be pretty close to the 20 number. 

… I could be mistaken but, I don’t think that area has any Central Sewer Systems which means, each Dwelling will have its own Septic Tank and Drain Field. If you have been paying attention to what has been happening to Wakulla Springs and all the Failing Septic Tanks on the Southside of Leon County, do you really want that to happen to Lake Jackson? I sure don’t. This is why I keep saying both Commissions need to think 20 Years ahead. Even if they only put 10 Dwellings per Acre and only develop 600 Acres, minus enough Land for the Roads, Sidewalks and Green Spaces you are still looking at about 5000 Homes. That equals 5000 Septic Tanks and Drain Fields, plus over 13,000 Vehicles. Add in the Canopy Roads to the mix, what could go wrong. I would be Voting a resounding NO on this project. 

 … A couple elections ago, it was brought up that Woodville needs a lot  more Fire Hydrants but they didn’t have the right Water Lines.  It was  said that they only had 4 inch Lines and the needed at least 6 inch line  and more pressure.  But, to handle the bigger Lines and more Pressure they would need a bigger Water Tower.  This is where Leon County needs  to have its own Marketing Team.  We find a Corporation to pay for the Water Tower.  The water Tower does not have to look like a ball, it  could be a Box or look like a House or even the Capital, as long as the  Bottom is the right shape.  The Company paying for it, gets to Advertise on all sides of it including the very Top.  Before anyone asks, the Top is for the Airplanes that fly over it.  I learned back in 2015 that Air Traffic Controllers use Land Marks to help guide the Plane, the Water Tower could be a great Land Mark if designed right.  I have seen Towers in Georgia look like Peaches and Towers in Orlando look like Disney Characters, so why can’t we have some custom Water Towers.