I like it. Two of my friends suggested it as a campaign slogan, and I think I'll use it. As of today, I'm officially declared as a candidate for Village Commission. Campaigning is from now until voting day, December 3, so please vote for me.
If you don't want to vote for me, then vote for someone else. Just vote. It's the last time the Village will make voting as inconvenient as possible for us, and from now on, after this December, we will have our Village election during the general election.
Here's my platform: I'm pointing out that I have lived in the Park since 2005, and that I have been active, having been a past or present member of Planning and Zoning, Code Review, and now the Foundation, of which I am the President. I'm suggesting that our biggest issue, unfortunately, is the survival of the Village as an independent municipality. We've gone beyond wanting simply to be successful; now it's a basic matter of survival. I'm happy to report that I'm not the only one who knows this. Roxy Ross and Bob Anderson know it, Bryan Cooper only gives us 10 years to live (though this does not appear to be a problem to him), and Noah Jacobs has been able to figure out that we need money. He hasn't made clear what he thinks we need it for, but at least he detects some kind of problem. Steve Bernard has occasionally advocated for higher ad valorem taxes, though he opposes other taxes, so I'm guessing he, too, has begun to figure out that there's a problem. I'm advocating strongly here, though. We're in deep trouble, and I want us to do something about it.
I have specific goals, too. First, we need a reserve. This is critical. We are unprepared for any eventuality at all, and in time, our ability to experience increased revenue from ad valorem tax increases will be outstripped by the increases in costs of things. The way we're fighting this battle is a losing strategy.
After the reserve, we need essential improvements if it's our goal to be other than run down. We need median development, we need renovations to the Village Hall/log cabin and police headquarters, we need street repairs, and there is the possibility that it would help us to increase outdoor lighting. In my opinion, we should also plan to erect a barrier the length of our eastern border between us and the train track. This will provide comfort and relief from noise pollution, and it will reduce crime, vandalism, and mischief.
We also need to kill two birds with one stone: we need a turnover on the present Commission, to reduce discord and dead weight, and to have Commissioners with vision and positive regard for the Village. Two of the problematic Commissioners, Cooper and Jacobs, are ending their terms, and we need them both replaced.
If you've been making an attempt to read between the lines, an important thing we need is money. In this neighborhood, assuming we like the neighborhood as it is (otherwise, why would any of us have chosen to live here?), there are two stable ways we can get money. One is by raising our taxes, and the other is by annexation of a revenue-rich area. As for our taxes, some will say, and complain, that BP ad valorem taxes are the highest in the county. True, and there's a reason for that. We don't have commercial pockets to pick, as almost all other municipalities do, and our properties are comparatively modest in market price. Golden Beach doesn't have commercial properties, either, but the house values are so dramatically high that they can glean lots of ad valorem revenue without charging the millage we do. So if we want to live here, we have to pay for it. It's value for money spent. We have also, by the way, chosen to have a remarkable and award-winning police force that has resulted in a remarkably low crime rate, and an unspeakably high rate of "clearance" (identification and arrest of those responsible for crimes). We don't have to choose that level of police activity and effectiveness, and if we're willing to diminish protection, so we're no better than anyone else, then we can save money.
If we don't want to pay higher taxes, and some people don't, then we have to annex the area east of us across the train track. Either mechanism will do, and both are better than either one alone. The problem we have, which is why we need the turnover I suggested in the Commission, is those people who don't want tax increases, and they don't want to annex. They want to consign us to death as a municipality. That's not OK with me. I didn't choose to live here for that.
So I hope you'll vote for me for Commission in December. I think I can help. I'm not in a position to promote anyone else right now, since no one else has yet declared. When they do, I'll let you know, and I'll tell you which ones, other than myself, I like for Commission.
Please feel free to contact me about my campaign and about my platform. I want to serve you on the Commission, and I don't mind starting now.
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