email received through our web site
Are political contributions in winter springs now a possible court factor?
Once again the interest in this page in our website archives has lead us to bring this out to you again. This page with the political contribution page (see Keewin Real Property Co. ) of the last Winter Springs election. It is being heavily visited probably due to some court proceedings in Orlando where certain parties are trying to have the court seal some papers used in a grand jury inquest. It was first published in July of 2007.
This same problem still exists, and Winter Springs is a prime example over extending its' green land to the developers bulldozers. Hence the below email, and while driving throughout the City of Winter Springs one will find abandoned development site, some have filed for bankruptcy, and those partially or fully built being found void of residents. The city commission through the city manager disposed of revenue generating light industrial zoned areas in favor of the high density developer buddies. Remember the huge destruction of the trees on these projects? The City of Winter Springs is a laugh when it promotes "Tree City USA".
One developer is hoping/waiting for the widening of Highway 17-92 from Shephard Road in Winter Springs to Lake Mary Blvd. The developer is stuck until the much needed road work on Shephard and 17-92 is accomplished. Hence the sudden lapse of the flyover at 17-92- & SR436 to speed up the widening of 17-92 to assist this developer.
Business people who suffered condemnation of their property for the flyover should be highly incensed at this political ploy. But the politician must account for the huge campaign contributions made to them by developers. That seems to be the political game being played in Central Florida. Anybody studied the bonds that were to be taken out for the various so-called public projects? They're almost non-existent.
The email below was received from one of our links in the PFGG web site. The below email and the link above spells out the REAL story. Not the phony baloney you're being fed by your local politicians!
It was felt, that since our site has brought forth some of the harshness of certain ordinances, enacting stringent violations pertaining to new rules against the citizens of Winter Springs, we would print this letter. The main areas of grave concern, is that the present City Manager, and his City Commission, have passed "new" laws of highly questionable contents.
Are most of the outlandish violations, resulting in outrageous fines, because
of the City Manager's need to cover-up the extravagant spending of tax money on
the "TownCenter", and its "rats maze of roadways" to nowhere?
Time will tell, but most of the current residents will never see the final
results, because of the exorbitant debts incurred by the present City Government
and Management. It'll be the next century for the City to
realize any surplus income revenues from the "TownCenter" in the form of a sales
tax. The merchants will feast on their gains at the expense of
the current taxpayers.
The raping of the environment is done in the name of taxing revenues for
the City's need to supplement, and justify the "TownCenter" project.
This is the City Manager's justification. Without masses of
people to spend their money ----- the "TownCenter" dies!
The change of zoning from single family residential to multi-usage is to bring
in more tax revenues through the amassing of more people for buying power.
A single family residence on a one acre wooded lot, would appraise for more tax
money than two-two story townhouses. THAT'S A FACT !
But, the City Manager needs to stack people on top of each other. Instead of keeping the bedroom community atmosphere of Winter Springs, he will use sales tax revenues to keep his no-bid project, the "TownCenter" afloat. It would seem the below email makes reference to the destruction of the City's wooded areas, to the extent the City should take down their "Tree City USA" signs. It sure won't be the City Manager's phony "Number-One-City" as voted by some phony poll.
here's the email --- you decide !
To whom it may concern,
Someone at a Winter Springs city commission meeting told me about your
website. I've checked it out and I thought I would write. I am frustrated, and I am growing in my anger. I want accountability in government, but I don 't know how I one to get it.
I'm one of those most unfortunate people who live in Winter Springs' city
limits who want to remove a tree from my property. Forget the fact that I
planted that darn tree a few years back, forget the fact that it has now
become a nuisance on my property, and forget the fact that there are about
16 other trees on my property that I don't want to remove. So, here's a bit
of advice to people in Winter Springs from a person who knows firsthand.
DON'T plant a tree on your property because if you do, you won't own that
tree after you plant it. Citizens in Winter Springs need to start realizing
fast that the moment they step out of their front doors, that they don't
have any property rights because the city has so many laws restricting what
owners can do on their own property. It's the city's property outside your
front door, not yours! It's the city making money off your property, not
you!
Now, I have another nuisance on my property, it's the City Arborist. That
"Tree Nazi" of a city official has now decreed MY nuisance tree HIS
"specimen" and has granted that tree official protected status. Since he
has called it a specimen, it had to go before the commission for "approval
of removal". Guess what? The tree police (commission) denied me. I can't
remove a tree that I mistakenly planted in the wrong place about 20 years
ago. What's kind a creepy now is I have the feeling that the Arborist is
standing guard over my tree, even at night and on the weekends. America may
be a free country, but Winter Springs is becoming a policed-municipality by
a questionable Arborist (and a despot city manager and entranced commission
according to your People for Good Government website).
Meanwhile, for the whole world to see is the rape and destruction of the SR434 property next to the post office and across from Winter Springs High School. Why wasn't that place put under the same microscope and restriction as my property was? Who let that happen? There were a lot of BIG specimen trees on that property. Why will the commission or the Arborist lay down in protest across my property to protect ONE tree that I planted, but help lift the axe or drive the bulldozer on a developer's wetland property? I get it, but I don't get it. I get it because it comes down to money, money, and more money. Missouri is the "Show Me" state and now Winter Springs is the "Show Me The Money" city. What I don't get is why haven't citizens raised up their arms about that awful
inequitable tree ordinance, or the fact that they are being gouged by "this-n-that city fee" even after they have paid their tax bill?
If I were permitted to remove my tree, I would have had to replace the tree with a number of trees to match the total inches of the tree I removed. This would not work for my property; I've got too many big trees as it is. The other option the city would have offered me is to pay the city money to its Tree Bank. I guess if the federal government can have its Federal Reserve Bank, then the Winter Springs needs its central Tree Bank. Soon there will be a "branch" of this "tree bank" on every corner of our city.
With most banks, customers get a statement each month of what is coming in and out of their accounts. Depending what type of customer you are, personal versus commercial business, determines what type of services you get without being charged fees. It's clear to me the city has modeled its bank this way too. Citizen customers are treated differently from developer customers. How is this so? The city doesn't prevent developers from removing tons of trees like they did my one tree, and it doesn't barter the fee down of removing a tree with a citizen (like me) the way it does with a developer. (I heard the commission barter down the tree removal fees for that Villa-Geo commercial development next to Stone Gable, so I can imagine that is standard for all developers).
Do citizens know how much money has been taken into that tree bank. I would think by now it is a substantial sum considering how many places I have seen trees erased from the landscape. Where is the accounting of what has come in and gone out of that so-called tree bank for us citizens? I want to know! Is that bank its own fund or is that bank mixed in with everything else, like our tax money. I want to know! Are funds going back to planting trees in the city, or are they about to fund that city manager's pension People for Good Government has been writing about on its website? I want to know because now I smell a real scam! I think citizens should demand a full accounting of this tree bank. How many trees does the city think they can buy and plant with the hundreds of thousands of dollars it must have? Where
are the trees going to be planted? The city doesn't have that much land. I am hoping People for Good Government can get some answers to my questions.
I've lived here a long time. There used to be a time when Winter Springs deserved to be called Tree City USA. Now, the only reason Winter Springs is the "Tree City USA" is because the City is swimming in "green" because of our trees. Where else can you take something God-given and turn it into a money mill, or what I think is a money laundering operation for developer money? Yes, I'm not so dumb, but now I'm not so dumb AND mad AND watching. It's time for all the smart people in this town to get mad and watch too. I hope People for Good Government can help.
Sincerely,
Name withheld because "City Officials" know where I live and "They" scare me
( Editors Note: Isn't this a shame? A citizen should not be afraid of City government. The City officials should be afraid of the citizens ! )
[ Link -to - to a PARTIAL of a County Commission Candidate's Developer Contributions. ]
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