By TomL
You, as a resident of Lady Lake, should go and sit through some of these meetings. Now at a workshop the public cannot talk; they just listen, but that is the way you get informed. For instance, Commissioner Vincent mention that he was impressed by the Town Manager’s interview that she let him sit through. Vincent said she did a good job. The Mayor was not happy. He said he should not have sat through the interview; that he had compromised all they have tried to do in letting the Town Manager how to do her job without interference. Vincent said he never said a word; just sat there and listened and was impressed by the interview. The Mayor was still not happy. It was almost like he was protecting the Town Manager from one of her bosses. SO MUCH FOR TRANSPARENCY!
Anyway the Council agreed to put the vote of the Town Charter review which has not been done in 40 years on the meeting agenda. Commissioner Hannon has been bringing the Town Charter discussion up for a long time. It is on record that several of the Commissioners have said that they have read the Town Charter. First the Town Charter is out dated; second I have been looking on the internet for a legal description for a Township and there are actual boundaries but it takes a legal mind to understand them. As I understand it, a Village and a Township are similar. That is why there are community Development Districts in the Villages. According to the state statues, if area or village is under a certain number of residents they don’t have to come under certain state reporting laws like monthly reports and all kinds of red tape. I am pretty sure a Township is similar, so a review of these things could be very important. Also in the Town Charter does it spell out how often the Charter must be reviewed? There are many questions on how the Charter should be reviewed, like who should be on the review committee. It was suggested just Lady Lake Residents. The review board would need to have an attorney. During the discussion the Mayor said if the board makes suggestions on changing something, what are you going to do? I would guess the Town Commissioners would vote to yah or nay it, but stop hiding behind something that has not been reviewed in 40 years. You could be doing something wrong that has changed years ago making the town liable for a stiff fine. Get it reviewed, ask for a legal ruling on how you are doing things and make sure you are doing your job right by today’s standards and not the good old days when life was a lot harder but more real!
NEW UPDATE:
The next meeting was held and a vote to review the Town Charter was made. The vote was three to two. The Commissioners started discussing who would review the Town Charter; many views come into play, but they finally decided to have seven on the committee: at least one from each district and at least two business owners. If you would like to attend any of these meetings and get involved in your community just call or go on the website or call city hall to get the schedule.
What say you? Your opinion is important; email your opinion to Commissioners if you like. Email me for sure at: tloury@att.net
