Lake County Fiscal Rangers

Tavares Should Reject Questionable "Earth Hour" for March 23

Tavares, FL -  Monday, March 4, 2013

Note:  The Tavares City Council meeting is this WEDNESDAY, March 6 at 4pm. We posted the wrong day in an earlier version.

Note: A version of this article was also published on www.WatchDogWire.com HERE. 

EARTH HOUR Exposed:

An open letter to the Tavares City Council regarding Wednesday, March 6th''s agenda item Tab 5.  Officals of other Lake County Cities and agencies should also read this.

The City of Tavares will have a City Council meeting Wednesday, March 6th, at 4pm where an agenda item (Tab 5) will ask the City Council to approve an "Earth Hour" participation on March 23.   It sounds fairly benign, asking them to turn off city lights in and around government buildings for one hour (about 8:30 pm) on Saturday, March 23rd.

Additionally, I looked at the calendar, and on that day, the Antique & Classic Boat Festival is in full force in Tavares and turning off city lights might be disruptive.

However, the request is based upon a letter from a member of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that sponsores Earth Hour, an international environmentalist group which receives funds from member donations, corporate donations AND the US Federal & other governments via foreign aid grants.   Investigations (see several below) have shown that the ethics of the World Wildlife Federation organization are questionable, and does Tavares want to support projects from such a group?  It also appears WWF is a front organization for many corporations and governments. Below also are articles describing how no savings occur, because electrical power generation plants cannot be stopped, so they still operate.  Your agenda entry even provides the WWF website, helping them market to local residents.  In my opinion, this is a well organized CON.

The citizen's request letter (in your agenda attachments package) justifies Earth Hour by using unsubstantiated, VAGUE JUNK SCIENCE claims that "Our towns and cities are already facing staggering costs of weather driven by extremes by climate change...".  Remember when they claimed Global Warming and the science was disproved and even Al Gore agreed the science he used was manipulated and inaccurate?   This letter writer's claims should be ignored because he cites junk science claims without proof.  You should also reject his request to later participate in the "Earth Hour City Challenge" which is a means to hook you on questionable grants.

Frequent FiscalRangers.com readers know we track the United Nations Agenda 21 program to stealthily remove property rights ( see www.tinyurl.com/HaltAgenda21 ).   One feature of that program is to use environmentalists as "useful idiots" ( a term coined by Stalin in Russia) to help implement projects that force people off land so only animals can use it.   The underlying reason is to support big, centralized government by transferring land by any means to Big Government which will move towards socialism and then communism.  (Yes, I know it sounds like an unproven conspiracy, but all the evidence exists - see my fact page above).

One of the methods used by the United Nations to implement Agenda 21 is to support "Public Private Partnerships" which are chosen firms that receive deals or favoritism, and WWF seems to be one if you read the Newsmax article linked below.

So, if you search on "WorldWildlife exposed" or scam, you find some hints that WWF is NOT a human friendly or ethical organization.  They use well meaning environmental "useful idiots" to expand their reach into new areas, and now including Cities and Counties in the US (part of Agenda 21 methods).

- A Newsmax article (using information from a Taxpayers Protection Alliance watchdog report which is attached below)  explains how WWF funded a program to "save the tigers" in India which resulted in relocations (and loss of land) of "more than a million native inhabitants" in India (see picture). The article says "Not only did the WWF destroy the lives, culture, and society of more than a million people, there are fewer tigers left in these areas now than before the atrocious displacement efforts began. The WWF gives tourists who shell out about $10,000 the opportunity to pile in one of 155 jeeps and chase the few tigers that remain around their preserves for eight hours a day. This may be terrible for the tigers, but it’s big business for the WWF, which seems all too happy with the millions of dollars brought in through this ecotourism scheme."

Says the TPA report:

"Environmental NGOs are especially precarious to fund with American tax dollars for a number of reasons.  As this study illustrates, environmental NGOs can be controversial in what they support. They can work in opposition to the improvement of the lives of people. They can fail to protect endangered animals and address environmental concerns. They can buy political favor. They can sell endorsements. They can misuse tax dollars. They can exaggerate and lie to make their point seem more appealing. They are unaccountable to taxpayers – and those taxpayers are on the hook for tens of millions of dollars every year."

"Examples of taxpayer-funding of environmental NGOs include:  $138.3 million in 2010 to the World Wildlife Fund from taxpayer-funded agencies across the world. "

HERE is the TPA 18 page investigation report, including sections on the WWF:

Download TPA Environmental NGO report on WWF & NGOs(October 2012) (2) - Read the section on "World Wildlife Fund Scandals".

- The article describes the program where "WWF led a lobbying effort to impose trade restrictions on Indonesian pulp, paper, and palm oil products, ostensibly to protect the forests of Indonesia. In reality, the WWF was serving as a front group ( i.e. a Public Private Partnership) for North American, European, and Australian competitors who produce the same products as the Indonesian companies, but were being threatened by the lower price of the Indonesian goods.   The area of Indonesia responsible for producing these products is one of the poorest places in the world. Workers in the region were given the opportunity to make a decent living and provide for their families, only to see it taken away because the WWF worked in cahoots with developed nations to kill their jobs."

The WWF is trying to move you to participate in the "Earth Hour City Challenge" using unsubstantiated junk science to make you think a crisis exists (just like Obama does - a crisis a week that doesn't pan out).  See their page here:  http://worldwildlife.org/pages/earth-hour-city-challenge   .  On one page they describe Florida  "severe weather claims about rising sea levels (which have been disproven).  They talk about "stronger hurricanes" in the "last decade" (because we haven't had any in the last five years - notice how they manipulate statistics?).   They make many crisis claims BUT DO NOT INCLUDE A LINK TO THE ACTUAL JUNK SCIENCE USED TO EXPLAIN THE ANY OF THE CLAIMS. 

Assume any claim from WWF to be Junk Science as long as they do not cite the specific source and research that can be scientifically reproven. 

Here are other investigations and reports about the ethics of the World Wildlife Fund:

Harpseals.org accused the WWF of supporting excess slaughter of Harp Seals in Canada.  Read the points, responses and counterpoints.  

Here is a discussion forum on the "World Wildlife Fund Exposed".       They focus on the WWF efforts to remove people from land (an Agenda 21 objective).  "

"The WWF have been involved in atrocities worldwide, especially clearing villages across the third world to plant biofuel and trees, using carbon credits and charitable donations, leaving millions of refugees in Africa alone and many villages wiped out in Indonesia."  

And, here is a blog posting from an insider electrician about Sydney, Australia turning off all their lights in 2007 but did not achieve ANY savings because they kept running the city generators and sold off the unused power to other power companies.  Thus there was no reduction in power emissions, etc.  "So in closing ALL that was achieved by earth hour was still used, only in the form of people having extra-hot hot water and nothing was saved in terms of emissions into the atmosphere because the turbines didnt stop or slow down so the coal was still burnt to boil the water. We have all just been had"  And a quote on similar terms from another blogger:  "So for the uneducated fools who took part in Earth Hour, you saved nothing. Oh, and it has been exposed that the Earth Hour organisers have wasted ten times the amount of resources and energy printing up glossy pamphlets, flyers, posters and using other media to promote it. Earth Hour is killing the planet!"

An article from Der Spiegel (German) online about how "WWF Helps Industry More than Environment".

"The WWF is the most powerful environmental organization in the world and campaigns internationally on issues such as saving tigers and rain forests. But a closer look at its work leads to a sobering conclusion: Many of its activities benefit industry more than the environment or endangered species."

"SPIEGEL traveled around South America and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to address this question. In Brazil, an agricultural industry executive talked about the first shipload of sustainable soybeans, certified in accordance with WWF standards, to reach Rotterdam last year, amid a flurry of PR hype. The executive had to admit, however, that he wasn't entirely sure where the shipment had come from. In Sumatra, members of a tribal group reported how troops hired by WWF partner Wilmar had destroyed their houses, because they had stood in the way of unfettered palm oil production."

Then here is an article about the well known hacker "Anonymous" who penetrated Monsanto's computer system and "exposed the World Wildlife Fund" connection where WWF is certifiying all the Monsanto GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) seeds which are very controversial.

AND, here is another WWF Expose "The Fraud behind the Panda".   This is their words, not mine.  "But there is a lot more to this group than they want to admit - ... you will notice how the WWF board members interconnect with other conservation groups, government agencies and corporations, effectively forming a huge monopoly, through public-private partnerships.  This conglomerate, along with the United Nations are attempting to take over ever evey aspect of our lives and around the world, through their Agenda 21 program.  This includes the world's  natural resources (land, water and minerals), world economies, population control, food supplies, animals (both domestic and wild), fuel, electricity and natural gas, all in the name of 'sustainable development', climate change (that has been scientifically proven to be a hoax) and supposed conservation.  These programs, if allowed to succeed will end our national sovereignty and shred our constitution and force us into a one world governance."

Conclusion:

It appears that the WWF is being used as a front end shill by international firms and governments to act against human interests, use well meaning environmental "useful idiots" and  support questionable causes.

The Tavares City Council should think twice before supporting ANY WWF program, even Earth Hour.

The main result of Earth Hour is to make it harder to see for an hour.

And, watch out for their rumored WWF program for "Air Hour" where all humans are told to hold their breath for an hour (not the animals)".  See, I told you they care more about animals than humans.

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers.com 

 

 

 

 

 

Officials Attend 4 hour Lake County FL Eco-Tourism Summit on North Lake Apopka

Mount Dora, FL (Lake County)  -  Feb. 8th, 2013

Yesterday, the Lake County Board of Commissioners Chair Leslie Campione hosted a 4 hour "Regional Summit on Land Issues Impacting the North Shore of Lake Apopka".

 

The main reason was to disclose plans for developing the North Shore of Lake Apopka (partially in Lake county plus Orange County) into an "eco-tourism" attraction, AND to discuss issues affecting those plans caused by a planned expansion of a nearby "Orlando North Airport", located on Long & Scott property.

 

The Lake County and Orange County governments have been discussing these issues for months due to the proposed airport expansion which would cross County borders and affect local bird populations due to "bird strike" situations.

Below is the two part agenda.

View this photo  - Agenda cover
View this photo  - Agenda with speaker names and topics

Here is the press release:   http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/media/news_releases/news_release.aspx?id=2047 

You can see our three part VIDEO of the event at our Youtube "FiscalRangersFlorida" .   The first video is here:  http://youtu.be/9snmO6VVFv0  (Note:  Part 2 & 3 are in process of downloading - probably not active until tomorrow  - Sunday).

See Orlando Sentinel article by Steve Hudak here:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-lake-apopka-north-shore-summit-20130208,0,5073878.story     

See the Daily Commercial article by Greg Jones here:  http://www.dailycommercial.com/News/LakeCounty/09feb2013ecotourism  

Channel 9's Berndt Petersen was at the Summit, and this report is related to the concerns regarding the proposed airport expansion.  If you search on the Channel 9 website on "Apopka", you will find more of his reports on this issue:  http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/residents-near-lake-apopka-concerned-with-airstrip/vqFfX/

You can find the Powerpoint presentations here:   ftp://ftp.co.lake.fl.us/InfoOutreach/020813_RegionalSummit/ 

No decisions were made but all the parties attending learned different perspectives. 

The one negative issue is when an Audobon Society representative recommended they also involve the US Fish & Wildlife Service and plans to make the area a Federal Park.   I objected because the Feds are too intrusive and the FWS is known for taking land rights and land away from farmers and other groups due to excessive environmental restrictions, including endangered species acts.  We should retain local power of the area.

Vance Jochim

Bravo to Citizen Fighting City Hall

This is an example of a Sebring, FL citizen fighting to stop a local city government blunder.   We hope she prevails.

http://www.newssun.com/Opinion/edt-011313 

vj

From NewsSun.com

Admiration for a citizen standing up to power

Some of you may be tired of reading News-Sun stories about Gingerlee Mitchelllindo's fight with the city of Sebring. She is trying to save her retention wall.

We, on the other hand, not only think our coverage is warranted, we think the community should be paying attention, even getting involved.

To briefly recap: Mitchelllindo's property, a small single house, is opposite the Sebring Middle School at 503 Center Ave.

In 2009, with the construction of Sebring Parkway Part II, Center Avenue was reconfigured and widened for

Stupid Government Mistakes: Polk County overcharges residents for garbage pickups by $1.46-million

Jan 14, 2013 - Tavares, FL

Apparently, starting seven years ago, Polk County, FL staff used an incorrect method that resulted in providing incorrect, sometimes vacant addresses for garbage pickup to the local waste services firm they had on contract.

This blunder went on for seven years, and the County overcharged residents $1.46-million over the 7 years, and then paid the funds to the waste services firm.  Now the County is trying to get the waste provider to pay back the funds even though the County made the mistake.Teh Board is trying to blame the vendor for the issue, but that is like trying to get an employee to pay back excess paychecks due to a blunder by staff, especially 7 years later.

My experience as an internal audit manager for 18 years is that both government and companies many times has low level staff make decisions without oversight or performance audits and these things go on for years.   At Nissan Motor Corp., staff used the wrong formula to set reserves for auto warranties, and they over collected the reserves by $1-million.  Once the mistake was found by internal audit, that $1-million went right to the "bottom line".

Good luck...  now we know why Polk County reneged on paying its agreed share of the costs of the 4 Corners library built by Lake County.  They aren't any good at managing their operations.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20130114/EDIT01/130119674/1036/edit?Title=Polk-Garbage-Overpayment-Take-Republic-to-Court  

vj

Our Take of Yesterday's Lake County Legislators' Delegation Forum & Video Posted

Leesburg, FL - Jan 5, 2012

Yesterday, Jan. 4th, Lake County's three Florida Representatives ( Larry Metz, Bryan Nelson & Marlene O'Toole) and two Senators (Alan Hays & Dorothy Hukill) held their annual "Lake County Legislators' Delegation" meeting to listen to "pitches" from over 20 people from different government and other agencies asking for funds, legislation changes or other Florida State Support for their issues.

The publicity for the meeting was so bad that hardly any members of the public attended.  Details on meeting locations were confused with three different sites being described by different people.  Agendas were stacked at the side and there was no table to greet attendees or get their names to send out follow up documents.   I only found out about the meeting in the morning and had to cancel a dental appointment to attend.   Hardly any members of the public or press attended.  The only member of the press there was from Lake Sentinel.  The picture shows you what I mean - this was halfway through the meeting after first speakers all left.  If taxpayers and conservative groups don't attend these types of meetings and make their positions known, don't cry when nothing is done.  I am surprised the

Orlando CFO Screws Up and Awards 8.7-million Contract WITHOUT Competitive Bidding

Tavares, lake County, FL  - Thursday, Dec. 20,2012

The City of Orlando CFO, Rebecca Sutton, signed a major software contract for $8.7-million without requiring any bids on the new software project.

Then she flew with several other staff members to Las Vegas using $20,000 in City funds to announce the contract at the software developer's conference.

All this without any bidding.

The Orlando Sentinel provided many details HERE. (Note - READ the comments, which are more blunt than I am).

I was a software developer for seven years, and before that I was an internal audit manager in large firms like Nissan, ARCO (the oil company) and the County of Los Angeles.

A big red flag to an auditor is lack of competitive bidding, called sole sourcing, for large contracts.

The Orlando CFO completely skipped that process because some sales people got to her and convinced her there was no need for competitive bidding.  YOU NEVER DO THAT IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL.

You always go through the bidding for several reasons:

- The competitors ask questions and flush out details or issues you did not consider.  Picking just one vendor allows them to snow you with only favorable features and avoid issues their competitors may know about and have solved.

- Any favored vendor will provide better service or prices in a competitive bid.

- You never know, you may find a better provider, which is the CFO's job, not to just arbitrarily pick a vendor "you like".

- Even if you think some providers are expensive, they may give you a deal to get a reference account.  Orlando is well known enough, that could have happened with other providers, not just the one they think is best.

- Sole sourcing or no-bid contracts are a huge red flag for corruption.  Relatives get hired, side deals can be cut, or the product may have LOW quality or poor customer service because the vendor underpriced the product and cannot make enough to maintain the product (remember, I was a software developer).

It appears this CFO didn't want to go through the needed work to ensure bids were taken, and she "trusted" this vendor, so I predict the software, since it is the first time it will be used by a City government, will explode with problems handling fund accounting, grants, etc which are not used in the private sector.  Staff may resist the standard cost accounting reports which demand accountability like in business. 

The Orlando taxpayer got screwed on this no-bid government software selection.  Fortunately, I live in Lake County, so won't be paying for that mistake.

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers.com

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FiscalRangers Watchdog to Host Sept. 6th Public Meeting to Explain Coming LOCAL Lake County Property Tax Rate Hikes up to 72% & Understanding TRIM Notices

Tavares, FL - Sept. 2, 2012 - News and local government issues for Lake County, FL

by Vance Jochim

Updates Sept 4:  Added section 10 to "homework" section that includes links to FL Dept of Revenue guides that most taxpayers never see.   Added section 11 for email from Lake County Republican Party to Tax Authorities recommending NO increase in millage rates.

This Thursday, Sept. 6, 6-8pm, FiscalRangers.com, a blog on local Lake County Florida Government Fiscal issues, will host a FREE property taxpayer public meeting at the Tavares Civic Center, 100 E. Caroline St., Tavares, FL  to explain how and why your property taxes or rates are going up, and tips if you want to appeal your property valuations, lost exemptions, etc.  You should have recently received your TRIM notice showing new valuations, changes in exemptions, proposed changes in millage rates, etc.

 

Have you heard that many local Lake County tax "authorities" like cities, Lake County and various special districts are RAISING the millage rate used to calculate your property taxes?  Even though your property tax valuation may be dropping, those authorities want to tax you as much or more as last year, so they are increasing your property tax millage rates.  One well known property owner with many parcels told us that his property tax bill, based upon his new TRIM notice, will go up by $10,000 even in a down economy.

Note:  We expect to add revisions and updates to THIS article up until Thursday afternoon, so come back for more details, which will be identified by "UPdate" and highlighted in RED .   The short link to this article is:  http://tinyurl.com/LakeTaxpayer-Forum

HERE is an article in today's Orlando Sentinel about the planned millage property tax rate increases:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-09-02/news/os-lk-lake-cities-property-taxes-20120902_1_property-appraiser-frank-royce-tax-rate-rollback-rate  

The Property taxes you pay depend upon property valuations and exemptions approved by the County Property Appraiser, TIMES

Are Lake County Commissioners Harming Property Values by Ignoring Pleas to Remove Sustainable Development Restrictions?

Tavares, FL - August 16, 2012

All Lake County Property Owners should read this.

This week was eventful in Lake County because of the Florida primary elections, which we covered earlier.

However, it was also eventful for outing the sustainable development movement and the UN Agenda 21 implemented by the American Planner's Association (APA) in many LOCAL government regulations, including Lake County.

Readers know we have written a white paper on Agenda 21 located at www.tinyurl.com/HaltAgenda21 .  It includes many links to explanatory online videos, articles and the Republican National Committee (RNC) resolution "exposing" Agenda 21 and its affects on property and other rights.

This week two property rights events happened at the Tuesday meeting of the Lake County Board of Commissioners, and then three events happened at last night's meeting of the North Lake County Tea Party to support the idea that Agenda 21 & "sustainable development" initiatives may be banned in Florida to protect property rights, like they did in Alabama.

At the bottom of this article are some very specific suggestions for property owners.

A. What happened at the Tuesday Lake County Board Meeting?

1. "Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP)" - The Lake County Board on Tuesday ignored my public input to DISCUSS and then reject extension of a contract to pay $295,000, including $27,000 from the County, for a consultant to develop a plan to establish limitations on land use if your land is "scrub habitat".  The reason they say is that "scrub habitat" is needed for gopher tortoises, two types of lizards (really). scrub jays (as if we don't have enough public land already) and ELEVEN types of "endangered" PLANTS.  The consultant will also establish a "steering committee' made up of environmentalists, government agency staff, only two landowners, but no property rights or taxpayer rights advocates.  There is no estimate of economic impact, lost land values or estimated costs to pay for lost values due to the restrictions.  Basically, they are not considering the idea of "no action" but acting as if they will develop a plan to add restrictions to about 6900 acres of "scrub habitat".  Such actions reduce the value of land greatly, and property owners should just sue the County for not providing just compensation for a "taking" of land like the US Constitution describes.    You can find all the documents related to this contract at http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/AgendaDocPop/connect.aspx?ParentTrackingNumber=6948 

The Board ignored my request to openly discuss this contract, and let it be processed via the "consent agenda", so the contract was extended without public discussion by the Board.  If you are a land owner, you should ask the Board members why they want to implement land use restrictions that destroy your property rights.  You might also ask why they are approving a total expense of $295,000 for a consultant to develop the "plan".

2. Land Restrictions in North Lake County - Another member of the public gave input about how the comprehensive plan or zoning restrictions on five lots he bought in North Lake County were preventing him from creating a garden or removing trees.  He said with those restrictions he probably has lost all value in the land and would not be able to sell it at any time.  The Board ignored his plea that they issue a waiver, and did not really provide him with any method to find a solution.

You can watch the online video of our public input sessions HERE in Video 1 for the August 14 meeting.  My public input starts about 00:09:15 minutes in to the video after the awards session, the the other public input on land usage started at 00:09:38 after some other speakers. 

B.  What happened at the Wednesday evening meeting of the North Lake Tea Party?

1.  FiscalRangers.com Report on Local Government:  I described the two events above and how they fairly reeked of sustainable development & the UN Agenda 21 stealth tactics to reduce property rights, and how the Board ignored the issues presented.

2.  Coalition on Property Rights Presentation:  Dan Peterson, Executive Director of the Orlando based Coalition for Property Rights (CPR) gave an hour talk on property rights and the history of the UN Agenda 21, how President Clinton facilitated their "sustainable development" tactics to use stealth and Federal tax dollars to fund and roll out socialist objectives to reduce property values and uses via the American Planner's Association and ICLEI (see my white paper).  The crowd got visibly upset as he described how the process of Agenda 21 infiltration worked.   One new visitor was a major property owner and asked some detailed questions.  Also in attendance was FL Rep. Larry Metz, FL Senator Alan Hays, and soon to be Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker. 

3.  Senator Alan Hays announced he had an initial draft of a bill he will submit to the FL legislature in early 2013 to ban Agenda 21 derived objectives, and limitations on property rights.  His bill is based upon the one recently passed in Alabama.  (See article about the Alabama bill HERE)   Hays told me that he will send FiscalRangers.com the final draft after 'cleaning up" the wording.

You can see the video of the meeting of the CPR presentation and Alan Hays reading his draft bill at our YouTube page, FiscalRangersFlorida HERE:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXRHWbZTWLA  

The public and land owners are becoming educated about the assault on property rights by some government agencies and "planners".

Please educate yourself at:

-  www.tinyurl.com/HaltAgenda21    my white paper on Agenda 21 & 'sustainable development"

- www.proprights.com  -  The website for the Coalition for Property Rights

- BUY Rosa Koire's book, "Behind the Green Mask" on Agenda 21 and read how bad it can get based upon her experience in northern California. 

- If you are a property owner, especially larger lots, agriculture land, etc, ask your Lake County Commissioner why they are not taking action to remove "sustainable development" land use restrictions from the County's Comprehensive Plan that defines land use restrictions for the entire county.

- If you are a property owner who found your land use is restricted due to the County Comprehensive Plan, consider calculating the loss in property value from the "green restrictions" and contact an attorney to consider suing the County for "just compensation" since the loss is a "taking" protected by the US Constitution.  Ask why the public and land owners were not allowed to vote on a referendum over the land use restrictions in the comp plan.  Ask why the County has not notified you and EACH land owner of all new restrictions on their land use.  Why should a new owner find out about restrictions and regulations on their property AFTER they paid for it?

- Ask your Commissioners why they passed land use restrictions in the Comp Plan (before Leslie Campione & Sean Parks were elected) and have no process to warn current owners OR potential buyers of the land use restrictions and a calculation by the Lake County Property Appraiser of how much your property value was reduced.  For instance, in the example above where the landowner talked about not being allowed to cut down some specific trees so he could create a garden, or add parking, etc., then Lake County should pay him for the loss of value.

vj

 

Lake County Mobile Home Owners Losing Out on $3-million State Funded Retrofit Program to Reduce Hurricane Damage

Tavares, FL - Dec. 9, 2011 - Lake County may be losing out on a State funded program to retrofit tie downs for older mobile homes to reduce damage from hurricanes.  Newer mobile homes have much stricter tie down requirements, and the retrofit is to upgrade older homes.

Apparently, there is a program funded by the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe fund for about $3-million, and Lake County residents never get a chance to make use of the funds.  Their "contacts" page is HERE.

It pays up to about $1600 for contractors to refit older mobile homes with more tie-downs and "stabilizer" bars to reduce the possibility of the home shifting during high hurricane winds.

Well, we WROTE an article on just that problem in Lake County after the tornadoes two years ago, and it is HERE.

I had asked the County building inspector at one damaged mobile home park if they had any inspection standards for older homes to recommend improved tie down methods used in more recent mobile homes.   She said they did not.

NOW, the St. Petersburg Times has written an expose HERE on the secretive program and exposed that the State gave administration rights to a Tallahassee area community college, and a very connected mobile home industry "leader" Ken Cashin, has been getting the SINGLE contract to spend ALL the AVAILABLE funds in mobile home parks he selects.  He was a mobile home lobbyist who helped DESIGN the program in 1999, then he founded a company,

In otherwords, typical Florida State cronyism has taken place, and many locations, including Lake County, have no clue the funds and program existed.  (To be verified)

Cashin's firm runs crews in mobile home parks he selects, and none in Lake County have been selected.

The Times expose also found that Cashin's company failed to install the required number of tie downs in many homes, and makes a HUGE gross profit due to excess fee levels.  Up until this year, Cashin's company was paid up to $1600 per mobile home to install tie downs and stabilizers, but many were not completed properly. 

Read their LONG article for more details which will make you and US mad as hell that Florida State let this go on so long.

Meanwhile, we at FiscalRangers.com will find how Lake County mobile homeowners can apply for these safety improvement grants.   We understand that the leaders in a mobile home park must apply for the entire park, because the repair crews work on one mobile home park at a time, and not on individual's homes.

vj

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated Jan 15th: Lake Dora water flow from Lake Apopka shut off by CAT People at St. Johns River Water Management District

Updated Jan. 15, 2012 to include Fox Orlando interview link to their website.

Updated Jan 9, 2012 after the meeting:  The Lake County public hearing of the St. Johns River Water Management District meeting was held Jan. 5th to discuss water level management practices affecting Lake County lakes.  Our update with conclusions and our recommendations are in section PS8 at the bottom of this document.  (Several updates added to section PS8 with the latest on Jan 9th).  Links to local media articles on this meeting also added to section PS8 thru 1/9.  The ST. John's Board is having a Baord meeting in Palatka on Jan. 10th to decide their actions, and we will post a NEW article.

Tavares, FL - Dec. 27, 2011 (Updated 4pm, Jan. 4th) - Water levels in Lake Dora & downstream lakes are dropping due to actions to completely shutoff water flow to them from Lake Apopka.  Alien CAT People working at the St. Johns River Water Management District started shutting off water on Dec. 8th from Lake Apopka to Lake Dora and all Lake Countians should get organized. (True, except for the CAT reference (:-))  )

A public hearing for Lake Countians has been scheduled for Jan. 5th at 5pm in the Mission Inn in Howie-in-The-Hills and details are below in the PS1 section.  We encourage all readers concerned about dropping water levels in Harris Chain lakes to attend the meeting.  You will see a presentation from the staff of the St. John's River Water Management District about why they have turned off all water flow from Lake Apopka to Lake Dora and other Lake County lakes.  Our observations are that water has dropped 5 inches in four weeks, and is dropping about 1 inch per week.  You can also give public input on your concerns about lower lake water levels - not being able to get boats out of docks, dropping property values, and not being able to get a boat through the Dora Canal.   Please be there!!

We expect numerous attendees from Lake Griffin, plus members of the Sunnyland Antique & Classic Boat Society plus members of the Triangle Boat Club.

This is an update on the issue of water flow being shutoff as pf December 8th, 2011 from Lake Apopka to Lake Dora and downstream lakes by the St. Johns District staff , when hardly any of them or members of their board live in Lake County.  There also was no previous public hearing for Lake Countians that we know of.  Lake Griffin has suffered dramatic drops in water levels, and Lake Dora is down by about 5-6 inches in the last 4-weeks since the water shutoff was implemented (my estimate based upon the canal I live on).   After the Lake Apopka Restoration Summit on December 14, the staff agreed to increase the outflow of water into Lake Griffin but NOT allow water to flow INTO the Harris Chain from Apopka, resulting in a constantly dropping water level.

Originally, we thought it was Lake Apopka area environmentalists doing this to Lake County, but a FiscalRangers investigation found that the St. Johns Water District staff are really CAT PEOPLE aliens who hate water.  Thus they have apparently  initiated a plan to shutoff all water flow to Lake County lakes so they don't have so many lakes.  (OK,  for those in Apopka, the Wekiva area or in the Ocala forest, that reference to Alien CAT People is a joke).

We covered the issue initially on THIS post along with news for a recent Lake County Board meeting where the water level issue was discussed on the meeting agenda.  About 50 people from Lake Griffin, and about 20 from local boat clubs showed up.   Commissioner Leslie Campione spearheaded a discussion and allowed public input.   The Lake County Board does NOT have authority over water levels but can use their bully pulpit to engage staff and Board members of the St. Johns River Water Management Distrist.   She agreed to contact them, and also write a letter on behalf of the board to request increasing water flow to Lake Dora and downstream lakes, including Lake Griffin, which is very low.    She also announced the public hearing below.

There will be a public hearing organized by the St. Johns Water District staff in Howie-in-the-Hills on Jan. 5th at 5pm at the Mission Inn to get "public input" on the water cutoff, and details are in the PS1 section below.

You can verify Lake County water levels, discharge rates and rainfall levels for each Lake HERE at the St. Johns webpage that tracks it.   Click on the links for the "Upper Ocklawaha River Basin.  The "Burrell Spillway" rates are the flow of water OUT of Lake Eustis to Lake Griffin.  Please bring your "NO CAT PEOPLE" poster to halt this dastardly feline plot by the ST. Johns Water District to lower Lake County lake water levels.  However, I live on a canal off Lake Dora and it seems to me that water levels have dropped about 5 inches, more than the charts show.  However, that could be that the "regulated" water levels vary by month of the year, while I am looking at an expected average water level marker.

HERE is the website page for the recent Lake Apopka Summit which was mostly to discuss Lake Apopka restoration efforts, but where the issue of dropping water levels was discussed.  St. Johns staff appeared disguised as real people, but we now know they are water hating Alien CAT People ((:-)).   Now they have all the presentations from the earlier Lake Apopka Summit on the webpage, so you can download them from HERE. 

Update Jan. 4:  Lake County Commissioner told me she visited the St. Johns offices today and also presented Lake County concerns to them.  She will be at the Jan. 5th meeting.

Quick - forward this email to other Lake County boat owners, Griffin Lake residents, waterfront owners and other residents and businesses concerned about dropping Lake water levels in Lake County.   Encourage them to attend the Jan. 5th Public Hearing.  Do this before the Orlando Sentinel's columnist discovers our research regarding CAT People aliens running the St. Johns Water District and writes a story on it. 

Bookmark THIS page for updates on the upcoming meeting and results which will be posted here in the sections below.

FiscalRangers.com Opinion (read the PS sections below for more background)

- The water level shutoff was done without any public hearings in Lake County that we know of.

- No Lake County agency has authority over water levels, not even the County Board or Lake County Water Authority. The effect is that the St. Johns District, headquartered in Palatka, FL  follows the UN Agenda 21 tactic of creating "regional" groups that can't be directly sanctioned by local voters and they are out of our voter control, but yet they control our water levels.  There is one vacancy on the Board for an area including western Lake County, but it may take 2 months yet for Gov. Scott to make the appointment, and not necessarily a Lake County citizen.

- Lake Griffin residents visited the recent Apopka Restoration Summit and lobbied to get a bigger water flow, which was APPROVED, thus increasing water flow OUT of Lake Dora, Harris & Eustis, while still not allowing any inflow of water, thus levels will drop faster.

- The Federal Corps of Engineers or the St. John's staff (not clear on this) establishes standard water flow rates, but the St. Johns staff shutoff ignores those standards, and an explanation how they could ignore the water flow standards and implement the shutoff is needed.

- The shutoff also seems motivated by a Lake Apopka support group and possibly environmentalists in the Water District, without any consideration of the effect on Lake County water levels, property values, economic development effects, etc.

- The St. Johns Staff are really Alien Cat People who don't want Lake County to have any lake water.  (snark, snark!)

- The recent Lake Apopka Restoration Summit (see below) and possibly the upcoming hearing may use the UN Agenda 21 tactic of developing "consensus" using a modified "Delphi" decision making technique actually designed to only present and obtain feedback leading to a staff pre-determined result.  Delays in public notices can be used to reduce opponents knowledge of the meeting, while favored groups will receive advance notice. (as of Dec. 29, the St Johns District still has not issued a promised press release or agenda on the Jan 5  meeting).  No actual VOTE of attendees will be taken on an issue, but the organizers will later announce a "consensus" was reached to move forward on the pre-determined objective.   Watch for that "consensus building technique" in any public meeting you attend. Watch for experts that only support one favored approach, and not alternatives.   Watch for no formal assembly of issues and recommendations before the group, and a vote.  Intead, later, only favored viewpoints will be documented and opposition information will be excluded.  This technique, in my opinion, was used to develop some land planning components in the Comp Plan for Lake County.  The issue of Agenda 21 or "Visioning" meetings to announce "public consensus" on pre-determined outcomes has been identified in numerous articles posted regarding the Obama administration and socialist tactics.  Watch for those tactics.

- It is possible some actions are needed to improve water quality and sound water flow management can be one of those tactics.  But Lake Countians need that information clearly presented so they can decide, not environmentalists or District staff.  That is the difference between freedom of choice and government defined outcomes.

Conclusion:

Lake Countians need to attend the meeting, provide public input, then afterwards send their opinions to the St. Johns River Water Management District Board, local Lake County Commissioners, and other agencies.  AFTER the meeting, we will update the PS8 and PS9 sections below with info on the meeting results and who to send your recommendations to. 

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers AT comcast DOT com

Below are additional background facts and details on the Jan. 5th meeting:

Several articles have also been published in the Daily Commercial and Orlando Sentinel Lake section.

PS1:  Here is an update on the public hearing next week on January 5th.  I just received this from the Executive office, and apparently the press release will go out soon, so put this meeting on your schedule:

Information on the January 5 meeting: (from SJRWMD Sr. Assistant Marji Hightower)

SJRWMD Projects and Land Business Meeting:

Mission Inn Conference Center

10400 County Road 48

Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida  34737

5:00 PM to 7:30 pm

UPDATED 4pm, Dec. 29, the official St. Johns District press release about the Jan 5th meeting was finally issued after 4pm HERE.  They also updated and posted a "Get the Facts" page HERE on "Discharges Changed on Harris Chain of Lakes".  Fiscal Rangers also confirmed the meeting IS scheduled in a room that will hold 200 people at the Mission Inn, so plan to be there if you are concerned about water levels. (updated Dec. 29)

When any official press release about the meeting is posted, you should find it HERE. 

There is NO separate agenda for the Jan. 5th meeting.  Public input will be limited to 3 minutes per person, and spokeman for organizations can have up to 5 minutes.

PS2:  Links to SJRWMD website:

Main website:  http://floridaswater.com/

http://floridaswater.com/governingboard/representationmap.html    - shows Board areas

http://floridaswater.com/governingboard/boardmembers.html  -  shows Board members and bios - their pictures are disguised as "normal people" and not their REAL Alien CAT People images (:-)).

For additional information about Lake Apopka, contact David Walker, basin program manager for the St. Johns Water District, at (386) 329-4833 or dwalker@sjrwmd.com .

PS3:  Update Dec. 29 on vacant St. Johns District Board position - Currently there is a vacancy on the Board of the St. John's water district, and it is for the "area" that includes western Lake County, including Lake Dora, Harris & Eustis.  Lake County needs a representative on that Board.  Nominations have already been submitted by local Lake County organizations.  I talked to Gov. Scott's Appointment office today, Dec. 29, and was told some applicants have already been excluded and others are "in the pipeline", including one favored by many Lake County residents.  The limiting factor is getting time with Gov. Scott to discuss the applicants and for him to talk to them.  They estimated a decision will be made in January or February, but cannot be more specific.  (Added Dec. 29)

PS4:  Minimum Input on the Water Cutoff was Provided by Lake Countians - We were told by a St. Johns representative that they had told Board members of the Lake County Water Authority as well as the Lake Harris Chain of Lakes Restoration Committee about the water cutoff, and not much resistance was encountered.  It seems that the St. John's staff thought that just making presentations at those two groups was adequate effort to get input from Lake Countians.  It is not, in our opinion. 

You can read the minutes of the Oct. 19th, 2011 meeting HERE of the Lake County Water Authority (scroll down to page 4 and see section on "Temporary Changes in Management of Harris Chain of Lakes Levels").  The Board was told of the Lake County water level changes, but notice that there were staff recommendations to the Board, but the Executive Director recommendation was:  "No action required. For information only" which means they didn't act on the recommendations or publicize the issue.  I don't know if the issue received much publicity until the Lake Apopka Summit earlier this month when many vocal residents of Lake Griffin gave public input and word spread on the water shutoff.  (added Dec. 29)

PS5:  Standard "Natural" Water Flow rates from Lake Apopka to Lake Dora and other "downstream" lakes are defined by the Federal Corps of Engineers (need to clarify this - others say the St. Johns staff sets minimum & maximum levels)  as the "regulated" levels, but the St. Johns staff apparenlty ignored or waived those standards in a "pilot study" by shutting off ALL water flow -  so, their right to do so is questionable and needs explanation.

PS6:  Was the Water Shutoff Due to Excess Influence of Lake Apopka Environmental Zealots or Real Estate Developers?   Evidence exists that a Lake Apopka support group has pushed to increase the Lake Apopka levels to improve THEIR wetlands areas without considation for the downstream lake levels. 

PS7:  St. Johns webpage on the recent Lake Apopka Restoration Summit - Here is my comment I posted on that page today, Dec. 29, which may or may not be approved by them.  If you go to this page above, then click the link to see the main Lake Apopka page, you can see attachments of presentations made at the meeting:

"This meeting was about the restoration of the lake (Apopka), but kicked off a bigger discussion about the right of the St. Johns staff to arbitrarily shut off natural water flow defined by the Corps of Engineers from Lake Apopka to Lake County,  Lake Dora and other downstream lakes depending on that water flow.  This summary here ignores the 50 or so people from Lake Griffin that protested the water shutdown.  I cannot help notice that this meeting was held following the modified "Delphi Technique" used by environmentalists and UN Agenda 21 supporters to obtain local "consensus" by presenting pre-determined facts, organize and hear feedback, then ignore any negative questions, NOT hold any type of formal vote, and then announce a consensus was reached. 

A formal vote is needed by all stakeholders, and "consensus" should be a referendum of all stakeholders, not a fixed meeting process to reach a staff determined goal.  Lake Countians are tired of the St Johns staff and board arbitrarily making decisions without formal votes or representation by Lake County on your Board. 

As of today, Dec. 29, the District still has not published the press release or agenda for the January 5th public hearing at the Mission Inn at 5pm.  Does that mean only favored attendees will receive notice of the meeting to get another "consensus"?"  ( Update:  Magically, I received the press release and a VERY brief agenda statement after they got this comment and a link to this blog posting - vj)

Vance Jochim - FiscalRangers.com

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PS8:  This section PS8 added Jan. 6th, AFTER the public hearing:

PS8: Post Meeting Synopsis -  Jan 6, 2012 - (by Vance Jochim, FiscalRangers.com ) The public meeting was held last night attended by about 300 members of the public.  It was standing room only.  

The staff of the St. Johns River Water Management District gave a Powerpoint presentation on the current water level situation related to Lake Apopka, Dora, Eustis Harris (also known as the Superpond) & Lakie Griffin, current practices, reasons why they shutoff all water flow from Lake Apopka to Lake Dora and downstream lakes, and then presented five staff selected alternatives for discussion.   Five members of the St. Johns Board plus their Executive Director and several staff were present also.  They allowed all who wanted to provide public input for 3 minutes do so, and about 50 speakers gave public input (inlcuding myself), including some elected officials, city managers, representatives of the Sunnyland Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, two other local boat owner groups, etc.    All were concerned about lower water levels in all the lakes and questioned why no water was being transferred from the source lake, Lake Apopka, to the other lakes.

The St Johns staff will post their Powerpoint soon, and you should be able to find it on this webpage:  http://www.sjrwmd.com/lakeapopka/   .

HERE is a link to the Channel 9 TV segment on the water level issue effect on Lake Griffin, but not the meeting.

Here is an overview article in the Orlando Sentinel BEFORE the meeting.

Here is the Daily Commercial Article on the meeting - added Jan 8, 2012

Here is the Orlando Sentinel article about the Jan 5th meeting - published Jan. 9, 2012.

HERE is the link to the Fox Orlando 35 TV report by Tracy Jacim AFTER the Jan. 5th meeting with an interview of Riley Wardrip of the Sunnyland Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society.  (added Jan. 15, 2012)

My observation of the staff presentation & public input is:

- Their focus on retaining all water in Lake Apopka is primarily a commitment to restoring Lake Apopka water "quality" by increasing water levels in Apopka to REDUCE the ratio of phosphorus in the water. 

- The staff publicly stated, when asked, that that there was NO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS prepared to identify the economic problems downstream caused by the elimination of water flow to the Superpond.   Thus their methods and priorities focus only on water quality and not economic effects.

- They base their standards of minimum and maximum water levels on OLD Corps of Engineers Data, and then claim they have power to ignore them to shutoff the water.   As one speaker asked, "that is illegal" to alter water flow from the standards and the staff said they notified the Corps of Engineers, but did not have to seek their approval.   This apparently is an unresolved issue of authority.   And, are the water level standards defined to meet environmentalist expectations vs more reasonable expectations?

- During the "rainy season" of the year, the St. Johns staff will release more water and drop water levels in case heavy rains or hurricanes drop "too much" water in the lakes.  However, speakers say that there has never been a situation where heavy rains or hurricanes caused water to overflow normal seawall levels.   Several speakers questioned the need to release water based upon a varying "regulated" level during the rainy months.  Why not HOLD the water to offset draugh and low rain times of the year, and the staff didn't really answer.

- People asked why the St Johns District or other organization have the authority and budget to clean all the logs out of the Dora Canal so boats can get through in low water seasons.  I have been told there is some Federal environmental rule preventing dredging or alterations, but no one had an answer.  

- Water levels could be retained at a higher level if more "water storage" facilities were created, such as the North Shore retention area of Lake Apopka, or a new project on Lake Harris.  The staff talked about these, but didn't include the possible storage data in their forecasts.  It seems to me and several speakers that adding water storage areas would help offset low water conditions in the dry months of the year.   That was not part of the staff alternatives.

- Staff alternatives - in the earlier blog details above, I discussed the risk of staff using the Delphi technique favored by environmentalists to gain "consensus" but only for their own pre-selected actions.    The cynic in me says this happened at this meeting.   The staff gave a presentation showing their justifications and then listed five alternatives, all based upon only changing water flows.   They listened to public input, but TOOK NO VOTE OF THOSE PEOPLE PRESENT.  They also did not add or alter their alternatives to include the public's proposals to include better water storage methods or give a larger ranking to economic factors vs just environmental considerations.  

- The Board did not make any decision - they will tour the lakes today, Jan. 6th, (who actually is giving the tour and bending their ear?) and then discuss the public feedback at the next Board meeting in Palatka next Tuesday.  I will post another blog article when the results of that meeting are known.

RESOURCES:

Here is the Powerpoint shown at the meeting by the St. Johns District staff.

Download SJRWMD

Here is a shorter Powerpoint shown by Charles Clark, board member of the Lake County water Authority.        Download Charles Clark - Harris Chain Parity

 

FiscalRangers.com Conclusions & Recommendations:

- The St. Johns Board clearly knows more about Lake County concerns after yesterday's meeting with 300 showing up, in a standing room only room. They also should realize that economic impact concerns should have as much or more ranking as water quality issues when establishing water level management policies affecting Lake County lakes.

- The Board should implement option 4, which allows water to drain from Lake Apopka into Lake Dora, and from the Superpond into Lake Griffin.  (Lake Griffin is really low).  However, who knows if the staff recommended flow rates are appropriate?   However, rather than just this one action, they need to ALSO need to take immediate action and establish recommended policies described below.

- The Board needs to give a much higher consideration to economic issues vs just environmentalist concerns when defining water flow policies for Lake County.  They need an objective, professional economic analysis of the negative economic impacts on the Superpond and downstream Lake Griffin when water levels are low.  That information should be given a 50% weighting when approving water level management actions.

- The Board needs to investigate all the "water level "regulated" and minimum and maximum water level standards" cited by staff which may be really old, and determine if changes are needed.  They clearly need to examine whether a "regulated" level standard used to DRAIN water from the lakes in mid-year is really justified, when water RETENTION helps offset seasonal water level fluctuations.  This should be part of their announced Board action.  Why allow higher outflow during the rainy season when the water could be retained to offset dry periods?

-The Board needs to factor in all current and future water storage methods that would be used to offset the fluctuations in water levels between rainy and dry seasons.  Improving water storage methods should have as much priority as water quality efforts.   Doing so could result in "managed" acceptable water levels year around for all the lakes. 

- The St Johns staff should take a leadership action in finding a way and funding clearing out the Dora canal of old logs and brush to reduce damage to boats trying to get through the canal in low water level times.

- Citizens in Lake County need to keep monitoring and questioning the St. Johns Board and staff about their practices.   I recommend a public hearing for Lake County citizens every six months to ensure the District water management practices have visibility and the District keeps Lake County concerns and priorities in mind.

- Lake County leaders in the County Government, the Lake County Water Authority and the Lake Harris Restoration Council need to form a standing Lake County committee including boat owner groups, waterfront owner groups, water dependent business representatives, etc to monitor actions of the St. Johns River Water Management District to ensure we have a representative on the St. Johns Board,   They need to have funding to publicize the events and get public input and become active in lobbying the St. Johns Board for actions that benefit Lake County. 

- Lake County deserves a fixed representative spot on the St. Johns Board, and we shouldn't be split into "areas" where the Board representative is from a different County are area not part of the Harris Chain of Lakes.   The St. Johns Board should be asked to redraw their Board member areas to create one for Lake County and the Harris Chain.  

- If the St. Johns District Board continues to be unresponsive to these issues and concerns, Lake County leaders should consider asking Governor Scott to SPLIT the St. Johns District into a separate District just for the Harris Chain of Lakes, and ensure the new District's Board is made up on representatives from each affected lake area, rather than from some remote county or separate waterway.

This blog will now keep monitoring this action.  I videotaped the entire meeting, but it is too big for uploading to the internet.  Anyone who wants a copy on a DVD disc with five .AVI video files totaling 3.4gb should contact me.  Additionally, you can get the official Board audio recording of the meeting by calling the St. Johns District offices in Palatka, asking for Sandy Bertram, District Clerk at (800) 451-7106.  She can mail you a CD with the file on it.

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers@comcast.net  

PS9:  After the Meeting, Send your Recommendations to THESE people and agencies:

    To be filled in after the meeting by Jan. 7th. v

vj