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| Platform Much insight has been gained during my first term on the Orange County Commission. My tenure ranges from making efforts to diversify our local economy by supporting the expansion of Mitsubishi Power Systems to re-development efforts for the Pine Hills community, all while continuing to be a champion for the tourism industry. In addition to addressing economic diversity; I have focused on addressing crime in our local communities and broadening the scope of opportunities for minority and women owned businesses. When I took the oath of office, I pledged that I would lead a government that is strong and accountable and that I would be honest and accessible. I am pleased to report that I am on task and getting stronger each and every day. Yes, there have been challenges, in the fate of a failing housing market and weak economy; however, I remain steadfast that there is no problem or issue too great for us to overcome – embracing the fact that there is still much work to be done. At the inception of my administration I set 5 basic goals where I have focused the vast majority of our efforts:
To address these goals I engaged in the following initiatives: Community Preservation Redevelopment Initiative – Pine Hills
Task Force
As many of you know,
the development of our mature neighborhoods is one of my key priorities.
It is my mission to strengthen neighborhoods through rehabilitating
our mature housing stock throughout the district. These efforts
require partnerships involving financial, community, and government
resources, and it requires a commitment to the ongoing education
of its residents to avoid urban flight.
I led the initiative to create the Pine Hills Taskforce to preside as an advisory board to the Board of County Commissioners on the direction of redeveloping the Pine Hills Community. The purpose of the Task Force is to define a vision for revitalization of the area commercial properties and identify specific strategies for implementation. The 13-member task force will address issues ranging from zoning, code enforcement, public safety, recreational and economic development opportunities. The task force consists of residents, business owners, and community partners from District 1, 2 and 6. Vehicle Idling Reduction
The Heavy-Duty Vehicle
Idling Reduction rule prohibits heavy-duty diesel engine powered
motor vehicles from idling more than five (5) minutes. Heavy-duty
truck idling during the night at local box stores is a concern in
several of my neighborhoods. The issue is not only noise, but an
increase of greenhouse gas emissions and poor air quality. Orange
County is on the cusp of becoming nonattainment and the idling of
the heavy-duty vehicles is only attributing to the degradation of
our air quality. The elderly and the children are more susceptible
to respiratory issues when the air quality degrades.
To better protect my constituency, I requested
the modification of Orange’s County’s Air Quality
Ordinance. Community Gardening
I identified the
Community Garden Initiative as one of my key priorities throughout
the district. Gardens not only provide fresh, healthy food they
also serve as important outdoor community centers. They can help
older adults stay active while teaching younger children important
lessons about self-sufficiency. A garden might provide an opportunity
for a recent immigrant to grow and share their cultural traditions,
or it could serve as a platform for long-time residents to get to
know each other and organize around an issue they care about. In
many ways, gardens improve the environmental livability and social
fabric of our communities.
Community Gardening initiatives foster self-reliance through providing residents with the skills to grow their own food and improve their nutrition. The Community Gardening initiative benefits the residents of Orange County on many of the following levels:
Healthy Living for Seniors
I have served as a focal point on the Commission for discussion and debate on matters relating to our senior population. For these reasons, I have engaged in a monthly program for seniors to increase their knowledge base; increase their level of social support; and change long-term behaviors that prove ineffective for the target audience. My monthly programs enhance the lives of each participant through focusing on the following measures: Increase Knowledge
Increase Social Support
Positively Change Behavior
Community Action On the Job Training Program
Economic and workforce
development are priorities for my administration. To aggressively
promote the employment connection between our county's job seekers
and businesses that do business in Orange County, I am approaching
businesses, contractors, and government alike to assist with apprenticeship
programs to increase our skilled workforce.
Orange County Government will receive over 1 million dollars in Community Service Block Grant dollars to create new jobs in the community. I led the Community Action Board to create and implement the On the Job Training (“OJT”) Program. The OJT Program will match residents with employers in the community to place residents in jobs. The federal dollars will be utilized to subsidize the local business to hire the residents. The goal of the program is to place residents in permanent jobs that will direct them towards becoming self-sufficient. The overall goal is to eliminate poverty in our community. Furthermore, this initiative will ensure that companies like Burnham Institute, Department of Transportation—Commuter Rail, VA Hospital, and others who decide to relocate to Orange County have immediate access to a full range of qualified candidates to fill their job openings. Workforce Transit
As the District Commissioner elected to
serve a working class community, I recognize we need good public
transit in order to survive and to be healthy. Although government
funding is facing a shortfall due to a number of increased expenditures
and decreased revenues, we cannot divorce the issues that affect
people in their day-to-day lives. Transit affects our ability to
get to work, school, see the doctor, get our kids to daycare, and
visit with friends. I have been and remain an advocate for issues
surrounding workforce transit.
LYNX In response to this immediate concern facing our community, I fought to ensure that service routes that serve economic workforce hubs such as the International Drive corridor and Downtown Orlando were not affected. As you know, a great majority of the District 6 constituency depend solely on the community bus service to move about for work and school. Because of this, I brought LYNX to the table requesting bus shelters for high ridership stops in the community to protect the constituency from inclement weather conditions. At my request, LYNX agreed to provide bus shelters in the Tangelo Park community; Oak Ridge Road area; and throughout Silver Star Road in the Pine Hills community.SUNRAIL (Commuter Rail System) I voted for Orange County to join with Volusia, Seminole and Osceola County to create the Commuter Rail System, now called Sun Rail. I will continue to support Congresswoman Brown and Congressman Mica in lobbying the Florida Legislature to pass the required legislation to fund the state’s portion of the SunRail system. I will also support initiatives for high speed rail in the State of Florida.M/WBE Programs
I am working hard
to open doors of opportunity for minority and women owned small
businesses—ensuring their talents and gifts are put to work
for Orange County. It is my goal to operate a program that is inclusive
and has measurable outcomes with a fair and open process.
Public Safety
The sole purpose for establishing the minority and woman-owned business enterprise (MBE and WBE) certification program is to open doors and act as a tool in enabling MBEs and WBEs to more readily identify government contracting opportunities. As many of you know, Orange County has a MBE/WBE ordinance; however the effectiveness of the current ordinance has been questioned. In August 2009, I was successful in my efforts to amend Orange County’s M/WBE ordinance to be more inclusive and to act as an effective tool in enabling MBEs and WBEs to more readily identify government contracting opportunities. Now, with an improved ordinance on the books and new program leadership it is my goal to include minority participation in every facet of the Orange County procurement process and public awareness remains a key priority for my administration in attaining this goal. Underage Drinking Ordinance
I am leading the effort for Orange County to implement an ordinance that will create an additional penalty for the allowance of underage drinking at drinking establishments. Additionally, the ordinance would create a penalty for any homeowner that allows underage drinking at “house parties”. Along with staff and legal, I am currently drafting the ordinance and the final draft has yet to be presented to the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
Working with the community and law enforcement agencies to find effective strategies for protecting the lives of young people has always served as one of my top priorities. As many of you know, the issues that surround underage drinking are in-depth and the long-term effects to Orange County’s youth are substantial. The fact that the rate of underage drinking has spiked for the Central Florida area is disturbing and primarily due to the lack of statutory enforcement in place to deter this conduct. Consequently, it is up to individual municipalities to shift community underage drinking norms from acceptance of underage drinking as a rite-of-passage to an acceptance of underage drinking as the unhealthy and illegal activity that it is, and here at Orange County I am leading that cause. Off-Duty Patrol Programs/COPS Grant
I continue to support the use of off-duty patrol programs in the communities of Holden Heights and Pine Hills. This program provides additional presence of law enforcement in these communities. To ensure success with the off-duty patrol project, I met with the Sheriff and his Sector Captains for the area to discuss the implementation of innovative policing concepts planned to combat the crime problem throughout the county. Since the inception of the off-duty patrol project, crime statistics have been drastically reduced in both the Holden Heights and Pine Hills communities.
In 2008, I was successful in orchestrating a public-private partnership to create a community led off-duty patrol program in the Tangelo Park Community. Universal Properties, Orange County Government, Orange County Sheriff, Central Florida YMCA and the Tangelo Park Community entered into a joint relationship that provided additional law enforcement patrolling in this community. The exciting component of this program was that the community controlled the assignments and schedules for the officers. Additionally, the Sheriff and the county were just awarded a COPS grant via the federal government to hire an additional 10 deputies for the I-Drive corridor, which abuts the Tangelo community. Due to my efforts, these communities will continue to see a dramatic impact on the number of crimes occurring in the area. I would like to secure other funding from private partners to replicate these efforts in other communities throughout District 6 and Orange County as a whole. Seeking Legislation to Revise Program Implementation at the Juvenile Assessment Center (“JAC”)
I recognize that thousands of our young people return to our neighborhoods each year from incarceration. We must do a better job at preparing these kids to re-enter our communities. That preparation must begin before they leave the criminal justice institutions and must be comprehensive enough to provide help and assistance to them throughout their journey to re-entry. We must touch the lives of young people before they make the bad choices that will impact their entire lives.
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