Of course there will be entertainment at the squares
 

That someone would post there will be no more entertainment is an over reaction and I'm pretty sure promoted by the incumbents. . The money is money that goes to tourism and this is how it breaks down.

"Villages Charter School gets $106,000 The Wildwood Middle High School gets $5,000. The Blackjack gun club they belong to gets $105,000 Bushnell Fall Festival gets $9,000 Villages Entertainment gets $120,000. The Villages Softball club gets $20,000. The Southern Draft Horse Contest gets $50,000. The Villages VHA Hoedown gets $37,500."

The incumbents wanted to pick out the entertainment (easy pick) and say that entertainment would go away. Why? Do you think the developers can't afford it? I assure you they can and It's how they sell homes.

"According to Bloomberg, the family’s wealth crossed the $3 billion mark in 2018, making Mark Morse, Jennifer Parr, and Tracy Mathews all billionaires."

I have no issues with the developers making money but then why are we paying for the things they should be paying for while businesses and tourism that could use it go without?

First let me say this money in the past has ONLY gone to Brownwood. Lake Sumter and Spanish Springs has not gotten the money previously and sill, this year only Brownwood and Lake Sumter are getting the money, and yet the entertainment has gone on without it at Lake Sumter and Spanish Springs.

The entertainment is NOT going to stop because the commissioners don't give them this money.... If it does, it's on the developers because they are responsible for entertainment NOT the county. If you look at the breakdown of the money most of it goes to the developers. Even when it doesn't look like it does, if you drill down you will find that it does go to the developers or T and D.

Why is it wrong to ask the developers to pay their fair share? Why can't money be spread all over the county and not just The Villages? Isn't that what representatives are supposed to do? To represent EVERYONE or is it just one family? The Morse family does live here (although I'm told they are moving out soon)

AND I might add, I don't believe there has been entertainment at the squares for months and may not be for many months to come so there is that.

Huh? There are so many things I disagree with. I hope the INCUMBENTS stay in. That is my view.


And this sentence, I quote; ""According to Bloomberg, the family’s wealth crossed the $3 billion mark in 2018, making Mark Morse, Jennifer Parr, and Tracy Mathews all billionaires."

My goodness, when is it shameful to be financially successful, doing a good thing, not breaking the law?

I have ALWAYS told my kids and grandkids to find a job that makes money legally and try to make a lot of it. I have told them that we would not pay for college studies in Art History or social work. We wanted to see a return on our investment and not on the kids living with us.

Previous thread was based on hearsay and rumors, nothing was fact. But you know how easily that fire can be flamed.

Tourism Tax
 

IMO all of the tax money should go to the public schools in Sumter County.

The Charter Schools here for workers who work for or support The Villages encourage good people to work here and also have proved to be good schools. I don't mind they are funded from the entertainment tax.

I have voted for every education bond issue ever put before me, even those I thought were loaded with fat.

You certainly can twist words. Who said it was shameful to make money? WOW!!!! Those are YOUR words not mine.



But again, you will twist words to suit your narrative.

Please enjoy the rest of your day.

And not to other Sumter Schools as well? Hmmmmm I want commissioners who will work for ALL the families of Sumter County, not just one.

Hard work pays off. I wish my family had started TVs and my children continued to make it great. So glad they made this wonderful place for us to enjoy.

Thanks Angie. I'm glad you confirmed that the EMS team will vote to NOT fund the entertainment at Brownwood and Lake Sumter with the hotel tax (which is supposed to be used to attract tourism). The EMS team will expect the Developer to step in and fund it (even though they don't pay for it now).
No... you can't blame The Developer if entertainment goes away... you can blame the EMS team for refusing to allocate the funds that currently fund entertainment.
I believe The Developer is selling a lot of homes right now, without entertainment.
The EMS team can explain to all the merchants and restaurant owners on the squares why pulling that funding was such a good idea.

Assuming the EMS group gets in and we will vote for them, think they would quickly realize the fastest way to lose the next election is pull the funding for entertainment so it goes away.

Is T & D controlled or owned by the Morse family?

The developers are NOT going to let the shops fail! The Developers will NOT stop the entertainment in the squares. I trust them to continue with the entertainment. I trust them to do the right thing for The Villages.

:ho: Contact them and ask. :) The T&D Family of Companies and company of families.

When EMS gets in they can see how some of these items promote tourism. Maybe it does. On the surface, it's hard to see that... But when they get in and look at it they may see something we don't... and can explain.


As it stands now, we just see the numbers and not the why. Our commissioners now will not tell us. They don't tell us anything so we have no way of knowing the why of the funding. Maybe if they did it would make a difference.


Does that make sense?

I think you are incorrect. Isn't one of the people trying to become commissioner the husband of the OP on this thread? Didn't he run for something before? I think this may be political. We had better stop discussing it.

You are suggesting people can come in here with lies but for me to come in with honest discussion is not okay? I'm good with it, if both posts are removed.

No one wants to take away the entertainment on the squares. You know that. What we (myself as a resident) wants to know is why some of the money is going where it's going. We get no explanation from our commissioners when we ask question. We would like for them to respond to us. Maybe there are great reasons for where the money is going.

Many people have been to the meetings and has seen how they refuse to acknowledge us. This is an example of how a meeting goes.

Edit... This link is for three different meetings One when they were threatening to sue me, the other about conflict of interest and one for the High Kill Shelter.

How the commissioners treat visitors - YouTube

Are these the same commissioners that had dealings with the dog pound? I think I remember a lot of discussion about dogs and the commissioners. The incumbent ones. Are they the same ones that had a group of folks at the meetings about dog pounds? What were the commissioners stance on that???

Yes - angiefox10 is married to one of the candidates.

This is how they handle presentations with the High Kill Shelter. Thank you for asking.


Angie takes on Angeliadis - YouTube

Yes I am. I don't know why that makes a difference. Except I know what's in the heart of the candidate. I know he cares about Sumter County. I know he will listen to the residents and make his decisions on what THEY want and he will respond to them when they ask a question or find out an answer and get back to them.

Ms fox10 - If you and anyone else truly is interested in "why some of the money is going where it's going" - you have every right to attend the Tourism Council meetings and to review the grant applications from the organizations that are requesting grant money. Why don't you know that? You can even follow the work of the Council on it's page in the County website Council Members | Sumter County, FL - Official Website And the real deal of info re Tourism Councils can be found herehttp://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode= Display_Statute&Search_String=125.0104&URL=0100-0199/0125/Sections/0125.0104.html You could even figure out if the Sumter County Tourism Council is operating within the State Statute if ya wanted to!

Hope that helps!

I have to go to the meetings? I can't ask and get an answer? I go to all the BOCC meetings as it is, and don't get answers, I send emails and don't get answers. And now, if I want answers, I have to go to another meeting? For the people who can't go to the meetings, they can't ask and get answers?

OK. I will do that. I would hope I would just be able to ask and someone could tell me.

Thank you for the suggestion. I am truly interested.

The truth shall set you free!!!!!

Agreed, LOL ! I do think you misread the intent of the statement about capitalism/developer's family/billions. I don't know the writer, but I don't think the point they wished to make was "anti-capitalism", I think what they wanted to convey is the owners of all of this private community, like any successful business, "could" if they wished, invest some of that into their "business". Again, can't read the intent of others, but I think that is what they wanted to convey; not condemn capitalism. Just a guess.

Your information should help a LOT of people. Honestly, I believe people "retire", and to many that means changing everything, even their own responsibility in a republic... to GUARD our democracy. Now that means different things to different people, but it shouldn't ! But in reality, I have found many folks just are not interested in finding out where to get the kinds of information they want and need. On the other hand, no matter where I have lived, I have never noticed public officials (once elected) go out of their way to make information accessible to the public. To the letter of the law of course, like you shared, that what they need to know is posted on websites, or available (sometimes for a charge some can't afford) by going to a certain office and "filling out a request". All annoying, but legal. If public "servants" were not so inherently "human", their better selves would take over and perhaps (?) go beyond the letter of the law at time, such as answering this woman's questions, answering emails or making phone calls ? Of course it is an imposition, but after all, the decision to become a PUBLIC SERVANT is NOT an easy one ! It means GREAT personal sacrifice ! Remember our founding fathers anyone ? They were (for the most part) the educated individuals at a time when few were highly educated, they were land owners, many "wealthy" compared to the masses, and very successful farmers too. They gave up HUGE sacrifices, and their families also suffered (gladly in most cases) for their decision. Often the wives and children could not run the business as successfully or farm as much of the land with the husband/father involved in trying to free us once and for all from the tyranny of a monarchy ! Wonder why so many public servants now have made the decision to become a public servant when it is such a sacrifice on their part, and on the part of their families too ? Could it possibly be that the "secret" is it is no longer a great personal sacrifice for your country (like serving in the military is), but now a way to ENRICH your personal wealth or station in life ? Humm, that would mean we've come full circle ? They these days working for the "king", the "government", the "community" has once again become the way "up" in society ? That would make an interesting topic for a research paper, oh, I forgot, we no longer actually teach "history", in the same way we once did. But, again, thank you for giving people what they need to keep informed.... now, all they need is the motivation to "just do it, just look it up" as Niki would say... LOL !

I think I'll vote for the non-incumbent who didn't switch parties just to get elected. Daniel Myslakowski doesn't need to switch parties, we can see his true colors. I see the true colors of the OP's husband, also.

Are you running for County Office Ms. Fox ?

Is someone close to you running for County Office ?

And of course anything you may say could not and should not be construed as political in any way at all .

What might your role be when the candidates you support are running the County Ms. Fox , " Close Advisor behind the scenes " ?

Most of the people in this group (except for a few) have fake names so no one knows who they are. I do not. I am open and transparent. It has been asked and answered... I am Oren Miller's wife. I am also a resident of Sumter County. I am not hiding anything.

I started this thread because of a previous thread that was started with a lie. It is about the same issues. I am OK with taking this thread down but feel the thread that says the candidates want to get rid of the entertainment should also come down as it quotes Oren's comments without full context.

Don't you agree.

Why do they call him "Dangerous Dan"? Do you know?

Angie - I posted that other thread. I said "It appears that we COULD lose our entertainment on the squares."
Oren in two separate threads said he would vote against using hotel tax money for square entertainment. That's a fact.
You and Oren are ASSUMING The Developer will put in $120,000 to keep entertainment going. You don't know that. What if they don't?

It's call "The Villages Entertainment". They have paid for it for years. Why do you think they would stop now?

In the past they have only gotten the money for Brownwood and yet the entertainment continued at Lake Sumter and Spanish Springs.

Why do you think the Developers would stop the entertainment if they didn't get $120,000?

From the comments in TOTV it appears that not a lot of you do not go to the BOCC meetings. Meetings where things are voted on 1 to 25 items without discussion and the vote is always 5 to 0. I saw a meeting go from start to finish in seven minutes. No kidding. I would like to see commissioners discuss where the money is going. Make a decision on the discussion. Listen to the residents of The County.

I watched a group of people from the Village of Duvall come into several meeting asking for a speed limit sign on ONE street. They did their homework. They had their ducks in a row. They were respectful in asking. It was one of the few times there was a bit of a discussion and the commissioners wanted to give them the ONE speed limit sign. Bradley Arnold said NO and they all fell in line and voted 5 to 0 NO!

One sign. They could show were every other major street had a sign but this major street didn't. I want a commission that one speed limit sign is not out of the question.

All of this makes me glad that I live in Lake County. You guys in Sumter have WAY too much drama going on for an overdeveloped, otherwise-rural part of the country.

Sheesh and I thought New Haven politics was crazy.

Have you ever wondered how communities build football stadiums, baseball parks, etc.? They issue bonds then payoff the bonds by enacting hotel taxes, rental car taxes, and extra sales taxes, etc. It is not the team owners financing the stadiums. The same thing is happening here on a smaller scale. The hotel tax is used for paying for the entertainment on the squares. If this is taken away, I would expect the entertain to end. At least at LSL and Brownwood.

I hope these guys lose. It seems they will be just anti-developer and do anything to “stick-it” to the Morse family. That is not what we need to grow. Let’s face it, the Morse family can walk away from The Villages anytime they want. Think about all the jobs and opportunities that would be lost.

Reminds me of a quote I once saw. I’m paraphrasing: The very powerful and the very naive have something in common. They don’t alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views.

Maybe that's how they do it in hotel-rich communities but in the town I lived in, we only had one motel and no hotels. We had one rental car service that had maybe 5 cars available, total, one UHaul drop-off garage. And yet we managed to build a gorgeous new High School with a high-end stadium, rebuilt several public parks, and renovated the library. How? With property taxes. We paid through the nose. And got a beautiful, well-run, efficient town in return.

If we had a lot of hotels, I probably wouldn't have wanted to live there. Our town was settled, not a lot of transients, not a tourism destination. It was better that way.

I have been to meeting after meeting where the people have said "vote them out" because the commissioners wouldn't listen to the residents. The tax meetings are a good example of that. People one after the other asking to help them with the budget, explaining why they didn't have to raise the Ad Valorem Tax 25%. They looked at the people with blank stares and voted 5 to 0 for the tax increase. The only way the residents will be heard is to vote to be heard. This is the opportunity to do just that. Your choice.

The entertainment is not going away unless the Developers want it to. The entertainment has NEVER been dependent on the $120,000 from the county before and it's not now.

No one is trying to "stick it" to the Developers. These are YOUR words.

I posted the videos of the meetings. You've seen them. If this is who you want to represent you... OK. But stop with the hysteria of the music in the squares going away. They didn't go away before they got the money. The entertainment didn't go away in Lake Sumter the years before and it hasn't gone away at Spanish Springs .

Why would anyone ever move away, given that opinion?

Those of us living in the other two counties that comprise TV are very concerned that a misinformed group in the third county could do serious damage to TV's reputation and the value of our investments.