Suddenly, "The Developer" is trusted??? Oh please.

It's not a rumor. Oren stated he would not vote to continue to fund Entertainment on the Square.

I have no issue with any of the EMS team. I honestly believe they want to do what they feel feel is right for the residents to Sumter County.

I have to vote for the candidates that I feel will make the best decisions for Sumter County.

The fact that Oren Miller said he would vote to not continue to fund square Entertainment from the hotel tax concerns me. The money is there and has to be used to promote tourism. I think square entertainment promotes tourism and is a huge boost to the merchants and restaurants in the square. It makes me question Oren's priorities.

I'm not holding on to any rope, Angie. I'm looking at a candidate's position on his spending priorities.

How is pointing out a candidate's position on a topic an election ploy?

You're frustrated because Oren took a position that is unpopular with many residents. Now you're trying to do damage control.

You made an accusation about the incumbents in your original post. You are basically campaigning without identifying yourself as the spouse of one of the opponents. I find the integrity of that equal to changing parties for the sole reason of running in a primary against the incumbants.

It's a rumor because people want everyone to believe that if they don't get this money the entertainment will stop. Did the developers say that? They didn't get the money for Lake Sumter or Spanish Springs last year and the entertainment continued.

There was entertainment at the squares before the EVER got this money.

Do you not believe the developers will pay for the entertainment? Have they said they will cut out entertainment if they don't get the money?

This isn't like the old commissioners. When EMS gets in, they will all vote. They won't all agree like the present commissioners do. At least three of them will have to agree to make it go.

So... you decide because Oren said he thinks the schools in the south can use this money more than the developers can (yes he did say that) that people should not vote for him and give up all the things EMS wants to do for the community.

The rumor... No entertainment at the squares. Unless the people saying that can show me that the developers won't fund it like they always have, I don't buy into it and neither should you.

It's an election ploy! Nothing more.

You're misinterpreting what I said.

I'll extend the sentence for clarity:

It = our town, that we lived in at the time, the way it evolved from when it was settled in the early 1700s...

was better that way = the way it was, as a result of its evolution, as opposed to any other way it could have been, had it not ended up the way it was.

I didn't mean it was better than other places. I meant "all is as intended."

Though I'd say it was much better than Bridgeport. But everyone knows that.

For a very old suburb that started mostly as sheep pastures, became a bustling clay manufacturing town, and has become a sprawling semi-rural suburb of New Haven, it is pretty much as it was intended to become, and as it should be.

If it had attracted tourism, it wouldn't be what it is now. And therefore - it wouldn't be as good at being what it is now, if it was something entirely different.

This is what we have now. This is three different meetings, three different issues.

How the commissioners treat visitors - YouTube

I can tell by the responses that many of you have never been to a BOCC meeting.


Angie takes on Angeliadis - YouTube

This is the first time I was able to talk to a county commissioner at a question and answer.

This is what we have now.... This is why so many have said "vote them out" We just wanted them to put it on the ballot. Ask the people.

Gilpin answers questions in South Sumter - YouTube

Villagers is changing not like it was Many people will be selling and I as a snowbird would never by there

Everyone relax. First off until the square entertainment group figures out a safe way to herd people back there is no entertainment. And TV is not the be all end all of Sumter County. These elected officials will be working together for All of Sumter. Those of us who live in TV sometimes forget there is a world outside the " pink walls". Maybe the solution will be simple, add a few dollars to everyone's amenity fee and use it for the entertainment. Yes being sarcastic, many people who visit the music are from outside TV. So who pays for them? Years ago a friend visited. We house hunted. When she asked a Del Web sales person where do people go for entertainment? His response down the road to TV. BTW Del Web is Marion County. Maybe it is time for new blood in office. Stagnation of attitudes and ideas hurt all of us. Right now we might want to concentrate on staying physically and financially healthy. Entertainment will be minor if homeless and jobless numbers climb.

At least one of the challengers is running to degrade or eliminate the amenities that members of his own community enjoy.

Really? Can you prove that? You know who I am. Who are you? I am reading the lies in here and have to question who is writing them? Are you a commissioner? Or one of the developers?

Here is what I wrote to someone else. It goes beyond your post, but it points out a couple of the reasons we need new commissioners.

Oren isn't in this forum

I am speaking as a resident who has been to all the BOCC meetings until COVID for the past four years.

As to the shelter. We are the only County Shelter in Florida that doesn't allow volunteers. Why? If we had volunteers it would save the county a ton of money. People have offered to help in the meetings. We could save more animals and get them back home with volunteers. But then if we had volunteers we would have known about the dog that was recently left in the truck to die with the heat on. We asked for those records from the county three times before we got them all. The first time they said there were NO records. We let them know we KNEW and they started feeding us the records a little at a time. Oh... and a supervisor had to resign or be fired because she refused to sweep it under the rug. Yes! I have the documents to prove all of this.

Or the little dog that fell out of the truck and they denied picking up the dog until it came out there was a camera outside the house that recorded the whole event. They got lucky and the dog was found later.

Or the five dogs that were killed with their surgical collars on one even had an adopter on the way to pick her up. the person who had to kill them had just been promoted and quit because it affected her so much. (Yes, I have the text from her )

We need Shelter Reform at our county shelter. It would save us money and save our pets.

As to reversing One Sumter. Yes, One Sumter needs to go away. We need commissioners who work for us. I wouldn't want residents in Georgia voting for my Governor. If you have ever been to a meeting, you will know the Commissioners don't work for us. Yes, they work for the developers. Understand the villages are represented by the developers, Wildwood is represented by their government, Busnell is represented by their government. The Commissioners should be representing ALL the residents NOT special interest groups.

The Villages has been warned about all the building. About the lack of water for all of us and about the sinkholes. (Oh, and speaking of sinkholes, the employees of The Villages can't call them sinkholes, they have to call them "ground depressions" or "water main breaks"), Maybe there needs to be some checks and balances in our system before any more people lose their homes. I have friends dealing with the "ground depressions" now.. how many more?

As for my roll... I am a resident. Who are you? Everyone knows who I am, but most of the people in here have fake names. What is your roll in this? I have to wonder about the lies I'm reading in here. Who are the people spreading them? What do they get out of this? Others need to ask the same. You know who I am. .. who are you?

The Science Behind Florida’s Sinkhole Epidemic
|
Science

Why does the Villages Charter School get $106,000 and The Wildwood Middle High School only gets $5,000?

I'm not a commissioner or developer. I am a resident who bought a home here to enjoy the available benefits and amenities during my retirement in TV. My goal in life is not to save all unwanted animals. I recognize that the current commissioners sometimes behave rudely to residents who oppose them at board meetings. However, I believe that working with the developer to make The Villages a better place for most of us is in our best interest and in the interest of thousands of employees who support our comfortable retirement lifestyle. Your insinuation that I am a commissioner or developer indicates that at least one of the challengers will also be disrespectful to opposing residents if he is elected to the commission.

That I ask who you are is rude?

As I said, I am speaking as a resident I am not running for office.

Thank you for acknowledging that you understand the commissioners are not kind to the residents.

The commissioners are not in office to work for the developers. They are voted in to work for the residents.

While they could have done nothing about the Hacienda situation , it’s an example of the fact that the developers don’t have our back.

They should have fixed it... but then that wouldn’t have made as much income, would it?

They could have built those apartments anywhere... why there?

The choices were 600 more residents or a parking garage.

Nice