[samhass]

To my fellow TOTVr's that live in Sumter County: I got this note from a neighbor. Mr Edmonds spoke to our women's group on Monday about One Sumter. We all need to be aware of One Sumter for the upcoming election. The wording is sort of confusing. Keeping One Sumter is vital to protect our interests here in TV. To keep One Sumter in place, you must vote "NO" on the ballot. My neighbor's note reads...

Hi Everyone,

"OneSumter" is an important issue we should all be concerned about as a proposal to reverse it will be on the November ballot. "OneSumter" means all county residents can vote for all five County Commissioners rather than for only one Commissioner to represent their district. Since "OneSumter" took effect a few years ago, our tax rate has gone down from over 9 mils in 2004 to 5.4 mils in 2008. As a result of "OneSumter," many wasteful county projects have been eliminated and professional county managers have been installed.

Currently, a small group has petitioned to reverse "OneSumter". This reversal would give more representation to residents in the southern part of the county and less representation to residents living in and near The Villages, who are greater in number and pay more taxes. Many people, mostly living in The Villages and who are new residents of the county, need to know the devastating effect a reversal of "OneSumter" would mean to our county and our taxes.

We need to make people aware that they should vote "NO!" on this proposal to reverse "OneSumter". A group to "Keep OneSumter" needs our financial support to provide mailers, brochures, and media coverage. Please read the attached information provided to me by Ralph Edmonds. If you have any questions, please contact Ralph at 259-0441 or email him at ralphedmonds@comcast.net .

[samhass]

Please get the word out to your friends and neighbors about this vote. VOTE NO

[ejp52]

Thanks for the good explanation Sam.
Will spread the word in my neck of the woods. :bigthumbsup:

[samhass]

Hey, from the looks of that squirrel, he's not gonna help. ;D

[ejp52]

Originally Posted by samhass

Hey, from the looks of that squirrel, he's not gonna help. ;D

Super squirrel reporting for duty on One Sumter. :joke: ;D

[Rokinronda]

I will pass this on to my friends in Sumter County!! :bigthumbsup:

[samhass]

Supersquirrel to save the day!!!!....(Sung to the Superman tune)
If the squirrel hires out, he could really draw a crowd for this cause. None of us want our taxes going for pork barrel projects or down a rathole. Being able to continue voting for all five commissioners will help prevent this.
We have to insist upon fiscal responsibility from all elected officials... from local to national.

[samhass]

Wonder how many of us live in Sumter County? It goes above 466.

[chelsea24]

:bigthumbsup: We're living in Sumter County and will spread the word!

[Floridagal]

NO is the word. Gotta get it out there. Pass along the word to say "NO". We are all familiar with the word.

[jojo]

Is this issue on the August or November ballot? I'm not going to be here for the August election but think I read somewhere that there are places where you can vote ahead. I am in Sumter Co. and thank you for the heads up.

Originally Posted by jojo

Is this issue on the August or November ballot? I'm not going to be here for the August election but think I read somewhere that there are places where you can vote ahead. I am in Sumter Co. and thank you for the heads up.

Believe this is a November issue as the August 26, 2008 sample ballots have nothing about One Sumter on them. http://www.sumterelections.org/ew_pa...pleballots.htm

[samhass]

I notice this month's POA did an article on it.

[gman13]

Thank you for bringing up the discussion on One Sumter.

This November there will be a referendium on the voting ballot asking you to vote for Reversing One Sumter and accepting an "alternate "method of voting. Villagers and others who value their right to vote for their elected officials must Vote NO on this referendium. This is one of the most critical issues facing the Villages residents of Sumter County in many years. The following information will explain exactly what is being proposed on this Novembers ballot, and how it would take away our right to vote for all of our County Commissioners here in Sumter County.

A brief history - in 2004, the citizens of Sumter County voted for greater accountability and a modernized approach to county government by approving a referendum called ONE SUMTER. ONE SUMTER was a grass roots citizen’s movement that restored the right of all county voters to elect all 5 of their County Commissioners. ONE SUMTER was very simple – all citizens in the County elect all 5 Commissioners - fair and equal. That's the same way School Board members are elected, the same way the Sheriff and the Tax Collector and the Clerk of Court and every County official is elected. It's also the way that County Commissioners in our neighboring Lake and Marion counties are elected. In fact, it was the manner in which County Commissioners were elected historically in Sumter County up until 1994. That's when Villagers began living in Sumter County and the rules were changed to District Only elections where you only were limited to voting only in the election of the one Commissioner who lived in your District.

This voting by District method was used for 10 years and the results were disastrous for the people of Sumter County. We had constant bickering and division, less accountability, wasteful pork barrel spending and higher taxes.

Villagers, in particular, were taken advantage of by the district only voting method. Combined with some clever gerrymandering of the Districts, district only elections basically shoehorned the Villages taxpayers into a minority position despite the fact that we were providing the majority of the tax dollars for the county. In fact, you may find it interesting to know that the residents and businesses of The Villages now provide 85% of Sumter County's property tax revenue. Yet, under the district only method used from 1994 to 2004, the majority of County Commissioners never had to face Villages' voters at the polls.

It was a politician's dream - they could raise our taxes and spend the money but we could not vote on them. It was taxation without representation and it led to more and more wasteful spending and higher and higher taxes. In effect, the old system set up Villagers to be "cash cows" for the Commissioners from the rest of the County.

The people of Sumter County and particularly the citizens of The Villages realized all of this and despite furious resistance from the folks in power down at Bushnell, in 2004 we passed ONE SUMTER which restored the right of all county citizens to have the same fair and equal privilege of electing all of their county commissioners.

With countywide elections reestablished, a new accountability and professionalism has come to the operation of the County. In less than 4 years since ONE SUMTER was accepted, property taxes have dropped from 9.25 mils to less than 6 mils. To illustrate the impact, that's a reduction of almost $1,000 a year in property taxes for a home valued at $300,000.

At the same time that property taxes have been reduced, county services have actually been enhanced thanks to greater accountability and a new, more business-like approach to county government. Since ONE SUMTER was adopted, fire and emergency response services throughout the county have been expanded resulting in faster emergency response times. The library system has been greatly improved. Lake Panasofkee has been through a major clean-up and restoration program. The solid waste facility in our County had lost $12 million dollars in the years before ONE SUMTER; it now operates in the black. The Agricultural Center has been improved. County services as a whole have been modernized and upgraded.

Because of ONE SUMTER, the County now operates in a more unified, businesslike manner with County Commissioners who are all elected countywide and thus accountable to the entire County. They approach issues in a countywide fashion and the result has been decisions that consider and balance the needs of the entire county rather than pitting the interests of one section of the county against another.

Lower taxes, better services, more unified approach to government – ONE SUMTER and countywide voting has worked...your having the right to elect all of your County Commissioners has worked...and yet there is now a proposal on the ballot to scrap ONE SUMTER and to go back to the old system of elections by District Only. There is an element in the County that preferred the old method that made Villagers into "cash cows" to pay for various projects around the rest of the county. There is an element that found advantage in the pitting of one section of the county against another. There is an element that enjoyed the power of the old system and wants to get that power back, and at your expense. A "Yes" vote will mean a return to that old, failed system. A "Yes" vote means we lose our right to vote on 4 of your 5 Commissioners and returns us to the system that gave us poor service, high taxes and bitter, divisive feuding between Districts.

We live in a tremendous community and most of us worked hard to get here. It is incumbent on us now to be involved and protect our right to vote and have a voice in how our community - including our County - operates. If we don't, we become "cash cows" again to be taken advantage of. IF we don't KEEP ONE SUMTER by voting NO on this "District Only Voting" initiative, we lose our right to elect 4 of our 5 Commissioners, we go from 5 votes to 1 and we risk returning to the old days of high taxes, pork barrel spending and wasteful, unresponsive government by politicians who don't have to be concerned with our opinions. I encourage you to preserve your right to vote and keep the progress in Sumter County going by voting NO to the REVERSING of ONE SUMTER.

I you would like more information, or belong to a organization that would like to have a speaker talk to your group on One Sumter, please email me at (gkadow@aol.com).

[samhass]

Thank you gkadow, for the wonderful summary of One Sumter and our need to VOTE NO.
Many of the villages have social clubs. Have you considered speaking to them and having those people spread the word? I heard petitions had been signed here in TV that sought to overturn One Sumter. Seems the people had no idea the petitions had been presented to them in what seems a less than scrupulous manner. They could not have understood the petition and then willingly signed it.