[rubicon]

A resident living in Mira Mesa wrote an unemotional , factual and logical article, in the other publication focused on The Villages, and concerning the damage being done by the 2nd and 3rd Morse generations to the original concert of The Villages. The residents calls for removal of the Developer involvement up to and including Brownwood. Essentially let the Developer focused on Feeney, etc but never make Feeney a part of the original Villages. the resident believes over growth has badly damaged the lifestyle here.

[Boomer]

........

[Nucky]

OP, First Question. Just wondering who or what would replace The Developer? Second Question. What gives anyone the power to carry out this Coup d'état.

To the contrary without them in charge then I think it would be exit stage left. I like the way we live. Let them build.

Your Thoughts?

[baustgen]

Anyone not loving the lifestyle are always welcome to leave.

[njbchbum]

Hmmm...remove the Developer....and be governed by who....someone like any of the posters in the Political Forum? BWAHAHAHAHAHA

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by rubicon

A resident living in Mira Mesa wrote an unemotional , factual and logical article, in the other publication focused on The Villages, and concerning the damage being done by the 2nd and 3rd Morse generations to the original concert of The Villages. The residents calls for removal of the Developer involvement up to and including Brownwood. Essentially let the Developer focused on Feeney, etc but never make Feeney a part of the original Villages. the resident believes over growth has badly damaged the lifestyle here.

Why the thank you?

[Mleeja]

I am constantly surprised by the “I got mine” mentality that is often displayed by posters. I often wonder how often residents say of Mira Mesa, actually go south of 466a or to Brownwood? Not often I bet... I imagine when connected by MMPs, residents of Fenney or Southern Oaks will not frequent Spanish Springs or maybe Even LSL. We all live on our own area. What’s going on down south has very little impact on my daily routine here in Santiago. I imagine this would be the case with most of us.

If The Villages does not develop the area, someone else will. I would prefer it be by The Villages.

[rubicon]

I will bet that not one of you went to the other publication and read this guy's article in its entirety.

And, I knew there would be at least one poster who would reply with, "then move". And I am sure that the complexities concerning this suggestion to this response are lost on him/her.

The Developer DID PROMISE YOU A ROSE GARDEN
He sells exclusivity . However the Developer sells exclusivity to everyone and anyone and that is an example of an oxymoron. He has an amendment to the 80/20 rule. The Developer sells a "lifestyle" at a premium and yet "said lifestyle" has been compromised badly by overcrowding

My response is not a "I got mine but don't want you to have yours". That statement alone tells me we are on a different philosophical plane

and when people are on a, never mind simply do not want to argue with my neighbors

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by Mleeja

I am constantly surprised by the “I got mine” mentality that is often displayed by posters. I often wonder how often residents say of Mira Mesa, actually go south of 466a or to Brownwood? Not often I bet... I imagine when connected by MMPs, residents of Fenney or Southern Oaks will not frequent Spanish Springs or maybe Even LSL. We all live on our own area. What’s going on down south has very little impact on my daily routine here in Santiago. I imagine this would be the case with most of us.

If The Villages does not develop the area, someone else will. I would prefer it be by The Villages.

Agree 100%. I thought the original post was absolutely ridiculous.

[Madelaine Amee]

This 82 Cool Facts About The Villages might help anyone who is having problems with the growth here.

[spring_chicken]

Originally Posted by rubicon

I will bet that not one of you went to the other publication and read this guy's article in its entirety.

And, I knew there would be at least one poster who would reply with, "then move". And I am sure that the complexities concerning this suggestion to this response are lost on him/her.

The Developer DID PROMISE YOU A ROSE GARDEN
He sells exclusivity . However the Developer sells exclusivity to everyone and anyone and that is an example of an oxymoron. He has an amendment to the 80/20 rule. The Developer sells a "lifestyle" at a premium and yet "said lifestyle" has been compromised badly by overcrowding

My response is not a "I got mine but don't want you to have yours". That statement alone tells me we are on a different philosophical plane

and when people are on a, never mind simply do not want to argue with my neighbors

I read it in it's entirety and agreed with several points.
I fell for the "buildout in 2 years, you better buy now because home values will go up dramatically". They probably said that to the ones that bought in 06, too. Those folks have lost a LOT of value in their homes.
I don't agree with getting the developer out. God help us if we had some of the loonies I see around here running this place.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by rubicon

A resident living in Mira Mesa wrote an unemotional , factual and logical article, in the other publication focused on The Villages, and concerning the damage being done by the 2nd and 3rd Morse generations to the original concert of The Villages. The residents calls for removal of the Developer involvement up to and including Brownwood. Essentially let the Developer focused on Feeney, etc but never make Feeney a part of the original Villages. the resident believes over growth has badly damaged the lifestyle here.

Good morning Rubicon! First, may I ask why you are thanking the writer of this letter?

If the Developer either walks away or could be forced off his own property we could get a fly-by-night builder come in to continue building and, in my opinion, that would be a nightmare.

As for his inane comment "concerning the damage being done by the 2nd and 3rd Morse generations". What damage? As far as I can tell they are all decent intelligent young people. They appear to be well educated and interested in continuing to bring new ideas to TV.

Someone needs to very politely tell the OP that time does not stand still and you cannot stop progress.

[Goldwingnut]

I did read Mr. Ouellette's LTE in the other on-line service and just reread it again this morning, and I came away with the same opinion as the first time, uninformed whining.

The letter does the typical finger pointing at the developer and the current generation of the family that runs the company for every woe, ill, and complaint the writer has. So let's clear up the first big misconception, The Village of Lake-Sumter, the developer, owns commercial properties in the commercial districts, the Championship golf courses, and some of the residential lots under construction in D4, D10, and D11, the rest of the properties between SR42 and SR44 are either owned by the residents (their homes), the number CDDs, VCCDD, or SLCDD, with the various CDDs owning the amenities and infrastructure. The developer/the family has very little to say in the operation and control of things going on as they've basically moved on to developing other properties (VOF, SO, etc.), the sale of the amenities and amenities contracts between CR466 and SR44 to the SLCDD a year ago this month was their big exit and relinquishment of control to an elected government and the management organization (frequently just called The District) that takes care of the day-to-day operations of things. The supervisors that run the various CDDs are either resident elected for the number districts or land owner elected for the commercial districts. The latter group many would say, and I would agree with, are hand picked individuals elected by the majority land owner (the developer) and exist to do their bidding, and rightfully so. The former group is made up of 55 of your neighbors and would hardly be considered shills of the developer. All of these supervisors fall under Florida Sunshine Laws and meeting between supervisors have to be open to the public, so there are no secrets or back room deals.

The notion of "Harold wouldn't have done it that way" I discussed last night in the Separate Fenney post (Here) is a bunch of bull, he was a business man who made business decisions, good ones as is evident by the growth of The Villages.

The Irma debris pickup was handled in a right and orderly manner by The District, the bailing out of the subcontractors for higher returns on their efforts unfortunately affected all of us by slowing the work. You can blame Dade, Broward, and several other southern Florida counties for instigating that mess, not The District. Mr. Ouellette's assertion that the pickup would be free and picked up by the tax payers if FEMA was involved and not The Villages again shows his lack of knowledge. "The Villages" he refers to is each and everyone one of us who is paying for it, if you don't want FEMA reimbursement then every homeowner can start writing checks to cover the costs as Maintenance Assessments and Amenity Fees would have to be raised to cover it (think 10-15% as a minimum). The outrage last year when maintenance assessment were raised in D4 to cover impending road maintenance would be just a spark compared to the fire storm that these increases would cause. That would damage the brand.

The generational comment seems more like sour grapes to me, did Mr. O's children or grand children drive his business into the ground? The failures he tries to site are I agree the fault of the previous generations in spoiling the children, I do see this as the case here. Mr. Schwartz would be proud of the way his heirs are running the business, it's still very successful and growing. I for one hope I live long enough to see the torch passed on to the 4th and 5th generation of these talented businessmen.

WVLG's coverage of the storm was a business decision, good, bad, or otherwise one that the owners will have to live with. Could they have done more, possibly, but based on its size it's doubtful they had the resources.

The hospital is run by the same company that runs the Leesburg hospital. It's a business, like it or not and they make business decisions. A level 1 trauma center would likely be economically a disaster, the volume doesn't justify the expense.

Have you ever been to a business that doesn't accept American Express? Do you know why? Amex has some of the highest vender fees in the industry. These venders make this decisions as a business decision, not to drive customers away but to lower their operating costs. The medical insurance decisions that were made last year were a business decision, they are a business not a charity. I for one find the services provided some of the best I've ever seen with very good doctors and staff and very short waits. This all comes at a cost that must be paid for, if what an insurance company will reimburse them for doesn't cover their costs adequately, they find one that does.

Again Mr. O's comments are uninformed on the age restrictions topic. The changes to the age restrictions are likely the recognition of an every changing market place for the developer. Here is a link to the proposed standards. What's different? The big one I see is the lack of the <19 years old/30 day exclusion currently in place. What does this do to future residents? How about opening the possibility of someone having to care for their grandchildren on a long term basis being able to live in The Villages, this is unfortunately happening all to much these days (but that's entirely different topic). The 80% rule is still in place. Again this appears to be a business decision they appear to be making based on a changing market.

Lastly, the topic of throwing the developer out and stopping future growth is a horrible idea with huge negative impacts for everyone. Have you been to a "resident owned community"? These are communities where the developer has moved on, most look like crap and are filled with lots of infighting on the operation of the community. What happens to the many hundreds of workers and business involved with the growth and construction? Many will move on, many will stay, and the economic downturn that would accompany would drive this community into the ground. Crime would rise and the first victims will be Seniors who are easy targets and these pretty little houses so conspicuously empty for much of the year by seasonal residents would be prime targets for burglary and squatters. It doesn't take a crystal ball to see this happening, just look at so many other communities that it's happened to. I think I'll take a little more growth and keep the wolves at bay a little longer thank you. Better the devil you know.

Mr. Ouellette is wrong and uninformed in so may ways, if he actually took an informed interest in The Villages and how business and the economy actually work in the real work he would likely retract his LTE and hope no one every remember it.

[circletrack]

Originally Posted by rubicon

I will bet that not one of you went to the other publication and read this guy's article in its entirety.

And, I knew there would be at least one poster who would reply with, "then move". And I am sure that the complexities concerning this suggestion to this response are lost on him/her.

The Developer DID PROMISE YOU A ROSE GARDEN
He sells exclusivity . However the Developer sells exclusivity to everyone and anyone and that is an example of an oxymoron. He has an amendment to the 80/20 rule. The Developer sells a "lifestyle" at a premium and yet "said lifestyle" has been compromised badly by overcrowding

My response is not a "I got mine but don't want you to have yours". That statement alone tells me we are on a different philosophical plane

and when people are on a, never mind simply do not want to argue with my neighbors

Please explain this amendment to the 80/20 rule. All articles so far about expansion have said that it will follow the same guidelines for senior communities in Florida including the current one followed by The Villages. Or are you jumping to conclusions.

[Bay Kid]

I sure am glad they started...and didn't stop.... Thank you creating and maintaining TV!