[Dond1959]

Originally Posted by Advogado

Of course I am aware of the Sunshine law. It does not affect what I said in my post.

Angeliadis is engaged in a fishing on behalf of a client who wants to hide his identity while apparently trying to intimidate the new Commissioners and the Villagers who support them and who have criticized the Developer's sweetheart impact fee. There is no indication that the new Commissioners are not following the law. The whole fishing expedition is incredible! My question to you is: Have you ever heard of something like it being done anyplace else in the country????

I am not your personal researcher, so do your own work. Again, you do not address the basic issue of doing government business in private. To the previous poster, it is about emails and not personal conversations. If there were emails exchanged discussing local government business and strategies on implementing policies, then it comes under the Sunshine law. Again, I am not your personal researcher, you look at the law for relevant sections.

Why doesn’t everyone be transparent, including the new commissioners? What are they hiding and don’t want the general public to know about who their puppet master is for the changes? Possibly the local Democratic Party? The POA? What other goals do these commissioners have after the impact tax increase? It would be interesting to see transparency from everyone.

I will start. I am not employed or related to the developer other than a purchaser of a home. I am a life long Republican who is pro business and growth. I thought the previous 3 commissioners who were booted out were tone deaf puppets of the developer. I was surprised that such a strong Republican county as Sumter would vote in two obvious democrats on just the roll back property tax slogan. I do believe the 3 new commissioners ran a very effective one issue campaign and I have been wondering who is behind the three.

It seems many on here have agendas and seem to jump on certain topics in a coordinated way. It would be nice to know who all these advocates are working for and why they are always here. And I know people here hate the local paper but they brought up some interesting comments about disinformation of the UF Health comments and the possibility of the hospital being built in Lake or Sumter county. You would think the local commissioners would want to at least talk to UF about the location and the tax issue. The paper is slanted, just like the online news is slanted against the developer.

You next Advogado, how about answering some questions. Are you a member or officer of POA? Are you an active member or officer of the local Democratic Party? Have you had personal email conversations with the 3 commissioners on policy or strategy that could be requested in this lawsuit? What is your background and why all the hate for anything from the developer? I will be waiting for your transparency.

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by Dond1959

I am not your personal researcher, so do your own work. Again, you do not address the basic issue of doing government business in private. To the previous poster, it is about emails and not personal conversations. If there were emails exchanged discussing local government business and strategies on implementing policies, then it comes under the Sunshine law. Again, I am not your personal researcher, you look at the law for relevant sections.

Why doesn’t everyone be transparent, including the new commissioners? What are they hiding and don’t want the general public to know about who their puppet master is for the changes? Possibly the local Democratic Party? The POA? What other goals do these commissioners have after the impact tax increase? It would be interesting to see transparency from everyone.

I will start. I am not employed or related to the developer other than a purchaser of a home. I am a life long Republican who is pro business and growth. I thought the previous 3 commissioners who were booted out were tone deaf puppets of the developer. I was surprised that such a strong Republican county as Sumter would vote in two obvious democrats on just the roll back property tax slogan. I do believe the 3 new commissioners ran a very effective one issue campaign and I have been wondering who is behind the three.

It seems many on here have agendas and seem to jump on certain topics in a coordinated way. It would be nice to know who all these advocates are working for and why they are always here. And I know people here hate the local paper but they brought up some interesting comments about disinformation of the UF Health comments and the possibility of the hospital being built in Lake or Sumter county. You would think the local commissioners would want to at least talk to UF about the location and the tax issue. The paper is slanted, just like the online news is slanted against the developer.

You next Advogado, how about answering some questions. Are you a member or officer of POA? Are you an active member or officer of the local Democratic Party? Have you had personal email conversations with the 3 commissioners on policy or strategy that could be requested in this lawsuit? What is your background and why all the hate for anything from the developer? I will be waiting for your transparency.

I never asked you to do any research for me (as you allege I did), but to answer your questions:
First, I am not the issue. Let's focus on the facts. But since you ask:
>I am not and never have been an officer of the POA. I am certainly a member and believe every resident should be. It is the only organization that represents us when our interests diverge from those of the Developer.
>I am not the slightest bit concerned about anything that will emerge from what you call a "lawsuit." I wish it were a lawsuit because then Angeliadis would have to reveal the identity of his client. What I am outraged about is that it is a fishing expedition, financed by an anonymous client with deep pockets-- for the apparent purpose of harassing and intimidating the new Commissioners and their constituents. I find this despicable.
>My relevant background is that, as an FBI Special Agent working in Newark, N.J., I developed a hatred of governmental corruption.
>I don't have a hatred for "everything from the Developer"as you allege. I have always complimented him on his development of The Villages per se. I do, as indicated above, have a hatred for what has been going on in local government, most recently the actions of State Representative Bret Hage while on the payroll of T&D and the Developer.
>BTW, I am, and always have been, a registered Republican.

My suggestion to you is: Take an objective look at what has gone on, and is going on, in local government and forget the ad hominem attacks on people you disagree with.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Advogado

To answer your questions:
First, I am not the issue. Let's focus on the facts. But since you ask:
>I am not and never have been an officer of the POA. I am certainly a member and believe every resident should be. It is the only organization that represents us when our interests diverge from those of the Developer.
>I am not the slightest bit concerned about anything that will emerge from what you call a "lawsuit." I wish it were a lawsuit because then Angeliadis would have to reveal the identity of his client. What I am outraged about is that it is a fishing expedition, financed by an anonymous client with deep pockets-- for the apparent purpose of harassing and intimidating the new Commissioners and their constituents. I find this despicable.
>My relevant background is that, as an FBI Special Agent working in Newark, N.J., I developed a hatred of governmental corruption.
>I don't have a hatred for "everything from the Developer"as you allege. I have always complimented him on his development of The Villages per se. I do, as indicated above, have a hatred for what has been going on in local politics, most recently the actions of State Representative Bret Hage while on the payroll of T&D and the Developer.
>BTW, I am, and always have been, a registered Republican.

My suggestion to you is: Take an objective look at what has gone on, and is going on, in local government and forget the ad hominem attacks on people you disagree with.

Thank you for your posts. Nice to know a bit of your background and thank you for your service.

There does seem to be an incredible amount of corruption going on around here. If not corruption too many people seem to have been bought and paid for.

[kappy]

The local paper today again talked about the hospital not being built in Sumter County. The fact of the matter is that the hospital has all intentions of building on the border between Lake and Sumter, but on the Lake County side. This was decided prior to any discussions of raising the impact fees by the new Commissioners since they have been in office.

If the impact fees were raised to the full 100% level, homes sales in Sumter County will not slow down and businesses will continue to follow the increasing population. One of the Commissioners who has been seated for many years admitted that at the January 5th meeting. (You can listen to the audio of all the meetings by just going to the County website).

I’m sure that the three new Commissioners are well aware of the Sunshine Laws. There have been many threads asking that readers send emails to the Commissioners asking them to honor their campaign pledge to roll back the unconscionable 25% tax increase and increase the impact fees to help in that regard. The real reason to increase the fees and roll back the taxes is that it is “the right thing to do!”

What was definitely the wrong thing to do was to have an employee of the developer, who is also a Florida Legislator, originate a bill to cap all impact fees in the entire state at 3% putting the tax burden on costs of new development on All Florida taxpayers no matter which county they live in just to keep their sweetheart deal. See the article in the Orlando Sentinel about HB 337 and S 750.

Just so you understand where I’m coming from, I am a registered Republican, not affiliated with anyone and I just want the developer to pay their “fair share.”

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Dond1959

I am not your personal researcher, so do your own work. Again, you do not address the basic issue of doing government business in private. To the previous poster, it is about emails and not personal conversations. If there were emails exchanged discussing local government business and strategies on implementing policies, then it comes under the Sunshine law. Again, I am not your personal researcher, you look at the law for relevant sections.

...

.

Nor am I your personal researcher. You can assert your position as emphatically as you would like but it doesn't make it any more correct.

*IF* the emails came *from* the public official and included another public official then the Sunshine law would certainly come into play. If they did not, if they were from a private individual, then the Sunshine law is not applicable.

Whether an unsolicited communication from a private individual to a public official becomes a public record is another matter (though still not a Sunshine law issue). I assume that determination will come into play in the response to this recent request.

[G.R.I.T.S.]

Originally Posted by Advogado

The public records request was filed by attorney George Angeliadis of the law firm Lucas Magazine. Angeliadis is a former circuit court judge, appointed to the position by Governor Scott and defeated when he ran for election in 2020. Angeliadis has refused to disclose who is paying for his attempt to gain access to communications from Villagers exercising their First Amendment rights to petition their government, what the object of his fishing expedition is, or why he feels he has to hide his client's identity. The request targets communications between Villagers and the reform Commissioners Estep, Miller, and Search but omits Developer puppets Gilpin and Breeden. Further details are available in the on-line news. The Daily Sun has, not surprisingly, said little about the whole thing.

Has anyone ever heard of a similar stunt being pulled anyplace besides Sumter County? It is hard to imagine who has the motivation, financial interest, and deep pockets to finance: the compilation of the “hit list” of Villagers contained in the public-records request, the preparation of the request, and the review of documents that will ensue. Might this fishing expedition be related to the grass-roots movement to increase the Developer's sweetheart impact fee and rollback the 25% property-tax increase? Nah, that would be too obvious.

BTW, this is not the first effort by Angeliadis to stifle free speech. A video of him browbeating a Villager trying to speak at a County Commission meeting while Angeliadis was employed as Commission attorney, back in the days when all five Commissioners were the Developer's puppets, is available on youtube: Angie takes on Angeliadis - YouTube

Hopefully, Angeliadis's actions in the video and his representing a mysterious client (who doesn't have the courage to identify himself) in this fishing expedition are not his finest performances as an attorney. In fact, I wonder if he advised his client of the old legal maxim: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It is far from clear that this fishing expedition won't end up with his client's being on the hook.

In any event, I certainly agree with the original poster: It should be interesting.

Anywhere else besides Sumter County? Well, let's see...Cook County, IL; Dekalb County, GA; Philadelphia, PA; Detroit, MI; probably more. It think it's natural for local governments to have questionable actions of people involved, which should be looked into by any resident. If all is OK, then OK. If not, then you go from there. It should not be construed as "unusual" to question your elected officials. Kinda like why I prefer living in the ol' USA.

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by G.R.I.T.S.

Anywhere else besides Sumter County? Well, let's see...Cook County, IL; Dekalb County, GA; Philadelphia, PA; Detroit, MI; probably more. It think it's natural for local governments to have questionable actions of people involved, which should be looked into by any resident. If all is OK, then OK. If not, then you go from there. It should not be construed as "unusual" to question your elected officials. Kinda like why I prefer living in the ol' USA.

Could you give me the link to at least one of the public records request you cite. I will be surprised if any come from an attorney hiding the identity of his client and asking for correspondence between a legislator and his constituents. If any do, then thank you for educating me.

I certainly have no objection to transparency in government, but you darn well know that that is not really what this is about

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

I do love how the local paper or rag keeps telling us the developer pays more in taxes to Sumter than anyone else.

Just doesnt think it should point out they are the largest builder and land owner by far. Sad when people take it seriously.

I am surprised at your position.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I am surprised at your position.

As I have said before and will say again do believe there is room for a compromise here.

Having said that do think the developer has too much control of our local govt.

There is some good info in the local paper so we continue to read it but not a fan of its so called news articles that are very one sided.

[New Englander]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Thank you for your posts. Nice to know a bit of your background and thank you for your service.

There does seem to be an incredible amount of corruption going on around here. If not corruption too many people seem to have been bought and paid for.

[Northwoods]

Originally Posted by Advogado

>BTW, I am, and always have been, a registered Republican.

I can't even wrap my head around that. Based on your comments you're not a conservative. I don't care how you register.

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by Northwoods

I can't even wrap my head around that. Based on your comments you're not a conservative. I don't care how you register.

I am not the issue here. But I am curious as to how you define a conservative. Giving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to a crony is hardly conservative. But that is what is going on here with the sweetheart impact fee and the 25% tax increase. So please, lay off the ad hominem attacks and focus on the issue.

[J1ceasar]

I am not surprised Republicans in Sumter voted in two Democrats. Local Republican party did themselves a disservice by putting up sham candidates who were obviously in the pockets of the developers for many years and in fact we have a state representative getting paid directly by the developer has reported by several newspapers and yet no one in his own party has called for throwing him out on ethics violations. Personally if I see a bad politician I don't care which side of the fence he's on on for throwing him out also. The straw that broke the camel's back. Was the ridiculous 25% tax increase last year. The developer got greedy and didn't want to take out 50 million dollars of his own pocket which he know what he would get back through rising home prices and bond sales. They are already worth billions of dollars. That 50 million tax increase is coming out of retiree pockets instead of new sales of homes. I'm not saying a small percentage of the 50 million should not be paid by the original homeowners for general purpose funds as far as replacing old buildings or repaving roads but that's a hell of an increase that was definitely not called for

[kaniess]

The proposed increase in impact fees would affect not only the developer, but also all residents in Sumter county who plan to build homes and expand their businesses. The developer will be able to pass on the increased fee to future home buyers by increasing home prices, but individuals building their own homes in the county will have to bear the additional cost. The person speaking at the commissioners meeting in the linked video is the wife of one of the current commissioners. She has evidently been acting as in intermediary with at least one of the other commissioners which I understand is a violation of Florida's sunshine law. Notice the proposed increase in impact fees does not include any rollback of the 25% property tax increase which was campaign promise of 3 newly elected commissioners.

[KDW9966]

Being from the Chicago area where we once owned a family business in the city and the suburbs. What I have learned is it doesn’t matter what political party a person is affiliated with, in my opinion what you need to do is follow the $$MONEY$$!

That was the way it worked in the city of Chicago. Also in the suburbs of Chicago.

So now I find myself looking into who is gaining financially.

“Follow the Money $$”