[Goldwingnut]

3 of the 5 supervisors for CDD-13 will be elected on November 8th. These are what are known as Landowner Elected positions.

What a Landowner Election means is that each landowner is allowed 1 vote for each acre or portion thereof that they own. If you own a 1/4 acre lot you get one vote, if you own 1 1/2 acres you get 2 votes, if you own 22 1/2 acres you get 23 votes, etc. This is not a qualified electorate vote like the general election where each registered voter gets a vote. So if you own a house in CDD-13 you will only get one vote, not one vote each for you and your spouse. If you own 2 houses/parcels of property you would get 2 votes even if both together total less than 1 acre, each property is evaluated individually to determine the number of votes you receive.

Eventually, this will transition to a Qualified Electorate vote like the other CDDs have once CDD-13 has been both in existence more than 6 years and has more than 250 qualified electors. (FS 190.6)

This is your opportunity to become involved directly in the governance of your community if you live in CDD-13.

I know many are unhappy about the recently announced 6% Maintenance Assessment increase in CDD-13 and may think this will be your opportunity to get on the board and stop or reverse the increase, maybe even stick it to the developer (if you have a CDD7 mindset). Perhaps so . But once elected you will have 2 additional factors to deal with, 1) the law and how it limits and controls exactly what you can do, 2) reality and the issues it will bring like cost increases and the also the responsibilities that the CDD has. These two are always major eyeopeners for a new Supervisor. Of course, once you have this epiphany and understand what the responsibilities of the position and carry them out, those less enlightened residents will automatically label you, assume, and KNOW that you are "IN THE DEVELOPER'$ POCKET$", so you'll need some thick skin for the job.

Seriously, these are important positions and are a critical part of the resident involvement that keeps our community what and as great as it is. The amount of time it takes to do the job will depend on you and how much you want to know and be involved; for me while serving on the CDD-10 board for nearly 8 years it averaged about 20 hours a month. You'll be one of the inmates running the asylum just like the other 60 residential CDD Supervisors.

A Landowner Nomination Meeting will be held on Oct. 13 at noon at Everglades Regional Recreation Complex in the Grand Canyon room. Seats 2, 3 and 4 are up for election.

For anyone wanting additional information, contact Jennifer Farlow, District Clerk, at 352-751-3939.

https://www.gazettenewsthevillages.c...ation-meeting/

[twoplanekid]

A few random thoughts

It’s much easier to criticize elected officials from the outside than to be a part of a board trying to do the right thing for its constituents. One would think that complying with the Sunshine and other laws would be easy. Yet, it’s hard to say I can’t discuss that outside the board room with a friend who is also a fellow board member. It gets to me that District staff is always there to help but has an advantage in that they can discuss issues with all board members outside of a board meeting to push their views. Being on a board is not for the faint of heart as sometimes one needs to stand their ground to vote no going against staffs wishes and most or all other board members.

One does learn a lot about the inner workings of the governing bodies in the Villages by being on an elected board. I have enjoyed serving and will do so for one more 4 year term as I personally feel 8 years is long enough and believe letting another then have a change to serve is best.