Fiscal Rangers

Kelli Stargel for re-election for FL Senate Dist. 22 - 70 minute video conversation at Lake County, FL Republican HQ

Tavares, FL July 17, 2018 Kelli Stargel is running for re-election to FL Senate Dist. 22 - Minneola and south of Lake County, FL. We uploaded a 70 minute video of "Coffee with the Candidates" with her at the Lake County, FL Republican HQ on June 22. Florida political junkies will like the details she shares on various legislative topics. https://youtu.be/5OLLE30sjQ0 Vance Jochim Read more →

Lake County, FL School Board needs to reject Hillary's socialism doctrine of downplaying parental rights

Tavares, FL Memorial Day, May 28, 2018 Hillary's quote in this meme clearly indicates one of the problems with the liberals, Democrats and unions who support them. They believe that "the state" or government, should be more important in development of children than parental and family values. Their attitude that government is always more right than parents is scary, and is one of the concepts woven into K-12 textbooks, college teacher training, and "reading materials" used to support class topics. Suggested reading materials cited by the original, liberal created Common Core initiative included many sections preaching this idea of the State taking precedence over parents. This can be one cause for students to be rebeling more because they may have been indoctrinated that parental opinions are not important. Recently a grandparent filed a complaint with the Lake County school district about a book containing objectionable statements. The Lake County School District Board needs to pick a side in this controversy and distance themselves from this indoctrination by clearly rejecting this concept of the State superceding parents, stating so in their mission statement, class blueprints and instructions to teachers. By doing so, and implementing transparency in policies prohibiting political bias in... Read more →

Lake County, FL Bad Roads - Increased Impact Fees on Tomorrow's County Board Agenda

Traffic and road conditions are getting worse in Lake County. We talk about some of the issues, and how some more funding may be on the way if the Lake County Board starts the process to increase road impact fees on new construction. Read more →

TODAY - How to ask your Florida legislators for FREE STUFF, or maybe some agency oversight!

Visit today's Town Hall of the Lake County, FL state legislators to ask for FREE STUFF, or just ask for fiscal Sanity and new or less legislation to improve life and transparency and oversight in Florida and Lake County. Read more →

Lake Schools shorted $57-million since 2004 and Orlando Sentinel Editorial supports fixing it

Less affluent county school districts like the Lake County, FL School District receive less for schools than they pay in Florida collected education property taxes. This explains the problem and what to do about it. Read more →

Reputable Watchdog Group Report says "Florida Finances Slide Further into the Red" with a "C" Grade and shows Deceitful Practice of not funding $9-billion in Retiree Health Insurance Benefits.

The credible watchdog group Truth in Accounting just published their ratings of different state fiscal management ratings and Florida got a C. One deceitful practice used by Florida is to promise government employees big health insurance benefits, currently totaling over $9-billion, but NOT FUNDING it at all. Thus future taxpayers will inherit the bill for these unfunded benefits. Read more →

15 Reasons why the Florida Legislature should reject Federally run refugee programs

The Florida House Children, Families and Seniors Sub-committee is holding a hearing on the refugee program on Jan. 26, 2017. I sent them the following list of reasons to reject Federally run refugee programs. Read more →

Voting Fraud Update: US Agency that certifies voting machines was hacked, Russian selling their logins

US Agency responsible for certifying voting machines is hacked and staff login credentials are offered for online sale by Russian hacker. Just another example of the loose systems used for US voting. Read more →

Important new Scientific chemical element discovered - Governmentium aka the "Critical Morass"

Tavares, FL 32778 Dec. 18, 2017 This improtant scientific news is from Cathy Holden on Facebook: Subject: New Chemical Discovered The heaviest chemical element yet known to science A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest chemical element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Governmentium". Governmentium has 1 neutron, 12 assistant neutrons,75 deputy neutrons, and 111 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of governmentium causes one reaction to take over 4 days to complete when it would normally take less than a second. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 to 6 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization causes some morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads... Read more →

North Lake County, FL Candidate Hob Nob Results - Leesburg, FL

Here are the results of over 700 straw poll votes for Lake County local, State and Federal elections taken at the Leesburg, FL Hob Nob. Read more →

New Video: Republican Candidate Forum for FL Senate Dist. 12 in Lake, Sumter & Marion Counties

This is background and a link to a video of a Republican Candidate forum for Florida Senate District 12, held in Tavares, FL on August 3, 2016. The event was sponsored by the Lake County Republican Party, the North Lake Tea Party and the Lake Federated Republican Woman's Club. Video by Vance Jochim from the Lake County fiscal watchdog blog www.FiscalRangers.com . The candidate forums held by these groups are renowned for tough questions on conservative issues. Read more →

Conservative Jason Hoyt starts Florida PAC to fight solar industry corporate welfare & Florida Amendment 4

A new taxpayer advocate Florida PAC has been formed to fight corporate welfare, including efforts to get voters to vote NO on Florida Amendment 4 (2016) on the August 30 ballot which would give property tax exemptions benefitting just the solar industry. Read more →

Florida's Enterprise Florida Head bypasses procurement rules for favored vendor

Lax procurement rules were used to avoid competitive bidding for a speechwriter used by the head of Florida's economic development agency, Enterprise Florida. Read more →

Florida Division may have cooked work statistics to get better performance rankings

The Inspector General for the Florida Dept. of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) reported an audit of a department for cooking the books and submitting multiple work tickets for single work projects to inflate work statistics. The whisteblower also said inflating the numbers would increase rates paid by insured parties. We include the report excerpt and comment on the report and issue. Read more →

Today's Daily Commercial published an AP story on open record law status in "every state". Then the editor chopped it off after only describing status in Alabama, Alaska and Arizona. They left out all the other states including Florida. So here is the intro, the Florida section and a link to the entire article Read more →

Education Journal investigation shows Florida State University waived admissions criteria for connected students

Following a University of Texas admissions scandal, the Chronicle of Higher Education published an investigation into admissions favoritism at 13 top public universities Sunday. They found Florida State Unversity to be dropping entrance admission criteria for connected students, and up to 40 times, connected leaders or alumni contacted the admissions office to "follow up" on specific admissions, unlike several universities which did not allow such actions. Read more →

Lake County, FL Legislators Delegation Summit - Dec. 9, 2015, Leesburg, FL

Every year the five Lake County, Florida Legislators hold their annual Lake County Legislators' Summit to hear three minutes of public input from local agencies and citizens. Yesterday, Dec. 9, 2015, they held the annual meeting for three hours with 53 speakers. They use the input to set their priorities for the upcoming Florida legislation session that starts in January, 2016. Read more →

Florida Gets a D- and is ranked 30th in National State Integrity Investigation Report

Florida ranked a D- in a new, national study comparing all states in 13 "integrity" or accountability categories. A well known national watchdog, Center for Public Integrity ( http://www.publicintegrity.org/ ), published their annual "State Integrity Investigation" report comparing how each state ranks in 13 categories related to transparency, oversight and accountability. A partner, www.GlobalIntegrity.org was also involved in the report development. Florida, like MOST states, ranked near the bottom with a D- and only three states had higher C or B rankings. Based on points, Florida "achieved" a 61, and was 30th out of all 50 states (or 57 states if you are Obama). Read more →

City of Opa-locka, FL suffers from Corruption Scandal, fails to pay phone & other bills

Tavares, FL Nov. 5, 2015 A corruption scandal in the city of Opa-locka, FL has caused the city to run out of cash and they aren't paying their bills. "The city even stopped paying life insurance premiums for its workers. You know it's bad when their phone service is shut off for not paying the bills. I will write more later, but here is an initial story on it: Miami Herald On brink of financial collapse, Opa-locka seeks state help For Opa-locka government leaders, the signs of financial distress came abruptly last month: The phone service to City Hall was shut off. Then came the complaints: The city owed thousands in rent payments for police satellite offices and $100,000 to a contractor who walked off the job while restoring the historic City Hall. The city even stopped paying life insurance premiums for its workers. Just two weeks after a corruption scandal embroiled Opa-locka's leaders, the city is faced with another grim development: Opa-locka is edging toward financial collapse. http://www.miamiherald.com/…/miami-gar…/article43040772.html vj Read more →

Schools Update on APUSH (AP US History): GA State Senator files bill to change APUSH - "Leftist slant to APUSH turns America's melting pot into boiling pot"

A GA State Senator has filed a bill demanding leftist bias in the new high school AP US History course from the College Board be modified to be balanced. Other links on the liberal APUSH course and curriculum are included. Read more →

Florida loses taxfunds in some "Economic Development" schemes, including "Enterprise Zones"

Tavares, FL Feb. 6, 2014 Florida state investments in some economic incentives result in ROI of less than ONE or a LOSS. A new report shows how, and that "Enterprise Zones" are one of the "investments" that LOSE money at the State level. Read the last page in this 14 page report to see the ROI for several FL state "investments", and that "Enterprise Zones" LOSE taxpayer funds. http://static-lobbytools.s3.amazonaws.com/press/76982_return_on_investment_in_florida_practice.pdf vj Read more →

Why aren't Florida Consitutional Officers Required to be Transparent about their Budgets?

Feb. 3, 2015 Tavares, FL - Lake County Why aren't Florida Constitutional officers required to be transparent about their budgets and have public budget hearings like the County, School Districts, cities and Hospital District? Florida requires little oversight on elected Constitutional Officers like Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Elections Superintendent - I have periodically asked that Constitutional Officers be required to have public hearings over their budget details and to post a DETAILED proposed and then approved budget each year. Instead, they have no requirements to do so. As an example, the Lake County Tax Collector has a 2014-2015 budget of $5.5-million, but his website only shows this very vague, one page proposed budget dated Sept., 2014. Why aren't Constitutional officers required to have public hearings, budget workshops, and post DETAILED budgets on their websites like the County and schools do? What is going for software vs facilities vs utilities vs wages vs benefits? We don't know and are never allowed to provide public input. Ask your constitutional officer AND your Florida legislator why they don't do that. http://www.laketax.com/forms/2014-2015_budget.pdf and, the Tax Collector has only ONE page in the 484 page Lake County Budget book HERE (scroll to page 384).... Read more →

Lake County, FL "Lake County Against Common Core" Videos at Legislators Meeting

Tavares, FL - Lake County - Dec. 7, 2014 We posted out earlier full 3-hour video of the annual Lake County Legislators Delegation meeting, where numerous moms and teachers spoke out against Common Core. Left to right, the delegates were Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, Rep. Larry Metz, Rep. Marlene O'Toole, Sen. Dorothy Hukill, Sen. Alan Hays. Well, that Facebook group, the "Lake County Against Common Core", posed individual videos of their folks giving 3-minute public input to the Delegation, and HERE it is. or use this link: http://www.flstopcccoalition.org/news/2014-12/fsccc-partner-organization-lake-county-against-common-core-speaks-out-legislative-delegation-meeting.htm vj Read more →

Video of Common Core Opponents Ripping into Lake County Legislators' Delegation Forum

Common Core Opponents Rip into Lake County, Florida's Legislators' Delegation Forum at a 3-hour meeting in Leesburg, FL on Dec. 2, 2014. A total of 35+ public input speakers presented different issues to the Legislators, with about 10 of them opposing Common Core in Florida. Read more →

Lake County, FL Legislative Delegation to hear agencies, public and Common Core Opponents on Dec. 2

Tavares, FL Nov. 27, 2014 Lake County, FL has five FL legislators who are on the Lake County Legislators Delegation, and they are having their annual open public hearing in Leesburg, FL on Dec. 2 at Lake Sumter State College in the Fine Arts Auditorium at 1-5pm (NOT the Magnolia room). If you can, I encourage you to attend the meeting to see your local FL legislators and how they react to the issues proposed by public input speakers. Except for campaign forums, this may be the only time you see some of them. They are" Rep. Larry Metz, Chair and organizer of this delegation meeting Rep. Jennifer Sullivan (just elected) Rep. Marlene O'Toole (Villages area) Sen. Alan Hays Sen. Dorothy Hukill Historically, these annual meetings were normally held during the day to hear a parade of local government agencies plea for funds or legislation. In recent years, other citizens have shown up to get 3 minutes of public input time before the delegation to make a pitch about an issue, or support another speaker. Here is an earlier Delegation forum on Jan 4, 2013 chaired by Alan Hays. I will video the meeting and upload the video to the... Read more →

Election Recommendations and News of School and County Board meetings this week

Tavares, FL Nov. 3, 2014 This post covers several issues: ( Updated at 2pm to fix some typos and add clarifications) - Election recommendations. Tomorrow is election day, so my recommendations are at the BOTTOM of this document - If you have NOT voted, be sure to do so tomorrow. I also include the Lake County Republican Party voter guide as an attachment. - Tomorrow's Lake County Board meeting is canceled: The Lake County Board of Commissioners (BCC) website today showed a meeting scheduled for tomorrow on their website, but it was canceled at a prior meeting. However, they did not send out update notices to their email list nor did they post the cancellation on the website. So, no meeting tomorrow, and I let them know in clear terms they need to keep the website updated and should ALWAYS send out update and cancel notices when they occur. I also told them about a programming error where if staff remove a linked document, there is no "error trapping" and the user gets an cryptic technical error notice rather than one written for users with a contact for solving the problem. The problem is there is an outside software firm... Read more →

School Districts Need to Arrest Parents of Absent students like Jacksonville Just Did

Most school districts in Florida have major problems with student absenteeism and tardiness, which results in failing students and schools being ranked poorly. But Jacksonville, FL school administrators arranged warrants for parent of chronically absent and tardy students and had them arrested with a bail of $1500+. All school districts, including the Lake County FL School District, should follow Jacksonville's lead and ENFORCE truancy regulations. Read more →

Lake County resident Jennifer Sullivan Elected to Florida State House of Representatives

Tavares, FL Sept. 3, 2014 After local Lake County candidate Jennifer Sullivan, age 23, was elected to the Florida State House District 31, she was covered by many media. Latest articles are at the bottom of this list. Here is a link to one of my videos of one of the last FL District 31 debates on June 18, 2014 so you can see how she campaigned. I will add other links as I find them, but here is ABC TV's August 27 report. August 30 Orlando Sentinel - report by reporter Steve Hudak. And, HERE is a Sept. 1 report from Brighthouse Channel 13 in the Orlando area on how Jennifer won the campaign with less than half the contributions of Randy Glisson's $200,000. Sept. 3, 2014: Here is a CampusReform.org article and great picture about Jennifer's campaign. Sept. 4th, 2014: Here is the expected rant on Sept. 4th from Orlando Sentinel's Lauren Ritchie about the local Republican Party to whine after her favored RINO candidate did not win. Sept 5th - Fox Business News's Melissan Francis interviewed Jennifer HERE. Sept 6th - Orlando Sentinel has short "Champs vs Chumps" article and names Jennifer a "Champ" vj Read more →

Over 3800 UAC's (illegal alien kids) are now in Florida in just 7 months & Will Cost $40+million to Educate

In the seven month period since Jan. 1, 2014, Florida has received 3809 illegal alien children that were relocated by a Federal agency, the Administration for Children and Families. The details are here, including tables for other states, and the top 10 recipient counties in Florida. Read more →

Common Core Update: Lee County, FL School Board votes 3 to 2 to opt out of FL State Standards (aka Common Core) testing

Yesterday evening the Lee County, FL School Board voted 3 to 2 to drop out of the Florida Education Standards (aka Common Core renamed) “assessments” (or exams) and develop their own. Read more →

Florida House Dist. 31 Race Candidates and Our Recommendations

Our overview and recommendations of 2014 election candidates for Florida House District 31 which includes Apopka, Eustis, Mt. Dora and Tavares in Lake County and Orange County, Florida. Candidates include Belita Grassel, Jennifer Sullivan, Joseph Stephens, Randy Glisson and Terri Seefeldt. Article also includes links to videos of candidate forums and other news media articles. Read more →

Florida is SIXTH least socialist state in US. Texas is the LEAST socialist state.

Tavares, FL July 27, 2014 Florida is the SIXTH LEAST socialist state in the US, according to this analysis on TheStreet.com . They performed a really simple calculation of dividing the STATE expenditures for 2013 by the State GDP (gross domestic product) and got a percent of 9.32% or sixth lowest rate of spending among states. The same website also lists the 10 worst socialist states. #6 - Florida Total State Expenditures (FY 2013): $70.0 Billion Gross Domestic Product (2013): $750.5 Billion Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 9.32% http://www.thestreet.com/story/12820447/5/the-10-least-socialist-states-in-america.htm Texas is the Number 1 LEAST socialist state with a GDP spending rate of only 6.99%. Thus they spend only about 7% of their GDP vs Florida at 9.32%. In comparison, the most socialist state is West Virginia, with state GDP spending rates of 34.1%. (http://www.thestreet.com/story/12783796/10/the-10-most-socialist-states-in-america.html) So, if you want the lowest spending state government to emulate, it is Texas. To get government watchdog fiscal & conservative news on Lake County, FL, visit www.FiscalRangers.com and also visit and LIKE our Facebook page "FiscalRangers". Read more →

Col. Allen West visits Mt. Dora, FL - Watch our Video & Pictures

Mt. Dora, FL - July 2,214 Former Congressman Allen West, author of Guardian of the Republic, gave a rousing presentation to supporters at the Lakeside Inn in Mt. Dora, FL. West had many common sense solutions to US political problems. The short website address for our video of his presentation is: http://youtu.be/wuKsw7CEJ3g . (66 min long) Pictures of the talk are at our Facebook page at: http://tinyurl.com/pp5ylp4 The event was organized by Betty Hensinger, President of the Golden Triangle Republican Women's Club. Funds raised went to the Allen West Foundation. Col. West was introduced by Leslie Campione, Lake County Commissioner. Length is 66 minutes. The event was a fund raiser for the Allen West Foundation at http://www.allenwestfoundation.org/ . Video by Vance Jochim of the Lake County watchdog blog www.FiscalRangers.com . Read more →

FL House Rep. Larry Metz Provides Update on FL 2014 Legislative Session

The 2014 Florida Legislative session is over, and Lake County's FL District 31 Rep. Larry Metz held a community update meeting in Clermont, FL to describe wins and losses in the recent legislation session. Links to his Powerpoint and Video are included. Read more →

Thuy (Twee) Lowe wins Seminole County Straw Poll for FL US Congressional Dist. 5 race (which includes part of Lake County)

Lake County, FL resident Thuy Lowe wins straw poll in Seminole County in her race to beat incumbent Corrine Brown in Florida's US Congressional District 5, which includes part of Lake County. Read more →

Will Democrats Be Able to Vote in Florida House District 31 Republican Primary?

Last minute political tricks may result in Democrats and other voters voting in the Republican Primary for Florida House District 31. District 31 covers Apopka, Mt. Dora, Eustis and Tavares areas. Read more →

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Visits Lake County and we have video and pictures

Florida Gov. Rick Scott made a campaign stop in Lake County, FL. Here are links to a video of the event, a newspaper article and pictures on Facebook. Read more →

Conservative Lobbyist John Hallman Explains 2014 Florida Legislative Session

Tavares, FL May 21, 2014 See VIDEO link below. Conservative Lobbyist John Hallman visited the North Lake Tea Party (FL) yesterday and provided an overview of the 2014 Florida Legislative session. We made a video of his talk at: http://youtu.be/AwLnIV1kY1E Hallman works with the Liberty First Network, and is a lobbyist working to protect conservative values in Tallahassee. He has worked on the taxpayer, conservative side of issues like septic tanks, Common Core, Second Amendment issues (gun rights), Red light camera abolishment, and Craft Beer restrictions. The focus is to offset the influence of Corporate and special interest lobbying interests aimed against taxpayers or Liberty issues. He also discusses actions by local Lake County Senator Alan Hays and chances of Gov. Rick Scott being re-elected. Visit the Liberty First website at www.http://libertyfirstfl.org and Visit the North Lake Tea Party at: www.NorthLakeTeaParty.com. Video by Vance Jochim - visit his fiscal watchdog blog at www.FiscalRangers.com . vj Read more →

Joseph Stephens Should Drop Out of the Florida District 31 Representative Race

Joseph Stephens, one of five Republican candidates for Florida's House District 31, should drop out of the race. We don't think he is serious. See the video and decide. District 30 includes the Florida cities of Apopka, Mt. Dora, Tavares & Eustis, and covers sections of both Lake County and Orange County, FL. Read more →

Florida Dept. of Education Budget Blunder costs local School Districts $51-million.

Tavares, FL (Lake County, FL) Monday, Apr. 21, 2014 by Vance Jochim www.FiscalRangers.com Pam Stewart (center), head of the Florida Dept. of Education, should be held accountable for this $51-million budget blunder. School Districts in Florida have been fiscally shafted by the Florida Dept. of Education to the tune of $51-million. (FLDOE). Lake County Schools received a surprise cut in budgeted Florida revenues of $916,000. Note: I will be seeking more information on this, and will post updated to THIS page. Update Apr. 23, 2014 - Orlando's Channel 9 TV reporter Berndt Petersen picked up this story and interviewed me: http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/video-lake-county-schools-wont-get-expected-1m/vCYKrQ/ This story was also published on the national news service, WatchDogWire here: http://watchdogwire.com/florida/2014/04/22/fl-budget-blunder-costs-local-school-districts-51-million/ and on April 24th, it was published in the Daily Commercial: http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_465a42d2-2b3e-5e4d-83a0-f875e09cecdd.html#.U1j_pxlp3_o.facebook What did happen? How did Lake County get cut $916,000 and all Florida schools get cut $51-million? Monday night, April 21, 2014, around 5:30 pm, the CFO of the Lake County School District told Lake County School District Board members their CURRENT year budgeted revenues from the State of Florida were being chopped by $916,000 over the next two months, and all 67 Florida School Districts were getting surprise, immediate revenue cuts totaling $51-million.... Read more →

Common Core Update: Missouri Teacher Tearfully Testifies Why Common Core is NO GOOD!

Tavares, FL March 28, 2014 No matter what the FL Dept of Ed says, they are still using Common Core, and the testing firm they hired, AIR, is affiliated with liberal groups who may be even worse than PARCC. Since Florida Gov. Scott continues to support Common Core (under a rebranded name which fools no one), some conservatives are abandoning support for him. This experienced Missouri teacher was bullied by administrators and some other teachers for standing up to Common Core. She has a degree in early childhood development, and tells all to a Missouri legislative Committee – 11 minutes. Watch it. http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/03/28/watch-teachers-tearful-testimony-on-being-bullied-and-intimated-for-opposing-common-core-108962 Gee, I might as well include some bonus links on recent Common Core issues: Here is political consultant Dick Morris on how Common Core Curriculum is Destroying local control of schools (hey, States rights are being killed too) http://www.dickmorris.com/common-core-curriculum-is-destroying-local-control-of-schools-dick-morris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports Here is a link to a 27,000 member Facebook page “Parents & Educators Against Common Core Standards”. It says 332,000 people are “talking” about this. https://www.facebook.com/ParentsAndEducatorsAgainstCCSS This is the most active FL group against Common Core: http://www.flstopcccoalition.org/about-us/ They just held a great one day conference opposing Common Core in Orlando attended by over 300 people. I was there.... Read more →

Florida Septic Tank Bill SB-1576 Update - A Badly written bill approved by first committee

Tavares, FL March 21, 2014 Tallahassee Update - Springs Protection Bill SB-1576 Update regarding septic tanks Scroll down to see a report from Dan Peterson of the Coaliton for Property Rights on what happened yesterday to Florida Senate Bill SB-1576 that requires septic tanks be connected to sewer systems when near Category 1 Springs like Alexander Springs. You can see my earlier article on this here: http://tinyurl.com/nja88bd I am told the “science” used is junk science, and the first Committee, run by Senator Dean who filed the bill, approved it. So now it moves to the Agriculture Committee. So, contact Dan Peterson at [email protected] if you want updates on the bill. Also, I tried to READ the bill, and it is horrendously written and hard to understand. Senator Dean and others must have gone to the Nancy Pelosi school of writing Obamacare bills, because it seems intentionally to be poorly written so no one will know what is in it. I used to audit contracts and grants up to $600-million in size and most were written clearly, but why does the public and legislature accept such writing atrocities. When Ronald Reagan was President, I remember two of his cabinet members... Read more →

Florida Septic Tank Owners Under Liberal Con Artist Assault Again - You must ACT to keep yours

Environmentalists are trying to assault septic tank owners with more junk science. They have filed a questionable Florida Senate Bill SB 1576 which needs to be stopped in its tracks. Once again, they don't provide facts to justify an assault on property rights or septic tanks. All their arguments are emotional. Read more →

Common Core Update: Republican Party of Florida Passes Resolution Requesting Florida Governor & Leadership to CEASE implementation of Common Core Standards

The Republican Party of Florida just distributed a new resolution calling for Governor Scott and State officials and leaders to CEASE implementation of Common Core standards. Read more →

Property Rights Alert: Florida Bill filed to reduce local governments setting excess land use permitting requirements

Tavares, FL Sunday, Mar. 2, 2014 Land Grabbing is the use of land use planning restrictions to reduce the value of owned land. Property Rights Alert - Of course, the Florida bill HB-1077 (2014) was just filed, and it may or may not go anywhere. The environmentalists, who want excess regulations to get environmental preserves FOR FREE, will fight it, but property rights groups will favor it. http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/article.cfm?id=36631840 It would be interesting to know if the Lake County South Sector Plan would be affected since County staff, not a property owners association consultant, is now doing the planning for it under the “guidance” of Commissioner Sean Parks, who helped write the Lake County Land Use Comprehensive Plan and spearheaded the Sector Plan proposal. The South Sector plan defines lots of open space, high density housing and only some commercial development areas. Once the Lake County Board approves the sector plan by April, it becomes part of the Lake County land use plan and it is a taking of property values of the property owners in the 16,000 acre area who are not favored and did not get allocated high value residential and commercial land use rights. And, what about the... Read more →

Wekiva Parkway Update for Lake County, FL by County Commissioner Leslie Campione

Mount Dora, FL Monday, Feb. 17, 2017 Some Lake County residents in Sorrento/Mount Plymouth and future commuters on the Wekiva Parkway are getting shafted by environmentalists, FDOT (Florida Dept. of Transportation) and Orange County's Highway Authority. (That is my opinion, not that of presenter Leslie Campione.) Wekiva Parkway is the expanded north west part of the Orlando beltway that is being constructed now. You can get maps and an overview at: www.wekivaparkway.com Use or download the main map so you understand the project sections and numbers. The website also has numerous Powerpoints you can view for more information. Watch this one from Jan., 2014 with recent info: Download Rotary Club of Apopka 013014 Lake County Commissioner gave an update at Lakeside Inn with TJ Fish, Executive Director of the Lake Sumter MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization). You can watch the video here: http://youtu.be/GOLLPbjPTOc The video is not completely in focus because the interior lighting at the Lakeside Inn is so poor the camera could not focus well, but it is clear enough to see the maps and listen to the audio. Some of the highlights - I apologize if I use the wrong names - I am not familiar with the... Read more →

Lake County FL area Florida District 31 House Candidates Need to Learn School Board Legislative Priorities

Tavares, FL Jan. 17, 2014 This was sent by email to the District 31 Candidates today: To: Republican Florida House District 31 Candidates (Apopka and northeast section of Lake County including Mt. Dora, Eustis & Tavares) (B. Grassel, Terri Seefeldt, Jennifer Sullivan & Randy Glisson) Attached are the long version of the Lake County School Board's Florida legislative priorities discussed on Oct. 21, then the shorter list approved by the Lake County School Board late last year on Nov. 4th. (Source is Natalie Challenger at the District office.) Download Board approved 2014 legis.priorities Download Legis.Priorities 2014-shortened list The priority lists will be used for discussions with Legislators in the upcoming legislative session. Lake County School Board member Tod Howard is the new legislative liaison for the School District and you might talk with him about the priority list and develop an understanding of them and have a position on their legislative priorities you will support. I am encouraging voters to ask you about your positions on these issues so you don’t appear to be one issue candidates. Vance Jochim Lake County Fiscal Rangers Chief Fiscal Watchdog Volunteers Searching for Ways to Improve Local Government Fiscal Management, Efficiency & Effectiveness Tavares,... Read more →

Lake County Property Tax Percentages EXCEED Every County Around Us

Tavares, FL Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013 Lake County, FL CNN published an interactive map of residential property taxes showing how every County in the US compared to others in two categories: Total Dollars paid per residence per county, and Percent of "Home Price" (not sure if that is original price or current market value per appraisers). They used data from the Tax Policy Center, and we assume the data came from this report: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/stateandlocal/tax-and-budget/Revenues-and-taxation.cfm Lake County property taxes as a percent of "home prices" is 1.08% and is higher than many Florida counties but lower than others, ranging from .58% to 1.36%. Further examination reveals that EVERY County around Lake County pays less percent in property taxes than Lake County homeowners . But Lake County property taxes were not as high as counties in other states according to this CNN map. In the "Dollars" tab, Lake County residents pay an average of $1801 compared to $595 in rural counties to $2751 in Miami-Dade County. CHECK both TABS to see dollars and then percentages of home sales prices. Move your mouse over the counties to see how they vary. http://money.cnn.com/interactive/real-estate/property-tax/?iid=EL So, when you hear people complain about property taxes in Lake... Read more →

Lake County, FL School District Board Discusses Effects of Florida Dropping out of PARCC Testing system for Common Core

Tavares, FL - Fri., Sept. 27, 2013 This document is in progress and not complete yet. Supporting documents will be attached and links to background articles will be provided by tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 28 Earlier this week, FL Gov. Scott issued a surprise executive order that Florida would drop out of the 15+ State testing consortium known as PARCC. PARCC was a new testing system that was to be used for K-12 classes being taught under the new Common Core standards. Due to many reasons, parents, teachers and others complained about PARCC, and after Gov. Scott called a forum on Common Core, he issued this Executive Order. So, today, three members of the Lake County School District Board and the Superintendent Dr. Susan Moxley had a workshop to discuss what would happen next. I taped the entire workshop discussion, and it is at: http://youtu.be/1vxFNqRpyyE Download 2013-09-27 LCSD PARCC Workshop supporting docs 10pgs Above are the documents (in one pdf file) discussed during the meeting, including: - Press Release issued by Gov. Scott's office - Letter to Gary Chartrand, Chair of the FL State Board of Education - Letter to US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan - The Executive order #13-276... Read more →

Lake County Schools to Have Workshop Tomorrow on Common Core

Tavares, FL - Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 The Lake County School Board is having a workshop tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 26, on how the School District will deal with the State of Florida dropping participation in the planned PARCC testing consortium for Common Core based classes. It will be at the School District HQ on HWY 441 at 2pm. The Calendar entry is HERE on the website. The agend has only one subject, the PARCC issue, on it. The meeting was only scheduled yesterday, and I confirmed that the purpose, as told to me by Board Chair Kyleen Fischer, was for the Board to discuss the issue. Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order to drop out of the PARCC "assessment" (testing) system that would be implemented in the 2014-2015 school year, which was widely known to be controlled by liberals. At least 15 other states are still in the consortium. If they created tests with a bias, then teachers, whose merit raises depend on student rankings, would "teach to the test". The PARCC tests are not for this current new school year, but the 2014/2015 school year. HERE is an Orlando Sentinel article about the dropping of PARCC. HERE is... Read more →