Fiscal Rangers

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 info@proprights.com 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 →

Common Core Update: FL Gov. Scott Launches Education Summit to Review Common Core NEXT WEEK

Tavares, FL - Aug. 23, 2013 by Vance Jochim Below (scroll down) is the press release sent out by Gov. Scott’s office yesterday about the Education Summit in Clearwater next Mon-Wed. They only gave ONE day’s notice for this. I don’t see the names of ANY well known Common Core opponents on the list except Randy Osborne. Update 4:30 pm Friday: I just talked to FL Rep. Marlene O'Toole (The Villages and Lake County) and she says the process is a "collaborative lab" designed to brainstorm many ideas, and the Summit is open and info will be available afterwards. She also said that PARCC is OUT per Florida legislative leaders, so they may discuss other testing systems or alternatives. She agreed to let me interview her after the Summit. If anyone is in the Clearwater area and can video this meeting, that would be great. If you do, let me know. Also get names of handouts and ask for them. Use the list of titles to ask for them later and get the contact who is recording the audio. Besides the press release below, here is an Associated Press article about the Summit: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2013/aug/22/gov-rick-scott-calls-review-school-standards/ They didn’t give much notice, so... Read more →

FL Rep. Larry Metz Discusses Bills he worked on during last FL Legislative Session

Tavares, FL - July 3, 2013 FL Rep. larry Metz, Dist 32, talked at the July 3, 2013 meeting of the North Lake County Tea Party in Tavares, FL about the bills he worked on in the recent FL legislative session. He had a number of successes, won an award from the Legislators, and also was ranked A in the 2013 Legislative Session Economic Freedom Scorecard issued by Americans for Prosperity. Due to recent legislative redrawing of legislative districts, Metz's district 32 is now in south Lake County, however he used to represent much of North Lake County and visits the North Lake Tea Party. Watch the video of the talk at: http://youtu.be/eQK5p9AuuOo (Note: I will try to get the Powerpoint and upload it here). Read more →

Meeting Notice: Lake County June 27th Common Core Forum on Pros & Cons in Tavares, FL

Tavares, FL - June 22, 2013 Download 2013-06-27 CC REC Forum <<<< This is the flyer in Word format. Please send to your friends in Lake County. Updated 6/27/13 to add Dr. Karen Efrem as a panelist and to add biographical information on each panelist. (Vance Jochim will not be on the panel, since we were able to get Dr. Efrem. Meeting Notice for Thursday, June 27th, at 7pm in Tavares, FL June 27th Lake County, FL FREE Public Forum on Understanding Pros and Cons of Florida’s Common Core Education Standards for Public Schools (K-12) Who should attend: Parents, Grandparents, policy makers and anyone from any political viewpoint concerned with Florida K-12 Education quality or costs. Hosted by: Public Policy Committee of the Lake County Republican Party (Republican Executive Committee) Date: Thursday, June 27 Time: 7 pm - we suggest you arrive early and bring a chair in case there are not enough Location: Tavares Community Center, 100 E. Caroline St., Tavares, FL Note: Another forum will be scheduled later in July for the Clermont, FL area. Contact for info: Vance Jochim, VJtraveler@comcast.net; 352-638-3578. Updates on the meeting and pros (section F) and cons (section C) of Common Core will... Read more →

FL Gov. Scott signs HB-4001 to REPEAL Ethanol requirement in gasoline

Tavares, FL - June 3, 2013 FL Gov. Scott signed FL bill HB-4001 on Friday to REPEAL a prior law enabled by former Gov. Charlie Crist that required ETHANOL in gasoline. Ethanol DAMAGES engines. Below is the email I received from the Governor’s office. He has signed bill HB 4001 last Friday, which will repeal the existing bill requiring ethanol in fuel, and it takes affect ONE MONTH from now, on July 1, 2013 You can read the bill summary and confirm his signing here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/4001 Happy Days are here for all those people whose engines are being damaged by that stupid law implemented by Charlie Crist. The people won over the lobbyists for once, and all the supporters and Gov. Scott should be commended for getting the Ethanol requirement removed. CAVEAT: This only applies to Florida. And according to local Lake County activist Jerry Cichon, who fought the Ethanol requirement for two years, the old fuel tanks at gas stations will still be contaminated with "black ooze" collected at the bottom of tanks. Jerry has a classic car seen at Eustis and other car shows and has worked hard, including trips to Tallahassee, etc to reverse the Ethanol requirement.... Read more →

Will the Liberal MainStream Media be DUMPED Soon?

Tavares, FL - May 7, 2013 by Vance Jochim FiscalRangers.com In the field of boxing, they used to say that white boxing fans were always looking for the "great white hope", meaning a white boxer who could beat the many black boxers. Similarly, in the field of politics, conservatives keep seeking conservative, not liberal news outlets besides Fox News and Glen Beck online. Now, it might happen and the Ronald Reagan of Newspaper publishers might take over and purge a major liberal newspaper chain of liberal writers and install conservative reporters and editors. You Betcha. The well know conservative billionaires, the Koch Brothers, are contemplating the purchase of the Tribune Corp. newspapers, including the Orlando Sentinel, the rabidly liberal Lost Angeles Times and several other papers. That company just came out of bankruptcy recently and their papers are on the market to be sold. Columnist Cal Thomas gives us a glimpse of the possible Conservative Publishing Valhalla here: http://www.calthomas.com/index.php?news=3978 According to Thomas, Los Angeles staff were asked if they would quit if the paper was bought by the Koch Brothers, and HALF of them said yes. Christmas might be early for us conservatives. Imagine what would happen to the nearby... Read more →

Lake County School Board Votes to TABLE discussion on allowing Gay Clubs at Middle Schools

Tavares, FL - Thursday, Apr. 25, 2013 by Vance Jochim - FiscalRangers.com - UPDATES will be added to this document as received. The Lake County Board meeting this past Monday, April 22nd, included an agenda item for the second and final vote to approve extra-curricular clubs at Lake County middle schools, which would include a proposed Gay Straight Alliance club (GSA) at Carver Middle School which many people objected to because they believed 6th & 7th graders should not be confronted with groups focuses on sexual lifestyles. The only other alternative allowed by the Federal “Equal Access” law was to prohibit all extra-curricular clubs, including those focused on community service, Christian groups, etc. but it would also exclude the GSA club. Note: This blog writer was against formation of Gay Clubs at Middle Schools (see why in attachment below). This picture taken from the right side of the room, which had about 1/3 of the audience in the "Communist Red" shirts, indicating support of the liberal coordinated GSA club. The other 2/3 on the far side of the room were LOCALS who were against it. Plus there were many sitting outside this filled room watching on monitors. Normally, Lake County... Read more →

Florida Bill SB-806 to Provide More School Schedule Flexibility Being Fought by Tourism Industry & Disney

Tavares, FL - Thursday, March 21, 2013 School Districts in Florida are waiting for progress on a bill SB-806 (2013), that will allow them more flexibility in scheduling student calendars and when end of session tests are given. Right now, the Florida state mandated schedule calendars force them to give exams AFTER Christmas break, which disrupts the learning and success rates. Read more on the bill and about who is fighting the bill here: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/mar/20/bill-floating-in-the-legislature-gives-florida/ You can monitor progress of Bill SB-806 here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0806 NOTE: Below are the 2013 Lake County School District Legislative Priorities, but this bill is not on it, although I remember them discussing it at a Board meeting. Vance Jochim FiscalRangers.com ============================================================ Lake County Schools (Florida) 2013 Legislative Priorities (Source: N. Challenger in Superintendant's Office) 1. Respect the constitutional authority of local elected school board members to "supervise, operate and control" public schools in all areas, included, but not limited to, flexibility in categorical spending, instruction, performance pay, budget, personnel, charter schools, and school calendars. 2. To adequately fund community colleges for offering Dual Enrollment programs to high school students. 3. Redistribute available PECO funds to include public schools. Prior to 2011, PECO funds were allocated... Read more →

Our Take of Yesterday's Lake County Legislators' Delegation Forum & Video Posted

Leesburg, FL - Jan 5, 2012 Yesterday, Jan. 4th, Lake County's three Florida Representatives ( Larry Metz, Bryan Nelson & Marlene O'Toole) and two Senators (Alan Hays & Dorothy Hukill) held their annual "Lake County Legislators' Delegation" meeting to listen to "pitches" from over 20 people from different government and other agencies asking for funds, legislation changes or other Florida State Support for their issues. The publicity for the meeting was so bad that hardly any members of the public attended. Details on meeting locations were confused with three different sites being described by different people. Agendas were stacked at the side and there was no table to greet attendees or get their names to send out follow up documents. I only found out about the meeting in the morning and had to cancel a dental appointment to attend. Hardly any members of the public or press attended. The only member of the press there was from Lake Sentinel. The picture shows you what I mean - this was halfway through the meeting after first speakers all left. If taxpayers and conservative groups don't attend these types of meetings and make their positions known, don't cry when nothing is done.... Read more →

FiscalRangers.com Lake County, FL Voting Guide PLUS Tips to Ensure your Ballots & Votes are COUNTED!!

Tavares, FL - Nov. 1, 2012 Here are the FiscalRangers Lake County voting guide & recommendations, followed by tips to ensure your ballots or votes are not denied due to stupid voter mistakes (which are infrequent, but do happen). FiscalRangers.com Lake County Voting Recommendations (Cities not Included) By Vance Jochim Many offices were decided during the primaries, thus I don’t list them here. My bias is I mostly vote Republican and for candidates who are intelligent, create initiatives and exercise sound fiscal decisions. If you don’t have a sample ballot, go to this Lake County Elections page, select your precinct and print or download your specific sample ballot: http://elections.lakecountyfl.gov/sample_ballots/index.aspx President : Romney/Ryan – duh! Or did you forget that Obama ran the deficit up to $1-trillion per year, and the national debt up to $16-billion for your kids. Don't even get me started on all those Executive Orders or Obama failing to provide security, resulting in the murder of a US Ambassador in Libya. US Senator: Vote for Connie Mack, NOT Nelson. Democrat Nelson voted like Obama and is part of the problem we have with the economy. US Representative – District 10: Vote for incumbent Daniel Webster (not Deming).... Read more →

List of Lake County Officials Delinquent in Filing Ethics Disclosure Forms

Tavares, FL - Lake County, FL - Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012 UPDATED to today, Sept. 4th -see UPDATE section at the bottom of this document from Integrity Florida regarding Lake's late filers. This information was sent out by email yesterday to some local officials: Below is a link to a list of numerous Lake County officials who will soon face fines for not submitting required financial statements. Lake County I received this notice below from a local officer of the North Lake Tea Party. He received it from IntegrityFlorida, which apparently tracked people in public positions who have not filed required annual Financial Disclosure statements that were due July 1, 2012. I have not verified the accuracy of this list or how CURRENT it is (the memo below says as of August 29), and most of the names are city officials or in other smaller districts or agencies. I did not see any major elected officials from the County or School District on the list. Since today (Sept. 3) is a holiday, I can’t contact the Elections Superintendent to determine if her office is even involved in ensuring compliance, since the reports are due tomorrow. I know, that as a... Read more →

Learn about Florida Judicial Activism, and how to DUMP Three Liberal FL Justices

This is all about the vote to say NO on the Florida Nov. 6 ballot about FIRING and NOT retaining the three ultra-liberal Florida judges R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince. Just vote NO by their name which means to NOT retain them. Save their names. The overall movement here is to remove liberal judges who think they know better than the voter what the law should be. Voters, via elected officials, create laws, and judges should not be re-writing the laws due to their political leanings. Read more →

Lake County Fails to Get Appointment to St. John's River Water Management District

Tavares, FL - Aug 20, 2012 Earlier this year, there was a vacancy on the Board of the St. John's River Water Management District (SJRWMD) for "Area 3" or the Ocklawaha River Basin area. The District controls and sets policies for River waters in five areas for 18 Florida Counties. Lake County has historically never had a representative on the Board. Earlier this year, there was a controversy and a public hearing with 500 present regarding the District's actions to turn off water flowing from Lake Apopka into the Harris Chain of Lakes, resulting in unacceptable low lake water levels. After the hearing, they adjusted the flow rate to allow some water into the Harris Chain and restrict outflows so water levels could rise. One of the big issues is that in our opinion, the District staff and Board do not measure or place a value on economic impacts of reduced water levels, and make decisions only on environmental reasons. Since the Harris Chain (Lake Dora, Eustis, Harris, etc) depends more on water levels for economic impacts (waterfront home values, waterfront marinas, businesses, tourist attractions), there is a need for Board members who ensure economic impact of water flow decisions... Read more →

Forbes ranks 650 Colleges based on "Results" and UF is top Florida College at 80th

You can also go to a link to look up any college. http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/uf-80th-florida%E2%80%99s-top-school-forbes vj Read more →

Lake County Republicans Approve Resolution for County to Eliminate Onerous Septic Tank Regulations

Tavares, FL - July 25, 2012 Last night, the Lake County FL Republican Executive Committee (REC) voted unanimously to approve a resolution to be presented to the Lake County Board of County Commissioners recommending they eliminate a regulation requiring frequent Septic Tank inspections in Lake County. There was a law that required all Florida Septic Tank owners to have expensive inspections every five years and other restrictions, and it was reduced in coverage by the Florida government to only apply to counties that had "First Magnitude Springs" and Lake County has one single spring called Alexandria Springs in north County. However, County governments are now allowed to OPT out of that regulation if they want, so this REC resolution is asking the Lake County Board to do so. Thanks go to REC member Andy Dubois for doing the research and presenting the resolution. No one in the REC was AGAINST the resolution, and no one spoke against it since the benefits were obvious. Former Lake County Commissioner Catherine Hanson described the history of the regulations and how excessive they originally were. (Note - The resolution was not a surprise - it was emailed to all members 2-3 weeks before the... Read more →

Florida Tea Party Network Members Try, but Fails to get Adam Putnam to Fight $8-billion Energy Bill

Tavares, FL - June 12, 2012 Florida Tea Party Network representatives met with Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam to understand why he supported HB-7117, an energy bill that will cost Florida taxpayers over $8-billion to subsidize "alternative" energy sources like wind and solar. it became law on April 14, 2012 without a requested veto from Gov. Scott. Thus your energy costs will go up more in the future to subsidize more costly wind & solar energy that is not reliable. The bill shifts energy surtaxes to selected recipients of residential and commercial property owners who make retrofits desired by GOVERNMENT (not market based). This is a typical Federal objectives "green" bill that uses tax funds to subsidize gvoernment desired "sustainable development" goals. The bill should be killed. Read BOTH of the Tea Party Network reports below and remember that when you are asked to vote for Adam Putnam in the future. Here is a link to Putnam's Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services webpage: http://www.myflorida.com/agency/1/ Here is a link to the Florida Senate Info page on HB-7117 http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2012/7117 Here is the link to two reports from the Tea Party Network representatives, or read the entire text below. http://theteapartynetwork.org/2012/06/meeting-with-commissioner-putnam-on-energy-bill-hb-7117/ =========================================================================== Report... Read more →

SOME of Palm Beach County Cities (but not all) Sue to NOT fund County Inspector General

When you see a headline like this, you assume the Inspector General Office in Palm Beach County, FL is screwing up, but not in this case. The IG was created about 3 years ago by a Palm Beach County citizen referendum vote, with authority over Palm Beach County (also previously known as Corruption County), School District and all the cities. But a number of the larger cities sued a few months ago to NOT be invoiced for their share of the IG costs. No other reason seems to exist other than not wanting to pay for it, or they don't want some of their actions to be subject to review by an independent IG. But, there are quite a few cities that did NOT sue to stop funding, so maybe this issue will die as the cities suing not to be subjected to audit find out the public might not be happy with that approach. That was the point of the editorial below. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/opinion/let-good-cities-do-the-right-thing/nPN7C/ vj Read more →

Boca Raton Watchdog Group Complains about Excessive Firefighter Benefits & Pensions

Tavares, FL It seems that the CITY of Boca Raton, FL (not County) is slipping into heavy deficits, and like Lake County, the elected officials are ignoring the steep costs of pension and benefits for employees. In this case a new watchdog group was formed to disclose facts about excessive pensions and benefits and wages for city firefighters and EMS employees. We also added a link at the bottom of this posting to a story about how San Diego and San Jose referendums were passed to drastically reduce government employee pensions costs. Here is the Boca Raton story: http://www.bizpacreview.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.details&ArticleId=738070&returnTo=dale-king And, attached below is a VERY GOOD graphic 12 page Powerpoint that clearly shows the effects of excessive pensions and benefits for the firefighters. Watch the Powerpoint first - it is very good, then read the story. This is very clear analysis that should be an example of the type of visual analysis required of EVERY government agency about the effects of their pension, wages & and benefits. Download 2012_BCFRGoalSetting AND, here is a story how both San Diego and San Jose citizens pushed through referendums to drastically reduce government employee pensions. One city eliminated "pension spiking" which is the common... Read more →

Local Lake County Water Levels to Be Discussed tomorrow, May 31 in Leesburg

Updated: To add longer letter from Diane Heitman about water level issues in the Superpond. vj If you are concerned about the water levels in the "SuperPond" of Lake County, which are Lake Dora, Lake Harris, Lake Eustis, etc. then attend this 6pm Leesburg Meeting tomorrow night, May 31. As you may know, Lake water levels have been dropping, partly because the St. John's River Water Management District turned off the water flow from Lake Apopka. At the same time, until recently, dredging of Lake Beauclaire was also removing another 10 cubic feet per second (CFS) from the lakes. Here is the info from Diane Heitman, who has been monitoring this - below the initial notice is an attachment for the meeting agenda, followed by a longer letter by Diane on the water issues in the Superpond. vj ====================================================================== Harris Chain lake level management public meeting May 31 in Leesburg The St. Johns River Water Management District will hold a public meeting May 31 in Leesburg to discuss potential water level management options for the Harris Chain of Lakes. The meeting will include an update on minimum flows and levels development, and will be an opportunity for the public to... Read more →

How Socialists use Agenda 21 & "Endangered Species" Designations to Increase Energy & Other Costs

Monday, May 21, 2012 - Tavares, FL by Vance Jochim A lizard in New Mexico and Texas could increase US gasoline costs if the EPA had their way, and Lake County elected officials and voters could learn a lesson from the fight with the EPA there. Here in Lake County, we have a Comprehensive Land Use Plan that has been modified somewhat, but not enough. It was developed when Florida had adopted "Growth" plans derived from legislative guides produced by the American Planner's Association (APA) which were created using funds from numerous Federal Agencies directed to implement the United Nations Agenda 21 by Bill Clinton's Presidential Council on Sustainable Development. For more background on Agenda 21, see our info page at tinyurl.com/HaltAgenda21 . Now, we have a good example in the following article about the stealth method used nationally by the EPA to implement Agenda 21 objectives of using enviornmentalism as a cover to increasing energy costs, reducing values of private property, etc. http://epaabuse.com/3424/editorials/proposed-listing-of-sagebrush-lizard-as-endangered-species-threatens-energy-production/ The article explains how the EPA can define an "endangered species" such as a lizard, then prevent landholders from developing or building on their land to "protect" the lizard. I don't know about you, but my... Read more →

Update on Voter Fraud in Florida - State finds 1251 Voters who are "Non-Citizens"

Tavares, FL - May 8, 2012 by Vance Jochim Florida Voter Fraud Update: Awhile back, on April 4th, we told you about an NBC investigation in Lee and Collier County where they found over 100 local voters who VOTED, but then were discovered not to be legal citizens.' In Florida, at least, you are supposed to be a US citizen to vote. But weaknesses in the voter registration system in Florida allow people to register to vote without confirmation they are actually a citizen. The NBC investigation compared jury records, using a list of voters who got out of jury duty by saying they were not citizens. Then they checked public voter records and found 100 of them who had voted, some for many years, while not being a citizen. (This is not about illegal aliens, but about people that could be legally, or illegally here, but not a citizen). NOW, the Division of Elections of the State of Florida, embarrassed by the investigation, expanded the investigation, and found non-citizens who had obtained drivers licenses. They matched that list with people registered to vote in Florida, and found 1,250 of them. A newly appointed Secretary of State, Ken Detzner, is... Read more →

Florida County Activists Ask Lake County FiscalRangers for Help to Resolve Corruption

Activists and TeaParty members in other Florida Counties are aware of FiscalRangers. We just got a query from one County activist group asking how they can stop corruption in their County. They listed a number of officials and issues, so here is what I sent them, and I expect to talk to them later. Vance Jochim ================================================== The Florida Grand Jury published a big report on Corruption in Florida last December and Pam Bondi has done nothing to market it to the legislature to get the recommendations implemented, even though her Attorney General Dept. runs the Grand Jury investigations. The Florida Auditor General has no “resources” to initiate citizen requests for audits. They mostly focus on CPA type financial and regulatory compliance audits, and not audits for efficiency, effectiveness or to detect and fix corruption. Almost all local government oversight is left up to local County agencies and officials. The legislative Audit Committee will not initiate citizen requests for audits, which are sent to the Auditor General, BUT they will do so if asked by a legislator. So, you need to have a legislator request an audit like what you want, and the AG may do it . But, the... Read more →

Complexity of State Ballot Measures Affects YES votes, But Is Florida Affected?

An interesting study says that many ballot measures are written at the Master's Degree level and voters skip them due to the complex wording. Wyoming requires that a majority of ALL voters must say yes to pass a referendum, not just a majority of those who voted on the issue. They figure if a voter skips an issue, it is worded too hard to understand since the average American has an eighth grade reading level. Here is an excerpt from the Wall St. Journal's review of the issue: Another totally different new study rates the readability of ballot measures. The study is part of the plain language movement. Note to Floridians: "When Charlie Crist of Flordia took office as governor in January 2007, one of his first acts was to issue a plain langugage executive order . Florida now has an entire site devoted to plain language." HOWEVER, the links now go to Gov. Rick Scott's website and go to an error page. We did find that the FL DCS has a Plain Language page HERE. We could not find if the Plain Language movement is required for State ballot measures, however. Researchers with the Plain Language Action and Information... Read more →

Did Aliens Scramble Voting Results in Palm Beach County - Read and Decide

Tavares, FL - March 20, 2012 This is a good article below to illustrate how amateur data management in local government agencies like the Palm Beach County Elections office can result in poor safeguards that then allow huge errors. In this case, apparently, the order of the names on a recent local ballot in Palm Beach County. FL did not match which fields were used to calculate candidate totals, so that people using the ballots saw a specific name, but their vote for that line item was added into totals for a different name for the election results. The Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor, Susan Bucher, apparently When a manager blames the mysterious computer for a glitch, rather than the people or process for programming it, then they need to go. It also means they didn’t have good quality control procedures to test and ensure data was accurate. The citizens cannot afford to have computer illiterate officials in charge of data focused operations. According to this article, this is a pattern with the Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor. However, the article does NOT say how the Elections Supervisor, Susan Bucher, detected the problem AFTER all the votes were certified. Was... Read more →

National Website Monitors "State Integrity" and Ranks States - Florida is a C-

Tavares, FL - March 20, 2012 I found a new website that is run by a number pf public integrity types of organizations, and they rank all the States by several categories and rank their "Corruption Risk". Here is Florida's page, which shows abysmal rankings in most categories, and an average C- in Corruption Risk . Even with that ranking, they are 18th out of all the states, which shows how much worse other states are. http://www.stateintegrity.org/florida I noticed that they ranked "Internal Audit" as one of the only "A" categories, so I posted this comment: As a former corporate internal audit director, Certified Internal Auditor and anti-corruption adviser, I was amazed to see you give Florida an A for internal audit. I write a blog on local Lake County, FL government agency fiscal fiascos and mis-management at www.FiscalRangers.com . After five years of monitoring issues here, I do not believe there is ANY oversight on about 2000 local government agencies comparable to what I saw in Fortune 500 firms, the County of Los Angeles or even the Federal government. They may do nice, clean "financial audits" but the Inspector General has no authority to initiate performance or internal audits... Read more →

Another Florida Special "District" Incurs Excessive Costs Without Oversight

Jan. 16, 2012 - A Mosquito "Control District" in Lee County, FL with a $22-million budget has run up such high expenses that a Florida Representative has filed a bill to abolish the district and shift its responsibilities to the Lee County government. A retired executive director is the 11th highest paid retiree in the Florida State retiree system. He is collecting over $170,000 in retirement income, which is more than any Lake County staff earns working full time. Here is their website. The original article from SunshineStateNews.com is below. FiscalRangers.com has consistently reported how the state of Florida does not provide adequate business controls or spending guidelines for about 2000 special local government agencies in Florida, including water districts, hospital districts, county and constitutional officer agencies, CRA's ( and now here is a mosquito district that overspends all others in Florida. We have periodically reported fiscal fiascos in Lake County operations, mismanagement or questionable practices in local agencies like the North Lake County Hospital District, and also reported problems found in other Florida Districts, including voter fraud allowed by Election Supervisors, CRA's and hospital districts. However, this article doesn't provide much information indicating serious problems, other than one legislator... Read more →

Gov. Scott Issues Executive Order to "Examine" all 1600 Florida Special Districts

YAHOO!!!! We found today that Florida Gov. Scott has issued an Executive Order 12-10 "Review of Special Districts" which assigns his Office of Policy & Budget (OPB) to perform an “examination” of ALL 1600 Florida special districts. The Executive Order is HERE. FiscalRangers.com will publish another article later this week on just this Executive Order after I interview some people. HERE is the press release on this OPB assignment. The press release and the EO are similar to the earlier one establishing a Commission to Review Hospital Districts. Last year I sent that commission numerous emails and articles about oversight weaknesses in not only Hospital Districts but other Florida Districts. They just recently issued their final report of recommendations, including a number I agree with. As our readers know, FiscalRangers.com has published numerous articles on weaknesses and problems in the various types of special districts, including CRA’s, But, this is not a Commission to STUDY the issue, but a task order to the OPB to start a program to “Examine” ALL 1600 districts in Florida for performance, etc. The objectives are in the EO and shortened versions are in the press release. These are not the routine CPA type financial... Read more →

Controversial Lake County Water Level Settings for Lakes to Remain Stable for Now.

Jan. 15th, 2012 - Tavares, FL By Vance Jochim, FiscalRangers.com The water levels in Lake County Lakes Dora, Beauclaire, Harris, Eustis & Griffin should now cease dropping due to a new Florida State water district policy demanded by many Lake County residents, boaters and FiscalRangers.com readers at recent public hearings. The St. Johns River Water Management District Board ( "St. Johns District" ) is a Florida STATE agency which controls lake and river waters in about 15 Florida Counties including Lake County. They have the legal authority to control and set water flow between lakes. They held a Board meeting at their headquarters in Palatka, FL on January 10th and approved a revision of a previous controversial staff policy to shutoff water flows from the headwaters source of Lake Apopka to Lake Dora, Eustis, Harris & Griffin. That policy had been implemented in early December, and lake water levels in Lake County had dropped 3-6 inches in four weeks due to the policy. This was after a public hearing on January 5th in Howey-in-the-Hills was attended by 300-500 citizens supporting different alternatives to the shutoff policy. You can read a lot of earlier background details HERE in our previous blog... Read more →

Final Report for Florida State Commission to Review Hospital Districts

Tallahassee, FL - Jan. 3, 2012 - In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott established a commission to review taxpayer funded Hospital Districts. After many meetings and interim reports, the final report was issued today, as described in the notice below from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. The notice mentions that a version with links to pages will be distributed later this week, and when I receive it, I will post it on this page. Later this week I will post my comments, since some of the recommendations can affect the North Lake County Hospital District. vj ============================================================ The final report of the Commission on Review of Taxpayer Funded Hospital Districts is now available on the Commission website. The first link below goes to the main webpage for the Commission, and the second link goes directly to the report. Click on the main page at the link “Final Report”: http://ahca.myflorida.com/mchq/FCTFH/fctfh.shtml . Jump straight to the report at this link: http://ahca.myflorida.com/mchq/FCTFH/pdf/122911Meeting/FinalReportRF2.pdf This week we are preparing an edition of the report that has embedded web links in it. It should be available by the end of the week. Jeff Gregg, Executive Director Florida Commission on Taxpayer Funded Hospital Districts Florida Agency... Read more →

Governor's Hospital District Review Commission Publishes DRAFT Report of Recommendations

Tavaras, FL - Dec. 20, 2011 - Florida Governor Scott's Commission on Review of Taxpayer Funded Hospital Districts just published their almost final report draft. This affects Lake County, because we have two hospital districts, the North Lake County Hospital District, and the South Lake County Hospital District. This blog has published numerous articles on local efforts to reform the North Lake County Hospital District. The Draft report, 30 pages long, includes several objectives that had been included in Rep. Larry Metz's reform bill recently approved by the six member Lake County Legislators Delegation (5 to 1). The Commission recommendations included: - Qualified hospital district board members should be appointed who "do not have conflicts of interest" (like also being on the Hospital Boards which receive tax funds via the Hospital District). - Board members should have "financial expertise and experience operating successful. larger businesses (i.e. not a filling station owner who likes hospitals). - Special hospital districts (like our North Lake one) should become "indigent health care districts based upon local priorities". (It doesn't say, but implied is NOT to subsidize Medicare or other expenses of the hospitals). - Millage rates should be adjustable (not fixed like North Lake)... Read more →

Broward County, FL Inspector General Issues First Report and blasts County Economic & Small Biz Development

The new Broward County Inspector General just issued a report blasting the total mis-management of a County run small business certification program designed to give County contracts a local preference. Only local government could create a $750,000 fiscal fiasco like this (or State or Federal Government.). I can't stop - there is a basic management rule cited by Ronald Reagan - "Trust but verify", but these county managers trusted, but didn't verify the vendors' true eligibility for local government contracts. Best quotes: “The OIG determined that at least $750,000 in public funds, and in all probability a lot more has been misspent as a result of gross mismanagement by the OESBD,’’ Scott said Friday. “Our office is going to work with county government to make sure this doesn’t happen.’’ In one instance, the Inspector General found that a county vendor, Everytrade International Company, was awarded 37 county contracts worth nearly $750,000 since June 2007. At least 35 of those contracts required the vendor to be certified as a Small Business Enterprise, which gives the designated company exclusive access to certain county contracts and preference in the procurement process. But according to the Inspector General, Everytrade International is actually a brokerage... Read more →