Fiscal Rangers

Will Eustis, FL become Lake County, FL's first Sanctuary City? Left leaning City Council members could do it!

Tavares, FL Oct. 26, 2018 A shorter version of this opinion commentary by Vance Jochim was also posted on CityGrader.com. Updated Oct. 27, 2018 with more facts. The opinions in this commentary are all my own, based upon observations at meetings and my research. Will Eustis, FL, controlled by liberal or RINO (Republican in Name Only) City Council members, become the first Sanctuary City in Lake County, FL? As an active Republican and fiscal watchdog blogger in Lake County, FL, I rate this City a C due to the Democrat or liberal sympathizers on the City Council. I live in nearby Tavares and the contrast of "vision" is quite strong. The City staff are quite competent, and the historic ambiance is great, but the elected leaders with a liberal bias are not helpful. I am a watchdog blogger in Lake County, and have been monitoring Eustis politics for years. They keep electing liberal or do nothing Council members under the cover of "non-partisan" elections, leading to disputes with residents. Under the right circumstances, they could become Lake County's first Sanctuary City. City Elections for City Council candidates are now in progress for the Nov. 6, 2018 elections. The positions are... Read more →

Publix Map of Shelf Inventories for store in Tavares, FL

To make Publix shopping easier, I created a floor map of goods and their aisle locations to use for shopping. This Excel version is for the Tavares, FL Publix at HWY 19 and CR 561. Download it, and create your own version for your local grocery store and shopping preferences. Read more →

Bad Roads & Traffic Jams in Lake County? Perhaps we need a #FixOurDamnRoads Initiative like Colorado!

Fed up with bad roads or traffic jams in Lake County or your city while officials spend mega-millions on: - new buildings, - splash parks, - interest payments to pay for non-infrastructure projects, - bike trails, - brick roads, - huge benefit increases including massive retiree benefits, - employee raises costing more than the cost of living, - staff time on private projects like Wellness Way, - "lifestyle" projects, - spending on downtown city projects more than road repairs, - social welfare programs, - free buses that lose money on every trip, - police radios ($18-million), - bureaucratic "required" studies, - huge parks, - trails, - lawsuits, - events and - local charities? Instead of cutting back on those, the Lake County Board (and cities) plan to hike your fuel taxes (it is coming). Everything else, it seems, is a priority over roads. In Colorado, citizens have formed a tax rebellion movement called #FixOurDamnRoads" and collected over 150,000 signatures provided to the Secretary of State. They demand the roads be fixed WITHOUT ANY TAX INCREASES Perhaps we need such a #FixOurDamnRoads program for Lake County. If you see a Lake Country traffic jam or bad road problems, take a picture... 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 →

Tavares, FL City Council Meeting VIDEO - Mar. 7, 2018 - More admin screwups postpone Shirley Shores Annexation AGAIN

Tavares, FL Mar. 11, 2018 I uploaded a video to YouTube of the Tavares, FL City Council meeting held on March 7, 2018 which is HERE: https://youtu.be/AWMAe7TYQC0. The agenda location is on the 2nd slide. Length is 1 hr, 17 min. The short link to THIS blog page is: https://tinyurl.com/TavaresFLMarch7 I have decided to write some comments about the actions seen in this meeting video which are below. Tab 7 - Annexation and Rezoning related to Shirley Shores Road / Hidden River Lakes proposed 222 acre development. THIS WAS POSTPONED DUE TO IMPROPER NOTIFICATION OF THE PUBLIC BY THE DEVELOPER'S REPRESENTATIVES. See overview starting at 3:55 on the video then more later. Probably at least 60 neighbors were there for this issue and for the 3rd or 4th time, the procedures were botched, so the issue was postponed to a future meeting. Apparently the developer representatives must follow certain steps and the city staff does not ensure they are followed, then the opposition attorney raises the issue and ONCE AGAIN, the issue is postponed. I am flabbergasted the City staff has no sanctions or fines to apply when zoning/land use change requesters don't follow the rules. So everyone will have... Read more →

Fish Kill in boating canal behind my house in Tavares, FL

The recent cold weather caused a fish kill in this canal off Lake Dora, Tavares, FL Read more →

Updated: Two City Meetings today in Lake County, FL Illustrate dangers of building homes in rural areas that could be annexed by cities.

Tavares, FL Sept 20, 2017 Post meeting updates for both meetings were added at the end of each section at 8pm on Sept. 20, 2017. Can any Lake County, FL resident who built a "dream home" in rural or lakefront Lake County feel safe from being annexed by a nearby city with higher taxes and high density planned development over their back fence? Today are two meetings affecting future living styles of retirees in rural Lake County residences. Two different cities are trying to annex different land areas that County rural residents don't want to happen. They don't want the taxes, or they don't want the planned nearby development that conflicts with the existing land uses. (Note: I will post updates on these meetings below each section after they take place today.) 1. The Tavares City Council meets today, Sept. 20, 2017 at 4pm to review and approve two ordinances that would result in annexation of 222 acres on Shirley Shores Road of rural lands near Deer Island on the south shore of Lake Dora. The second ordinance would change the County defined "rural transition" land use to city land use densities of 3 units per acre compared to existing... Read more →

Video of Lake County, FL Elections Canvassing Board "Audit" of vote machine counts vs manual count

The Lake County, FL Elections Canvassing Board performed an audit on Nov. 21, 2016 to compare a sample of paper ballot counts to machine generated totals. This is an overview of the process and a link to the video of the 3+ hour process. This includes some observations about loopholes in the "audit" process. 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 →

Lake County, FL Republican Sheriff Candidates Vie for support at Candidate Forum

Last week, on July 21, 2016, three Republican candidates for Lake County Sheriff answered more than 20 questions in a public forum. Here are details with links to pictures and a video of the event. Read more →