Letter: Thoughts on county commission candidates and ballot measures

A couple of days ago, Len Cabrera wrote a very accurate article in the Alachua Chronicle describing how ignorance and laziness lead to a cult of incompetence in local government. I wonder if he should have included corruption, lack of ethics, and integrity.
The Sun recently ran articles about the candidates seeking commissioner seats in this election. They quote candidates on their positions on various topics, which prompted me to think a reply was appropriate.
Commission Chair Marihelen Wheeler
Current County Commission Chair Wheeler touted some of her accomplishments as a commissioner, which included her work on tourism issues, citing the transfer (sale) of the Canoe Outpost in High Springs to the City. I’m not sure what part she played in making that happen, but I do know the property sold for $600,000 but the records in the County Appraiser’s Office show it sold for $400,000. More on that below.
What Mrs. Wheeler didn’t mention was her special relationship with the Canoe Outpost. Mrs. Wheeler is running for reelection in District 2, and a candidate for office must be a resident of the district in which they are running. In 2018, Mrs. Wheeler decided to run for commissioner from District 2 but she had been residing in District 4 for about 30 years. What to do? She could have run out and bought a house in District 2 to give her cover, which she has since done. But at that time she did not. Instead, she winged it.
The records at the Supervisor of Elections office show that 10 days before the election, she changed her voter registration address to this one in District 2: 21410 N US Highway 441, High Springs, which just happens to be the address of the Canoe Outpost.
Property records do show the building at that address has 2 bedrooms and a bath but no heating or air conditioning. Changing an address does not de facto change residence. One has to consider whether that meets the court standards that she intended that to be her permanent residence, with no intent of removing therefrom. And she has to be able to prove that.
Did she ever spend the night there? Does she have any proof of residency? Can a commercial business even be claimed as a permanent residence? It can’t be claimed as a homestead. It is my opinion that she was elected illegally because she was not a resident of District 2. What do you think?
She knew she was never going to live there, so the change of address was a subterfuge to hide her cheating ways, hoping that nobody would check and if they did, the address would throw them off. Unfortunately, nobody did until now, but she could still be removed from office if the proper authorities in Tallahassee got moving. She should face the same outcome as Mary Alford, another commissioner illegally elected due to residence issues. That is, she should resign or be removed and replaced.
Oh, and one other thing: the records at the Supervisor of Elections office show that she voted from District 4 in 2018. How do you run in District 2 and vote in District 4?
Is this the kind of person you trust to make decisions that will affect your life, someone who makes rules for you but exempts herself? If you don’t think so, maybe you shouldn’t vote for her.
As noted above, the property records and the actual price paid by High Springs for the Canoe Outpost have a difference of $200k. It has been reported that most of the remainder came from Wild Spaces and Public Places, which taxpayers have been funding with a half-cent sales tax for a long time and is up for renewal in the November election. The fund may do some good things, but it also lends itself to abuse and political influence to direct money to friends (Canoe Outpost?) at the same time.
Using the name Wild Spaces and Public Places gives it a veneer of something good. Your immediate gut response is that it’s good because it involves conservation, green spaces, and other public projects. Sadly, not all things that can be lumped under those nice-sounding categories are in fact good. It’s not good if it doesn’t achieve the stated objectives. It’s not good if it’s used as someone’s little slush fund. It’s not good if used for individuals’ personal pet projects or to reward friends. We pay the tax, but you and I have no say in how the money is spent. Sometimes it buys land the County does not need and takes it off the tax rolls and then requires money for maintenance. Is that good? Nice-sounding name and wonderful statement of purpose, but not a good deal for taxpayers. Much of what it does should actually be covered by the exorbitant property taxes we pay.
Property taxes and roads
In his interview, Ken Cornell, county commissioner from District 4, said he is proud of how the property tax rate has been reduced in each of the 8 years he has served as a commissioner. Guess what, if you reduce the rate but the value of the property goes up, where do you end up? Reducing the rate doesn’t mean you pay less. That’s just playing word games. For instance, my taxes went up substantially from 2019 to 2020. Then from 2020 to 2021, I did get a reduction – $10, woohoo. But if the proposed tax for 2022 is approved, my tax bill will increase by $184.00. Thanks, Ken – great job. That rate stuff is working great!
Commissioner Cornell also addressed the poor condition of our roads, which he says was decades in the making. I have to agree that our roads are in very poor condition and have been deteriorating for a long time – “neglected” is what they call that. But whose fault is it that it was decades in the making? Didn’t we have commissioners (almost all Democrats) and sky-high property taxes for decades? Wasn’t Commissioner Cornell a commissioner for most of the last decade? Commissioner Chestnut has been a commissioner since 2012. Now all of a sudden they are going to fix things but with a catch – a sales tax increase. Where are my sky-high property tax dollars going? They should be adequate to take care of the roads. In most places, roads are budget items paid for with normal property taxes, not special taxes.
One Percent Sales Tax
On the ballot you will see a referendum to raise the sales tax by one cent. In theory, though not stated, half will go to Wild Places Public Spaces (renew the current tax), which I discussed above, and half “to repair roads and improve road safety, construct and renovate fire stations and other public facilities and acquire lands for affordable housing.” It also says there will be citizen oversight – yeah, right.
Commissioner Cornell and three other commissioners support the referendum. Again, I ask, why isn’t my exorbitant property tax covering these things? Mismanagement is the only thing I can think of. The county has a spending problem, not an income problem. I lived in Marion County for many years on the same size property, with the same size house and roughly the same outbuildings, but my property tax is almost three times higher in Alachua County, with no additional benefit.
The issue of “affordable housing” is another whole separate discussion. What is affordable housing? Yes, there is some definition provided by the government but the term is cover for what they really mean, and that is “subsidized housing.” That comes in at least two varieties. One is taking one person’s money (taxes) to pay for another person’s housing needs. I think that would include the County acquiring land. Are they going to build the houses, too, maybe sell them at a loss or maybe become landlords where rent doesn’t cover upkeep? The other type consists of sweetheart deals with developers that allow them to construct much more than normally allowed in return for some number of units being priced as “affordable,” whether that is for rent or purchase. Affordable housing is just another government-run, sound-good, feel-good program that in the end will not be cost-effective and not actually achieve the lofty objectives its proponents project.
The only plus to a sales tax is that everybody that buys something pays it, unlike property taxes, which only property owners pay. With property taxes, many people get a free ride since all the schools, infrastructure, and a multitude of other things are covered by somebody else. Maybe we need to reduce property taxes and jack up the sales tax so everybody can feel good about paying their fair share.
I recommend you vote against the one cent sales tax.
Single-Member Districts
The final item I’ll discuss is the referendum for single-member district voting that will be on the November ballot. For those that don’t know, it would require voters to vote only for the candidates running for county commission in their district. As it stands now, the county has at-large voting, so somebody in one district gets to select the commissioners from other districts.
Because of the voting demographics and district boundaries, this allows one party (Democrats) to maintain total control over who gets elected as commissioners, and it applies to the school board members, too. There are rare exceptions–I think there are only two non-Democrats on local elected boards. They are Commissioner Raemi Eagle-Glenn, who is only there because she was appointed by the governor after then-commissioner Mary Alford was forced to resign for violating the laws about residency for elected officials, and Mildred Russell, who was appointed to replace Diyonne McGraw after she was removed by the governor, also for violating residency requirements. Some have loudly screamed that DeSantis should not have appointed Russell because the school board is non-partisan. Anybody who believes that is an idiot. Politics plays as big a role there as in the commissioner races. As for other elected positions, there is no other option but at-large voting, so those positions will inevitably be held by the majority party. The City of Gainesville has a split system – four single-member-district commissioners, two at-large commissioners, and a mayor elected at-large.
As a note, Mary Alford has moved to the proper district and is running to be elected in November. Diyonne McGraw’s district was redrawn to place her in the desired district, and she was reelected to the school board in August. Think about it – two people who lost their jobs for violating the law–and one has been reelected and the other has a very good chance to be, with at-large voting. See how that works? You can get caught violating the law but then thumb your nose at it because at-large voting will ensure you get your job back.
Wheeler, Cornell, and two of the other three commissioners are adamantly against single-member district voting for obvious reasons. They will throw out a bunch of baloney about the Charter, and they will deceitfully play the race card, among other bogus arguments, but it’s really all about power and ego. Wheeler is a great example – lived in District 4 but got elected in District 2 because of at-large voting and will likely get elected again. That would probably not have happened with single-member district voting. At-large voting is just another way to rig elections for whichever party has the majority–what I have said applies to Republican strongholds, too.
I recommend you vote for single-member district voting.
Greg Parsons, Alachua
The opinions expressed by letter or opinion writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AlachuaChronicle.com. Letters may be submitted to info@alachuachronicle.com and are published at the discretion of the editor.
Facts, facts, and more facts! Great piece Mr. Parsons (Greg)!!!
You are spot on about a lack of integrity on the part of Wheeler and Alford! They laugh their crimes off as “silly mistakes”, “simple misunderstandings” and expect everyone to believe them, because they said so! BS! They should not be allowed to run for any public office. Ms. D. McGraw is another sad case of GNV city influence on the rest of the county. I feel so sorry for ACPS students and employees who will deal with the new/old face of the ACPS School Board!
No new taxes! Each citizen must work with their personal budget and we don’t have anyone to strong arm for additional funds, unlike what the current AC BOCC does (minus Ms. Eagle-Glenn)! We need an AC BOCC who is willing to work within a set budget and prioritize spending based on doing the most good for the majority of constituents, not donors and interest groups!
Single-Member Districts would be the best thing to happen in AC since I moved here! Vote Yes to having at least 1member of the AC BOCC answerable to you and your neighbors! Currently, if you live outside GNV city limits, you have NO REPRESENTATION and that will continue if voters don’t wake up and realize the need to vote for the candidates who will actually do good things for the majority of constituents (again, same as managing a budget above), not donors, interest groups, and of course their own pet projects!
There is already a gas tax in AC! We don’t need another one, we need the AC BOCC to spend gas tax money on infrastructure, and not siphon it off to the General Fund. The AC Public Works Director informed us months ago that much of the gas tax is being used for “future capacity”??? Sorry, but the future is here, Alachua County roads are unsafe in many places, but drive around the county and you will see the difference as you enter some of the municipal areas on county roads like Micanopy! Cornell professes he has been working on improving roads for years, that is BS! Wheeler and Alford now say similar things in front of the press/camera! They are all lying and will NEVER fix a road, or create additional capacity, outside GNV city limits! VOTE ALL THREE OUT!
Unfortunately, many in Alachua County will vote Democratic because they either don’t bother to look at the candidates, or they simply have been programmed to vote Democrat! Additionally, there are more than enough Independent voters in AC to effect a change on 8 November, but if they are not prodded to the voting booth, we will continue with the crap we have now!
Thanks for your letter calling out the failures regarding the election processes within Alachua County. Hopefully readers will read it, digest it and have an understanding of said failures.
Just maybe, the voters will recognize the wolves masquerading as sheep whose only goal is to maintain control over every aspect of their lives.
At least more facts are out in the open, and people can choose to either vote for known sorry pieces of crap or flush them down the toilet finally.
well written and accurate…oh the games the illegal candidates play…and get away with it…usually!
I thank you for shedding some real sunshine on the real doings of our elected representatives.The County Comissioners 90,000 plus annual salary , is a stong incentive to do whatever it takes to keep the checks coming.
Wow!!! That was EXCELLENT! I am going to share that on my facebook and hope that it will reach some more people that way, and I encourage others to share this in its entirety, or to read and be well armed to discuss these issues with those we are in contact with in the next 12 days.
trust you – send Diana and I your recommendations
Quick Fraud McGraw and Mary Moneybags Alford owe Alachua County taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars for their salaries while in office illegally. Who is prosocuting them ? Mini Kenny Bosshart Cornell?