Letter: Walt Boyer announces candidacy for City of Newberry Commission Group 3
It is with deep gratitude and a humble heart that I announce my run for City of Newberry Commission Group 3 seat to represent the incredible citizens of Newberry.
Let me start by saying that I love Newberry and our community. Many of you know me from Space Walk of Gainesville, and you know that I do not let you down when you need a bounce house or waterslide for your child’s birthday party. As a small business owner, I try to give back by donating what I can for our community and school events.
As a small business owner, I recognize that we need to increase the economic growth of our city by getting more businesses to come to Newberry to offset the residential growth. We need jobs here for our youth and would ask our local business owners to act as mentors for our youth. I want to prevent our wonderful city from being just “that bedroom community for the City of Gainesville.”
I am a firm believer in personal property rights and believe that our property owners should be able to make non-structural improvements/repairs to their property without having to ask the city for permission. We already never truly own our property due to property taxes, and at present, we cannot even perform nonstructural improvements or repairs without city permission. I feel this needs to be addressed.
As a very strong supporter of our First Responders and veteran community, I am grateful to be able to express that appreciation through my business.
Having been involved with our city government and Commission for at least the past six years, I have been a member of our Planning and Zoning Board and Historic Architectural Review committee for three years, with almost two years as Chair on both. I was a member of our last Charter Review committee, and I am a member of Newberry Main Street Organization. As an active member in our community, I am proud that my efforts have helped steer the direction our city is heading.
As a citizen, I have stood in front of our commission and fought against paying into the uncapped MSTU for “enhanced services” from the previous sheriff and argued on behalf of contracting with the sheriff’s department so we could have more control over our costs. I have fought on behalf of our citizens when it comes to property rights and the spending of our tax dollars. I have stood before the County Commission and argued on behalf of municipal home rule when the County ignored the basic rights of Alachua County citizens, infrastructure spending, as well as the lack of representation on the BoCC for the western part of our county. I have existing relationships with other elected municipal officials in our county as well as our elected officials in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. These relationships can serve Newberry well if I am elected.
We have been blessed for the last 20 years to have had Monty Farnsworth as a leader and guiding light in our community. Monty has represented Newberry tirelessly on and off for 20 years, and his accomplishments have helped bring our city to where we are today. I have certainly learned from watching his example and would be deeply grateful for his mentorship.
I recognize that serving is a privilege that requires the trust of the community, and I hope that I can earn that trust from the citizens of Newberry.
Walt Boyer, Newberry
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