I am a lifelong Republican who has been very active in our local party, including as founding president of the Sarasota County Young Republican Club and a member for many years of the Sarasota County Republican Executive Committee. However, I cannot support the candidates for County Commission who prevailed in the recent Republican primaries, on the strength of huge financial contributions from development interests. If they win, we face loss of the quality of life which attracted many of us to our community, by unrestrained urban sprawl, traffic congestion, reduction of protections for neighborhoods and the environment, tax hikes by refusing to make growth pay its own way. There would even, for the first time, be the potential unanimous vote by the County Commission required by our Charter to move the Urban Service Boundary, perhaps far east. Those candidates are not their own men, but are beholden to those who recruited them and are bankrolling their election, as reflected in their voting records as a City Commissioner and Planning Commissioner as well as their statements during the campaign. Instead, I join with the Board of Directors of Control Growth Now in enthusiastically endorsing No Party Affiliation (Independent) candidate Alexandra Coe and Democrat Ray Porter for the two County Commission seats on the ballot November 4. Alex is a three year member of the Control Growth Now Board of Directors, a 20-year resident of Sarasota County, a former Mrs. Sarasota and an anthropologist who believes agriculture should be an important part of our economy rather than just a holding place for urban sprawl. Ray is Communications Director of the Sarasota Association of Realtors and a former local journalist for many years, a 34-year resident who opposes the gutting of the Sarasota 2050 Plan and believes instead in steady and sustainable growth that protects the environment and our quality of life. Alex and Ray urgently need your support, to have a chance of prevailing against the big developers political machine. Please go to their web pages, learn more about them if you like, donate online to their campaigns (any amount will be welcomed, up to the $200 limit each), and if you like volunteer for signs and other help. Go to: Elect Alexandra Coe Ray Porter for County Commission Also, please be sure to vote, and to urge other local residents to do so also! To vote by mail, find our your precinct or register to vote, visit this website: Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections. Thank you very much for your important consideration and action in this crucial election. Dan Lobeck President, Control Growth Now
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 12:36:19 +0000
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