Action Center

Local Government Committee

Chairs: Andrea Kobrin & Michele Levy

Members: Ann Hellmuth, Sandra Powers, Jean Siegfried, Jeannine Walsh, Fran Pignone, Pat Schwartz, Adrienne Katz Katz, Caroline Emmons-Schramm, Carol Davis, Rhonda Doyle

Goals:    

1. To utilize the citizen input process
2. To monitor Orange Co. Gov. via the Observer Corps
3. To monitor and support ethical behavior in local governments
4. To promote government in the sunshine
5. To influence the charter process in local government

Meetings: Held once a month on the last Thursday of the month from 11:30 to 1. Bring your lunch.
Meetings are held in Winter Park at the Rollins Philanthropy Center.

Please join us and have your voice heard by our local elected officials.

Join LWVOC's Observer Corps
and attend meetings of the BCC, Redistricting Committee or Charter Review Commission at the County Administration Building in downtown Orlando. Click here to download an Observer Corps form to submit report for the Voter and website.

LWVOC Local Government Positions

Please contact Andrea Kobrin or Michele Levy if you are interested in joining the Local Government Committee to work further on local government issues.

CONTACT:

Michele Levy
407-375-1906
mrlevy@cfl.rr.com

Andrea Kobrin
407-647-5912
lulubelle@cfl.rr.com

Remarks before Orange County Board of County Commissioners - Public Comment, May 29, 2010
Michele Levy, Local Government Committee on revisions of Ethics Ordinance

Good afternoon.  My name is Michelle Levy and I am Co-Chair of the Local Government Committee of the League of Women Voters of Orange County.  Thank you for this opportunity to speak.

 As you know, the League was at the forefront in supported of the 2008 amendments addressing ethics and lobbying activities, which Orange County citizens passed overwhelmingly.

The League would like to commend the Board of County Commissioners for acting so promptly to amend the Orange County ethics ordinances to comply with   the legislation passed by the Florida Legislature in the 2010 Session, which granted exemption from the Sunshine Law for ethics complaints, until probable cause has been established. This is quick work for a government body, and we thank you.

 We hope that these amendments are only the first in implementing other recommendations made by the Ethics and Campaign Finance Task Force and supported by the League.

The League would like to add our support for the timely appointment of a County Ethics Officer, the development of a curriculum for ethics and procedural training, and the establishment of the Ethics Advisory Board.

Thank you.

Memo from County Attorney re Ethics Ordinance, June 18, 2010

Observer Corps: LINKS OF INTEREST

The Observer Corps
Charter Review Commission
June 9, 2011

Orange County Board of County Commissioners meetings:
http://www.orangecountyfl.net/cms/GOVERN/meetingsPN/BCC/default.htm

The Observer Corps: Report on Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority meeting - Aug. 26, 2009
By Jean Siegfried

Excerpted findings and recommendations
from the Governance Audit of the Expressway Authority
Read the full report

Q&A with Expressway Authority's Mike Snyder

The Observer Corps: Pignone Says XWay Chief Should Be Fired
But citizens' panel refuses to back her proposals
By Ann Hellmuth

The Observer Corps: Pignone Drops Bombshell
Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority
Citizens Advisory Committee - June 16, 2009

Chairman Dan Webster was beginning to wind things down when Fran Pignone dropped her bombshell that the road-agency's entire $2.2 billion debt load was tied up in a risky variable-rate bond deal that could end up costing $100 million to fix things.

The story made the front page of Wednesday's Orlando Sentinel and Taking Names columnist Scott Maxwell also weighed in. Read their reports

Toll agency borrowed $1 billion at variable interest rates -- that are now soaring
A member of the blue-ribbon panel investigating the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority thinks the rising cost of its bond debt helped drive the agency to raise tolls earlier this year. The agency denies there's a connection.
David Damron
June 17, 2009, Orlando Sentinel

X-way plays risk -- guess who will lose?
Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority has almost half its debt tied up in swap bond deals and nobody seems to care.
Scott Maxwell | TAKING NAMES
June 17, 2009, Orlando Sentinel

The Observer Corps:
Citizens' Panel on Xway
Authority Gets to Work
report from May 19th meeting

Report from May 5th meeting:
Citizens' Advisory Committee
O-O Expressway Authority
By Ann Hellmuth