Important information about tomorrows voting! (from Commissioner Stuart)
Full Description:
Dear Friends,
Tomorrow, the citizens of Florida will make a monumental decision regarding the future of our state. You have probably received your sample ballot from the Orange County Supervisor of Elections' office, so you know that if you are a member of one of the major political parties, you get the chance to vote for who you want to represent your party in the upcoming presidential election. And every Orlando resident will get to vote in the Orlando mayoral race while all Floridians will have the chance to vote on the proposed property tax constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by the Florida Legislature.
Great American storyteller Louis L’Amour said, “to make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” To preserve your right to complain, please take the time to exercise your vote in the January 29th election.
John F. Kennedy said, “the ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.” So before you fill out your absentee ballot or step into the voting booth, please take time to learn about the candidates and to read some of the information that has been presented about the initiative, because the official ballot summary is rather tedious. Since the Florida Department of State does not provide voter guides informing citizens about amendments, we must rely on other entities for information.
As a city commissioner, the outcome of this amendment will certainly affect parts of my job as your elected representative. Let me express to you, regardless of the outcome of this referendum, the City of Orlando will continue to live within our budget, no matter what that budget is.
While there are many groups that have come out for and against this amendment, the websites I have found to be the most unbiased and informative are VoteSmartFlorida, http://www.votesmartflorida.org/mx/hm.asp?id=home (a non-profit, non-partisan 501 (c)(4) organization), and the Orange County Property Appraiser, http://www.ocpafl.org/.
A few of the groups’ websites that are proponents of the amendment are Associated Industries of Florida, http://www.aif.com/ (employer advocacy group), and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, http://www.flchamber.com/mx/hm.asp?id=home.
A few of the websites for groups that are opponents of the amendment are the Florida Parent Teacher Association, http://www.floridapta.org/, and Florida TaxWatch, http://www.floridataxwatch.org/ (a private, non-profit research institute).
After weighing all of the information surrounding this amendment, I urge you do what I try to do every time I vote on an issue during a council meeting, and that is to consider all points of view, but in the end, vote the way your conscience leads you. Then you will leave the voting booth knowing you made the decision that is best for you, your family, our community and our Great City!
Robert
Robert F. Stuart, Commissioner, District 3
City of Orlando
400 S. Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801
407-246-2003
Robert.Stuart@CityofOrlando.net
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