Polk County Commission Candidates Field Questions at Forum

Priorities: Hall said his top two priorities were infrastructure and the preservation of environmental lands. He applauded Polk County voters who approved a .2 mil tax (20 cents per $1,000 of taxable property) to buy and protect sensitive lands.

Hall demonstrated his knowledge about regional cooperation by discussing the Polk Regional Water Cooperative, the lead planning panel for Polk County’s future water supply needs, the Ridge League of Cities, a cooperative among the county’s 17 municipalities, and the Mayor’s Roundtable — all of which have unified the county’s various governmental entities.

“They sit in meetings and they talk to each other,” Hall said.  “So I think that it has started. It’s going to be up to us to keep that initiative moving forward.”

Development: He mentioned that the county can’t legally prevent people from developing their properties as long as they are adhering to the Florida Comprehensive Plan and the Polk County Comprehensive Plan.

“And we wouldn’t want it any other way … Owning property is one of the things, if not the major thing, that differentiates us from the rest of the world. We can own property, and we can do (with) that property what we wish, so long as we stay within the confines of the rules that have been set up,” Hall said. “We elect those people that are setting up the rules. And if we don’t like the rules, let’s elect someone else and change the rules.”

But he added that some level of government owns or controls a third of the land in Polk County, rendering it undevelopable.

Infrastructure bill: The tremendous growth Polk County has seen in recent years, rendering it the fastest-growing area in the country, has contributed to crowded roads and burdened utilities and infrastructure. And that has left longtime residents angry, wanting the developers who have built thousands of homes in the last decade to pay for wider roads, sidewalks, upgraded water and sewer pipes, and increased public transportation.  

“You can’t charge developers right now to fix the sins of the past,” Hall said. “That’s just not legal … We do charge impact fees … it’s one of those things that we’ll use to pay for some infrastructure improvements, for those things that are happening right now.” He added that the county recently reviewed its fees and will be raising them soon to keep up with the actual costs of infrastructure.

Home rule: He said he would defend Polk County’s right to home rule and fend off state efforts to micromanage. He and his father have a ranch and raise cattle, running about 80 to 85 head.

“Everyone’s right should be preserved to live the way they want to, and the best way to do that is Home Rule,” Hall said. “Government closest to the people is the best government.”

Ethics: Hall said “ethics is high on my list of things you need to have,” and said transparency in government is important. However, some people on social media criticized both Hall’s work as the owner of a property management company and his role, alongside his son Jonathan Hall, as a consultant to the company that is building an “infill development project” on the site of the former Wedgewood Golf Course.

Hall owns Polk Community Association Management Inc., which manages about 20 homeowner and condominium associations. He said he was hired by the developer of Morgan Creek Preserve to manage the community association prior to the handover to residents.

The relationship between the residents and developer was adversarial and there were allegations of conflict of interest and mishandling of funds, as well as a lawsuit. However, Hall said all of those were thoroughly investigated by numerous levels of government and, “they were totally unfounded and dismissed at every level.” He added that he stopped managing Morgan Creek’s association in February 2021.

Smart growth: The plan to build homes on the former Wedgewood Golf Course has upset many residents, but Hall noted that the golf course was not financially feasible. The land was sold to a developer, who hired Hall and his son as project managers.

Hall said many Polk County residents oppose development of any kind, but growth is inevitable. The most officials can do is try to guide it and prevent sprawl. Hall said the developer who bought the Wedgewood property could have built 1,600 homes without going to the city’s Planning and Zoning board. However, the existing zoning wasn’t the best use of the land because it had high-density parcels near single-family homes and lower-density parcels near apartments.

During the zoning review process, the scale of the development called Gibson Trails was decreased and the developer committed to preserve lots of green space, including adding a 15-foot multiuse trail through the property.

Hall said it’s a good example of smart growth and building where infrastructure already exists, instead of paving over cow pastures.

Priorities: Scott said infrastructure and public safety are two givens that are at the top of his list. He said smart growth can occur by building where there is “infill opportunity” in already developed areas.

“Where there’s green pastures and no infrastructure, let’s not put a development there, and then two years later, four line the highway so we can get there,” Scott said.

Quality of life: But he also talked about quality of life in Polk County. 

“How do I maintain a quality of life that’s attractive to our current residents, and how do we maintain a quality of life that’s attractive to future residents?” Scott said.

He recalled his son playing baseball in Lakeland’s Peterson Park, which he described as well-maintained.

But then they went to the county park closest to their home in north Lakeland.

“There were literally fire ants between first base and second base and that is substandard,” he said.

Teacher pay: Scott said he would be in favor of putting a referendum on the ballot so voters could decide on a small, additional property tax that would be earmarked to increase teachers’ salaries. His wife has worked as a public school teacher in a low-income neighborhood.

“I don’t want us to be number 57 out of 65 on the reading scores … That’s unacceptable,” Scott said “But we can do better, and by understanding what we can do to fund the areas that need more budget. If that’s facilities, if it’s staff, if it’s support staff, if it’s specialty education teachers, then we need to provide budget for that. So I certainly want to evaluate that, and I would support that.”

He also discussed the importance of feeding needy children, recalling watching children arrive at school in the morning.

“One of the saddest things was seeing kids so excited to get to school and run to the lunchroom because they hadn’t eaten since the day before,” Scott said. “I saw it impact so many kids. How can they get the best education — even if we’re offering it — if they’re hungry at school?”

Water issues: He is also concerned about water issues facing the county, saying the county simply can’t sustain the water supply if growth continues at the same pace.

“How long can we sustain that? It’s a finite resource,” Scott said. “So we have to do our best as a county, in my opinion, as a commissioner, to direct and lead the residents to conserve. That’s really one of the biggest efforts that we can put forth as a community to help ourselves in the future and our future generations. It’s not how can we get more, but how can we conserve?”

Ethics: On the question of ethics, Scott said that as a licensed engineer, he has a code of ethics that he has to follow.  When designing bridges or buildings, when engineers shirked their ethical responsibilities, people lost their lives.

“As a professional engineer, we make decisions that can either have people afford a better quality of life, or we can literally make decisions that kill people,” he said. “Oftentimes, when we look at the case studies of those failures, the breakdown was an ethics of that engineer, or ethics within the team. They were pressured, either by time, by project, by budget, there was some reason that that failure occurred, and that’s not okay.”

Lakeland resident: Several people have been puzzled about a Jensen Beach address listed in Scott’s campaign finance report under a donation he had made to his campaign. He explained on Wednesday that the Jensen Beach address is his campaign treasurer’s address and that he lives in a home off Park Byrd Road in north Lakeland. A search of the Polk County Property Appraiser’s website confirmed that.

Priorities: Shirah said it’s not just the roads and infrastructure that are strained under the weight of unprecedented growth; Polk County is working at figuring out other water sources.

“Winter Haven sells water to Haines City — who would’ve ever thought that I’d see that in my lifetime?” Shirah asked. “Dundee put a moratorium on building because of water.”

According to The Ledger, Dundee is actually considering the moratorium, with about 20 proposed housing developments currently in various stages of the approval process. Those projects would add more than 5,000 housing units to the town’s 6,000 residents and would double its water usage.

“The infrastructure is definitely not in place, it needs to be in place,” he said. “We just can’t handle what has been going on in the past.”

Home prices: Shirah said the growth is also overburdening renters and people trying to buy homes as national corporations buy homes to rent out or use as Air B&Bs close to the theme parks and that is artificially inflating prices.

“What is affordable housing anymore?” Shirah asked. “What was affordable three years ago is not affordable today. My youngest son bought a home the other day and, my goodness, it takes all he can do to get by.”

Ethics: On the question of ethics, Shirah said he has seen commissioners recuse themselves from votes because of a conflict of interest, but then argue in favor of their position to sway other commissioners.

“I have seen things at the County Commission and I would sit there and shake my head,” Shirah said. “The good ol’ boy system has been alive and well at the County Commission over the years, and I’m telling you that needs to change. You need somebody with common sense that’s going to go in there and represent the community, work for the people, and do it right, and answer to them.”

Undocumented workers: But Shirah had a slight gaffe when talking about diversity, equity and inclusion. He recalled the workers who once installed a roof for him.

“I would love to see it easier for some of these undocumented to come in here to get a pathway to citizenship,” Shirah said. “They’re some of the hardest working people I know. They came in one time and started on a roof of mine at six o’clock in the morning. That evening, they were finished. And my goodness, so yes. But I still believe, no matter what color you are, if you apply for something and you’re the most qualified, you should be able to get the job.”

Priorities: Price said the infrastructure simply can’t keep pace with the building that is happening in southwest Lakeland.

“If we don’t deal with that in the next two to three years, we’re going g to have serious consequences,” Price said. “We’re not lacking in planning, were lacking in implementation of infrastructure.”

Community input: She encouraged everyone in the audience to go on the county’s website and offer ideas on the comprehensive plan, which is undergoing revisions.

“Whoever you elect this election is going to sign off on that,” she noted, saying the plan needs to be tweaked because it hadn’t really been touched substantially in decades. “We have the opportunity to do just that, to come to something that agree on, that we all can live with, and that can actually make a difference to where we’re not trying to play catch up.”

She said one thing that needs to be done is to ensure developers are held accountable.

“I think that there’s a misconception that holding development accountability standards to a certain level and being a good neighbor are mutually exclusive, and they’re not,” Prioce said. “We can absolutely have both.”

Water: She also noted that development is impacting water. She gestured toward the picture windows in The Well, looking out onto Parker Street, as the rain poured down in sheets.

“It’s not something, especially when it’s raining like this, that we think of,” she said. “We’re not going to be able to recharge the aquifer when everything is paved over.”

Ethics: Her strongest statement of the evening was on the topic of ethics, saying the people deserve completely transparency from elected officials.

“I wholeheartedly believe if we are not completely transparent with the people that we represent, that we have absolutely no business being in a position like County Commission,” Price said. “The ethics is, for me, personally, is just a way of life.”

Priorities: Fields said his two biggest priorities would be protecting property rights and providing excellent customer service every day.

Moore asked Fields how he would ensure public access to public records and validation information while protecting against cyber-attacks if he were elected to the office.

Fields responded that he would simply follow the law because public records requests have to be honored.

“I will make sure that people believe that they’re getting served well by the office, and we’re getting them the information they believe they need, either for their business, for their family, or their real estate investor, or they’re representing a local government,” Fields said without touching on the cyber-security part of the question.

Criticism from Combee: Combee, with a 25-year elected career as a county commissioner and state representative, posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, addressing the employees of the property appraiser’s office.

“I made the decision early on that I would not attempt to involve the good men and women who work in the P. A. Office. I did not want the employees to feel pressured by me to get on board with my campaign,” Combee wrote.

“As far as I am concerned, and I know many will agree, being paraded around the workplace during office hours would be unethical and, moreover, very unfair for the employees who are there working for the taxpayers,” he wrote. “What are they supposed to say or do with the boss leading the hand-picked successor around from station to station? How are the employees supposed to act after that with more than a (month) until the election? Very unfair to put employees in fear of losing their job if they don’t ‘toe the line.’”