County Commissioner Holland to Explain Environmentally Sensitive Lands Issue on November Ballot at Temple Beth Shalom, 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 15th

Flagler County Commissioner Milissa Holland will explain the Issue 10 “Clean Water and Environmentally Sensitive Land Preservation to be found on the county’s November 4th ballot at a public meeting to begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 15th in the sanctuary of Temple Beth Shalom, 40 Wellington Drive in Palm Coast. All are welcome to attend, there is no charge, no advance arrangements need be made. For further information and directions contact the Temple Beth Shalom office at 386-445-3006. Milissa Holland was elected to the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners in November, 2006. 

Prior to her election to the county commission, she served the community on a broad range of boards, councils, and committees. She founded the James F. Holland Foundation, named after her father who was one of the first Palm Coast City Council members. The focus of the Holland Foundation is to raise funds and initiate programs which benefit the children and youth of Flagler County through the formation of partnerships with local, state and national agencies and organizations. The Flagler County Sexual Assault Task Force, an inter-disciplinary team that is focused on promoting awareness, education, and prevention of sexual abuse, and the Holland Foundation Working Group for Special Needs Children are both umbrella entities working to accomplish the mission of their parent organization. 

In addition, Ms. Holland originated the ordinance establishing the City of Palm Coast Environmental and Beautification Committee. This group is charged with making recommendations to the Planning and Land Development Regulation Board, evaluating and recommending projects to City officials and helping to formulate environmental policies. This reflects Holland’s lifelong interest in Flagler County’s rich and varied natural resources.

She also played an active role on the Palm Coast Leisure Services Advisory Committee. One of the Committee’s major projects was to help direct the design of Linear Park in Palm Coast, a network of hiking and biking trails beneath old growth canopy.

Commissioner Holland recently received appointment to the prestigious organization 1000 Friends of Florida. This organization promotes healthy urban and natural places by wise management of growth change. It educates, advocates, negotiates and, when necessary, litigates to protect our high quality of life. It has the technical knowledge and access needed to ensure that public and private decisions lead to livable communities.

As County Commissioner, her current committee and board appointments include:
Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership
Enterprise Flagler Executive Board of Directors
Scenic A1A PRIDE Committee Liaison
University of Florida Partnership for Water, Agriculture, and Community Sustainability at Hastings Advisory Committee
Flagler County Future Committee
St. Johns River to Sea Loop
Management Advisory Group for the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTMNERR)

Milissa Holland was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1971 and moved with her family to Flagler County in 1987. She is the mother of three children and is proud to be the first woman elected County Commissioner in Flagler County.

In 1988, Flagler County initiated an Environmentally Sensitive Lands (ESL) program to use funding from voter approved ad valorem taxes to acquire environmentally sensitive lands, recreation areas and water recharge areas. 

The Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee was formed in 1989 to help the county implement the program. Since that time, the committee has determined potential land acquisitions based on their natural and cultural significance. In 2002, Flagler County voters reaffirmed the issuance of Environmentally Sensitive Lands bonds. Over 3,400 acres have been preserved as Environmentally Sensitive Lands. The Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee is continually researching potential purchases.

The Daytona News Journal, in its September 28th editorial said:

The size of Flagler County will stay the same in the next 10 to 20 years. The size of its green spaces and the water available for consumption won't. The county's population is verging on 100,000. Palm Coast alone, once its original boundaries are built out, will have 250,000 inhabitants. That doesn't include Palm Coast's growth northwest of the city and across U.S. Route 1. A county of 300,000 is in most Flagler County residents' not-so distant future.

Development is inevitable, preserving sensitive land and water isn't without an act of will by voters. Flagler in 1988 and 2002, voters approved and renewed, by wide margins, a small-property tax to raise money for land and clean water preservation. The two levies raised a combined $14.5 million. The money raised by the tax bought bonds that enable the county to borrow money immediately and make large land acquisitions.

As the money is repaid, however, the property tax falls, reducing the amount of money the county takes in every year. The 2002 levy, for example -- 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed value -- is almost half that amount now. On Nov. 4, voters will be asked to approve a new levy of 25 cents per $1,000 in assessed value to continue the land-preservation program. For a house valued at $175,000, with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the land-preservation bill in the first year would be $31. The new money would allow the county to raise up to issue bonds for up to $40 million over the next 20 years. Voters should approve the levy, on the ballot as County Referendum No. 10.

This time, the amount of money raised by the tax won't diminish, as with the 1988 and 2002 levies. The county is structuring this levy the way Volusia County set up its voter-approved ECHO and Forever funds, which are designed to protect the environment and promote culture. Those two funds established a set levy of 20 cents per $1,000 of assessed value regardless, ensuring that, as Volusia County grows, so do its environmental protection and cultural funds.

Real estate's price collapse offers an added advantage for land-preservation possibly over the next few years: The county will be in a stronger position to buy land at lower prices before the next boom (should one materialize). "Vision" is often an empty word thrown about by politicians who don't have one. In this case, the land-preservation referendum enables voters to enact their own vision for Flagler's future. It'll be a built-up one. The question is whether voters will also want it to be one balanced with green spaces and protected watersheds.

Flagler League of Women Voters Candidate Forum, October 6th at Temple Beth Shalom

The Flagler Chapter of the League of Women Voters, in its continuing efforts to create an informed and educated electorate, invites all of the county’s voters to a Candidate Forum on Monday evening, October 6th from 6:30 until 8:00 p.m. at Temple Beth Shalom, 40 Wellington Drive, one-fourth mile north of Pine Lakes Parkway in Palm Coast. All are welcome, there is no charge and no advance reservations are necessary. A variety of local and regional candidates for office, whose names will appear on the Flagler County’s November 4th ballots, have agreed to appear.  

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League’s enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels.
 
There are Leagues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, in addition to the hundreds of local Leagues nationwide. The League of Women Voters of the United States and the League of Women Voters Education Fund operate at the national level with grassroots support from state and local Leagues.
 
The League of Women Voters is strictly nonpartisan; it neither supports nor opposes candidates for office at any level of government. At the same time, the League is wholeheartedly political and works to influence policy through advocacy. It is the original grassroots citizen network, directed by the consensus of its members nationwide. 

Weary of negative, partisan politics that widen gaps between Americans, rather than bridge them, the League notes that people are looking to engage in conversations that foster consensus and unity. With a respected and trusted reputation for being unbiased and nonpartisan, the League is uniquely able to address specific community concerns and bridge political and ideological divides to find common ground. In doing so, the League of Women Voters is giving citizens a stronger voice on the most important issues of the day. 

Common wisdom says that candidate forums are a great way for constituents to hear how candidates running for a particular office feel about issues they, the constituents, care about. For the candidate, they are an opportunity to address the concerns of a particular interest group in a fair and open setting.  

Many people do not vote because they don’t feel connected to the candidates or issues at stake in an election. The planned October 6th forums will help open up the communication between candidates and their constituents and get people interested in the November 4th election. This forum hopes to improve and redirect the public and the political dialogue that has become increasingly shallow and mean-spirited. The citizens of Flagler County are all invited to help set the tone of the debate and demand a higher standard of discourse.