Mayor endorses Don Miers

To the editor:

I don’t normally make endorsements like this publicly. As a sitting mayor, I don’t think it’s a good practice. However, I dropped from the running in the district 4 Osceola County Commission race and I have a special interest in seeing someone get elected who will do the job with conviction as I would have done. That candidate is Don Miers.

Don has been a long time employee of the county. He served for 20 years in various capacities: stadium director, parks director, event facilities director and currently serving as sports development director. Some of his professional accomplishments have included being an intricate member of the leadership teams that opened Osceola County Stadium, the Osceola County Softball Complex and Osceola Heritage Park. Don also had oversight of all the resort tax funded facilities in Osceola County. The insight he has gained through his years in these positions and his passion for the community is what makes Don a strong candidate for county commissioner.

This year, you, the voters of district 4, saw fit to elect a long-time school board employee, Barbara Horn, to serve you on the School Board. I believe you recognized that government employees are more than fit to serve as they know the organization from the inside and this gives them an advantage when looking at the budget. You made the right choice then and you can repeat that choice in November by electing Don Miers to the County Commission.

I would be remiss if I didn’t say that his opponent couldn’t hold a candle to Don. Just examine his opponent’s record and you will know this to be true.

One last piece of information about Don: he already is a public servant. Don has been involved in many civic organizations and nonprofit agencies donating his time to serving those in need. Don’s county background and community service make him the best choice for our next commissioner for district 4.

Donna Hart
Mayor of St. Cloud

Not all are paying their fair share

To the editor:

Thank you for the informative article regarding the raise in taxes to fund the fire departments in the county. Those new taxes are not the “fees” the commissioners named them. Fees are paid by potential users according to the cost of providing the service.

The study done provided the cost numbers, but the commissioners voted to “buy down” the payments for some businesses and industries, so now we property-tax payers are helping to pay almost a million more dollars so that those businesses won’t have to pay their fair share for fire protection.

The vote you reported was a compromise, with the Kissimmee-Osceola County Chamber of Commerce wanting us individuals to pay even more so business pays less, and the commissioners who know that we individual homeowners are strapped wanted the fair share fees as reported by the study.

The head of the local chamber, Mike Horner, gave his partisan thanks to just three commissioners for their vote: Hawkins, Quiñones and Smith. However, all five compromised to come up with a solution, so I would like to extend my non-partisan thanks to all five commissioners, including Brandon Arrington and Mike Harford, who voted for more protection for the residential payers.

While we may not like this new form of taxation, we do like the fact that five elected officials were able to come up with a solution that was not what any of them wanted. At least they didn’t just say no to the people and vote the chamber line. It is good to know the art of compromise is alive and well!

If I can file an itemized tax return, I will be deducting the fire protection charge as a tax. I hope there will be no more taxes imposed, and no more disguised as “fees.” People can’t afford them.

Nancy Y. Smith
Kissimmee