By Marvin G. Cortner

Editor

About 30 residents in Buenaventura Lakes have formed a group to organize a recall of Osceola County Commissioner John Quiñones, last re-elected in November to a four-year term.

According to Kathy Sperling, group spokesperson, dissatisfaction in local government and Quiñones' record on county issues are the reasons in general for the recall effort. Sperling said the group has already started collecting signatures for the recall petition.

In a press release, Sperling stated that four-and-a-half years ago Quiñones resigned as state representative shortly after his re-election to state office in order to run for district 2 county commissioner.

"We were disgusted when he resigned from state office to run for the commission; he really let us down,” Sperling stated, adding that the county position pays more than double that of the state representative salary. “The county has laid off numerous workers and reduced the salaries of many, but the commissioners are paid in excess of $ 70,000. A new bill in the Legislature, if passed, will allow commissioners to voluntarily reduce their pay. So far, not one commissioner, including Quiñones, has agreed to a pay reduction despite the increasing depressed state of the county."

Sperling further stated that amid the layoffs, Quiñones created a new position for an assistant, spent thousands of dollars on beautification projects while “he fires anyone who he has personal issues with, costing the county a fortune in severance pay.” Sperling said Quiñones also is “accused of demanding disbandment of an advisory committee he created when the committee began discussing their misgivings” about him.

In a phone interview Thursday morning, Sperling specifically mentioned that some residents are unhappy about the renaming of a park in BVL after the U.S. Army's 65th Infantry without first consulting residents and without consulting the county's parks advisory committee. She also said residents are angry about the lack of progress associated with a drainage project on a former golf course in the community and with problems associated with that project.

Sperling also said residents are upset that the renovation of the Robert Guevara Community center didn't result in the facility having a kitchen or being able to serve as a hurricane shelter.

In response, Quiñones said the recall group is motivated by his decision to honor American military heroes, specifically the recent renaming of a Walk-N-Sticks park after the U.S. Army's 65th Infantry, which was comprised of Puerto Ricans. Quiñones is of Puerto Rican descent.

“Their motives speak volumes about the quality and character of this group,” Quiñones said, adding that he believes the underlying reason for the recall effort is racism.

Action involving any of the projects cited by Sperling required approval by at least three of the county commissioners. In addition, commissioners have no direct authority to hire or fire county employees other than the three charter officers, which include the county attorney, county manager and commission auditor. To fire any of the charter officers requires at least three votes.

When asked about what specific grounds the group's recall effort is based, Sperling said it would fall under incompetence. Other grounds for recall, according to state statute, include: malfeasance (commission of an act that is unlawful), misfeasance (doing a lawful act in an unlawful or improper manner), neglect of duty, drunkenness, permanent inability to perform official’s duties and conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude.

A press conference called by Quiñones and others is scheduled for today at 1 p.m. to counter comments Sperling made to a Central Florida daily newspaper that some members of the 65th Infantry were “traitors” and, therefore, it was inappropriate to name the park after that military unit.

In support of the infantry unit, community activist Armando Ramirez stated in an email that those who know the real story about this military unit should be outraged and should support this effort to refute an absolutely false and racist remark.

“If we don't stop this now, we will have no respect,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez, also of Puerto Rican descent, ran against Quiñones in the 2010 election and is challenging the election in court. Ramirez lost by 50 votes.

The military unit, called the “Borinqueneers,” fought in World War 1, World War II and the Korean War. The group, which saw extensive combat during the Korean War, was started in 1899; it disbanded after the Korean War. A number of veterans who served in the regiment in the Korean War – or their descendants – live in Osceola County.