Lakeland Local will televise tonight's City of Lakeland eTown Hall Meeting. Through the Net and on TV, the city is hoping to attract viewers who aren't usually able to make Commission meetings downtown at City Hall.
City Commissioner Justin Troller has been on the job for two years. Long enough to see the need for some changes to the biweekly City Commission Regular Meeting. At this morning’s biweekly commission regular meeting agenda study, Troller asked why the Friday studies weren’t televised. Many of the staff and some commissioners were preparing to [...]
On April 20, 1992, Gow Fields took his seat as the appointed Lakeland city commissioner representing the Northwest District. Recommended for the position by the departing commissioner, Fields appointment was challenged by a group of area ministers and citizens. The group wanted a Democrat in the Northwest seat. The city commissioners stood firm with their [...]
Assuming a candidate doesn’t drop out of the race today — and it is possible with the way things have been in the Southeast District these last few months — Lakeland is having an election tomorrow. The polls are open 7am to 7pm, and three precincts are in a new location. So check the precinct [...]
Seth McKeelAfter including Seth McKeel in my Friday night callout of local conservative politicos concerning their spiritual leader El Rushbo, I’m going to praise him today. You may know this already, but McKeel has begun to write over at Metro I4 News. He’s focusing on questions of regionalism. I’ve already asked him a couple of [...]
This morning Don Selvage will be sworn-in as the City Commissioner representing Lakeland's Southwest District. Lakeland Local recently sat down with Selvage to hear his thoughts before taking office...
At today’s city commission meeting, after much public comment and a spirited discussion, the commissioners voted against the conditional approval of a hookah bar in downtown Lakeland. However, after a long recess and the Utility Committee meeting, Commissoner Edie Yates asked for additional discussion on the issue. The commissioners then voted to approve the hookah [...]
Yesterday, United States Postal Service (USPS) officials released their current list of stations and branches under review for closing (pdf). Once slated for closing, the Dixieland Post Office has been removed from consolidation consideration. In recent weeks, Lakeland residents had signed a petition to save the branch. In their press release, the USPS did not address why specific branches were off the list. At the start of the process, the USPS examined approximately 3,300 branches. As of December 14, 2009, 170 branches are now part of the USPS "Station/Branch Optimization/Consolidation (SBOC) Initiative." photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local
The City of Lakeland Canvassing Board will convene 8:30 am Friday at Election Headquarters in Bartow to conduct a manual audit of the voting system. The audit is required by Florida Statute 101.591: Immediately following the certification of each election, the county canvassing board or the local board responsible for certifying the election shall conduct a manual audit of the voting systems used in randomly selected precincts. 101.591 The statute clearly explains the requirements of the Canvassing Board: The audit shall consist of a public manual tally of the votes cast in one randomly selected race that appears on the ballot. The tally sheet shall include election-day, absentee, early voting, provisional, and overseas ballots, in at least 1 percent but no more than 2 percent of the precincts chosen at random by the county canvassing board or the local board responsible for certifying the election. The Canvassing Board will send a report to the Florida Department of State detailing the accuracy of the vote and listing any problems or discrepancies. Any person planing to appeal their decision needs a detailed record of the proceedings. Complete press release below:
Inside find a scrollable spreadsheet of the election results from last night, and a few tidbits of curious information...
Here is the candidate slate for tomorrow's election: • Mayor Elliott Dorsch Gow B. Fields Jim Verplanck • Northwest District A Clarence B. Grier Sr. Ricky Shirah Phillip Walker • Southwest District C Michael Dunn Donald Selvage • At Large Seat #1 Rusty Boedicker Howard Wiggs • Find your voting precinct. Here is the sample ballot (pdf) Current Voter Registration Statistics Note:Southeast District D race has been moved to December 8, 2009.
Two Lakeland residents have filed to run in the special election for the District D (Southeast) City Commission. They will face off in the December 8th special election against incumbent Edie Yates. Election code called for the special election when candidate Edit Yates was left unopposed when James Goetz withdrew from the race. Their names and more inside...
Lakeland Local reported last night that James Goetz had withdrew his candidacy for the District D Lakeland city commissioner. By doing so, he left current commissioner Edie Yates as the only candidate for the office. Looking at the City of Lakeland Municipal Code, it appears that will force the city to reopen qualifying for the race. Looking at Section 30-31 of the code, it appears the city must call for a special election no earlier than December 13, 2009 and no later than January 12, 2010. A new qualifying period must end 46 days before the election. December 13th is a Sunday. If the city chooses December 15th for the election, then qualifying would end October 30th. If no one qualifies by that date, than Yates would be unopposed. (Read the pertinent code inside.)
Posting on his Facebook account this evening, James Goetz made the following announcement: For the health and well being of my family, friends and self, I pulled out of the race today. It deeply saddens me to have to do so. However tomorrow the sun will come up and a new day will begin. I thank you all for your support and confidence. At this point, it has been not confirmed that Goetz filed the necessary paperwork to officially end his campaign for the commission seat. More information will be posted here as it becomes available. Update: (10/14 at 2:30 am): The Ledger has published that Goetz officially withdrew: Goetz, as the city's procedure requires, gave a signed note to City Clerk Kelly Koos to quit the race. "At this time, I will be withdrawing from the 2009 District D city commissioner election," the note said. District D covers the southeastern part of the city.
Last week the Downtown Lakeland Partnership held their annual "State of Downtown" luncheon. The Ledger's Rachel Pleasant filed the story. I was there, but didn't cover the meeting. I was doing a little work for DLP. For those who may have missed the luncheon, inside I have a few snapshots, the video part of the presentation by Tamara Sakagawa (community redevelopment agency manager for the City of Lakeland), and a link to PDF of the brochure that formed the hub of her presentation.
Bio: The short line? Father, husband, writer. My online presence is primarily through as the editor, writer, and occasional photographer for the news sites, Lakeland Local, a sampling of the news, concerns, and events for Lakeland, Florida, and Metro i4 News, which covers the Interstate 4 corridor in Central Florida. Both sites feature the work of myself and other contributors. As a hobby, I manage a forum and some web sites that feature a pulp fiction series written by Lester Dent -- Doc Savage Organized, Doc Savage Info, and Flearun.