Kudos - Orlando area folks we're proud of

[AmIReal]

3 minutes ago, AmIReal said:

I think Mayor Demings just hired a Director of Sustainability and Resiliency although I haven't seen it announce yet.

Correction

https://newsroom.ocfl.net/media-advisories/press-releases/2019/12/mayor-demings-announces-the-selection-of-the-chief-sustainability-resilience-officer/

[nite owℓ]

3 hours ago, AmIReal said:

I hear you and I think many people may agree with you. I'm not one of them. 

If the Mayor, or any government exec, feels this is an important issue and they know the Feds and State are not doing anything, then they need/ should put someone in charge of it. The problem with making it an in-line staff position is what department and who does it report to. This type of job needs to be inter-governmental and intra-governmental. The person also needs to have authority to enact and enforce requirements- which a lower level staff person wouldn't have. In this role the person can work with and possibly help fund non-profits and privates. Getting someone of Castro's quality is a pretty good get- "Chris has been internationally recognized for his efforts; including being named the 2018 Public Official of the Year by Governing, a ‘Champions of Change' by President Barack Obama, the 'Guru of Green' by the Orlando Business Journal, the Grist 50 Fixer Award, Top 30 Under 30 sustainability professionals by GreenBiz, and formal recognition from President Bill Clinton, President Jimmy Carter, and Vice President Al Gore. "

These roles may just be trendy right now, but pretty much every top 100 city has the equivalent. In fact, I think Mayor Demings just hired a Director of Sustainability and Resiliency although I haven't seen it announce yet. As far as metrics and how to best account for success I'm not sure being anywhere near the top of green cities is needed. How about just playing catch up and not continuing to fall behind for now. But if scoring is needed I see Orlando was named a LEED Gold city this month (last I checked not many cities did that).

Again, it comes down to how important it is for the leader. The same philosophy could be used for numerous issues- economic development, homelessness, downtown development, etc..

 

 

There are existing incentives/rebates for pursuing green/LEED certification (which can easily be expanded) - it is not a requirement by the city therefore most developers can reach out to non-profits/private companies for guidance. Creating an entire dept to handle sustainability is the equivalent of creating additional useless figureheads (i.e. green in name only) because the measures the city has taken are NOMINAL at best. Until any meaningful changes are implemented, my personal opinion won't change. I suspect Orlando leads the way because the city is dedicated to building/retrofitting venues & city-owned buildings to obtain LEED certification. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, support the mechanisms that already exist without wasting tax dollars on pet projects with little ROI.

I'd rather see more effort and money dedicated to radically addressing both pedestrian safety and public transit rather than looking for ways to earn worthless recognition as a facade for being a green city. Who knows, addressing both of those issues might have a greater impact on the environment than what we're currently doing.

Edited January 13, 2020 by nite owℓ

[jack]

Is it a waste of money? Probably but every city needs this position to say they have one. Besides, having one person that is an expert can help city owned and developed projects. 

If it was created to force changes in private development, it could have been a staff level position in the planning department. The council would make changes to the land development code and the planner would enforce it. 

[AmIReal]

3 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

There are existing incentives/rebates for pursuing green/LEED certification (which can easily be expanded) - it is not a requirement by the city therefore most developers can reach out to non-profits/private companies for guidance. Creating an entire dept to handle sustainability is the equivalent of creating additional useless figureheads (i.e. green in name only) because the measures the city has taken are NOMINAL at best. Until any meaningful changes are implemented, my personal opinion won't change. I suspect Orlando leads the way because the city is dedicated to building/retrofitting venues & city-owned buildings to obtain LEED certification. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, support the mechanisms that already exist without wasting tax dollars on pet projects with little ROI.

I'd rather see more effort and money dedicated to radically addressing both pedestrian safety and public transit rather than looking for ways to earn worthless recognition as a facade for being a green city. Who knows, addressing both of those issues might have a greater impact on the environment than what we're currently doing.

Very good point and I absolutely agree we should spend more on pedestrian safety. I don't see the bifurcation in the argument though- you can have both. If you argue funding sustainability takes away from pedestrian safety you could make the same argument about the arts, or parks, or housing initiatives or even street repair and pretty much every other initiative. Each subtracts from the other in that resources are limited, but each is not directly related.

As I said before, it comes to priorities and apparently this administration has put a priority on this initiative. My guess is they don't consider the position as a "useless figurehead" and considering the favorable awards they've received I doubt they view the measures as nominal, but that's just a guess. I respect that you disagree.

Btw, how do you directly measure ROI on pretty much everything a government is intended to do? 

[HankStrong]

[spenser1058]

Terry DeCarlo, a giant in Orlando’s LGBTQ+ community, has died.

He will be greatly missed but remembered for all his efforts and successes.

Our sincerest condolences to his husband, family and friends.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-terry-decarlo-dies-cancer-lgbtq-20200128-4ny7sojdnzhrdnpymwnqjjlm44-story.html

From the Sentinel 

[spenser1058]

Mary Ann Hodel, Director of the Orange County Library System for the past 18 years, is retiring.

Ms Hodel took an effective organization and figured out how to keep it relevant in an era of instant online information and e-books.

Not only does the library continue to work well in its traditional functions but her expansion of learning programs (including things like 3-D printing) have been remarkable.

Here’s wishing a great retirement for Ms. Hodel. 

https://bungalower.com/2020/04/06/cool-job-alert-director-ceo-of-orange-county-library-system/

From Bungalower 

[HankStrong]

Kudos to Ms Hodel!  I love her work.

[spenser1058]

Mark Angelo, one of the most prolific downtown bar owners, has died at age 59.

Our condolences to his friends and family.

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/news/5191-mark-angelo-man-of-many-bar-concepts-is-dead-at-59

From Scott J 

[spenser1058]

Don Shula, longtime coach of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, has died at 90.

Mr. Shula also had restaurants in the attractions area.

More on his life and accomplishments from Scott J:

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/news/5224-don-shula-restaurateur-and-coach-dead-at-90

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

Another local first - congratulations to LaShawnda K.Jackson, the first African-American President of the Orange County Bar Association:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orange-county/os-ne-orange-county-bar-new-president-20200601-scbm5tbuozh4zgtgmq2pvnukiq-story.html

Edited June 2, 2020 by spenser1058

[nite owℓ]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Another local first - congratulations to LaShawnda K.Jackson, the first African-American President of the Orange County Bar Association:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orange-county/os-ne-orange-county-bar-new-president-20200601-scbm5tbuozh4zgtgmq2pvnukiq-story.html

"Before stepping into her new role, Jackson served on OCBA’s executive council, as well as being president of the organization’s Young Lawyers Section and a trustee of the Legal Aid Society of the OCBA."

This is what I like to see, someone who has put in the work and rose through the ranks.

Compare that to Mercado who served on a agricultural board for mangoes but feels that is enough experience for her to run for Orange County Property Appraiser. The terrible allegations against Singh deserve to be investigated and dealt with accordingly, but his replacement should at least be qualified. It's worrisome that we don't seem to have a pool of qualified candidates willing to do the job.

[spenser1058]

9 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

"Before stepping into her new role, Jackson served on OCBA’s executive council, as well as being president of the organization’s Young Lawyers Section and a trustee of the Legal Aid Society of the OCBA."

This is what I like to see, someone who has put in the work and rose through the ranks.

Compare that to Mercado who served on a agricultural board for mangoes but feels that is enough experience for her to run for Orange County Property Appraiser. The terrible allegations against Singh deserve to be investigated and dealt with accordingly, but his replacement should at least be qualified. It's worrisome that we don't seem to have a pool of qualified candidates willing to do the job.

The reality you’re ignoring is it will take a recognized name to remove Singh from office. Your uber-qualified candidate is unlikely to do it.

It’s similar to your insistence that city commissioners actually do anything in our strong-mayor system. They don’t, and they’re happy to collect their checks to rubber stamp whatever Buddy wants and smile nicely for cameras and constituents as required (although interestingly most of them were missing over the weekend for the protest/curfew press conference when a show of unity would have been valuable).

If you really want to fix the OC system and aren’t just plugging a candidate you seem to know personally, your time is much better spent eliminating those offices in the first place.

There’s absolutely no need for them. What should happen is the OC mayor should hire competent people (like your friend?) to do the job as a professional, not a politician.

As Earl K. Wood proved, the staff are the ones who run those offices even when the politician rarely  shows up for years but nevertheless collects the inflated salary.

It’s not an accident those elected positions have become largely the fiefdoms of term-limited legislators and shysters like Rick Singh and Seminole County’s tax collector.

When we do luck out and get competent people like Comptroller Phil Diamond and Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles, it is generally the exception, not the rule.

[jack]

13 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

The reality you’re ignoring is it will take a recognized name to remove Singh from office. Your uber-qualified candidate is unlikely to do it.

It’s similar to your insistence that city commissioners actually do anything in our strong-mayor system. They don’t, and they’re happy to collect their checks to rubber stamp whatever Buddy wants and smile nicely for cameras and constituents as required (although interestingly most of them were missing over the weekend for the protest/curfew press conference when a show of unity would have been valuable).

If you really want to fix the OC system and aren’t just plugging a candidate you seem to know personally, your time is much better spent eliminating those offices in the first place.

There’s absolutely no need for them. What should happen is the OC mayor should hire competent people (like your friend?) to do the job as a professional, not a politician.

As Earl K. Wood proved, the staff are the ones who run those offices even when the politician rarely  shows up for years but nevertheless collects the inflated salary.

It’s not an accident those elected positions have become largely the fiefdoms of term-limited legislators and shysters like Rick Singh and Seminole County’s tax collector.

When we do luck out and get competent people like Comptroller Phil Diamond and Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles, it is generally the exception, not the rule.

What is the old adage, put three Americans in a room and they will have an election. 

Seriously, you are right. The elected executive should have the ability to appoint all officials to form a cabinet. This applies to the state level as well. 

[spenser1058]

Longtime OC and Orlando City Commissioner Mary Johnson has died. One of the first Hispanic members, Mrs. Johnson was a progressive voice on those boards when the region was often just emerging from a reflexive conservative past.

For me, I’ll always be grateful for Commissioner Johnson’s vote to move forward with light rail, although it was ultimately doomed by Clarence Hoenstine’s last minute switch to “no”.

Condolences to her family and friends and know we’ll always be grateful for her long service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[spenser1058]

In the 55 years since Walt announced his company was coming to Florida, there’s been a lot of ebb and flow between the local community and Walt Disney World.

Sometimes there wasn’t much interaction at all. During other times, Disney’s top execs made significant impacts on what happened in town.

One of those who made an impact, particularly in the arts, was former Chairman of Walt Disney Attractions Judson Green. He passed away this week at 68. He will be missed and our condolences to his family and friends.

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/202009/7690/
 

From Theme Park Insider

Even during the times when Disney has gotten preoccupied with things on property, they have tended to interact more with the community more than other large firms like Lockheed Martin and Universal. In many cases they’ve been more hands-on than native firms like Hughes Supply. Here’s hoping for the next upswing - we really need the leadership now.

[spenser1058]

A tribute to the passing of fabulous local performer Sam Singhaus, who left us earlier this month, has been established at Lake Highland through Halloween.

Sam and his drag alter ego Miss Sammy worked endlessly to make the sandy spit of land we call home much more interesting:

https://bungalower.com/2020/10/14/rainbow-chairs-set-up-at-lake-ivanhoe-in-memory-of-local-queen/
 

From Bungalower 

[spenser1058]

Jimmy Hewitt, a successful local businessman, has died. Our sincerely condolences to his family and friends.

Jimmy was a local boy who made good who will be long remembered for talking the NBA into granting Orlando a franchise when the city wasn’t on anyone’s radar. He selflessly stepped aside when told he wasn’t quite wealthy enough to qualify as an owner in favor of Bill duPont.

It was during a “can do” period of Orlando history when any problem that needed addressing got attention. It was a time when we didn’t turn things over to out of town developers who could care less about what they did; instead, we thought long and hard about what would be best for Orlando in the long haul and how we could maintain the pride of place we’ve always had. Somehow, we’ve lost that in the last decade or so as we’ve turned everything over to folks who have no clue about what makes Orlando a special place.

Hopefully, we’ll get that backs and folks like Jimmy Hewitt remind us how it was done. May he Rest In Peace. Godspeed, Jimmy.

Jimmy “Bubba” Hewitt, Orlando Magic co-founder who died Sunday, gave us pro sports | Commentary
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/mike-bianchi-commentary/os-sp-jimmy-hewitt-magic-founder-obituary-20201129-seep5er2k5e3xlm4zom7l7zeum-story.html

From The Sentinel

[spenser1058]

Dr. Kathleen Plinske, Provost and EVP of Valencia College, has been selected to follow Sandy Shugart as the school’s next president. 

While it’s usually not a bad idea to follow the incumbent with someone from outside to bring in new ideas and fresh thinking, it’s hard to argue that Valencia (which has been named the best community college in the country in the past) is on the right path and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

The fact Dr. Plinske will be the college’s first woman president is certainly a bonus.

Congratulations!

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2020/12/18/valencia-college-new-president-kathleen-plinske.html

From OBJ

 

[spenser1058]

Sam Meiner, attorney, founder of Bubbalou’s Bodacious Barbecue Restaurant and member of one of the city’s most intriguing FFO’s,has died. He was 70.

After his grandfather’s Meiner’s PIT BBQ in Fairvilla had closed (you can only imagine the weekend crowds there), we were bereft for ‘cue for many years. Uncle Mack Meiner’s restaurant on Mills had peanut butter pie to die for but it just wasn’t the same.

Finally, in 1986, Sam had tired of the lawyer business and got back to bbq with the first Bubbalou’s in WP in an old Taco Rancho on Lee Rd. we finally got our fix.

Sam also was a part of restoring the Norment-Parry House along the Orange Ave. exit ramp of the East-West Expressway. A great save for his hometown.

Our condolences to his wife and family. Sam will be missed.

Sam Meiner, founder of Bubbalou’s Bodacious Bar-B-Que, dies at 70 
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/obituaries/os-et-sam-meiner-obituary-20210109-xsl226pggnazllfrhzxjkgp6fa-story.html

From The Sentinel 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

Joanne Rogers, a Rollins alum and wife of the late Fred Rogers, has passed. Our condolences go out to her family and friends.

The two met as music majors at the Winter Park school.

[spenser1058]

Gene McDowell, the father of UCF football, has died at age 80. It’s not too much to say there wouldn’t BE a football program at UCF today without Coach Mac.

When the program was so deep in a financial hole it was just this side of Narnia, he agreed to coach the first year for $1. After going 4-7 the first year, he had winning seasons the rest of his run.

Maybe most important of all, he was just a heck of a nice guy who really cared about his players. Our condolences to his friends and family, but rest assured he’ll long be remembered.

Father of UCF football Gene McDowell dies at age 80
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/os-sp-ucf-football-gene-mcdowell-0127-20210126-zxvewh5jvfhrtjc7eboj3y4tii-story.html

From The Sentinel 

 

[spenser1058]

This is purely political propaganda on DeSantis’ part but who the heck cares. It’s the right thing to do. Bobby was incredibly competent and a totally decent human being to boot (two things we’ve lost in Tallahassee in the last couple of decades) and beloved by just about every Floridian (even the Gators these days). Good call.

FSU legend Bobby Bowden receives Florida Medal of Freedom 
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/florida-state-seminoles/os-sp-fsu-bobby-bowden-florida-medal-of-freedom-20210407-imkulj4wgfbfjju6ivg46yhk3q-story.html

 

From The Sentinel

 

Will the Head Ball Coach be next? After all, he’s actually a Florida native.

 

 

 

[spenser1058]

One of the major “Bull Gators” and a founder of one of Orlando’s preeminent law firms (what was Gray Harris and Robinson and has been Gray Robinson since he decided to leave a few years back), Gordon “Stumpy” Harris (and I never heard anyone call him Gordon) has passed at 82.

He had a huge impact not only on Orlando but also around Florida, even in the days when TheCity Beautiful wasn’t much more than an afterthought outside Orange County.

He will be missed.

Orlando attorney Stumpy Harris, the ‘ultimate Gator fan,’ remembered for passion, generosity
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/florida-gators/os-sp-gators-football-stumpy-harris-0408-20210408-m5grcbuaenaqnmmqsggeofneoy-story.html

 

From The Sentinel 

 

[spenser1058]

Stephen McKenney Steck, pioneer of public broadcasting in Orlando, dies at 77
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orange-county/os-ne-stephen-mckenny-steck-obituary-wmfe-20210725-vbfdwh3t6fgnlphzpyv7sg53h4-story.html

From The Sentinel

For all intents and purposes, he WAS public broadcasting in Orlando during his 36-year run.

It’s tragic he was killed near UCF by a motorist while cycling. Orlando and Orange County have got to do better at protecting cyclists and pedestrians.