Community Development District 8 Chairman Duane Johnson will be the latest CDD supervisor to host a question-and-answer session with residents.
CDD 4 Supervisor Don Deakin was the first supervisor to begin holding monthly question-and-answer sessions more than a year ago with residents of his district. CDD 2 Supervisor Bill Schikora saw the interest that Deakin’s sessions were generating and he began holding similar meetings with residents.
However, not all elected supervisors have viewed the question-and-answer sessions as a positive. Many have said such business should be conducted at monthly CDD board meetings, which are open for the public to attend. Supervisors who oppose the freewheeling sessions contend that no “official” business can be conducted at them.
Proponents of the question-and-answer sessions argue they are held in the evening, making them more convenient for residents busy with activities during the day, and they are held in recreation centers closer to the residents. CDD meetings are held at the District Office at Lake Sumter Landing, where parking can be difficult to find.
Deakin, in particular, has hosted sizable crowds because of “hot button” issues in CDD 4. He will host two sessions in the coming week.
Now, Johnson of CDD 8 is wading into the question-and-answer waters. He will host a question-and-answer session from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6 at FishHawk Recreation Center. He will have two guests, CDD 8’s Architectural Review Committee representative Walter Lazinski and Candy Dennis, head of Community Standards.
Topics Johnson will address include:
1. What is deed compliance? What does it mean?
2. Have you read your deed restriction contract that you signed at closing?
3. Are all deed restrictions the same in all Districts?
4. Complaint system process discussion
5. What do District Supervisors do with deed restriction violations?
6. What is the ARC and what work they do?
Duane Johnson can be reached at duane.johnson@districtgov.org or duanemjohnson2@gmail.com. His phone number is (507) 421-5273.
