On Sunday, July 21, there was an article in The Villages Daily Sun indicating that the Commissioners of Lady Lake had unanimously approved a referendum to increase their terms from two years to four years. This would allow the referendum to appear on the November Ballot 2024. Interestingly, as part of that proposal, some existing commissioners would benefit from a one-year extension of their term without standing for re-election. Not bad, considering when they ran it was for a two-year term but they get a 50% increase in term and wages without a chance for the voters to say NO! I question any elected official who believes they should have the ability to benefit from legislation affecting them personally without standing for re-election first. In other words, no one should benefit from this referendum passing without first having to stand for re-election!
No matter how you feel about extending terms, doubling terms in an era when most voters would prefer limit terms makes no sense to me. Local government is the most effective because you see your elected officials in your neighborhoods, at the store, at public meetings etc. Therefore, you can interact directly with them and, with two-year terms you can prevent any one of them from doing any significant damage to the community based on a personal agenda or in support of an issue contrary to the benefit of the community – like annexation. Having to stand for re-election every two years is fairly standard at the local level. Even our Congress and State House have to stand for election every two years and they are further removed from the voters. The Lady Lake commissioners’ proposal seems to be based on the fact that they have staggered terms to avoid all of them being replaced at one time. This causes a need for an off-year election which adds cost to the Town. I question this small cost savings relative to the size of the Lady Lake budget as the real issue here. There are many other, more costly items in the budget than these election costs.
Based on this, I went back and took a look at the responsibilities of our Town Commission. In Florida, there are at least two forms of Town Commission government. One is strong Town Commission and one is Strong Town Manager. This difference results in a big difference in the responsibilities of the Commissioners. Lady Lake decided many years ago to adopt the Strong Town Manager form of government. All that means is the Commissioners, once the Town Manager is hired, have little or no administrative, day-to-day operational responsibility, NONE! The Town Manager serves as the Chief Operating Officer. All operations, including the police force are under his control. In fact, unless the Town Manager allows direct contact with staff, it is virtually prohibited by the Lady Lake Charter. How do I know this? I was Chairman of the last Lady Lake, Charter Review Committee. It was a real eye opener for me since I come from a northern state where the local government officials run the town. This fact alone should make each of us question the need to extend terms for town commissioners. Their role is not significant to day-to-day operations and therefore any change to commissioners has little effect, if any, on the operations of the Town of Lady Lake.
Which brings me to ask, what then would stimulate a change in terms from two years to four years? Since Commissioners only set policy and do not administer day-to-day, why would we want to give them longer terms unless they simply do not want to stand for re-election every two years? By the way, they are often unopposed! But that is the whole point of local government, by the people, for the people and closest to the people so that they can react quickly to change the course of their local government when needed.
Just one example, recent annexations to the Town of Lady Lake will have significant impact on services at some time in the future for Police, water, sewer and maybe even schools. If the local residents choose to say “stop annexing every development,” but the Commissioners supporting it have four-year terms, a lot of damage can be done in that time as opposed to having two-year terms where voters can react within a reasonable time frame.
There is something else that needs to be said about this change – it was a unanimous vote! Some commissioners could be in their first term. It could be their very first significant policy vote. Not one of our commissioners raised concern about a system that has worked well for many years. This is telling, or should be for all of us. The Lady Lake budget has exploded in recent years due to many things including annexation of adjoining properties, increases in assessed value driven by general growth and many other issues like inflation. Keeping cost under control is a worthy cause and should always be considered. Who is watching out for the residents of Lady Lake while all of this is happening? If the first real change to our local government, unanimously supported by the Commission, is to extend their own terms (and by doing that grant themselves another year of salary), then don’t we have the right to question why not even one of them cast a NO vote?
Is it possible that Lady Lake Commissioners do not understand their role in our form of local government? Can we know if they have even taken the time to read the Lady Lake Charter which defines their role in the Strong Town Manager form of Town Commission government that we have.
Are Commissioners required, when they take the oath of office to acknowledge that they have no day-to-day operational role in running the Town? For example, they are not community watch dogs and should not be accepting calls from the public about tree permits or any other code violations. Their job in no way includes community advisor – responsible to advise residents of their requirements under the law. All of those complaints should be immediately directed to the Town Manger’s office where there are rules and guidelines to address them professionally and dole out any consequences. A Commissioner that believes they should confront citizen/constituents with questions about any of these issues could find themselves in a very difficult situation. As a representative of Lady Lake, they not only put themselves at risk they open the Town of Lady Lake Commission to criticism. Many of us are senior citizens who have the ability to consider what seems right and what seems wrong. Where exactly did this referendum come from and why is not one commissioner raising a question about it on the Lady Lake Commission? That alone tells me it will only benefit a select few and not the rest of us.
So, before you vote “Yes” on the referendum to extend the terms of the Lady Lake Commissioners, at least be aware of the consequences you create for yourself and all of the other residents of Lady Lake. Two-year terms have many positives while creating four-year terms is a totally new concept creating possibilities for even bigger consequences down the road. And if you are willing to support this solely based on saving a very small amount of money in election costs then prepare yourselves for all the consequences it will bring. Vote with knowledge, not emotion.
Villager Robert Nyce is a resident of the Town of Lady Lake.
