Below are the news briefs from the Leon County Commission meeting that took place on February 21, 2023.
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Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil provided a presentation to the commission updating them on LCSO’s HOST Program, which is designed to address issues of homelessness in Leon County. McNeil said that he is well aware that the update may not lead to immediate solutions to many of the problems facing the community, but acknowledged that it is a host of problems that has led to Leon County’s homeless problem.
McNeil did conclude his thought by saying “arresting our way” out of homelessness “is not our preferred method” given how the detention facilities are near full and “defecation” along with “other minor violations” would set LCSO over the top.
The commissioners were afforded a short time to offer comment in response to McNeil’s report, and Commissioner Bill Proctor said that he did not feel compelled to offer up new ordinances. But he did say that he is hearing of a fair amount of “wanderers” in his district and that parents are growing afraid to have their children play in the yard because of “wanderers.” Also noting that he is not sure if it is “illegal to wander.”
Commissioner Brian Welch noted that one of the statistics that stood out to him during McNeil’s presentation was: of the hundreds of interactions with homeless individuals from the law enforcement officers as part of the HOST program, only seven individuals got permanent housing and only 39 percent of the homeless consider themselves “local.” The remaining homeless are not from the area.
Welch continued by saying that he is tired “of kicking the can down the road” and that “we need to do something” as the board agreed on a workshop to address the issue. Welch also said that there needs to be additional questions asked as to who are the claimed homeless and who are panhandlers. He witnessed, along with members of his district, people getting out of vans with bright vests that looked like they were conducting charitable work without a permit. Welch did not count out the possibility of fraud taking place by those organized panhandlers.
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The board approved Agenda Item 24 which allows the county administrator to negotiate waste collection service with WastePro for 30,000 residential and 400 commercial sites. While WastePro was the lowest bid, it will still likely be a 54 percent rate increased to $278 per year for residences which accounts for “inflation, labor shortages, and supply chain costs.” The current monthly rate for residents is $15.03 per month and will increase to $23.17 per month. The commercial bid rate will also increase by at least 58 percent, one estimate will increase 116 percent for a compactor container servicing 18 customers.
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The board considered and passed Agenda Item 31 which would rezone a 30+ acre parcel of land located at 3762 Capital Circle NW currently in possession by Northwoods Baptist Church. The rezoning would change it to residential allowing for the building and development of residential homes if the church opts to eventually sell the land.
Commissioners Rick Minor and David O’Keefe expressed their opposition to the rezoning while Commissioners Brian Welch, Carolyn Cummings, Bill Proctor, Christian Caban, and Nick Maddox supported it. The final vote was 5-2 in favor of rezoning.
The issue took over three hours to resolve which included commissioner comments and public comments.
The full discussion and debate can be viewed here.
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The meeting can be viewed here.
Leon County Commission Meeting Briefs: February 21, 2023 added by Grant Holcomb on
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I learned that if you do not put Recycle in their Bin, they will not touch it. Also, if you have Household Waste such as Wood, you have to call them to let them know or they wont pick it up, even if they are picking up Household Waste 20 feet away at your Neighbors.
It is time for a new County Administrator if he has the audacity to engage in negotiations with Waste Pro. It’s lucky that the County Administrator and Waste Pro weren’t indicted for corruption regarding the Scott Maddox//Waste-Pro/Yordon corruption. Where is the FBI when you need them?
Waste Pro has been a nightmare, the development in Tallahassee looks trashy, there is trash spewn down the highways all over the county, there is a death in the jail every other month, crime is out of control, there is sewage spill after sewage spill, clean up this crime ridden corruption and put out a nationwide search for a new County Administrator and a City Manager.
@ KM: There is a complex mathamatical equation as the basis of our mandate for a single trash service entity for County residents which your elected officials know is several levels above the comprehension of the commoners. I shall do my best to ‘splain it to the common folk.
Basically with all the algebraic, triginomeric, and stastical higher functioning mathametics removed it boils down to this:
Compitition is actually a bad thing as long as we, your betters, are able to demand a percentage of receipts be deposited into our untraceable PAC type accounts. Compitition would drive the prices down resulting in us, your betters, getting less untraceable moneys deposited in our accounts by the current provider Waste Pro.
In addition taking on a “new” provider as compitition to Waste Pro may result in the two competing business’s talking amoung themselves to deny us, your betters, our untraceable “appriciation” funds from a single provider, such as Waste Pro, which we have already spent considerable time and taxpayer money making Waste Pro see the great advantages to funding our, your betters, untraceable PAC styled accounts.
I hope this helps in everyone’s better understanding of why we must continue with the single entity provider County trash services the way we do.
Thank you for your question.
Would love for Waste Pro to have some competition. Why can’t we have two providers instead of sticking us with only one available option? Waste Pro’s customer service is horrendous. I’ve had boxes waiting for pick up for MONTHS! Multiple calls to Waste Pro has gotten me absolutely no where. I’m gonna have to break down and just burn the boxes since Waste Pro won’t provide the service I pay for.
The despicable incompetence by the Crapital District Sheriff and Kommissars (with the possible exception of Proctor) is stunning. The gross inability to enforce basic vagrancy, panhandling, loitering and trespassing laws is stunning. Too hades with the woke Sheriff’s homeless outreach. You were hired to enforce the laws, not be a social worker. Instead, your office is too busy driving away deputies by throwing them under the bus and enforcing unwritten racial quotas. Now, there is the possibility the resource officers will be pulled out of the elementary scruels. To add more to the Sheriff’s woke credentials he feels you should be restricted from your constitutional rights. Well done Crapital District voters! Well done!
After the county administrator negotiates waste collection service with WastePro, will the Board take a Vote on it or at the very least look it over and report on it?
Of the hundreds of interactions with homeless individuals from the law enforcement officers, I wonder how many were just pretending to be Homeless? A friend posted on Facebook yesterday about a Man “Pretending” to be Homeless and make good money. He said the guy parked his late model Toyota Truck at the far end of the Shopping Center and walked to the other side coming out of the Woods holding a sign pretending to be Homeless.
Ya know we all would likely be a whole lot better off if every County County Commissioner would agree to always let Bill Proctor vote first then the rest just vote the way Bill voted.
Stupidity and rampant wokeness would both drop around 97.6634%
Yeah a whole lot better off. Just that easy.
What What why did you wake me up? I was just having a wonderful dream of a County so proud of their Commissioners, so well run, crime almost nonexistant. If only it was real.