Media Editorial:

The time is now

Be sure to vote on Aug. 26. The ability to turn our county around is in your hands. We must now decide whether we continue down the path we are on or do we make a course correction and start heading in the right direction?
Over the past decade, our local government has bragged about the growth that was coming to Osceola County. With mandated comprehensive plans and concurrency on the horizon, government sat back and allowed the bar on our levels of service standards to be set so low that the state had to raise it. We cannot afford to send the same people back with the hope of providing a different outcome.

The consequences of the past inexperience at governing effective growth and economic policies are being felt today. It is up to each of us now to decide whether we start demanding our government to stop the over-development of our county. It is up to us to decide whether we raise the standards for our roads so we can provide real traffic relief to our residents and it’s up to us to decide whether we start strengthening our local community and economy by prioritizing and investing in our public safety and infrastructure so that better jobs can come here to Osceola County.

I believe we should promote a pathway to a cleaner, greener community, but I do not believe that local government should pass mandates in the name of going green to justify more over-development in our county. Forcing our residents to pay more out of their pockets by requiring them to change out their appliances and fund government mandates would only further the instability and duration of our failing economy and further constrict home budgets. Local government can encourage going green without requiring taxpayers to fork out more green.

By listening to our residents and their ideas for our county and the direction our county needs to start heading, we have to learn from the policy mistakes of the past. Turning this ship around will be no easy task, but it’s time we roll our sleeves up and start going to work for the future success of our community. We can no longer allow the over-development of our county. We can no longer allow growth policies that permit our local roads to pass by nearly failing, and we can no longer allow government to over-extend itself at the expense of our economy and our children’s education. It’s time we turn Osceola County around. We can and must decide to vote to set a course in the right direction by getting back on the right track.

As your county commissioner for district 5, I would bring the experience and knowledge of working closely with and being in touch with our residents and business leaders day by day. I will be a voice that will fight for turning away from practicing the failed policies of merely surviving and I will work to start establishing policies that encourage living better.

For more information on the specifics of how we can turn Osceola around, go to www.VoteForHarrell.com and feel free to call me at 407-791-3768.

My name is Jonathan Harrell and I pledge to you that if you will be my voice in the ballot box on Aug. 26, I will be your voice on the County Commission. Thank you and God bless.

Jonathan Harrell
Democratic Candidate for
County Commission, district 5

As Printed in the Osceola News-Gazette August 9, 2008